Comparison

Countdown vs LoopDiary

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

LoopDiary

Features
Read full description

Loop Diary is a habit tracker that doesn't punish you for having a life. You set a loop — read three times a week, run on Mondays and Thursdays, drink water every day — and close it by the end of the week. The ring fills as you go. That's the whole idea. What makes it different is what happens when you miss. REST WEEKS Some weeks you're ill, away, or busy, and tracking a habit is the last thing you need. Rest a loop for a week or a month and Loop Diary records it as rest. Your streak survives. It doesn't go on your record as a failure, because it wasn't one. And if you put the app down for a while, coming back is one banner and one screen — not a review to dismiss for every loop and every week you missed. A DIARY, NOT JUST A TICK Every time you close a loop you can note how it went and how you felt. A line is enough. Over months those lines become the part worth keeping — the reason a habit stuck, or didn't. Search it, filter it by loop, and read it back whenever you want. TRENDS THAT SAY SOMETHING Twelve weeks of completion and mood, and a breakdown of which days actually hold up. Most people have a weak day they've never noticed. Loop Diary will tell you what yours is, in a sentence, and leave you to decide what to do about it. Rest weeks are excluded from your rate, so a week off doesn't drag down the numbers. YOUR DIARY STAYS YOURS Everything syncs through your own iCloud account, privately. There is no Loop Diary account, no server holding your entries, and no analytics watching you use the app. We can't read what you write. Nobody can. Export the whole thing whenever you like — readable Markdown, or JSON with every field, for backup or for moving somewhere else entirely. ALSO IN LOOP DIARY • Daily or weekly targets, on the days you choose • Reminders you can complete or snooze without opening the app • Archive loops instead of deleting them, and bring them back later • Reorder your loops • A calendar of completions, with your mood alongside • Streaks, weeks closed, and your best run • Dark throughout No streaks-lost guilt trips. No leaderboards. No accounts. Just your loops, your diary, and an honest picture of how it's going.

Screenshots

Countdown4 screens
LoopDiary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Countdown at Free against LoopDiary's $2.99. Countdown also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.2). LoopDiary's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and ads (none vs shown). On 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

Countdown is free to download; LoopDiary costs $2.99 up front. Countdown sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. LoopDiary asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown ships an update weekly, LoopDiary every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Countdown versus LoopDiary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdownLoopDiary
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.7 (24K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews80.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings24K — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.2
Further details — not scored
Size200 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperROOT38 LIMITEDElement Seven Digital Limited

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

LoopDiary

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

LoopDiary

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Countdown free?
Countdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LoopDiary free?
LoopDiary costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Countdown or LoopDiary have ads?
Countdown shows ads; LoopDiary does not.
Which is updated more often, Countdown or LoopDiary?
Countdown ships an update weekly, and LoopDiary every 5 months. Most recently, Countdown was updated on October 22, 2026 and LoopDiary on October 6, 2026.

Other comparisons