Comparison

Countdowns vs Dot Countdown

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

Head to head
About

Countdowns

Track upcoming events or past milestones with customizable countdowns and count-ups. Visualize your time with beautiful widgets and sync across all your Apple devices. Organize events with lists and receive custom notifications.

Highlights
  • Customizable countdown and count-up timers
  • Gorgeous, colorful widgets
  • Unlimited number of timers
  • Repeating timers
  • Calendar event import
  • iCloud sync
  • Custom notifications
Features
Read full description

Countdowns helps you count down to something you're looking forward to, whether that's a wedding, birthday, or new iPhone! Need to count up from it instead? No problem! Designed to be more than a timer app, Countdowns is great for keeping tabs on how long it is until something, or how long it is since it happened. Count up from the last time you had a cigarette and down to your next cookie — if it happened in the past or is happening in the future, Countdowns keeps track of the time so you don't need to. Countdowns can keep your timers running no matter where you are. Available for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, Countdowns can sync your timers between your devices so you're always up to speed. As a free download, Countdowns offers the following features: - Gorgeous, colorful widgets on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. - An unlimited number of countdowns. - Repeating timers which are perfect for birthdays and similar events. - Siri & Shortcuts integrations. - Support for importing events from calendars, reminders, and contacts. - Multiple unit options (days, weeks, etc.) and icons to make your countdown your very own. - Dark mode. - And more! An optional monthly, annual, or one-time in-app purchase unlocks additional features, including: - iCloud support to keep all of your timers in sync across iPhones, iPads, and Macs. - A compact display mode so you can see more timers at once. - Lists so you can more easily organize your timers — put all of your birthday timers in a list, for example. - Directional indicators so you always know whether a timer is counting up or down. - Custom notifications and sounds so you'll never miss a timer again. - Archive function that saves old timers. Countdowns subscriptions can be canceled at any time, but will renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the next payment is due. For more information, see our privacy policy & terms of use: https://www.countdowns-app.com/policies

About

Dot Countdown

Easily track upcoming and past events with personalized countdown timers. Organize important dates like birthdays, holidays, and trips with a visually appealing dot-timeline layout and customizable widgets. Receive smart reminders to never miss a moment.

Highlights
  • Personalized event countdowns
  • Dot-timeline layout
  • Home & Lock Screen widgets
  • Smart reminders
  • Repeating events
  • Cross-device sync
  • Event sharing
Features
Read full description

Dot Countdown makes it easy to track the days until (or since) your most important events. Whether it’s a birthday, holiday, wedding, concert, exam, trip or big life moment, create beautiful countdown timers that feel personal, organized and exciting. Dot Countdown combines a unique dot timeline layout with powerful event tools, widgets and smart reminders so you never lose track of what matters. CREATE COUNTDOWNS FOR ANY EVENT Track days until birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, weddings, vacations, exams, sports events, retirement, baby due dates, launch days and more. You can also count up from past events and milestones. DOT TIMELINE DESIGN Your events are displayed in a clean, colorful timeline layout that makes upcoming and past dates easy to scan at a glance. CUSTOMIZE WITH THEMES & PHOTOS Choose from vibrant color palettes and themes, or add your own photos to create countdowns that feel truly personal. HOME & LOCK SCREEN WIDGETS Add stylish countdown widgets to your Home Screen and Lock Screen. Keep your most important dates visible with multiple layout options and enhanced premium styles. SMART REMINDERS Set notifications for your events so you’re reminded before the big day arrives. Never forget an important date again. REPEATING EVENTS Create custom repeating countdowns daily, weekly, monthly or yearly for birthdays, bills, fitness goals and recurring occasions. FILTER & ORGANIZE Add categories like birthdays, travel, work or personal to keep your events tidy and easy to manage. MAP LOCATIONS Attach locations to your events and keep everything organized in one place. SYNC ACROSS YOUR DEVICES Use Dot Countdown on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Your events stay updated everywhere with seamless sync. SHARE WITH FRIENDS Send countdowns to friends and family so you can track important events together. UNLOCK ACHIEVEMENTS Collect fun achievements as you create and track events throughout the year. Whether you’re tracking a vacation countdown, wedding countdown, birthday reminder or exam timer, Dot Countdown keeps your most important dates front and centre. Simple. Colorful. Designed to make waiting more exciting. Terms: https://sleepyboystudios.com/terms

Screenshots

Countdowns4 screens
Dot Countdown4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Countdowns at 4.7 against Dot Countdown's 3.0. Countdowns also leads on ratings volume (9.4K vs 1) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 3 months). Dot Countdown's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (100% vs 78%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. Countdowns sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Dot Countdown sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Countdowns holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdowns has 9.4K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 78% of Countdowns's written reviews are positive against 100% of Dot Countdown's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdowns ships an update every 4 weeks, Dot Countdown every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Countdowns versus Dot Countdown: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdownsDot Countdown
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.4K ratings) — better3.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews78.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.4K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShayes Apps LLCSleepy Boy Studios Ltd

Customer experience

Countdowns

All ratings9,382 ratings
Positive92.8%
Neutral3.2%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews804 reviews
Positive78.4%
Neutral7.0%
Negative14.7%

Dot Countdown

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Countdowns

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Countdowns not displaying correctly
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow reordering of countdowns
  • Improve recurring event handling
  • Add more customization options
  • Provide full-screen countdown view
  • Implement more notification options

Dot Countdown

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Countdowns

Subscriptions2
  • Countdowns Premium7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Countdowns Premium7 Days trial$7.991 Year
One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$4.99
  • Large Tip$9.99
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Unlock$19.99
3 purchases

Dot Countdown

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Annual1 Year trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Support the app$2.99

Questions

Is Countdowns free?
Countdowns is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dot Countdown free?
Dot Countdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Countdowns or Dot Countdown?
Countdowns is rated higher. Countdowns averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9.4K ratings, while Dot Countdown averages 3.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Countdowns or Dot Countdown have ads?
Countdowns shows ads; Dot Countdown does not.
Which is updated more often, Countdowns or Dot Countdown?
Countdowns ships an update every 4 weeks, and Dot Countdown every 3 months. Most recently, Countdowns was updated on October 3, 2026 and Dot Countdown on September 13, 2026.

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