Comparison

Countdown vs 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 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

Countdown Widget

Track upcoming events with customizable widgets for your home and lock screens. It offers flexible repeat options, reminders, and data import/export. The app ensures your countdowns are always saved and provides a full-screen view for milestones.

Highlights
  • Multiple widget types and sizes
  • Unlimited event tracking
  • Count up or down
  • Customizable repeats and reminders
  • iCloud sync
  • Data import/export
  • Milestone sharing
Features
Read full description

A countdown that never loses your days — and never holds a widget back. Add the day that matters, put it on your home screen, and watch it come closer. No limit on how many you keep, and nothing between you and the number. EVERY WIDGET, FREE • Four widgets: one countdown, the next few in a list, a spotlight, or a tile for each • Every widget size, on the Home Screen and the Lock Screen • Unlimited events — there is no cap, and there never will be • Count down to a date, or count up from one • Recurring events: yearly, monthly, weekly, or every few days • Reminders on the day, and as far ahead as you want • iCloud sync, with no account to make • Import from a calendar, a spreadsheet, or another countdown app — and export any time • No ads, ever YOUR DAYS, KEPT Most countdown apps lose your events at the worst moment — an update, a reinstall, a phone that died. This one takes a snapshot of everything on this device every single day, and always before anything risky. Thirty days of history, one tap to restore, and nothing ever leaves your phone. Days that have already passed are never deleted either: they collect into a timeline you can look back through, with the longest wait of each year written next to it. THE MOMENT ITSELF When a countdown reaches a milestone — a hundred days, a week, the morning of — the app opens on the number, full screen, and gives you a card worth sharing. THE BACK OF EVERY EVENT Tap an event and it turns over to a page of its own. Write a few lines, add photos, record a voice — the story of the day, kept with the day. It syncs with iCloud, goes into every backup, and shares as one picture. MADE TO LOOK LIKE YOURS Thirty-six ready-made events, from a birthday to a first day at work, each already set up with the right repeat and the right reminders. Two hundred drawn icons and the whole emoji keyboard. A hundred and forty-three full-screen backdrops — twenty-two of them photographs — ninety-one in Pro. COUNTDOWN PRO Pro sells the finish, never the function. It unlocks the Pro backdrops, with a new drop every month. Whatever you unlock while subscribed stays yours for good — cancelling only stops the new ones arriving. Your countdowns, reminders and widgets work the same whether you subscribe or not. ——— Countdown Pro is an auto-renewing subscription. Prices for the annual plan, which includes a 7-day free trial, and the monthly plan are shown in the app before purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the current period ends, and you can manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings at any time. A one-time Lifetime purchase is also available; it does not renew. Privacy Policy: https://dyljqq.github.io/countdown/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://dyljqq.github.io/countdown/terms-of-service/

Screenshots

Countdown4 screens
Countdown Widget4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Countdown at 4.7 against Countdown Widget's 2.0. Countdown also leads on ratings volume (24K vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Countdown Widget's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (daily vs weekly). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and 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

Both are free to download. Countdown sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Countdown Widget sells 3 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

Countdown holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown has 24K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown ships an update weekly, Countdown Widget daily. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Countdown versus Countdown Widget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdownCountdown Widget
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (24K ratings) — better2.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings24K — better1
Update frequencyWeeklyDaily — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size200 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperROOT38 LIMITED可 吴

Customer experience

Countdown

All ratings23,856 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews967 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral7.3%
Negative12.6%

Countdown Widget

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

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

Countdown Widget

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
3 purchases

Countdown Widget

Subscriptions2
  • Countdown Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Countdown Pro Yearly7 Days trial$6.991 Year
One-time1
  • Countdown Pro Lifetime$9.99

Questions

Is Countdown free?
Countdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Countdown Widget free?
Countdown Widget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Countdown or Countdown Widget?
Countdown is rated higher. Countdown averages 4.7 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Countdown Widget averages 2.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Countdown or Countdown Widget have ads?
Countdown shows ads; Countdown Widget does not.
Which is updated more often, Countdown or Countdown Widget?
Countdown ships an update weekly, and Countdown Widget daily. Most recently, Countdown was updated on October 1, 2026 and Countdown Widget on September 28, 2026.

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