Comparison

Countdown vs Countdown Widget & Counter

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 way to keep track of upcoming events, holidays and important dates. Features: • View Countdowns - Add, modify and view countdowns • Past Countdowns - See countdowns from the past including how many days since • Custom Photos - Choose from your photo library or directly from the Web using Flickr • Add to Siri - Easily retrieve any countdown on any device • Apple Watch - View all of your countdowns on your wrist • Widgets - Add widgets to view up to 3 countdowns at once • Lock Screen Widgets - See the next widget directly on the Lock Screen (iOS 16 or later only) • Share - Countdowns can be shared as an image to any social media platform • Notifications - Receive notifications before the countdown with custom settings for how many days before • Full OS Support - Dark Mode, Drag & Drop, Split Screen, VoiceOver and much more • Privacy - No data is ever stored outside of your device and with no tracking or analytics • Pay Once - No ads or subscriptions, just regular free updates with Countdown Pro Countdown Pro unlocks the ability to add more than one countdown, archived countdowns, full widget support, app icons and much more for one low cost in app purchase. Available for iPhone, iPad & Apple Watch. Also available for Mac included with your purchase.

About

Countdown Widget & Counter

Create customizable widgets to track upcoming events directly on your home screen. Visualize your countdowns with beautiful designs, icons, and color gradients. Receive real-time notifications for important dates.

Highlights
  • Live countdown widgets
  • Customizable widget templates
  • Event editor with live preview
  • Color gradients
  • Over 50 icons
  • Real-time push notifications
Features
Read full description

Keep an eye on your upcoming events - directly on your Home Screen! Create minimalistic widgets that countdown to the big day.   The widgets in Widget Studio are highly customizable and clean-designed, so that nothing distracts your focus from the concert, your best friend‘s birthday or whatever you‘re currently looking forward to! It‘s quick, easy, and looks awesome. Welcome to Widget Studio. So, what do we have here? - Powerful event editor with live preview - Multiple customizable widget templates for iPhone & iPad - Beautiful color gradients for your Home Screen - Over 50 different icons to choose from - Real time push notifications for your events - Full support for Voice Over and Dynamic Type - Live countdown widgets Info: Most of the app's content is free. Some selected features require the purchase of a full version in the app (recurring annual subscription). We rely on your support to make development possible. Thank you for your understanding! :) Terms of Use (EULA) & Privacy Policy: https://cranberry.app/legal We have put a lot of love into the development of Widget Studio and hope you enjoy it. However, if you have something to complain about, or an exciting idea for future updates or additional apps of Widget Studio, please feel free to contact us at any time via support@cranberry.app. We are looking forward to your message. Take care!

Screenshots

Countdown4 screens
Countdown Widget & Counter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Countdown Widget & Counter at 2.4K against Countdown's 162. On price, rating, review sentiment 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 Countdown Widget & Counter sells 10 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 Countdown against 4.6 for Countdown Widget & Counter. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown Widget & Counter has 2.4K ratings behind it against 162, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of Countdown's written reviews are positive against 76% of Countdown Widget & Counter's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Countdown versus Countdown Widget & Counter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdownCountdown Widget & Counter
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (162 ratings)4.6 (2.4K ratings)
Positive reviews70.0% of reviews75.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1622.4K — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB159 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperRob SammonsThe Good App Company, Limited Liability Company

Customer experience

Countdown

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

Countdown Widget & Counter

All ratings2,369 ratings
Positive91.0%
Neutral3.1%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews912 reviews
Positive75.9%
Neutral8.9%
Negative15.2%

User reviews

Countdown

From 162 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 🖼️ Customizable background images
  • ✨ Clean and elegant design
  • 🚀 Fast and reliable performance
  • 💰 Good value for one-time purchase

Room to improve

  • 💰 App became paid/premium required
  • 🖼️ Widget customization limitations
  • ⏳ Date selector can be cumbersome
  • 📸 Photo cropping/zooming issues
  • 🚫 Limited free features

Countdown Widget & Counter

From 2.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 👍 Fantastic for glancing at events
  • 👍 Cool app
  • 👍 Nice widgets
  • 👍 Good countdown app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Extremely buggy
  • 🔕 NOT IMPRESSED (no sound)
  • 💰 Expensive price
  • 💰 Money
  • 💰 Only 2 for free

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

Countdown Widget & Counter

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Time calculation isn't correct
  • Widget and in-app display show different days remaining
  • Widget goes blank after phone restart
  • Countdowns freeze or count up unexpectedly
  • Paid version still shows ads
Show 2 more
  • Widgets disappear after iOS updates
  • App loses all user data after updates

Requested features

11 requests
  • Better integration with calendar and reminder API
  • Ability to rearrange events in the countdown list
  • Option to default 'What's Next' to user's choice
  • Larger photo frame in widget
  • Ability to group events into categories
Show 6 more
  • Option to change font
  • Ability to select an emoji for icons
  • Notification times for events
  • Ability to select the countdown unit (weeks/months)
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Countdown

One-time1
  • Countdown Pro$1.99
10 purchases

Countdown Widget & Counter

Subscriptions8
  • Widget Studio PRO$1.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription$3.991 Month
  • Widget Studio PRO$4.991 Year
Show 5 more
  • Widget Studio PRO$5.991 Year
  • Widget Studio PRO2 variants$7.991 Year
  • Widget Studio PRO$8.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription3 Days trial$12.991 Year
  • Widget Studio PRO$12.991 Year
One-time2
  • Widget Studio Pro Lifetime$9.99
  • Widget Studio Pro Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Countdown free?
Countdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Countdown Widget & Counter free?
Countdown Widget & Counter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Countdown or Countdown Widget & Counter?
Countdown and Countdown Widget & Counter are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 162 and 2.4K ratings respectively.
Do Countdown or Countdown Widget & Counter have ads?
Neither Countdown nor Countdown Widget & Counter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Countdown or Countdown Widget & Counter?
Countdown ships an update fortnightly, and Countdown Widget & Counter fortnightly. Most recently, Countdown was updated on September 19, 2026 and Countdown Widget & Counter on September 24, 2026.

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