8 Best Email Countdown Timers to Use for Free in 2024

In this guide, you will find the best email countdown timers to use on your email marketing campaigns.

Unlike several years ago, it’s harder to get your email subscribers’ attention. Due to the heavy competition, getting people to open emails and getting them to click your links in the message body is harder than ever before. There are many proven ways to increase conversions. One of those is utilizing countdown timers in email.

5 Benefits of using countdown timers in emails

1. Boost conversions on your email marketing campaigns: Urgency is an emotional trigger used by almost every successful marketing company. By showing a real-time countdown timer in email newsletters, you can visually showcase that the offer or promotion is limited for a specific time and boost conversions. Also, some email countdown services allow you to add a custom message to show up after the timer expires.
2. FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out is triggered deeply when your offer or promotion is listed as time-limited.
3. Increase clicks and engagement: Visual content can boost clicks from email messages. Rather than merely displaying the date and time, you can show beautiful countdown timers for emails and get more engagement.
4. Run evergreen countdown timers: Selling products via email drip campaigns saves your time and makes you money on auto-pilot. Utilize evergreen countdown timers in emails to make use of most of them.
5. Dynamic countdown timers: Segmentation and personalization are essential nowadays to stand out from hundreds of marketers and competitors fighting to take your subscriber’s attention every time. By utilizing Dynamic countdown timers, you can promote subscriber-catered offers.

How to use Email Countdown Timers

There are many ways to use animated countdown timers in emails. Here are some popular methods:

1. Promote offers to your list
2. Get people excited for a special announcement
3. Countdown to a special occasion or holiday or mega sale seasons such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Double Eleven mega offer seasons
4. Evergreen timers in emails
5. Upcoming hotel stays or flight times
6. Notify the giveaway closing date and time
7. Abandoned shopping cart emails
8. Time-limited coupon emails
9. Customer alerts for upcoming charges
10. Trial expiration emails
11. Event or webinar signup emails

Best tools to use along with Email Timers

Elfsight — Add Widgets to Your Website

When running a successful online business, you will have to add different widgets to collect data, display information, and convert visitors into leads and sales. Elfsight is a high-quality HTML widgets builder with over 80 apps in its catalog.

Here are some of the HTML widgets you can create:

• Website Countdown Timer
• Social Chat widgets (WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, etc.)
• Social Feed widgets (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.)
• Reviews widgets (Google Business, Amazon, Facebook, TrustPilot, etc.)
• Number Counter
• Social Proof Notifications
• Form widget
• Pricing table
• YouTube Gallery
• Popup
• Photo Gallery

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Power up your email marketing business with these top three tools.

UpViral

10/10

Get the upper hand on competitive niches and get free traffic and leads through viral referral giveaways. UpViral is the best giveaway software we've used (collected over 9K leads so far), and it's equipped with tons of features and unique functionalities than its competition.

 

• Unlimited giveaway campaigns and unlimited landing page visitors
• Advanced drag-and-drop page editor (Build beautiful pages that are high converting)
• Run giveaway and rewards campaigns in one campaign
• A/B test signup page and share pages and email notification messages
• Integrations with popular email marketing tools and Zapier and WebHooks support
• Import and export UpViral giveaway campaigns (it's like Clickfunnels. So easy to use.)
• Multiple winner selection methods

Check UpViralRead Review

Udimi

9/10

There is a reason why email marketing is so powerful. How about buying the best email traffic to build your email list fast and sell your own or affiliate offers? That is what Udimi marketplace is for:

 

• Free registration and get a $5 coupon code
• Search sellers in your niche
• Genuine reviews from buyers
• Manage all your solo ads campaigns in one place
• Add your copy (subject line and body text) or just send your traffic rotation link to the solo ads provider
• 100% money-back guarantee on non-delivered orders
• 24*7 live chat support

Check UdimiRead Review

ConvertBox

8/10

Easily build beautiful and high converting popups, inline forms and integrate with your existing email autoresponder tools and CRM software.

 

• Unlimited ConvertBoxes
• Advanced targeting options
• Drag-and-drop widget editor
• Integrations including Zapier, Google Analytics, and WebHooks
• Import and export ConvertBox templates
• WordPress plugin
• Offered in a Lifetime deal - Learn more.

Check ConvertBoxRead Review

8 Best Email Countdown Timers

Powr Email Countdown timer

Powr is one of the best online tools that provide embeddable widgets for website owners and marketers. Its email countdown timer is not only one of the easiest countdown timers for emails but also the most valuable as well.

Here are why:

Customizable – Powr email countdown timer plugin lets you change the colors, fonts, borders, backgrounds, etc., to resonate with your email newsletters and brand color palette.
Live editing – The WYSIWYG editor lets you edit the appearance of the email countdown clock efficiently. No more switching back and forth between live preview and edit modes!
Localize – Do you want to translate timer details into your local languages? No problem.
Mobile responsive – Your animated timers will look beautiful on both desktop and mobile devices.
Cloud Synched – One of the best features of the Powr email countdown timer plugin is that it is cloud synchronized. It means you can re-edit the timer again and use the timer in your email newsletters, solo ad campaigns, websites, forum signatures, and with tools that work anywhere!

HTML email countdown timer code

Click on the publish button at the top right corner of the header. You will see a page similar to the given screenshot below.

Copy the code and paste it into the HTML editor of your email marketing tool. The best part is that the Powr email countdown timer is not capped in views nor limited to where you can use it. That means you can use the Powr email countdown timer unlimited times anywhere!

So, what about the pricing?

Powr Email countdown app pricing

Powr’s email countdown timer is free for life! If you upgrade to the Business plan, you can get access to 60+ other apps like the website countdown timer widget, count up timer, holiday countdown gadget, social feed, comments, and reviews plugin.

Click here to get the Powr email countdown app for free.

MailTimer

MailTimer is a dedicated countdown timer GIF generator for emails. Its free plan is generous enough, and paid plans are pretty affordable, too, compared with other services. Learn more in the MailTimer review.

Key features of MailTimer:

• Four different timer types:
  1. Standard – Set expiration date and time.
  2. Run when the email is opened – This timer type is an evergreen type. The countdown clock will start when a recipient opens an email message, and the timer is unique to each subscriber.
  3. Run when the email is sent – This evergreen timer type lets you create countdowns to be started when the email is sent.
  4. Dynamic end date – This timer type allows you to set expiration dates and times through variables. Perfect for transactional emails. Ex: Time-sensitive voucher codes with coupon expiration timers.
• Templates – Currently, Mailtimer includes nine different layouts
• Localize – Mailtimer allows editing labels and localizing the front-end appearance of the email timer
• On expiration actions – Specify what to do when the timer hits zero. Show zeros, hide the timer, show a message, and reset & start are four available options.
• Dynamic Links – Two links when the timer is active and inactive.
• Custom fonts, time zone support, transparent background, custom domains, analytics, API, archive timers, and much more.

Here’s a video on using Mailtimer:

Mailtimer offers free and paid plans. Its free plan comes with unlimited views, transparent background, 4 timer types & evergreen email countdown timers, and public API.

Paid plans let you remove the branding from timers and offer features such as custom fonts, dynamic links, custom domains, and background images.

Click here to try Mailtimer.

PromoFeatures

PromoFeatures is a tool to make countdown time images for emails. But, like most other tools listed below, you can also embed them on your website.

• Make unlimited countdown timers for email and web
• Customize the design with the easy-to-use visual editor
• Perpetual countdown clocks for emails (perfect for evergreen email campaigns)
• Translate labels into 40+ languages
• Dynamic countdown timers
• Customize timer design
• Expired message customization
• Real-time analytics
• Import settings from other timers and more

PromoFeatures has got free and premium plans. The free plan allows up to 30,000 views for the web and email countdown timers. Paid plans start from $6.99 (Starter Kit) and let you remove the branding.

Click here to explore PromoFeatures.

CountdownMail

CountdownMail is a feature-rich and easy-to-use tool for making countdown timers for emails. One of the features of CountdownMail is Dynamic links that let you redirect visitors based on the countdown timer’s settings.

Here are several key features:

• Three timer types – Fixed date, Evergreen, and Dynamic (based on the timestamp on the URL)
• Dozens of premade templates to get started for beginners
• Localization – Make your timers localized for your targeted audience
• Intuitive builder – Not only navigating through the editor but also customizing everything is easier.
• Modify instantly
• Manage timers easily
• Various embed customization options: Enable HTTPS, align your timer, and many more.
• Transparent timers and add background images
• Credit rollover

Here’s a video tutorial on how to use CountdownMail to design a timer for emails.

CountdownMail has both free and paid plans. Its free plan is limited in features but offers unlimited views with branding on timers. The paid plan starts from $7.99 (the Starting Up plan). It has a 100,000 views per-month limit. Sign up for free and give it a try over here.

MailTimers

MailTimers is a dedicated countdown clock creation tool for emails. Therefore, you will experience all the tools needed for designing a good timer.

• Intuitive timer builder – MailTimers has a pretty smooth interface with basic to advanced settings
• Unlimited email countdown timers
• Create your countdown email timer in 30+ languages
• Edit timers anytime
• Transparent background
• Set up the expiry message
• Evergreen and Cyclic timers
• Adobe Photoshop Timers
• Real-time analytics
• Credits rollover

MailTimers has three timer types:

1. Fixed date countdown timer
2. Evergreen countdown timer
3. Cyclic countdown timer

MailTimers has got free and premium plans. The free plan allows basic editing and has up to 100,000 views per month. Yet, the branding cannot be removed.

But, in the paid plans, you get all features along with features such as credit rollover. The cost of the basic paid plan, which is Startup, is $9.99/mo, and it offers brand removal options and up to 150,000 views/month.

If you were looking for a good and cheap alternative to NiftyImages, give MailTimers a try.

Sendtric

Sendtric is an online countdown timer for both emails and websites with a clean and easy-to-use interface. One of the biggest advantages of Sendric countdown timers is that you will be able to create timers for free, and they will be free of branding.

Here are some key benefits of Sendtric:

• Clutter-free interface and is easy to get started.
• It has a free plan, and it’s free of Sendtric branding.
• Advanced customization (PRO) – Give your email countdown timers a new look by language, timer digits, and appearance customization.
• Perpetual and Unique User Timers (PRO) – Boost CTR and conversions by using evergreen timers and displaying unique timers for each visitor
• Dynamic Timers (PRO) – Generate timers programmatically to show unique timers based on the subscriber’s stage on your marketing funnels.
• Timer Templates – Know how often your timer is shown and easily edit, duplicate, and archive an email countdown timer.

Their paid plans start from $9 per month. The basic paid plan, the MICRO, costs $9 per month and allows up to 150,000 countdown views/per month. Sendtric’s FREE plan is more than enough if your list is small. But, one downside of the free plan is you cannot extend the timer for more than 30 days.

Download: 900+ Best Email Subject Lines for Promotional Campaigns

MotionMail

MotionMail is a real-time countdown timer provider for emails.

• Create unlimited timers
• Design your own countdown timer for email campaigns
• Customize time zone, language, and end date/time
• Preview the look on your screen
• Easily add to your email newsletters and drip campaigns as an image
• Credits roll over (From the ‘Startup’ paid plan)

MotionMail’s FREE plan allows up to 20,000 views per month. However, the downside of the free plan is the MotionMail branding cannot be removed, and most features are blocked or limited. However, paid plans that start from $10 per month (100,000 views/month) allow brand removal.

NiftyImages

NiftyImages is a powerful app to personalize emails and boost conversions. Among several tools of the NiftyImages app, the Countdown timer for emails is one of the most used.

• Quickly set up your countdown timer – No more advanced options. Set and go!
• 40+ languages to use
• Select from hundreds of Google fonts or upload your own .TTF font files
• Count up from a date in the past
• Add expiration image to show up after the timer is up
• Advanced Dynamic countdown timer options, such as starting the timer as visitors navigate your site

NiftyImages does not offer a free plan. Paid plans start from $20 per month. The basic paid plan has a monthly 50,000 views in total for every countdown timer. If you are a seasoned marketer and want to take your campaigns to the next level, NiftyImages would be a good choice.

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Best Email Countdown Timers Comparison

All websites mentioned above allow you to create countdown timers based on a fixed date and customize them to match your brand. But, some of them have unique features compared with others. Only Sendtric allows brand removal from their timers in the free plan. Here is a basic comparison table for the best countdown timers for email marketing.

How to make email timer clickable

Many email editors allow adding a hyperlink to an image. But, if that is not possible or you send plain text emails and want to make counting down clocks clickable, follow the steps below.

Step 01: Get your embeddable countdown timer code. Here, I use Powr’s email timer.

Step 02: Change the ‘HTML view’ mode in your email editor and paste the HTML code.

Step 03: Wrap the timer’s HTML code with the <a> anchor element. See the example below.

<a href="https://www.pitiya.com"><div style="width:100%; text-align:center;"><img src="https://www.powr.io/apps/30793852/countdown-gif" alt="Email Timer" style="height:96px; width:360px;" height="96" width="360"/></div></a>

DEMO: Clicking the image below will redirect you to the Pitiya homepage.

Conclusion on Best Countdown Timers for Email

Urgency is an emotional trigger and a marketing tactic used by most marketers. Countdown timers on your email campaigns can work tremendously because of three basic reasons.

1. Visual appealing faster – People’s eyes catch the visual content faster than text. In fact, visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text! Even better, since these are animated countdown timers for emails, those will catch the eyes quickly.
2. Universally understandable – Your subscribers could be from all around the world. There is no need to worry about the time zones of individual subscribers because each countdown timer has a fixed date.
3. Unique customization possibilities – Want to utilize countdown timers in email drip campaigns? And want to trigger the countdown timing based on the users’ email open time? The limits are not limited to email countdown timers.

Also, because email countdown timers are animated graphics (GIF), you will be able to embed them on any HTML email editor, including any website builder. However, if you want more powers, such as redirecting traffic after the timer hits zero, I recommend these countdown timers for websites especially.

If you have yet to utilize a countdown clock for email, give it a try soon and compare the results. I use countdown timers often on my emails for affiliate promotions and giveaway campaigns (and they work pretty well.)

So, have you ever used any of these email countdown timers? Drop your comments below.

Frequently Asked Questions on Best Email Countdown Timers