Comparison

Big Days vs Countdown

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

Head to head
About

Big Days

Easily track important dates with a stylish and lightweight countdown app. Set reminders for appointments, anniversaries, birthdays, and more. Customize with your own photos or find free images online, and receive notifications for upcoming events.

Highlights
  • Countdown to events
  • Track days elapsed
  • Customizable event images
  • Online image search (Pixabay)
  • Event notifications/alarms
  • Favorite event display
  • Share events
Features
Read full description

For over 12 years, Big Days has helped millions of people look forward to life's most meaningful moments. Over 2 million downloads. NOW WITH ALL-NEW WIDGETS Keep your most important events front and center on your iPhone. With brand-new Home Screen and StandBy widgets, your countdown is always just a glance away. The fresh, modern look integrates smoothly into the iOS aesthetic. FIND THE PERFECT BACKGROUND Don't feel limited to your camera roll. Thanks to integrated Pixabay search, you can explore millions of free, high-resolution photos without ever leaving the app. Find the perfect backdrop for any occasion in seconds. REMINDERS & NOTIFICATIONS Never miss an important date again! Set custom alerts for any event and receive a notification right when it's time to celebrate or start packing. FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE Tailor every countdown to match your personal taste with custom fonts, colors, themes, and backgrounds: • Choose from dozens of clean, modern typefaces. • Adjust text color, alignment, and position. • Days remaining & days since: track both upcoming events and how much time has passed. • Favorite event on startup: set your primary countdown to open instantly when launch the app. • Easy sharing: export your countdowns for social media or save them directly as wallpapers. Follow us and share your special moments: #bigdaysapp @bigdaysapp For support or feedback, please use the Support module inside the app's Info menu.

About

Countdown

Easily track important dates and events with a beautifully designed countdown timer and calendar. Set unlimited countdowns, customize with icons and colors, and receive basic reminders. Share your upcoming events with friends and family.

Highlights
  • Unlimited event countdowns
  • Count up or down to events
  • Customizable icons and colors
  • Add notes to events
  • Basic notifications and reminders
  • Event sharing
Features
Read full description

Event Countdown is the beautifully simple countdown, calendar and widget app for the important days in your life. Counting down since 2015, rated 4.7 stars from over 130,000 ratings worldwide. The original Event Countdown app, used by over a million people every month. Start straight away with unlimited countdowns. No account or sign-up needed. Count down to the days that matter: Birthday, Holiday, Party, Christmas, Halloween, Wedding, Anniversary, Baby Due Date, Graduation, New Home, Match Day, Concert, Film Release, Retirement, Bucket List and many more. NEW: CALENDAR VIEW See every event on a beautiful month grid, with your events colour-coded below. Swipe between months, tap a day, open any countdown. LIVE COUNTDOWN WIDGETS A Home Screen widget that ticks every second, plus Next Event, multi-event, Lock Screen and StandBy widgets. LIVE ON YOUR LOCK SCREEN Live Activities show your next event on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island as the moment approaches. MAKE IT YOURS, SHARE THE EXCITEMENT Hundreds of icons, every colour, repeats that show ages on birthdays. Then turn any countdown into a shareable video. Free version: - Unlimited event countdowns, all in one place - Next Event widget on your Home Screen - Count up or down in years, days, hours, minutes and seconds - Colour code events • choose from 450 icons - Share events with friends and family - Notes, notifications, and search Premium version: - Calendar View (NEW) - The full widget collection: Live Countdown, Lock Screen, StandBy, multi-event and choose-your-event widgets - Live Activities on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island - Ad free • Calendars • Detailed notifications - Sync events across all your Apple devices - Repeat events (with ages on birthdays and anniversaries) - 450 colour icons Event Countdown Premium is available as a monthly or yearly subscription, or as a one-off lifetime purchase. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Terms of Use - https://www.root38.com/terms-and-conditions/ Privacy Policy - https://www.root38.com/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

Big Days4 screens
Countdown4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Countdown at weekly against Big Days's every 4 months. Countdown also leads on ratings volume (24K vs 590). Big Days's advantage is review sentiment (91% vs 80%). 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. Big Days sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Countdown sells 6 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Big Days against 4.7 for Countdown. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown has 24K ratings behind it against 590, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of Big Days's written reviews are positive against 80% of Countdown's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Big Days ships an update every 4 months, Countdown weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Big Days versus Countdown: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBig DaysCountdown
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (590 ratings)4.7 (24K ratings) — better
Positive reviews91.4% of reviews — better79.9% of reviews
Number of ratings59024K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsWeekly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB197 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperastrovicAppsROOT38 LIMITED

Customer experience

Big Days

All ratings590 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral6.1%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews1,065 reviews
Positive91.4%
Neutral5.2%
Negative3.5%

Countdown

All ratings23,730 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews966 reviews
Positive79.9%
Neutral7.3%
Negative12.7%

User reviews

Big Days

From 590 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎨 Customizable backgrounds
  • 📅 Helpful for tracking events
  • 🎉 Exciting countdown feature
  • 📷 Option to add images

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Limited free events
  • 💰 Paywall for more features
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or glitches
  • 📤 Difficulty transferring data to new devices

Countdown

From 24K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎨 Customizable colors and icons
  • 🕰️ Helpful for tracking upcoming events
  • 💻 Works well on multiple devices
  • 🧠 Assists with time management and organization

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Premium features locked behind paywall
  • 💸 Aggressive promotion of premium version
  • 🔔 Lack of customizable notifications
  • 🗓️ Missing calendar view and repeat event options
  • 🐛 Issues with past event tracking and data loss after updates

Bugs and requests

Big Days

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Login screen freezes
  • Images disappearing from events
  • Constant ads interrupting usage

Requested features

5 requests
  • Unlimited free events
  • Recurring event option
  • Customizable countdown styles
  • Ability to reorder events
  • Sync across multiple devices

Countdown

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Premium subscription issues after updates
  • Inconsistent font sizing and layout
  • Countdown accuracy problems for distant events

Requested features

5 requests
  • Calendar view integration
  • Repeat/recurring event options
  • More customization for notifications
  • Ability to view past event details
  • Improved handling of long-term countdowns

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Big Days

One-time2
  • Widget Pack$2.99
  • Big Days Pro$3.99
6 purchases

Countdown

Subscriptions5
  • Premium Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Premium 3 Months7 Days trial$5.993 Months
  • Premium1 Year trial$9.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Premium Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
  • Premium Yearly (50% Off)1 Year trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$49.99

Questions

Is Big Days free?
Big Days is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Countdown free?
Countdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Big Days or Countdown?
Countdown is rated higher. Big Days averages 4.6 out of 5 from 590 ratings, while Countdown averages 4.7 from 24K ratings.
Do Big Days or Countdown have ads?
Both Big Days and Countdown show ads.
Which is updated more often, Big Days or Countdown?
Big Days ships an update every 4 months, and Countdown weekly. Most recently, Big Days was updated on September 22, 2026 and Countdown on September 24, 2026.

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