CountLink
The short answer
CountdownShare is built for marketing: countdown images that survive an email client, per-visitor "evergreen" urgency timers, campaign analytics, branded landing pages. CountLink is built for a group watching the same clock. If you are running a sales campaign, CountdownShare does things CountLink deliberately refuses to do. If you are timing a meeting, a class or a stream, you are paying $9/month for a feature set aimed at somebody else.
Side by side
| CountLink | CountdownShare | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, permanently. No paid tier exists. | Free tier; Pro $9/month or $199 one-time lifetime |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Active timers | Unlimited | 3 free · unlimited on Pro |
| Viewers | Unlimited | Unlimited views on website embeds is a Pro feature |
| Watermark / branding on free tier | None | Branding on the free tier; removed on Pro |
| Website embed (iframe) | Free, no watermark | Yes, core to the product |
| Countdown image or GIF for email | No | Yes (Pro) |
| Evergreen per-visitor countdown | Deliberately not offered (see below) | Yes (Pro) |
| Campaign analytics | No | Yes (Pro) |
| Custom design (fonts, colours, layouts) | Three board styles, no custom colours | Yes |
| Everyone sees the identical time remaining | Always. It is the whole mechanic | Yes for fixed-date timers; no for evergreen ones, by design |
| Live pause / adjust pushed to viewers | Free, unlimited screens | Not offered |
| Join code to read out | Free | Not offered |
| Agenda, intervals, laps, stopwatch | Free | Not offered |
| OBS / stream overlay | Free, transparent, no watermark | Not offered |
CountdownShare figures verified against their own pricing page on 12 September 2026. Prices and limits change, so check theirs before deciding.
What CountdownShare does better
Email countdowns. An email client will not run JavaScript, so a countdown in an email has to be a server-rendered image or animated GIF regenerated on every open. CountdownShare does this; CountLink does not. Its README badge is an image, but it shows coarse time remaining and is built for a GitHub README, not a Klaviyo campaign.
Evergreen per-visitor countdowns. Each visitor gets their own countdown starting when they arrive. This is a real marketing technique and it works. CountLink will not do it, and that is a deliberate refusal rather than a missing feature. The entire premise here is that everyone sees the same instant, and a per-visitor timer is the exact opposite. If you want one, you want their tool, not ours.
Design control and analytics. Fonts, colours, layouts, branded landing pages and campaign reporting. CountLink offers three board styles and no analytics at all.
What CountLink does better
The free tier is not a trial. Theirs allows three active timers and puts branding on them. CountLink has no timer limit, no watermark, and no upgrade.
Everything for a live group. Live pause and adjust pushed to every screen, a join code to read to a room, agendas that advance themselves, interval timers, laps, a stream overlay, a printable poster. CountdownShare does none of this, because none of it is what a marketing countdown needs.
No account. Theirs needs one before you can make anything.
Which one should you use?
Pick CountdownShare if the countdown is part of a campaign: a launch page, a sale, an email sequence, anything where you want branding, analytics, or per-visitor urgency.
Pick CountLink if the countdown is for people in a room, a call or a stream, all of whom should see the same number at the same moment.
Common questions
Can CountLink put a countdown in an email?
No. Email clients don't run JavaScript, so an email countdown has to be a server-rendered image regenerated on each open — that is a different product and CountdownShare builds it. CountLink's badge image is for READMEs and forum posts and shows coarse time remaining, not a live tick.
Why won't CountLink do evergreen per-visitor countdowns?
Because they contradict the premise. CountLink exists so that everyone opening a link sees the identical instant; a per-visitor countdown gives three people opening the same link three different timers. It is a legitimate marketing technique and a legitimate product — just not this one.
Can I put a CountLink countdown on my own website?
Yes, free and without a watermark. The embed builder produces an iframe with size and style options, and every visitor sees the same remaining time because the end instant is fixed in the link.
Does CountLink track who opens a countdown?
No. There is no per-timer analytics of any kind, which is the flip side of there being no server holding the countdown.