Best Free Countdown App for iPhone in 2026: What "Free" Really Includes
Short answer: every app in the countdown category is "Free" on the App Store, and almost every one of them charges for widgets. The honest question is what each free tier includes. If you want everything free with no subscription, Widget Countdown says so outright (but needs iOS 26 and has few ratings). If you want a free app with a huge user base, Countdown by Find Appiness is free for events and reminders, with widgets in Premium. If you want to pay once and be done, Countdown Star, Pretty Progress, Countdown: Event Countdown, DayCount and DayDrop all offer a one-time purchase.
Four kinds of "free"
- Free forever. All features, no subscription, no ads. Rare, and usually a small independent app.
- Free core, paid widgets. Creating events and getting reminders is free; Home Screen or Lock Screen widgets are the paywall. The most common model.
- Free with ads. Everything works, ads show, and a one-time purchase removes them.
- Free trial, then subscription. Full features for 7 to 30 days, then a yearly charge unless you cancel. Several apps also sell a lifetime unlock as the alternative.
Nine countdown apps and what you actually get for free
Ratings and counts are from the US App Store on October 7, 2026, via Apple's public lookup. "What's free" and "What's paid" are taken from each app's own description on that date; descriptions change, so check the listing before you rely on a detail.
| App | Rating (US) | What's free | What's paid | Pay once? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Countdown (Find Appiness) | 4.81 · 187,887 | Unlimited events, reminders | Home Screen, Lock Screen and StandBy widgets, calendar auto-import, countdown format (Premium) | Not listed |
| Countdown Star | 4.77 · 215,980 | Full app with ads | Remove-ads purchase, or a separate paid ad-free version | Yes |
| Countdown@ | 4.70 · 40,204 | Description doesn't list a paid tier | Not described | — |
| TimeCount | 4.60 · 24,298 | "Unlimited Free Mode" | Not detailed in the listing | Not listed |
| Countdown: Event Countdown (ROOT38) | 4.75 · 23,872 | Free version with ads | Ad-free, calendars, detailed notifications (Premium) | Yes (lifetime) or monthly/yearly |
| DayCount | 4.66 · 26,260 | Core app | Premium: yearly subscription with a 7-day free trial | Yes (lifetime) |
| Countdown Buddy | 4.64 · 26,041 | One widget, basic design | More widgets and designs | Not listed |
| Countdown – Pretty Progress | 4.71 · 3,073 | Four widgets, two designs, daily/weekly/monthly/yearly progress | PRO (one-time, Family Sharing enabled) | Yes |
| Widget Countdown (Bradley Cable) | 4.04 · 54 | Everything: "free and always will be", widgets and images included | Nothing | Nothing to buy; requires iOS 26 |
| DayDrop (this site) | 4.76 · 21 (83 worldwide) | Unlimited countdowns, Small and Medium Home Screen widgets, all themes, photo backgrounds, reminders, share cards with a watermark | Lock Screen and Large widgets, Live Activity (Dynamic Island), AI backgrounds, iCloud sync: $1.99/mo or $12.99/yr with a 1-month free trial | Yes: $24.99 lifetime |
"Not listed" means the description doesn't mention it on the date above. DayDrop's worldwide rating is 4.6 from 85 ratings. US prices for DayDrop as of October 7, 2026.
Picks by situation
- Truly free, no catch: Widget Countdown. Small app, few ratings, iOS 26 only, but the developer's promise is explicit.
- Free and proven at scale: Countdown by Find Appiness. The biggest dedicated countdown app by ratings; just know that widgets are Premium.
- Hate subscriptions, fine paying once: Pretty Progress (PRO, one-time) or Countdown Star's paid version. Both have been around for years.
- Want widgets free on the Home Screen without paying anything: DayDrop (Small and Medium) or Pretty Progress (four widgets).
- Want a live ticking countdown or an AI background and will pay once: DayDrop lifetime at $24.99, or Countdown: Event Countdown lifetime for the Live Activity without AI.
When a one-time purchase beats a subscription
A countdown app is something you keep for years, so the arithmetic is simple: if the yearly plan costs more than a third of the lifetime price, and you expect to keep the app more than three years, lifetime wins. With DayDrop, $12.99 a year against $24.99 lifetime means lifetime is cheaper from the second year on. The case for a subscription is a feature with ongoing cost to the developer, such as server-side AI image generation; that is the reason most AI features are subscriptions, and the reason to check whether a lifetime unlock covers them (DayDrop's does).
DayDrop is free with unlimited countdowns and Home Screen widgets. Premium adds Lock Screen widgets, the Dynamic Island Live Activity and AI backgrounds, with a one-month free trial on the yearly plan or a $24.99 lifetime unlock.
Download DayDropFrequently asked questions
What is the best completely free countdown app for iPhone?
For everything free with no subscription and no ads, Widget Countdown by Bradley Cable states all features are free and always will be, though it requires iOS 26 and has only 54 ratings. For a free tier with a large user base, Countdown by Find Appiness is free for events and reminders with widgets in Premium. TimeCount advertises an unlimited free mode.
Which countdown apps let me pay once instead of subscribing?
Countdown Star (paid ad-free version), Pretty Progress (one-time PRO), Countdown: Event Countdown and DayCount (lifetime alongside subscriptions), and DayDrop ($24.99 lifetime).
Do free countdown apps have widgets?
This is where most paywalls sit. Countdown by Find Appiness puts widgets in Premium; Countdown Buddy includes one basic widget free; Pretty Progress includes four; DayDrop's Small and Medium Home Screen widgets are free with Lock Screen and Large in Premium.
Are free countdown apps ad-supported?
Some. Countdown Star's free version shows ads with a remove-ads purchase; Countdown: Event Countdown lists ad-free as a Premium benefit. DayDrop, Countdown by Find Appiness and Pretty Progress don't describe ads in their listings.