Comparison

Countdown vs Punctum

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

Head to head
About

Countdown

Features
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Countdown โ€” Event Tracker helps you keep track of every important moment in your life. Whether it's a concert, a flight, a birthday or a sports event, Countdown gives you a clear view of how much time is left โ€” down to the second. KEY FEATURES - Create events with a custom image from your photo library or an online gallery - Set an emoji instead of a photo for a more personal touch - Organize events with color-coded categories - Get reminded before your event โ€” 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, at a custom time and when it happens - Add widgets to your home screen and track your events at a glance - Tap any event to see a live countdown, down to the second - Automatic separation between upcoming and past events - Clean, dark design built for iOS Countdown is free, simple, and built with privacy in mind. Your data stays on your device.

About

Punctum

Features
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Punctum is a dot-matrix clock for your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Every character is drawn dot by dot, in a typeface made for the grid, with the weight and roundness of the dots in your hands. A CLOCK THAT STAYS OUT OF THE WAY Time and date, a timer, your next calendar event, the song that is playing, and the battery. Pick what the display shows and how it moves. Dot size and shape are yours to set, and the display rolls from one value to the next. FULL DISPLAY Dock your iPhone and Punctum fills the whole screen, dimmed and quiet, as a bedside clock. Nothing but the dots, with a slow drift that protects the screen. WIDGETS AND WATCH Small Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, an Apple Watch app, and an Apple TV app, all in the same dots. PUNCTUM PRO, ONE PURCHASE Unlock everything once and keep it, shared with your family: - Live weather with 17 dot-drawn icons - Phosphor green and Night red inks, and a night schedule - Up to four timers, five rotating messages, and a live timer on the Lock Screen - Medium and Large widgets, and Apple Watch complications - Alternate app icons No account, no ads, no tracking. Punctum collects no data. Try everything free for 7 days. Then unlock the full app with a single one-time purchase. No subscription.

Screenshots

Countdown4 screens
Punctum4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Countdown at none against Punctum's 1. Punctum's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months) and device support (4 vs 1). On price, ads and iOS requirement 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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown ships an update every 2 months, Punctum every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Countdown versus Punctum: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdownPunctum
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch โ€” better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size3 MB15 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperAntoine CoilliauxJiajia Zhang

In-app purchases

None

Countdown

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Punctum

One-time1
  • Punctum Pro Lifetime$3.99

Questions

Is Countdown free?
Countdown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Punctum free?
Punctum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Countdown or Punctum have ads?
Neither Countdown nor Punctum shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Countdown or Punctum?
Countdown ships an update every 2 months, and Punctum every 4 days. Most recently, Countdown was updated on November 5, 2026 and Punctum on October 29, 2026.

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