Comparison

Countdown Reminder vs Menu Bar Notes

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

Head to head
About

Countdown Reminder

Features
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Never lose track of what matters. Countdown Reminder helps you count down to birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, deadlines, weddings, graduations — anything worth the wait. BEAUTIFUL COUNTDOWNS Create stunning, color-coded countdowns with custom emojis, photos, and 10 handcrafted themes. Watch animated flip-clock digits tick down in real time. Switch between list and grid views. Your nearest event gets a featured hero card front and center. SMART REMINDERS Set preset reminders (1 week, 1 day, 1 hour) or create custom ones down to the minute. Every countdown automatically notifies you when it reaches zero. Never miss a moment again. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Group events into categories, search across all your countdowns, or start from templates — Birthday, Trip, Wedding, Deadline, and more — that auto-fill emoji, color, and reminders for you. MILESTONES & NOTES Add a preparation checklist to any countdown. Track sub-tasks like "Buy gift," "Book venue," or "Send invitations" with a progress bar showing how ready you are. CLOUD SYNC Sign in once and your countdowns sync across all your devices. Create an event on your phone, see it on your tablet. Powered by Supabase with end-to-end encryption. SHARE LIVE COUNTDOWNS Generate a share code for any countdown and send it to friends or family. They can watch the same countdown tick down in real time — no account needed. EXPORT & BACKUP Export all your data as JSON. Import it on a new device. You're always in control of your data. FREE, NO SUBSCRIPTION Free to use, supported by ads — no subscription required. All data stored locally on your device unless you choose to enable cloud sync. Your countdowns are yours. FEATURES AT A GLANCE • Unlimited countdowns with custom colors, emojis, and photos • 10 color themes with light and dark mode • Animated flip-clock countdown display • Smart reminders with custom scheduling • Categories for organization • Event templates for quick creation • Milestone checklists per event • Cloud sync across devices • Shareable live countdown links • Working days calculator • Calendar export (Google Calendar) • Home screen widget • JSON data export and import • Contact attachment with call, SMS, and WhatsApp • Recurring events (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) • 3-page onboarding for new users • Haptic feedback throughout • Supports English and Spanish

About

Menu Bar Notes

Read full description

Easily reach into your menubar to quickly jot down a thought or reference, edit it on your synced iPhone and iPad app with your private iCloud keeping every device in step. No accounts or signups are needed and no data is collected. I always wanted a simple tool like this and I hope someone else finds it useful. On Mac, it sits in your menu bar. Click the icon or press ⌄⌘N from any app to open your notes, and click the icon again or press Esc to put them away. On iPhone and iPad, it's a clean, touch-first editor that stays out of your way. Markdown Style Blocks Every note is built from blocks: text, headings, collapsible toggles, to-dos with checkboxes, and code. Type shortcuts like "# ", "> ", or "[] " at the start of a line and the block transforms as you write. Toggles nest without limit, so a quick list can grow into a real outline. Browser Style Tabs Notes are tabs. Switch with ⌘1ā€“āŒ˜9, open a new note with ⌘T, close one with ⌘W. Privately Sync over iCloud- No Account Needed iCloud sync keeps iPhone, iPad, and Mac in step automatically. No account to create, no subscription — your notes live in your personal, private iCloud. Forgiving By Design Deleted notes and blocks go to the Trash, where they can be restored for 30 days. FEATURES • Block editor: text, Heading 1 and 2, toggles, to-dos, and code • Markdown-style shortcuts for instant block transforms • Collapsible toggle blocks with unlimited nesting • Duplicate any block along with its children • Menu bar quick capture on Mac, with a global ⌄⌘N (Option-Command-N) hotkey • Tabbed notes with full keyboard navigation on Mac • iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac • 30-day Trash with restore • No accounts, no tracking, no data collection Menu Notes stores your notes on your device and syncs them through your own private iCloud database. We can't read them, and we wouldn't want to.

Screenshots

Countdown Reminder4 screens
Menu Bar Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Menu Bar Notes at none against Countdown Reminder's shown. Countdown Reminder's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown Reminder ships an update every 2 months, Menu Bar Notes monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
Countdown Reminder versus Menu Bar Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdown ReminderMenu Bar Notes
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHaileslassie Lilay DesalegnOlamide Ojumu

In-app purchases

None

Countdown Reminder

No in-app purchases

None

Menu Bar Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Countdown Reminder free?
Countdown Reminder is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Menu Bar Notes free?
Menu Bar Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Countdown Reminder or Menu Bar Notes have ads?
Countdown Reminder shows ads; Menu Bar Notes does not.
Which is updated more often, Countdown Reminder or Menu Bar Notes?
Countdown Reminder ships an update every 2 months, and Menu Bar Notes monthly. Most recently, Countdown Reminder was updated on September 18, 2026 and Menu Bar Notes on September 15, 2026.

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