Comparison

Countdown vs VacationTracker

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

Head to head
About

Countdown

Track important life events with visually appealing, customizable countdowns. Supports unlimited events, animated backgrounds, and flexible reminders. Integrates with Apple Watch and offers home and lock screen widgets.

Highlights
  • Unlimited event countdowns
  • Customizable backgrounds and display styles
  • Flexible reminders
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
  • Apple Watch app and complications
  • ICS and iOS Calendar import/export
Features
Read full description

Countdown helps you keep track of life's most important moments with elegant, customizable countdowns. Whether it's a birthday, vacation, anniversary, or work deadline, every event comes to life with immersive cards, animated backgrounds, and a countdown precise to the second. KEY FEATURES - Unlimited events displaying days, hours, minutes, and seconds - 21 categories including birthday, vacation, work, health, fitness, and many more - 8 animated backgrounds: aurora borealis, particles, starfield, confetti, and more - Custom photos as event backgrounds - 4 display styles: standard, digital, progress bar, and minimal - Interval events for vacations and projects with progress percentage - Working days calendar with national holidays - Flexible reminders: at event time, minutes, hours, days, or weeks before - Search and filters by category, favorites, and status - Import and export events in ICS format and from iOS Calendar - Timezone support for each event - iCloud sync across all Apple devices - Full localization in English and Italian WIDGETS & APPLE WATCH - Home Screen widgets in three sizes: small, medium, and large - Lock Screen widgets (iOS 17+) - Apple Watch app with watch face complications - Automatic sync between iPhone and Apple Watch CRAFTED DESIGN - Immersive cards with gradients and parallax effect - Frosted glass countdown badge with glow - Smooth animations with haptic feedback - WCAG AAA contrast for maximum readability - Full VoiceOver and Dynamic Type support All features included. No in-app purchases, no subscriptions.

About

VacationTracker

Features
Read full description

How many days until your vacation – and how many more times do you have to go to work first? VacationTracker is your vacation countdown: the app counts the calendar days until you leave, live to the second, and also shows the actual workdays left before your time off. Weekends, the public holidays of your region and your own work week are already taken into account. So every morning you know exactly how many more alarms stand between you and the beach, the city trip, the ski slopes or the big adventure. YOUR VACATION COUNTDOWN • Calendar days until you leave, live with hours, minutes and seconds • Workdays until your vacation – without weekends and public holidays • Progress: how much of the wait is already behind you? • Weeks and mornings until your vacation at a glance • Motivational messages that change as your trip gets closer – personalized with your destination • Share your countdown as an image with friends, family and travel buddies TRANSPARENT CALCULATION The detailed breakdown shows where your workdays come from: working days, days off and the public holidays of your region. You also see every public holiday that falls before your vacation – no guesswork, no surprises. PLAN SEVERAL VACATIONS • Add several vacations – each with destination, emoji and its own color • Upcoming and past vacations neatly separated • Pin the vacation your widget should show • A photo for every vacation – in your countdown and in your widgets. Your photo stays on your device. • Free for up to two vacations at a time, unlimited with Premium PUBLIC HOLIDAYS & CALENDAR • Monthly calendar with vacation start, public holidays and your own custom holidays • The next public holidays in your region at a glance • Public holidays for 13 countries: the United States with every state, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany with all 16 states, Austria, Switzerland with its cantons, France, Italy, Spain with its regions, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland • Is a holiday missing? Add it yourself – it counts in your calculation right away YOUR WORK WEEK Choose the days of the week you actually work. Only those days count as workdays until your vacation – perfect for part-time jobs, a four-day week or fixed days off. REMINDERS & LIVE COUNTDOWN • Reminders one week before, the day before and on the first day of your vacation – each at 8 a.m. • Switch them on or off for each vacation • Live countdown the evening before: from 6 p.m. the night before you leave, a notification counts down the final hours to the second WIDGETS WITH PREMIUM With VacationTracker Premium your countdown lives right on your home screen, without opening the app: • Calendar days widget and workdays widget • Progress widget and motivation widget • Every widget in a light and a dark version • Your vacation photo as the widget background, with clearly readable numbers • Unlimited vacations • One-time purchase – no subscription, no ads IN 5 LANGUAGES English, German, French, Italian and Spanish – in light or dark mode, or matching your system. HOW IT WORKS 1. Choose your country and region for public holidays 2. Enter your vacation start date and destination 3. Start your countdown – VacationTracker does the math WHO IS IT FOR? • Anyone counting down the days to their next vacation • Working people who want to know how many workdays are left • Couples, families and friends looking forward to a trip together • Everyone who plans several trips a year WHY VACATIONTRACKER? Real workdays instead of just calendar days Your region's public holidays included automatically Several vacations, each with its own emoji, color and photo Reminders and a live countdown the evening before Premium as a one-time purchase – no subscription Note: public holiday data without guarantee. Start your vacation countdown now – the anticipation begins today!

Screenshots

Countdown4 screens
VacationTracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Countdown at none against VacationTracker's 1. VacationTracker's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 5 weeks). On price, ads, 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

Both are free to download. VacationTracker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Countdown asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown ships an update every 5 weeks, VacationTracker every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Countdown versus VacationTracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdownVacationTracker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size123 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFabrizio Di PietroVincent Waelken

In-app purchases

None

Countdown

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

VacationTracker

One-time1
  • Premium Widgets$0.99

Questions

Is Countdown free?
Countdown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is VacationTracker free?
VacationTracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Countdown or VacationTracker have ads?
Neither Countdown nor VacationTracker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Countdown or VacationTracker?
Countdown ships an update every 5 weeks, and VacationTracker every 6 days. Most recently, Countdown was updated on September 27, 2026 and VacationTracker on October 7, 2026.

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