Comparison

Forest 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

Forest

This app uses a gamified timer to help users stay focused and reduce phone distractions. Users plant virtual trees that grow while they concentrate, but wither if they leave the app. It encourages productivity and offers features like personalized allow lists and real tree planting.

Highlights
  • Gamified focus timer
  • Virtual tree planting
  • Personalized allow lists
  • Unlockable tree species and white noises
  • Real tree planting initiative
  • Detailed time statistics
  • Cross-device synchronization
Features
Read full description

**Stay off your phone and a tree grows. Leave early and it withers. That's Forest, the focus timer used by 60 million people worldwide.** Top productivity app in 136 countries. Recommended by The New York Times and Business Insider. "Forest works well, and if your goal is to be more in the moment, ignore your phone and actually talk to your friends when you are with them, this is the app for you." — The New York Times Together, our community has planted over 2 million real trees on Earth through our partnership with Trees for the Future. --- STAY FOCUSED Forest helps you overcome phone addiction, reduce distractions, and build deep work habits. Whether you are studying for exams, working from home, or simply trying to be more present, Forest gives you a reason to stay on task. - A gamified focus timer that turns screen-free time into a growing virtual forest - Create personalized Allow Lists to block distracting apps during focus sessions (iOS 16 or above) - Track your daily phone usage and screen time GET MOTIVATED - Unlock tree species and soundscapes as you reach focus milestones - Co-plant trees with friends and family during shared focus sessions - Compete with users around the world and share your forest - Unlock achievements and earn extra rewards - Plant real trees on Earth through our partnership with Trees for the Future TIME GUARD: BLOCK DISTRACTIONS ON SCHEDULE Time Guard helps you set phone-free windows throughout your day. Block distracting apps on a schedule, limit when you can access them, and track how much time you spend on your phone. MINDFUL SPACE: RESET YOUR MIND Mindful Space combines calming soundscapes, breathing exercises, and gentle animations to help you decompress between focus sessions. STATISTICS & INSIGHTS - Create custom tags and view detailed statistics of how you spend your focused time - Review your weekly, monthly, and yearly focus history as a visual forest - Revisit your focus journey with Forest Timeline - Sync your focused time with Apple Health It is never too late to build better habits. --- FOREST PLUS Love Forest? Try Forest Plus. - 3x coin rewards and unlock new trees faster - Exclusive Plus-only tree species and early access to seasonal new trees - Turn your focus into a real tree on Earth Start your free trial today, cancel anytime. --- NOTICE Forest is available on iPhone and iPad. Sign in with the same account to sync your data and access Forest Plus across all platforms. The Allow List feature requires iOS/iPadOS 16 or above. Forest is the original app. Similar apps on the App Store are not developed by the Forest team. --- Follow us on Instagram or visit forestapp.cc to learn more. Browser extensions also available. --- Privacy Policy: https://www.forestapp.cc/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://forest-subscription.seekrtech.com/terms/

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

Forest4 screens
Countdown Widget4 screens

Verdict

The call

Forest and Countdown Widget both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Countdown Widget's written reviews are positive against 58% of Forest's. Countdown Widget also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 9 days). Forest's advantage is ratings volume (50K vs 12) and chart position (#204 vs unranked). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Forest sells 19 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Forest against 4.8 for Countdown Widget. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Forest has 50K ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 58% of Forest's written reviews are positive against 100% of Countdown Widget's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Forest ships an update every 9 days, Countdown Widget daily. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Forest versus Countdown Widget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterForestCountdown Widget
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (50K ratings)4.8 (12 ratings) — better
Positive reviews58.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings50K — better12
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#204 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size826 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSEEKRTECH CO., LTD.可 吴

Customer experience

Forest

All ratings49,540 ratings
Positive96.1%
Neutral1.4%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews2,291 reviews
Positive58.3%
Neutral6.9%
Negative34.7%

Countdown Widget

All ratings12 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Forest

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashing and freezing issues
  • Syncing and data loss problems
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching apps

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to pause/resume timers
  • More customization options for the forest
  • Integration with other productivity apps
  • Easier way to earn coins for new trees

Countdown Widget

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

19 purchases

Forest

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly (Early Bird)7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Monthly (Early Bird)$5.991 Month
  • Annual (Early Bird)7 Days trial$32.491 Year
Show 1 more
  • Annual (Early Bird)7 Days trial$35.991 Year
One-time15
  • Bottle of Sunshine Elixir$0.99
  • Shovelful of Crystal$0.99
  • Starter Bonus Pack$1.49
Show 12 more
  • Box of Sunshine Elixir$1.99
  • Select Pack$2.99
  • Advanced Package$2.99
  • Small pot of Crystal$4.99
  • Supreme Package$4.99
  • Advanced Bonus Pack$6.99
  • Elite Package$9.99
  • Large bag of Crystal$10.99
  • Select Pack$12.99
  • Supreme Bonus Pack$14.99
  • Deluxe Pack$18.99
  • Cartful of Crystal$21.99
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 Forest free?
Forest is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Countdown Widget free?
Countdown Widget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Forest or Countdown Widget?
Countdown Widget is rated higher. Forest averages 4.8 out of 5 from 50K ratings, while Countdown Widget averages 4.8 from 12 ratings.
Do Forest or Countdown Widget have ads?
Neither Forest nor Countdown Widget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Forest or Countdown Widget?
Forest ships an update every 9 days, and Countdown Widget daily. Most recently, Forest was updated on October 21, 2026 and Countdown Widget on October 13, 2026.

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