Countdown Reminder vs Recto Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Countdown Reminder
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Never lose track of what matters. Countdown Reminder helps you count down to birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, deadlines, weddings, graduations โ 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 โ Birthday, Trip, Wedding, Deadline, and more โ 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 โ 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 โ 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 โข Unlimited countdowns with custom colors, emojis, and photos โข 10 color themes with light and dark mode โข Animated flip-clock countdown display โข Smart reminders with custom scheduling โข Categories for organization โข Event templates for quick creation โข Milestone checklists per event โข Cloud sync across devices โข Shareable live countdown links โข Working days calculator โข Calendar export (Google Calendar) โข Home screen widget โข JSON data export and import โข Contact attachment with call, SMS, and WhatsApp โข Recurring events (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) โข 3-page onboarding for new users โข Haptic feedback throughout โข Supports English and Spanish
Recto Notes
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For years I kept separate apps: one for writing, one for reminders and to-do's. They never talked to each other. The idea lived in the notes app, the deadline in the to-do app, and I lived somewhere in between. So I built Recto. All on the same page. You just write a note and if you give a task a date with '@', that task automatically becomes part of your neatly organised Task Center. You work inside a note, focused on a single project. As ideas turn into things that need doing, you capture them right there and give them a date, without breaking your train of thought. The plan grows out of the writing instead of living apart from it. Recto - Inline tasks with dates, captured without leaving the note - Task Center: overdue, today, tomorrow, this week, next week - Native iOS, fast and quiet Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internetservices/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Countdown Reminder at none against Recto Notes's 3. Countdown Reminder also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 27.0). Recto Notes's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 2 months). On price and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Recto Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Countdown Reminder asks for nothing beyond the download.
Countdown Reminder ships an update every 2 months, Recto Notes every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Countdown Reminder | Recto Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 11 days โ better |
| Ads | Yes | No โ better |
| In-app purchases | No โ better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 โ better | 27.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | +4 | +4 |
| Developer | Haileslassie Lilay Desalegn | Thijs Kremers |
In-app purchases
Countdown Reminder
No in-app purchases
Recto Notes
- Recto Pro$2.991 Month
- Yearly$24.991 Year
- Recto Pro$69.99
Questions
Is Countdown Reminder free?
Is Recto Notes free?
Do Countdown Reminder or Recto Notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Countdown Reminder or Recto Notes?
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