Which countdown app should you actually use?

Every countdown app shows a number going down. Our roundup of the best countdown apps for iPhone found the difference is in what that number is counting to — a date, a time later today, or a length of time — and where you get to see it for free. So this doesn’t rank them. It asks four questions and names the one built for your answers — ours only when that is the honest answer, and no app at all when you don’t need one.

1. What are you counting down to?
2. Where do you want to see the number?

This one moves the answer most: Lock Screen, Home Screen and Apple Watch are free in some apps and paid in others.

3. Anything it should be, besides a number?
4. How will you pay?

Where an app doesn’t publish what it charges for, this page says so instead of guessing. Nothing you choose leaves your browser.

If you’re counting to a time today

What a countdown to the next thing in your day looks like

  1. Set the fixed times once. Stand-up 9:30, lunch 12:00, pickup 15:00, each repeating on the weekdays you pick.
  2. Glance, don’t open. The Current Due widget shows the time left on your Lock Screen or Home Screen, free.
  3. Let it hand over. When stand-up arrives, the countdown is already on lunch. No timer to restart, no subtraction to do.
DuePal counting down 1:15:31 to Wind down, with the next due, Stand-up at 09:30, listed below
The next time, already countingYour dues in order, the current one live.
iPhone Home Screen with a DuePal widget counting down to Wind down beside days left to a birthday, the weekend and payday
On the Home ScreenCurrent Due is free; the Countdowns widget is Premium.
DuePal compared with a regular timer: counts to a time of day, hands over to the next, repeats on workdays, skips public holidays
Where a timer stopsA time of day, not a number of minutes.
Get DuePal on the App Store → Free · two dues and two countdowns of your own · no ads, no account · iPhone and iPad

The question that sorts this category

Most countdown apps count the days until a date. A few count down to times in your day. And for a length of time, the iPhone already has one. Once you know which of those you need, the roundup’s shortlist is one line each:

  • Days until a few big events, free Lock Screen widget — Countdown.
  • You want each countdown to look like a memory — Days.
  • Events in other time zones, or a celebration at zero — Countdown Star.
  • One countdown, designed exactly your way — Countdown Buddy.
  • Countdowns and habit streaks in one app — DayCount.
  • The times of your workday or school day — DuePal. That’s the one we make.

And the built-in answer: for 25 minutes or 2 hours, a timer in the Clock app stays on the Lock Screen while it runs.

Why where you see it can overrule how it looks

What you’re counting to picks the kind of app, and nothing overrides that. Where you want the number comes next, because that’s where the free versions differ most. Countdown Star has the confetti, but its listing describes Home Screen widgets only, so a Lock Screen reader gets Countdown. Countdown’s Home Screen widgets are Premium, so a free Home Screen reader gets Countdown Buddy’s one free widget. When a pick changes like that, the result says what you gave up in its headline, not in a footnote.

Where these answers come from

Every pick, tier and platform is taken from our roundup of the best countdown apps for iPhone, drawn from each app’s US App Store listing and website as of November 2026. Where the roundup has a dash — Countdown Buddy on Apple Watch, what Days charges for, what DayCount keeps free after its trial — this page doesn’t guess either, and tells you to check.

What this can’t tell you

It doesn’t count the days to your date or keep your events: it picks an app. It only knows six apps and one built-in timer, so it’s a shortlist, not a survey of the App Store. If what you want is the number under the clock and you’ve already picked an app, the steps are in how to put a countdown on your iPhone Lock Screen. And if the problem is the whole afternoon slipping by rather than a single date, our guide to visual timer apps for ADHD goes further.

Frequently asked questions

Which countdown app should I use on iPhone?

It depends what you are counting down to. For the days until a few events, with a free Lock Screen widget, Countdown by Find Appiness. For a photo behind every event, Days. For a celebration at zero or events in other time zones, Countdown Star. To design the widget yourself, Countdown Buddy. For countdowns and habit streaks together, DayCount. For the fixed times of your workday or school day, DuePal, which we make. For a length of time, the Clock app’s timer is enough.

Which countdown app has a free Home Screen widget?

Countdown by Find Appiness puts its Home Screen widgets behind Premium, one purchase. Countdown Buddy’s free version includes one countdown widget with the basic design, in small or medium. For times in your day rather than dates, DuePal’s Current Due widget is free on the Home Screen and the Lock Screen.

Is there a countdown app without a subscription?

Yes. Countdown by Find Appiness sells Premium as one purchase with no subscription. Countdown Star has a free version with ads and a Remove Ads purchase, or a separate paid ad-free version. DayCount Premium is a yearly subscription or a lifetime purchase, and DuePal Premium is weekly, monthly or yearly, or a one-time purchase.

Is this countdown app finder free, and does it send anything anywhere?

It is free, there is no sign-up, and nothing you choose leaves your browser. It does not ask for your dates or count the days for you. It only knows the six apps in our roundup of the best countdown apps for iPhone and the built-in Clock timer, and only what they publish, so it is a starting point rather than a survey of the App Store.