Countdown
Private by defaultCount down to anything. Keep it on this device, or publish it as a link with a message that stays sealed until the clock hits zero.
Keep it to yourself for an exam, a deadline or a trip. Nothing is sent anywhere until you choose to share.
UTC
The countdown ends at this wall-clock time in this zone. Everyone else sees it converted to their own.
Every background is drawn by your browser, so it costs nothing to load and works offline.
Turning this on sends the title and the end time to our reminder service, so it can notify this browser. Nothing else, and never the reveal.
Advanced options
For a private countdown. It never leaves this device, so there is nothing to seal.
A generic preview means pasting the link into a group chat doesn’t show the title before anyone opens it. The countdown itself is never listed anywhere either way.
Checking usage…
Step by step
How to make a countdown
Four steps, no account, no email address, and no watermark on anything you share.
Choose who it’s for
Just for me saves the countdown in this browser and sends nothing anywhere — the right choice for an exam, a deadline or a holiday. Share with others turns it into a link.
Name it and set the moment
Pick the day and the time. The time zone starts as your own; change it if the deadline is set somewhere else, and everyone who opens the link still sees it in their own.
Pick a look
Twelve backgrounds, drawn by your browser rather than downloaded, so they cost nothing and work offline. If you’re sharing, choose the picture that lands when the clock hits zero.
Save, or publish
A private countdown appears in your list straight away. A shared one gives you a short link — and if you wrote a reveal, it stays sealed on our server until the moment arrives.
Private by default
What’s public here, and what isn’t
Every other countdown site uploads your timer the moment you make one, because a link is the only thing they sell. Here the link is optional, and the default is that nothing leaves your device at all. Where this tool does use a server, it says so — and it uses it for something none of them offer.
Private ones never leave
A countdown made in Just for me is written to this browser’s own storage and nowhere else. No row exists on any server, there is nothing to leak, and you can prove it: turn off your wifi, make one, reload the page. It is still there and still ticking.
Publishing is a separate decision
Nothing is sent when you type, pick a colour or press preview. One button publishes, it is labelled Publish & get the link, and the page tells you exactly what goes with it before you press it. A published countdown is never listed, indexed or searchable — the link is the only way in.
The reveal is genuinely sealed
Your message and link are not hidden with CSS or scrambled in the page — they are simply not sent until our server’s own clock passes your end time. Open a shared countdown before it ends and view the page source: the surprise is not in there to find.
Exactly what leaves your device, and when — because “private” is easy to say and worth checking.
1. A countdown you keep to yourself: nothing. No title, no date, no colour. It is written to this browser and read back from it.
2. When you publish one: the title, the end date and time, the time zone, the theme, the picture you chose, and the reveal message and link. That is what a shared page has to contain to exist. The reveal is stored withheld and only released after your end time.
3. Reminders are switched off entirely at the moment, so nothing is sent for them and the bell is hidden. If they are turned on later, this line will say what goes: the countdown’s title, the moment it should fire, and the anonymous address your browser uses to receive notifications. Not the reveal, and nothing that identifies you.
4. Two things every page here does: one anonymous message to our counter saying “countdown was used”, with nothing about the countdown in it; and Google Analytics recording the page view, the same as everywhere else on this site. Block it and the tool works identically.
Sealed is not the same as secret. A reveal is withheld until the end time, not encrypted, and anyone holding the link can read it once the clock runs out. It is built to make a surprise land at the right moment — not to keep a secret from someone determined to have it. Don’t put passwords, addresses or anything sensitive in one.
At a glance
Tool specifications
| Countdowns per device | 100 |
|---|---|
| Where private ones are stored | This browser only — never uploaded |
| Shared link format | nopturnia.com/c/<id> |
| Title length | 60 characters |
| Reveal message | 280 characters, plus one optional link |
| Reveal released | By our server, at the end time — not before |
| Time zones | Every IANA zone your browser knows, with daylight-saving handled |
| Clock format | 12-hour or 24-hour, per device |
| Backgrounds | 12, drawn in CSS — no image downloads |
| Reminders | Not yet — browser notifications are built and waiting on scheduling capacity |
| Shared countdown lifetime | 90 days after it ends, then deleted |
| Works offline | Yes for private countdowns, including as an installed app |
| Sign-up | Not required, not offered |
| Watermark | None |
| Price | Free |
Questions
Countdowns, answered
Is my countdown private?
What does “sealed reveal” actually mean?
Do I need to sign up?
Can I use my own photo as the background?
What happens if someone opens my link from another country?
Will my phone tell me when it ends?
How long does a shared countdown last?
Can I edit or delete one after sharing it?
Keep it handy
Save it, share it, or tell us what’s missing
Come back to it
Your countdowns live in this browser, so bookmark the page — or pin it to your saved tools and it sits at the top of the tools list on this device.
Something not right?
If a countdown ended at the wrong moment, a time zone came out wrong, or the background you wanted isn’t here, tell us. The form opens with the tool already filled in.
More free tools
Other things you can do here
Every one of these runs the same way — on your device, with nothing uploaded.