About the Countdown Timer Widget
Zyff's countdown timer widget puts a live clock on any website, free. Count down to one fixed moment everybody shares, give each visitor their own evergreen timer that starts when they arrive, or reset daily at a cut-off time in the visitor's own timezone. Pick one of five layouts, choose which units show, decide what happens at zero, then copy the embed code. The output is one div and one script tag that works in WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow or a hand-written HTML page alike — no plugin, no account and no API key.
How to add a countdown timer to your website
Choose what it counts down to
Pick a fixed date and time, an evergreen length that starts when each visitor first arrives, or a daily reset hour. A fixed deadline is stored as one moment in time, so every visitor sees the same amount left wherever they are.
Pick a layout and units
Start from Classic boxes, Circles, Flip clock, Minimal inline or Banner strip. Switch off any unit you don't need — its time folds into the next unit down rather than disappearing.
Write the heading and decide what happens at zero
Add a heading, an optional subheading and a button. Then choose whether the timer shows a message, hides itself, starts over or sends visitors to a URL when it runs out.
Copy the embed code
Paste the container div and script tag where the countdown should appear, or download the standalone HTML file. Check the 390px mobile preview before you ship it.
What the Countdown Timer Widget does
Three kinds of timer
A fixed deadline everybody shares, an evergreen clock that starts on each visitor's first view and is remembered in their browser, or a daily reset at a wall-clock time in their own timezone.
Five layouts
Classic boxes, circles with a progress ring, a flip-clock board, bare inline digits separated by colons, and a full-width banner strip that puts the message, the clock and a button on one line.
Timezone-correct by construction
A fixed deadline is stored as a single moment in time rather than as wall-clock text, so a visitor in another timezone sees the same time remaining instead of a deadline shifted by their offset.
Four endings
Show a message, hide the widget entirely so it leaves no gap, restart the clock, or redirect visitors to a URL. The redirect never fires inside the editor, only on your live page.
Accurate after a sleep or a background tab
Every tick is recomputed from the real clock rather than counted down, so a laptop waking from sleep or a throttled background tab shows the right time left instead of drifting minutes behind.
No request on every page load
The countdown runs entirely in the visitor's browser from the config in the snippet, so an embedded timer keeps working and stays fast without calling back to Zyff each time your page loads.
At a glance
| Timer types | Fixed date and time, evergreen, or daily reset |
|---|---|
| Layouts | 5 templates: classic boxes, circles, flip clock, minimal inline, banner strip |
| Units | Days, hours, minutes and seconds, each optional with a custom label |
| Evergreen length | 1 minute to 30 days |
| At zero | Show a message, hide, restart, or redirect |
| Styling | Light or dark, 5 hex colors, 6 fonts, radius 0-28px, digits 16-96px |
| Output | One container div plus one script tag, or a downloadable HTML file |
| Price | Free to build; paid plans for saved widgets |
Frequently asked questions
How do I add a countdown timer to my website for free?
Set a deadline in Zyff's countdown builder, pick a layout, then copy the generated embed code into your page. The whole flow is free with no signup. The snippet is plain HTML, so it drops into any CMS block that accepts custom code — a WordPress Custom HTML block, a Shopify section, a Squarespace code block, or a Wix or Webflow embed.
What is an evergreen countdown timer?
An evergreen timer starts when each visitor first sees it rather than at a date you set, so everyone gets the same length of time no matter when they arrive. Zyff remembers each visitor's start point in their own browser, so the clock keeps running across page loads. Clearing their site data restarts it, which is the honest limit of doing this without an account.
Will my countdown show the right time in other timezones?
Yes. A fixed deadline is stored as a single moment in time rather than as a wall-clock string, so a visitor in Sydney and a visitor in Chicago see the same amount of time remaining — which is what "the sale ends Friday at 5pm" actually means. The daily reset mode works the other way on purpose: it counts to that hour in each visitor's own timezone, which is what you want for a same-day dispatch cut-off.
What happens when the countdown reaches zero?
Whichever of four endings you pick: show a message in place of the clock, hide the widget entirely so it leaves no gap in your layout, start the clock over, or send visitors to a URL. The redirect only fires on your live page, never inside the builder, so editing a redirect timer cannot throw you off the editing screen.
Can I hide the days or seconds?
Yes, each of the four units has its own toggle. Hiding a unit folds its time into the next one down rather than discarding it, so a three-day timer with days hidden reads 72 hours, not 0. You can also rename every label, turn labels off entirely, and decide whether single digits are padded to two.
Does the countdown stay accurate in a background tab?
Yes. Browsers throttle timers in background tabs, and a laptop can sleep mid-countdown, so the widget recomputes from the real clock on every tick instead of decrementing a number. Coming back to the tab shows the correct time left rather than a clock minutes behind.
Does the countdown timer slow my page down?
Very little. The whole timer runs in the visitor's browser from the settings baked into your snippet, so an embedded countdown makes no request to Zyff at all when your page loads. You can also switch on lazy loading so the widget only starts once it is scrolled near.
Can I put more than one countdown on the same page?
Yes. The script mounts every container it finds, so several timers on one page work fine and each can have its own deadline, layout and colors. Evergreen timers keep separate clocks rather than sharing one.
Does the countdown timer widget work on mobile?
Yes, and you can check it before publishing, because the builder's preview has a 390px mobile view alongside the desktop one. The unit tiles wrap rather than overflow, so a four-unit timer stays inside the screen on a phone.
Is the countdown timer widget really free?
Yes. Building a timer, styling it and embedding it are free with no signup, no trial and no watermark — a free embed carries a small "Countdown by Zyff" link, which is how the tool stays free. An optional account saves a widget so you can edit it later and have every site embedding it update at once, and a paid plan adds the premium layouts, full color control and removes the attribution link. The widget itself works fully without either.