Comparison

New Years Eve Countdown vs Countdown Star (Ad

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

New Years Eve Countdown

This app helps you celebrate the New Year with a dynamic countdown, personalized themes, and festive animations. Enjoy a midnight party mode with sound and confetti, and track celebrations worldwide.

Highlights
  • Dynamic countdown to midnight
  • Midnight party mode with audio and confetti
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
  • Global countdown tracking
  • Customizable themes and photos
  • Celebration sharing
Features
Read full description

Make the next year magical with New Years Eve! Watch the countdown, add your favourite celebration photo and get ready to welcome the New Year with music, colour and confetti. YOUR NEW YEAR COUNTDOWN See the days, hours, minutes and seconds remaining until midnight. The countdown automatically moves to the next New Year, so you can enjoy it year after year. MIDNIGHT PARTY MODE Bring everyone together with an animated flip-clock countdown. Enjoy celebration audio during the final ten seconds, optional haptics and a burst of confetti when midnight arrives. Try the countdown rehearsal whenever you like. For the midnight experience, keep party mode open and turn up your volume! HOME AND LOCK SCREEN WIDGETS Keep the New Year countdown close with widgets for your Home Screen and Lock Screen. CELEBRATE AROUND THE WORLD Follow the countdown to midnight in Auckland, Sydney, Tokyo, Dubai, Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. MAKE IT YOURS Choose classic red, midnight gold or neon party themes, and personalise the app with your own celebration photo. SHARE THE EXCITEMENT Share your countdown with friends and family, or tap “Let’s celebrate!” for celebration audio and confetti at any time. From the first days of January to the final seconds of December, keep the excitement of the New Year with you.

About

Countdown Star (Ad

Easily track the time remaining until or elapsed since important events. Offers a variety of customization options, including wallpapers and animations, with seamless syncing across devices. Get instant updates on your wrist or home screen.

Highlights
  • iCloud Sync across devices
  • Celebration animations
  • Repeating event support
  • Home screen widgets
  • Apple Watch compatibility
  • Customizable wallpapers
  • Time zone support
Features
Read full description

Countdown Star is the best way to countdown to — and count up from — all of your favorite events. Countdown to birthdays, holidays, an upcoming vacation, a wedding, the New Year, parties, sporting events, concerts and more. Count up from anniversaries, the day you were born, and other special events in the past. * How many seconds until your next birthday? * How many months since you were born? * How many days until you graduate from college? * How many hours until your anniversary? * How much time is left until your vacation starts? * How many days until Christmas? * How many minutes until your party begins? * How much time is left until your baby's due date? Countdown Star is the countdown app that lets you choose which events to add, then keeps them in sync across all of your devices. Features: * iCloud Sync — events and wallpapers sync automatically across all your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch devices * Celebration Animations — choose Confetti, Fireworks, Balloons, Stars, or Lasers when your countdown reaches zero * Repeating Events — annual events automatically advance to the next year so you never have to update them * Home Screen Widgets — Small, Medium, and Large widgets let you glance at your countdowns without opening the app * Compatible with iPhone Duo — Countdown Star fits the outer and inner displays, open or closed, and when partially open like a book * Apple Watch — view your events right on your wrist * Add Your Own Events — add as many events as you like * Custom Wallpapers — choose from 15+ built-in wallpapers or use your own photos * Time Zone Support — set each event in any time zone with localized city names * Sort and Search — sort by date, title, or your own custom order; events are sectioned into Countdown and Count Up groups * Favorites and Notifications — mark events as favorites to receive a notification when their countdown reaches zero * Interactive Slider — instantly switch between seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years to see your countdown exactly how you want it * Customizable Timer — choose timer position (Top, Middle, or Bottom), show or hide weeks, and toggle the leading zero * Multiple App Icons — personalize the app icon on your Home Screen Note: Countdown Star is available as a free version (with ads and an optional Remove Ads purchase) and as a paid ad-free version.

Screenshots

New Years Eve Countdown4 screens
Countdown Star (Ad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: New Years Eve Countdown at Free against Countdown Star (Ad's $1.99. Countdown Star (Ad's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 3.5) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

New Years Eve Countdown is free to download; Countdown Star (Ad costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Countdown Star (Ad holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown Star (Ad has 3.7K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of New Years Eve Countdown's written reviews are positive against 56% of Countdown Star (Ad's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

New Years Eve Countdown ships an update every 3 months, Countdown Star (Ad every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
New Years Eve Countdown versus Countdown Star (Ad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNew Years Eve CountdownCountdown Star (Ad
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating3.5 (2 ratings)4.7 (3.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews55.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings23.7K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#70 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB53 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperDuncan CuthbertsonJoseph Merrill

Customer experience

New Years Eve Countdown

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative60.0%

Countdown Star (Ad

All ratings3,707 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral3.0%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews407 reviews
Positive55.8%
Neutral15.5%
Negative28.7%

Bugs and requests

New Years Eve Countdown

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Countdown Star (Ad

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Custom wallpapers not saving
  • Countdown not updating correctly
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Notification system not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Recurring event support
  • Ability to exclude weekends/holidays from countdown
  • Multiple event display on main screen
  • Improved widget functionality
  • Sync across devices

In-app purchases

None

New Years Eve Countdown

No in-app purchases

None

Countdown Star (Ad

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is New Years Eve Countdown free?
New Years Eve Countdown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Countdown Star (Ad free?
Countdown Star (Ad costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, New Years Eve Countdown or Countdown Star (Ad?
Countdown Star (Ad is rated higher. New Years Eve Countdown averages 3.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Countdown Star (Ad averages 4.7 from 3.7K ratings.
Do New Years Eve Countdown or Countdown Star (Ad have ads?
Neither New Years Eve Countdown nor Countdown Star (Ad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, New Years Eve Countdown or Countdown Star (Ad?
New Years Eve Countdown ships an update every 3 months, and Countdown Star (Ad every 10 days. Most recently, New Years Eve Countdown was updated on November 6, 2026 and Countdown Star (Ad on November 8, 2026.

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