Comparison

PalCal vs Countdown Widget

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

Head to head
About

PalCal

Features
Read full description

Create shared calendars for your friend groups, roommates, sports teams, or any crew that loves hanging out together. SHARED CALENDARS ("PACKS") Create unlimited group calendars, each with its own cute animal icon. Invite friends with a simple code and start planning together instantly. EASY EVENT PLANNING Create events with dates, times, locations, and all the details. Get directions with one tap. Everyone stays in the loop without endless group chat scrolling. RSVP TRACKING See who's going, who's maybe, and who can't make it—all at a glance. No more "wait, are you coming?" messages. REACTIONS & ENGAGEMENT React to events with fun expressions like Love, Excited, Party, or even Meh. Show your friends how you really feel about taco Tuesday. BUILT-IN CHAT Chat with your group right inside each calendar. Send voice notes, mention friends, and keep event discussions organized. POLLS Can't decide on a time or place? Create polls and let the group vote. EVENT RECAPS After the fun, add photos and memories to create a shared scrapbook of your adventures together. Terms of Use: https://palcal.alpugan.com/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://palcal.alpugan.com/privacy.html

About

Countdown Widget

Track upcoming events with customizable widgets for your home and lock screens. It offers flexible repeat options, reminders, and data import/export. The app ensures your countdowns are always saved and provides a full-screen view for milestones.

Highlights
  • Multiple widget types and sizes
  • Unlimited event tracking
  • Count up or down
  • Customizable repeats and reminders
  • iCloud sync
  • Data import/export
  • Milestone sharing
Features
Read full description

A countdown that never loses your days — and never holds a widget back. Add the day that matters, put it on your home screen, and watch it come closer. No limit on how many you keep, and nothing between you and the number. EVERY WIDGET, FREE • Four widgets: one countdown, the next few in a list, a spotlight, or a tile for each • Every widget size, on the Home Screen and the Lock Screen • Unlimited events — there is no cap, and there never will be • Count down to a date, or count up from one • Recurring events: yearly, monthly, weekly, or every few days • Reminders on the day, and as far ahead as you want • iCloud sync, with no account to make • Import from a calendar, a spreadsheet, or another countdown app — and export any time • No ads, ever COUNT DOWN TO ANYTHING A wedding countdown, a vacation or trip countdown, a birthday or an anniversary. Christmas, New Year, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Exam day, graduation, retirement, a baby due date, a concert, a deadline, payday. Or count the days since a day that has already happened. YOUR DAYS, KEPT Most countdown apps lose your events at the worst moment — an update, a reinstall, a phone that died. This one takes a snapshot of everything on this device every single day, and always before anything risky. Thirty days of history, one tap to restore, and nothing ever leaves your phone. Days that have already passed are never deleted either: they collect into a timeline you can look back through, with the longest wait of each year written next to it. THE MOMENT ITSELF When a countdown reaches a milestone — a hundred days, a week, the morning of — the app opens on the number, full screen, and gives you a card worth sharing. THE BACK OF EVERY EVENT Tap an event and it turns over to a page of its own. Write a few lines, add photos, record a voice — the story of the day, kept with the day. It syncs with iCloud, goes into every backup, and shares as one picture. MADE TO LOOK LIKE YOURS Thirty-six ready-made events, from a birthday to a first day at work, each already set up with the right repeat and the right reminders. Two hundred drawn icons and the whole emoji keyboard. A hundred and fifty-one full-screen backdrops — twenty-two of them photographs — ninety-nine in Pro. COUNTDOWN PRO Pro unlocks the Pro backdrops, with a new drop every month, your own photos behind a countdown, the Pro typefaces, the Lock Screen Live Activity, and inviting someone to count down with you. Whatever you unlock while subscribed stays yours for good — cancelling only stops the new ones arriving. Your countdowns, reminders and widgets work the same whether you subscribe or not. ——— Countdown Pro is an auto-renewing subscription. Prices for the annual plan, which includes a 7-day free trial, and the monthly plan are shown in the app before purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the current period ends, and you can manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings at any time. A one-time Lifetime purchase is also available; it does not renew. Privacy Policy: https://dyljqq.github.io/countdown/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://dyljqq.github.io/countdown/terms-of-service/

Screenshots

PalCal4 screens
Countdown Widget4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Countdown Widget at daily against PalCal's every 3 months. Countdown Widget also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. PalCal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Countdown Widget sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PalCal ships an update every 3 months, Countdown Widget daily. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
PalCal versus Countdown Widget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPalCalCountdown Widget
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.8 (12 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBurak Alpugan可 吴

In-app purchases

2 purchases

PalCal

Subscriptions2
  • PalCal Premium$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$29.991 Year
3 purchases

Countdown Widget

Subscriptions2
  • Countdown Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Countdown Pro Yearly7 Days trial$6.991 Year
One-time1
  • Countdown Pro Lifetime$9.99

Questions

Is PalCal free?
PalCal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Countdown Widget free?
Countdown Widget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PalCal or Countdown Widget have ads?
Neither PalCal nor Countdown Widget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PalCal or Countdown Widget?
PalCal ships an update every 3 months, and Countdown Widget daily. Most recently, PalCal was updated on October 1, 2026 and Countdown Widget on October 13, 2026.

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