Comparison

Countdown vs SimpleCal

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 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/

About

SimpleCal

This app offers a straightforward way to manage your schedule, sync events across devices using iCloud or Google Calendar, and stay organized with reminders and weather forecasts. Its customizable interface and simple design make adding and editing events quick and intuitive.

Highlights
  • Cross-platform sync (iCloud/Google)
  • Event reminders (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)
  • Weather forecast integration
  • Customizable event and color themes
  • Simple event adding and editing
  • Widget for quick event overview
  • Dark mode support
Features
Read full description

SimpleCal is the easiest calendar app on the App Store. Sync your schedule across platforms and devices through iCloud or Google calendar. - Sync All the events on your current calendar are transferable from another calendars via iCloud or Google calendar. (The connection uses the calendar account registered in the Settings app) - Widget Your recent events can be displayed on a widget to grasp what to do quickly. - Weather The weather forecast for the specified area is displayed on the calendar(up to one week ahead) - Reminders You won't miss your important events via SimpleCal's reminder. The reminders can be repeated daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. - Customizable interface Each event and calendar can have different colors, which makes you easily recognize your schedule. The color theme is also customizable. You can find your favorite theme for sure. - Simple design You can add or edit an event only with a few steps. Do you have some routine in your life? Then, try SimpleCal! You can create a new event just by dragging a past event. - Dark Mode Supports dark mode. - Data Backup Saves event data to an external server such as iCloud Calendar or Google Calendar. (The app does not have its own calendar and does not save to the device's local area.) In the unlikely event that your iPhone is damaged, you can simply log in to your original calendar account to load your previous event data.

Screenshots

Countdown4 screens
SimpleCal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Countdown at weekly against SimpleCal's fortnightly. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and SimpleCal sells 2 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 — 4.7 for Countdown against 4.7 for SimpleCal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 24K and 18K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of Countdown's written reviews are positive against 85% of SimpleCal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown ships an update weekly, SimpleCal fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 15, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Countdown versus SimpleCal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdownSimpleCal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (24K ratings)4.7 (18K ratings)
Positive reviews80.1% of reviews85.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings24K — better18K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
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
Size200 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperROOT38 LIMITEDYohei Fujikawa

Customer experience

Countdown

All ratings23,856 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews970 reviews
Positive80.1%
Neutral7.3%
Negative12.6%

SimpleCal

All ratings17,608 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews1,227 reviews
Positive85.2%
Neutral3.3%
Negative11.5%

User reviews

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

SimpleCal

From 18K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 😍 Awesome!!
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 Well-organized
  • 🎨 Helpful color-coding
  • ⏰ Useful reminders

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Deleted events/data loss
  • 🔒 Requires full access to Apple Calendar
  • 🗓️ Can't edit read-only events
  • 🎨 Limited color options
  • 🗓️ Can't add events on days with existing events

Bugs and requests

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

SimpleCal

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Calendar stuck on one date
  • Home screen widget not working
  • Issues with setting recurring events

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add more color options
  • Ability to gray out past days
  • Custom reminder times
  • Separate work and personal calendars
  • Printable calendar view
Show 3 more
  • Sync colors across devices
  • Add subtasks for events
  • Ability to delete specific holidays

In-app purchases

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
2 purchases

SimpleCal

Subscriptions1
  • Ads removal$0.991 Month
One-time1
  • Remove Ads$49.99

Questions

Is Countdown free?
Countdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SimpleCal free?
SimpleCal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Countdown or SimpleCal?
Countdown and SimpleCal are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 24K and 18K ratings respectively.
Do Countdown or SimpleCal have ads?
Both Countdown and SimpleCal show ads.
Which is updated more often, Countdown or SimpleCal?
Countdown ships an update weekly, and SimpleCal fortnightly. Most recently, Countdown was updated on October 15, 2026 and SimpleCal on October 15, 2026.

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