Comparison

Countdown Star vs Swift Alert

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

Head to head
About

Countdown Star

Track time until or since important life events. Set custom timers for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and more. Personalize with your own photos and share progress with friends.

Highlights
  • Add custom events
  • Customize event visuals
  • Apple Watch display
  • Today Widget integration
  • Set exact event times
  • Adjust time units
  • Share event progress
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 * 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.

About

Swift Alert

Stay updated with all things related to a popular artist's tour and music. Get news, concert dates, real-time alerts for livestreams, track surprise songs, and test your knowledge with trivia.

Highlights
  • Fan newsfeed
  • Concert dates
  • Real-time livestream alerts
  • Surprise Song Tracker
  • Trivia quizzes
Features
Read full description

The ultimate app for Swifties! Swift Alert will keep you connected to the shows and the music with a newsfeed of key fan accounts, concert dates in your time zone, and real-time alerts so you can check out livestreams. The Surprise Song Tracker will ensure you always know the latest surprise songs, and trivia quizzes will give you a chance to test your knowledge and show off your Swiftie status to your friends. Swift Alert is THE go-to source for Swifties! Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Countdown Star4 screens
Swift Alert4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Swift Alert at none against Countdown Star's shown. Swift Alert also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 59%) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). Countdown Star's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (217K vs 40K). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Countdown Star sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Swift Alert sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Countdown Star against 4.9 for Swift Alert. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown Star has 217K ratings behind it against 40K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 59% of Countdown Star's written reviews are positive against 81% of Swift Alert's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown Star ships an update fortnightly, Swift Alert every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Countdown Star versus Swift Alert: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdown StarSwift Alert
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (217K ratings)4.9 (40K ratings) — better
Positive reviews59.2% of reviews81.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings217K — better40K
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB118 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoseph MerrillSwift Alert LLC

Customer experience

Countdown Star

All ratings216,476 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral3.1%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews1,325 reviews
Positive59.2%
Neutral11.7%
Negative29.1%

Swift Alert

All ratings40,197 ratings
Positive98.2%
Neutral0.9%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews534 reviews
Positive81.1%
Neutral7.7%
Negative11.2%

User reviews

Countdown Star

From 217K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app
  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 💡 Customizable backgrounds
  • 👍 Helpful for tracking events
  • 👍 Useful for long-distance relationships

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Widget not working
  • 🐛 Wallpaper feature not working
  • 🐛 Countdown inaccuracies
  • 🐛 Notifications not working
  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs

Swift Alert

From 40K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💗 Amazing app for Swifties
  • 🤩 Incredibly fun and engaging
  • 🎉 Excellent way to stay updated on Eras Tour
  • 🎮 Enjoyable games and quizzes
  • 🔔 Helpful notifications and alerts

Room to improve

  • 💸 Some features locked behind paywall
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 📱 Layout issues on certain devices
  • 🔔 Inconsistent notification reliability

Bugs and requests

Countdown Star

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Widget not displaying events
  • Wallpaper not saving
  • Countdown off by one day
  • Notifications not working as expected
  • Crashes and glitches after updates

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add weeks option
  • Allow multiple countdowns on one screen
  • Provide Apple Watch complications
  • Add ability to export/backup data
  • Improve wallpaper customization
Show 1 more
  • Add option for annual/recurring events

Swift Alert

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Mastermind scores not tracking correctly
  • Trivia questions not loading properly
  • Calendar events not clearing after shows

Requested features

4 requests
  • More interactive features (outfit history, song rankings, etc.)
  • Ability to edit Mastermind submissions
  • Merch/announcement notifications
  • Syncing progress across devices

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Countdown Star

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99
12 purchases

Swift Alert

Subscriptions10
  • Swift Alert Games Subscription$0.991 Month
  • Swift Alert Games Subscription$1.991 Month
  • Swift Alert Games Subscription$2.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • Swift Alert Games Subscription$3.991 Month
  • Swift Alert Games Subscription$5.991 Month
  • Swift Alert Games Subscription$9.991 Year
  • Swift Alert Games Subscription$12.991 Year
  • Swift Alert Games Subscription$14.991 Year
  • Swift Alert Games Subscription$17.991 Year
  • Swift Alert Games Subscription$19.991 Year
One-time2
  • Become a Swiftie$0.99
  • Become a Swiftie$1.99

Questions

Is Countdown Star free?
Countdown Star is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Swift Alert free?
Swift Alert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Countdown Star or Swift Alert?
Swift Alert is rated higher. Countdown Star averages 4.8 out of 5 from 217K ratings, while Swift Alert averages 4.9 from 40K ratings.
Do Countdown Star or Swift Alert have ads?
Countdown Star shows ads; Swift Alert does not.
Which is updated more often, Countdown Star or Swift Alert?
Countdown Star ships an update fortnightly, and Swift Alert every 10 days. Most recently, Countdown Star was updated on November 2, 2026 and Swift Alert on November 1, 2026.

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