Are you preparing to launch your website or have an upcoming sale? You should consider using a countdown timer.
Countdowns are excellent for creating a sense of urgency that captures the attention of the visitor. Many businesses use this FOMO (fear of missing out) marketing technique to increase sales.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the best WordPress countdown plugins. But first, let’s look at the different types of countdown timers we have.
Types of Countdown Timer for WordPress
A countdown timer plugin for WordPress adds a timer that counts down to a specific event. For example, a timer that counts down the minutes until the sale begins.
There are basically two types of WordPress countdown timers, which I will explain below. In addition to that, I will also show you ways you can use them on your website.
Normal Countdown Timer
These are simple countdown timers that come to everyone’s mind when they hear the word ‘countdown’. They have an end time after which they stop. The countdown timer will show the same number no matter who the visitor is and from where he is accessing the website.
You can use the static countdown timer for:
- Coming soon website
- When the website is down for some maintenance
- Registration for an event or webinar
- Creating buzz for an upcoming sale
Evergreen Countdown Timer
These are advanced countdown timers that are primarily used as a marketing tool to create a sense of urgency. Each visitor gets a specific countdown that lasts for a set amount of time.
You can use the Evergreen countdown timers for:
- Holiday or seasonal campaign
- Product milestone sales
- Limited time flash sale
- Special Offers
Now that we know the different types of timers, let’s look at some of the best WordPress countdown timer plugins.
8 Best Countdown Plugins for WordPress
Before I begin listing the plugins, I’d like to specify the criteria I used to select the plugins for this article.
- Plugin Rating: Plugins that have 4+ ratings on the WordPress repository.
- Update Frequency: Plugins that are updated at least once in the last 6 months made it to the list.
- Compatible: Plugins that are compatible with the latest update of WordPress 5+.
- Speed: Plugins that have clean code and do not hamper the website speed.
You can click the below link to jump to the plugin you are interested in.
- Elementor Page Builder
- Kadence Blocks
- HurryTimer
- Finale Lite
- Ultimate Blocks
- Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks
- Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin
- WP Maintenance Mode
Let’s jump right in and see which are the best countdown plugins for WordPress.
1. Elementor Page Builder
Elementor is more than just a page builder; it includes a wide range of marketing widgets such as the Countdown, Pricing Table, Contact Form, and many others. It is a single plugin that can help in the replacement of many of your existing plugins.
The countdown timer widget is part of Elementor Pro. You can use it for static as well as an evergreen countdown timer.
Once you open the Elementor editor, search for the countdown widget and add it to the page. It will give you a number of configuration options.
At the top, you can toggle between the countdown type. For a static timer, you can specify a date when the countdown will end. For evergreen timer, you can input the number of hours and minutes.
It allows you to show or hide certain countdown blocks such as days, hours, minutes, seconds.
It also allows you to add an after-expire action, which can be set to show a message, redirect or just hide the timer widget.
When it comes to styling, you can set a custom background color for boxes as well as set color for digits and labels.
If you are looking for a free option with Elementor, you can install Essential Addons that adds a static countdown widget.
2. Kadence Blocks
Kadence Blocks is a Gutenberg block editor plugin that includes a number of blocks that fill in the gaps in the core blocks.
The countdown block is the most recent addition to its block list. It is available in the plugin’s free and pro versions.
The free version of Kadence Blocks only allows you to add a static countdown, whereas the Pro version allows you to add an evergreen countdown timer.
It gives you complete control over how the blocks look. The timer can be displayed inline or as blocks.
When the countdown period expires, you can set the action to display content, redirect to a URL, display zero, or simply hide it.
3. HurryTimer
Hurrytimer is a completely free countdown plugin for WordPress that includes both a normal and an evergreen countdown timer. It uses a cookie and IP detection technique to display the appropriate evergreen timer to each user.
It also has Recurring Campaigns, which allow you to set self-repeating countdown timers that follow a set of rules. The plugin works well with WooCommerce, and you can display a countdown timer on the product page to encourage more clicks on the add to cart button.
When the timer expires, you have the option of redirecting to another page, hiding the countdown timer, or displaying a custom message.
As you might expect, the plugin includes several customization options to help you achieve the look you really want.
A Gutenberg block would have made things easier, but you can use the shortcode to display the timer anywhere on the website.
4. Finale Lite
Finale Lite is a WooCommerce countdown timer plugin that includes features to increase your sales.
You can use it to display the countdown timer on single product pages for sale campaigns such as flash sales, seasonal promotions, coupon code expire timer, pre-launch offers, daily deals, faster shipping deadline campaigns, and many more.
This displays the deadline to the shopper, prompting them to act.
The Finale Pro plugin enables you to automate your sales campaign. You can specify the start date/time, duration, pause period, and the number of recurrences. The campaign will start, pause, and restart itself without your intervention.
5. Ultimate Blocks – Advanced Gutenberg Blocks
Ultimate Blocks is a multipurpose Gutenberg plugin that is free to download from the WP.org repository. It includes 22 custom blocks, one of which is a countdown block.
The plugin only lets you add a simple countdown timer. There are three skins available for the countdown block: regular text, circular progress, and the digital clock.
Unlike other plugins on the list, Ultimate Blocks is a simple plugin and does not come with many styling options.
6. Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks
Getwid Blocks is a multipurpose WordPress block plugin for Gutenberg from MotoPress. The plugin includes a number of blocks to improve the block editor experience.
It is a simple plugin that allows you to add a static countdown timer to any page on your website. You can change the default font family, style, size, spacing, and color scheme for the numbers and labels.
7. CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin
CMP is a free WordPress countdown plugin that can be used to display a coming soon page or a maintenance mode page. It comes with three free themes, and if you want a fancy landing page, you can choose a premium theme starting at $10 and all bundled at $49.
Despite the fact that it is a free plugin, it has some noteworthy features. You can customize everything by selecting custom backgrounds, colors, fonts, displaying social media icons, and even integrating a contact form or a newsletter subscription form.
If you only want maintenance mode to appear on a specific page, the plugin allows you to do so.
CMP is a fantastic plugin for anyone who wants to add a countdown to their coming soon or maintenance page.
8. WP Maintenance Mode
WP Maintenance Mode, as the name implies, is a maintenance mode plugin that is completely free and allows you to design the maintenance page with a standard timer on it. The timer informs visitors how long the maintenance will take.
It creates responsive pages, which means they adjust to different screen sizes. You can also include a contact form or social media links on the page to allow visitors to contact you.
Wrapping Up
WordPress countdown plugins are great and useful in a variety of situations. You can use them to increase sales by instilling a sense of urgency, informing visitors about scheduled maintenance, or informing them about an upcoming product launch.
I hope this article helped you in selecting the best WordPress countdown plugin. Please let me know which plugin you believe is the best in the comment section below.
