Comparison

Countdown vs Vacation Countdown Widget

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

Head to head
About

Countdown

Easily track upcoming events, holidays, and important dates with custom photos and notifications. View your countdowns on your Apple Watch, Mac, or Lock Screen widgets. Share events and enjoy a private, ad-free experience with optional Pro features.

Highlights
  • Add, modify, and view countdowns
  • Customizable photos from library or web
  • Siri integration for easy access
  • Apple Watch and Mac support
  • Widgets for home and lock screens
  • Shareable countdown images
  • Customizable event notifications
Features
Read full description

Countdown is an easy, beautiful way to keep track of upcoming events, holidays and important dates. Features: • Upcoming Countdowns — Add, edit and view all your important events • Natural-Language Creation — Quickly create countdowns using phrases such as “Holiday next Friday at 6pm” • Past Countdowns — Revisit previous events and see how much time has passed • Repeat and Duplicate — Reuse archived countdowns for annual or similar events • Custom Images — Choose a photo, search the web, generate an image with Image Playground or select a colour • Siri Shortcuts — Create, find and interact with countdowns using Siri and the Shortcuts app • Apple Watch — View your countdowns directly from your wrist • Customisable Widgets — Display your latest countdowns or choose a specific countdown • Lock Screen Widgets — Keep your next countdown visible from the Lock Screen • Archive Widgets — View previous countdowns and memorable events • Control Centre — Open Countdown quickly from Control Centre • Flexible Reminders — Receive notifications at the event time, one day, one week or one month beforehand • Sharing — Share beautifully generated countdown images with friends or on social media • Full OS Support — Designed for Dark Mode, rotation, resizable layouts, Split View, Drag and Drop, VoiceOver and the latest Apple devices • Private by Design — Your countdowns are stored on your devices and synced securely through your personal iCloud account, with no tracking or analytics • Pay Once — No advertisements or subscriptions, with regular free updates for Countdown Pro Countdown Pro unlocks unlimited countdowns, archived countdowns, full widget support, alternative app icons and much more with one affordable in-app purchase. Available for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Also available on Mac with your purchase.

About

Vacation Countdown Widget

This app helps you keep track of important upcoming events like birthdays, holidays, and vacations. Create visually appealing countdowns with custom colors and images, and display them directly on your home screen using widgets. Never miss a special occasion again.

Highlights
  • Event countdown creation
  • Customizable colors
  • Premium stock images
  • User-uploaded images
  • iOS 14 Widgets support
  • Dark mode support
  • Unlimited event creation
Features
Read full description

CountDown reminds you your most precious events. It is free, easy to use, and you really will not miss your anniversary, your loved one’s birthday and many more. Eager to know how much time do you have for preparations? Christmas, Thanksgiving, Vacation, Graduation, Concert, Wedding or a Trip will not arrive until you are not fully prepared! Create colorful CountDowns, pick the best color for the occasion. Add high quality premium stock image or you can also add your own too! Best thing is, all the images are free! Thanks to Widgets introduced in iOS 14, you can pin your most important events. CountDown supports Dark mode. With CountDown you can create as many events as you like, so you won’t forget anything ever again! I’d like to hear your voice, if you have any feedback, question or suggestion, please contact me at csab.huszar@gmail.com! Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.icloud.com/pages/0RE52SLqpvNVdqwmqGEFwHkWA#countdown%5Fprivacy%5Fpolicy

Screenshots

Countdown4 screens
Vacation Countdown Widget4 screens

Verdict

The call

Countdown and Vacation Countdown Widget both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 70% of Countdown's written reviews are positive against 30% of Vacation Countdown Widget's. Countdown also leads on device support (4 vs 2). Vacation Countdown Widget's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Countdown sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Vacation Countdown Widget sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $5.99 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 Countdown against 4.4 for Vacation Countdown Widget. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 162 and 102 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of Countdown's written reviews are positive against 30% of Vacation Countdown Widget's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown ships an update weekly, Vacation Countdown Widget every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Countdown versus Vacation Countdown Widget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdownVacation Countdown Widget
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (162 ratings) — better4.4 (102 ratings)
Positive reviews70.0% of reviews — better30.0% of reviews
Number of ratings162 — better102
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB77 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperRob SammonsCsaba Huszar

Customer experience

Countdown

All ratings162 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral3.7%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews50 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative20.0%

Vacation Countdown Widget

All ratings101 ratings
Positive83.2%
Neutral6.9%
Negative9.9%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive30.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative60.0%

Bugs and requests

Countdown

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • 🐛 Cannot add more than two countdowns
  • 🐛 Widget colors "washing out"
  • 🐛 Incorrect countdowns
  • 🐛 Countdown data disappeared
  • 🐛 Keyboard shows up and won't go away
Show 4 more
  • 🐛 Cannot add new photo from Camera Roll when editing
  • 🐛 Photos too zoomed in and blurry
  • 🐛 Widget not showing minutes/seconds
  • 🐛 Event title shows, but no countdown

Requested features

13 requests
  • Recurring event option
  • Ability to crop images
  • Import calendar events
  • Integration with Google/iCloud calendars
  • Option to show more than one goal in a large widget
Show 8 more
  • Pop-up alerts at event start
  • Pin to menu bar or screen
  • Use past countdowns to see days passed
  • Option to display time or just days
  • Year ticker
  • Jump ahead by years in date selector
  • Show full pictures within the app
  • Support for Apple Watch

Vacation Countdown Widget

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Countdown

One-time1
  • Countdown Pro$1.99
1 purchases

Vacation Countdown Widget

Subscriptions1
  • CountDown Premium3 Days trial$5.991 Month

Questions

Is Countdown free?
Countdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Vacation Countdown Widget free?
Vacation Countdown Widget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Countdown or Vacation Countdown Widget?
Countdown is rated higher. Countdown averages 4.6 out of 5 from 162 ratings, while Vacation Countdown Widget averages 4.4 from 102 ratings.
Do Countdown or Vacation Countdown Widget have ads?
Neither Countdown nor Vacation Countdown Widget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Countdown or Vacation Countdown Widget?
Countdown ships an update weekly, and Vacation Countdown Widget every 5 days. Most recently, Countdown was updated on October 29, 2026 and Vacation Countdown Widget on October 24, 2026.

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