Is this a real evergreen timer or cookie-based?

Real. A `deadline` promo binds the per-visitor countdown to a participant record, so the clock survives incognito, new devices, and cleared cookies. When zero hits, the next price tier resolves — it's not a banner that quietly resets.

Can I test a promo before customers see it?

Yes. Promo test mode runs the full tier resolution with a stub timeline so you can preview every state — pre-launch, mid-window, expired — before flipping live.

Give every lead a unique and authentic deadline for your offer.

Build real urgency around each buyer with deadlines that resolve to the right price, coupon, and countdown. Timers fully integrates with Plandalf checkout, and can also render on your site, Stripe page, or inside email.

Start free Read the docs

02 days

14 hrs

22 min

17 sec

Each person's timer starts on their first visit. Perfect for ongoing nurture sequences.

Surfaces Landing page · checkout · email

The argument

Most countdown tools draw a timer. Plandalf binds a deadline to a real price change.

A timer in Plandalf isn't a banner with a falling number. It's a promo tier that resolves a price. When the clock hits zero, the next tier takes over — the coupon stops working, the price moves, the redirect fires. Every surface reads the same record.

A real deadline, anchored to every part of the sale.

Deadline type, coupon rules, visual treatment, test mode, and checkout handoff all read from the same promo record, so the timer cannot drift from the sale.

Time-based scarcity that's actually real

The countdown isn't theater. It's bound to a coupon's `expires_at` and a promo tier's window — so when zero hits, the next price resolves and the discount actually stops.

Coupon expires_at The deadline on the timer is the same field as the deadline on the coupon. They can't drift apart because they're one record. Coupon usage limit Cap total redemptions so an early-bird tier is honest about what's actually scarce — units, not just minutes. Coupon frequency Limit redemptions per customer so a launch deal can't be stacked by the same buyer across sessions. Promo test mode Rehearse the full tier resolution — countdown, coupon, redirect — with a stub timeline before traffic shows up.

Visible everywhere your customer is

The same deadline renders on the checkout, on the marketing page, and inside the inbox. One source of truth, three surfaces.

Promo styling Seven named variants out of the box — clean, boxed, urgent, minimal, neon, purple, light — theme-able down to color, font, and size. Email GIF promo Same engine renders the countdown as an animated GIF for email, with a per-recipient deadline via merge tag. Promo types Inline, sticky, banner, or modal — pick the surface that fits the page without switching to a different product. Promos The promo is the carrier — the deadline, the surface, and the coupon all hang off the same record.

Wired into your checkout

The same resolve call returns price, coupon, seconds_remaining and a redirect — so the engine fits a Plandalf checkout, Stripe Checkout, Shopify, or a custom form.

Redirect ignoring on promos Decide what happens to traffic that arrives after zero — send them to a waitlist, an evergreen page, or anywhere else clean. Coupons One coupon record drives the discount, the eligibility, and the countdown's deadline. Edit it in one place. Promo types Twelve deadline types — evergreen, tripwire, launch, flash sale, limited quantity, abandoned cart, webinar, page-only, announcement bar, seasonal, rolling, and staggered — covered by one resolve call. Promo styling Theme tokens for colors, fonts, and sizes so the countdown reads as the same product as the page it came from.

Set it and trust it

Test the promo end-to-end with a stub timeline. Once it's live, the deadline takes care of itself.

Promo test mode Rehearse the full timer + coupon + redirect combination in test mode so launch day is the second time you see it, not the first. Promo types Swap timer surfaces during a launch without losing the underlying deadline — change the banner, keep the clock.

Variants

17+ ways to render the same deadline

Theme any one of them. Drop into checkout, landing page, or email GIF — same engine.

Offer ends in

 00:00:00:00 

Clean

variant: clean

Offer ends in

  00  DAY  : 00  HRS  : 00  MIN  : 00  SEC   

Boxed

variant: boxed

HURRY! Ends in

 00:00:00:00 

Urgent

variant: urgent

Offer ends in

 00:00:00:00 

Minimal

variant: minimal

Offer ends in

  00  DAY  : 00  HRS  : 00  MIN  : 00  SEC   

Neon

variant: neon

Offer ends in

 00:00:00:00 

Purple

variant: purple

Offer ends in

 00:00:00:00 

Light

variant: light

Doors close in

 00:00:00:00 

Sunset

variant: sunset

Early bird ends

 00:00:00:00 

Mint

variant: mint

Live now

  00  DAY  : 00  HRS  : 00  MIN  : 00  SEC   

Ocean

variant: ocean

Offer ends in

 00:00:00:00 

Slate

variant: slate

Flash sale ends

 00:00:00:00 

Cherry

variant: cherry

VIP pricing ends

  00  DAY  : 00  HRS  : 00  MIN  : 00  SEC   

Gold

variant: gold

Subscriptions close

 00:00:00:00 

Paper

variant: paper

> countdown.tick

  00  DAY  : 00  HRS  : 00  MIN  : 00  SEC   

Terminal

variant: terminal

Pre-order ends in

 00:00:00:00 

Rose

variant: rose

Doors close at midnight

 00:00:00:00 

Midnight

variant: midnight

Theme every variant down to color, font, and size. Same promo source — SVG on the web, animated GIF in email, both ticking the same deadline.

How it compares

Plandalf vs. templated timer tools

Offers is built around the whole buying moment: layout, payment, pricing, add-ons, promotions, testing, and follow-up stay in the same offer engine.

Capability

Plandalf Offers

Templated checkout tools

Per-visitor evergreen deadlines

Bound to a participant record — survives incognito, devices, and cleared cookies.

Cookie-based. Resets on incognito, on a new device, or when the user clears storage.

Deadline binds a price change

When zero hits, the next price tier resolves. The checkout sells the new price.

Timer hits zero, banner hides, page still sells at the same price.

Email countdown GIF

Same engine renders an animated GIF. Per-recipient deadline via merge tag.

Separate add-on or different SaaS — and the deadline drifts from the on-site one.

Visual variants out of the box

Seven named styles (clean, boxed, urgent, minimal, neon, purple, light) — theme-able to color, font, and size.

One or two templates with a logo swap. Anything else is a custom dev job.

Quantity + time tiers

Launch promo combines both — price moves on date AND on units sold.

One dimension only. Pick a clock or a counter.

Stripe / SamCart / Shopify

Same resolve call returns price, coupon, and seconds_remaining — route to any checkout you already run.

Vendor-locked. Lives inside one funnel builder.

Honest expiry

Real `expires_at` on the coupon. When the timer hits zero, the code stops working.

Timer expires, coupon stays redeemable for weeks. Customers learn to wait.

Test mode

Rehearse the full promo — tier resolution, countdown, coupon — with a stub timeline before flipping live.

Hope it works. Refund the test charges later.

8

capabilities compared across checkout design, pricing, promos, testing, and embedding.

Categories are honest summaries of how templated countdown tools behave today. We don't name names — you've used them.

How Timers fits with Offers

A timer without an Offer is a clock with nothing behind it. A great Plandalf setup pairs an Offer (the checkout your customer sees) with a Timer (the promo that resolves the price). One record in Plandalf, one source of truth, one deadline across every surface.

When not to use a timer

Don’t add a timer to an offer that doesn’t actually have a deadline. Customers notice fake urgency, and a fake countdown poisons the well for the real ones later. Use timers when the deadline is real and worth communicating.

Use cases

Where Timers starts paying for itself.

Use case

Course launches with open / close enrollment

Open enrollment for a week, close it cleanly, and redirect post-window traffic to a waitlist.

Guide

Black-Friday-style flash promos

Stack an expiring coupon with a visible countdown and a promo banner. Test mode lets you rehearse before traffic shows up.

Guide

Email campaigns with a real deadline

Embed a countdown GIF in the campaign — the same deadline that's enforced on the checkout.

Platforms

Works with the tools you already use

Timers plugs into the payment processors and platforms you already run. Each integration page lists supported capabilities, so builders can connect checkout, payment, invoices, webhooks, API work, and automation without guessing.

Stripe

payment

Cards, wallets, and 135+ currencies · Built-in fraud protection · Subscriptions and invoicing

FAQ

Honest answers

Does the countdown work in email?

Yes. The email GIF promo renders the same countdown as the on-site banner, with a per-recipient deadline via merge tag. Clients that don't support GIFs see a static frame.

Can I use this with Stripe Checkout, SamCart, or Shopify?

Yes. The same resolve call returns `price`, `coupon_code`, `seconds_remaining`, and an optional `redirect_url`. Use it from a Plandalf checkout, Stripe Checkout, Shopify, or a custom form.

What happens when the timer hits zero?

The next tier resolves. That might mean a higher price, no discount, or a redirect to a waitlist — whichever the promo defines. The coupon's `expires_at` makes the code un-redeemable at the same moment.

How many visual styles ship out of the box?

Seven named variants — clean, boxed, urgent, minimal, neon, purple, light — all theme-able down to color, font, and size. Any of them export as a live SVG or as an animated GIF for email.

Do I need a separate plan for Timers?

No. Timers and Offers share one plan. The promo engine is the same engine that powers Offers' bumps and save offers.

Free playbook

Get the launch-timer playbook

The 10-step playbook for running a real launch window — sequencing the promo, the coupon, the email countdown, and the post-deadline redirect without any of them drifting out of sync.

Timers Offers

Better together with Offers

Timers + Offers — one continuous flow.

Promo resolves the price. Offer renders the checkout. One engine, one dashboard.
The same deadline ticks on the checkout page, in the email, and on the landing page — because it's the same promo brain.
Save offers at cancel run against the live promo state — no second tool, no drift.

Start free trial See Offers

Drives any checkout — Stripe Checkout, SamCart, Shopify, custom form. Deepest fit: Plandalf Timers + Plandalf Offers.

Stage 1 · Timers

Promo resolves

Returns price, coupon, seconds_remaining, spots_remaining.
Stage 2 · Offers

Offer delivers

Hosted page, bump, upsell, theme. Renders the resolved decision to the buyer.
Stage 3 · Save flow

Sequence fires at cancel

Save offer reads the same live promo state — no second tool, no drift.

Timer types

Twelve ways to attach urgency to a sale.

Same resolve call. Different conditions. The engine returns the right price, the right coupon, and (where it makes sense) the right countdown.

Evergreen

Live

Personal deadline

Per-visitor evergreen. First touch starts the clock for that buyer.
```
trigger: first_visit
deadline: 72h
surface: checkout + email
```
Tripwire

Live

Post opt-in

Short-window upsell right after opt-in. Great for the first hour.
```
trigger: subscribed
deadline: 60m
offer: one_time
```
Product Launch

Soon

Shared deadline

Open cart, close cart. Everyone sees the same launch window.
```
starts: launch_open
ends: launch_close
mode: shared
```
Flash Sale

Soon

Segment push

Fixed window for everyone — Black Friday, day-of, weekend-only.
```
segment: warm_leads
deadline: 6h
coupon: FLASH
```
Limited Quantity

Soon

Quantity or time

Ends on quantity or time, whichever happens first.
```
limit: 50
deadline: 24h
end_when: either
```
Abandoned Cart

Soon

Win-back

Bring a lost buyer back with a deadline that follows the cart.
```
trigger: cart_left
deadline: 23h
channel: email
```
Automated Webinar

Soon

Video anchored

Timer opens and expires from the moment they watch.
```
trigger: video_75
deadline: 30m
surface: replay
```
Page-Only Deadline

Soon

Page trigger

Starts when someone lands on a specific page or private link.
```
trigger: page_view
path: /private-offer
deadline: 48h
```
Announcement Bar

Soon

Sitewide

A sitewide banner points every visitor to the campaign state.
```
surface: top_bar
deadline: shared
cta: /checkout
```
Seasonal

Soon

Recurring

Recurring date range every year — summer, holiday, end-of-season.
```
season:
  from: "06-01"
  to: "08-31"
```
Hybrid (Rolling)

Soon

Rolling

Weekly or monthly rolling deadlines without manual resets.
```
cadence: weekly
cohort: signup_week
deadline: sunday
```
Staggered Launch

Soon

Launch waves

Multi-tier launch waves for waitlists, partners, and VIP cohorts.
```
waves:
  - vip
  - waitlist
  - public
```

One resolve call. The engine returns price, coupon_code, seconds_remaining, spots_remaining, and an optional redirect_url.

Playbooks

Four campaigns you can ship this week

Same engine, different shapes. Each one runs on a real promo tier — not a styled banner.

Flash sale ends

02 : 14 : 22 : 17

Hosted checkout
Black Friday 72-hour window

One sitewide deadline. Coupon dies at the same second the banner does.
1. 1 Create a `flash_sale` promo with a global `expires_at`.
2. 2 Attach a coupon — `expires_at` reads the same field as the promo.
3. 3 Drop the `urgent` countdown variant on every checkout and landing page.
4. 4 Rehearse in test mode against a stub timeline before traffic shows up.
Promo types Promos Coupon expires_at Promo styling Promo test mode
VIP pricing ends

02 : 14 : 22 : 17

Landing page
Cohort launch with founding-members tier

First 100 get founding price. After that, deadline closes the door.
1. 1 Create a `launch` promo combining quantity cap (100) with a Friday-9pm deadline.
2. 2 Stack a coupon with usage limit = 100 and per-customer frequency = 1.
3. 3 Wire `promo_redirect` so post-deadline traffic lands on the waitlist.
Promo types Coupon usage limit Coupon frequency Redirect ignoring on promos
Offer ends in

02 : 14 : 22 : 17

Custom API
Per-visitor evergreen offer for cold leads

First touch starts a 48-hour clock that survives incognito and new devices.
1. 1 Create a `deadline` promo with `per_participant: true`.
2. 2 Resolve it from your landing page — returns price, coupon, seconds_remaining.
3. 3 Render the `neon` countdown variant inline next to the buy button.
Promos Coupon expires_at Promo styling
Doors close at midnight

02 : 14 : 22 : 17

Email GIF
Limited-edition drop with email countdown

Same deadline ticks in the inbox and on the checkout — to the second.
1. 1 Create an `early_bird` promo with a hard `expires_at`.
2. 2 Generate the email GIF from the same promo — per-recipient merge tag for the deadline.
3. 3 Render the matching countdown on the checkout so nothing drifts.
Email GIF promo Promos Promo styling Coupon expires_at

Integrations

Drop the countdown into every tool you already send from.

Promo resolves in Plandalf, ticks in your inbox, on your landing page, and at checkout — same record.

Plus a fully documented REST API and webhook layer for whatever's not in the list.

For developers

One resolve call. Every surface gets the same answer.

REST API: a single `POST /promos/{id}/resolve` returns price, coupon, seconds_remaining, redirect_url.
SDKs for JS, Node, and PHP — drop into Webflow, Framer, Next.js, or your own checkout.
Webhooks fire on every state change so your email and ops tools stay in lockstep.
Idempotent by participant key — same visitor on a new device gets the same deadline.
Read the API docs

resolve.js

// Resolve a promo for the current visitor.
// Survives incognito, new devices, cleared cookies.
const promo = await plandalf.promos.resolve('launch_cohort_03', {
  participant: 'visitor_8f2c4a',
});

// {
//   price: 'price_founding_249',
//   coupon_code: 'EARLY100',
//   seconds_remaining: 7423,
//   redirect_url: null,
//   tier: 'founding_member'
// }

// Same call resolves identically on the checkout,
// the landing page, and the email GIF generator.

Switching over

Move off your old countdown tool in an afternoon.

Map your existing timers to promos

Most templated tools have one promo type. Pick the matching Plandalf type — deadline, flash sale, early bird — and copy the deadline across.
Connect Stripe or PayPal

One OAuth click. Coupons sync from your existing catalog so you don't lose attribution.
Rebuild your countdown style

Pick one of the named variants or theme down to color, font, and size. This is the step that takes the longest — usually 20 minutes.
Wire your existing email & automation

Drop the email GIF tag into your campaign. Webhooks update HubSpot, Klaviyo, or your CRM when a tier resolves.

Most teams have their first real promo live the same day. Nothing on the old tool stops working while you cut over.

Proof

Built by operators who got tired of fake urgency.

Brand
Brand
Brand
Brand
Brand
Brand
Brand

11 min

First promo live

PLACEHOLDER — confirm. Median time from sign-up to first deadline going live.
8

Promo types out of the box

Deadline · launch · flash sale · early bird · seasonal · coupon · bundle · referral.
17

Countdown variants

Every one theme-able. Renders as live SVG or animated GIF.
0

Drift between surfaces

One promo record. Same deadline on the page, the email, the checkout.

In the wild

Real deadlines on real campaigns

Drop counters at the market, expiring coupons at the cafe, launch windows on the founder's pitch — same promo engine, same source of truth.

Drop counter at the market

Stock-aware early-bird tier — when the first 50 are gone, the price steps up automatically.
Coupon expiry tied to the offer

Coupon `expires_at` and the displayed countdown read the same record — they can't drift.
Launch window wired to the email

Animated GIF countdown in the campaign matches the banner on the checkout — to the second.

Pricing

Free to start. Pay as you sell.

No card to start — ship a promo this afternoon.
Stripe and PayPal — your processor accounts stay yours, payouts land where they always have.
Switch to a paid plan when you outgrow free. No forced calls, no fake limits.

See pricing Start free trial

Implementation paths

Build Timers into the rest of the commerce stack.

Use these paths when a builder needs to connect Timers to the right features, docs, integrations, stack guides, and comparison pages without guessing where the next implementation detail lives.

The Numi promo overview screen showing campaign timing and status.

Ship Plandalf Timers this afternoon.

Take payment with

Sign up free Read the docs

Give every lead a unique and authentic deadline for your offer.

Most countdown tools draw a timer. Plandalf binds a deadline to a real price change.

A real deadline, anchored to every part of the sale.

17+ ways to render the same deadline

Clean

Boxed

Urgent

Minimal

Neon

Purple

Light

Sunset

Mint

Ocean

Slate

Cherry

Gold

Paper

Terminal

Rose

Midnight

Plandalf vs. templated timer tools

How Timers fits with Offers

When not to use a timer

Where Timers starts paying for itself.

Course launches with open / close enrollment

Black-Friday-style flash promos

Email campaigns with a real deadline

Related workflows, templates & docs

Timers overview

Countdowns

Save offers

Order bumps

Works with the tools you already use

Stripe

Honest answers

Get the launch-timer playbook

Timers + Offers — one continuous flow.

Promo resolves

Offer delivers

Sequence fires at cancel

Twelve ways to attach urgency to a sale.

Four campaigns you can ship this week

Black Friday 72-hour window

Cohort launch with founding-members tier

Per-visitor evergreen offer for cold leads

Limited-edition drop with email countdown

Drop the countdown into every tool you already send from.

One resolve call. Every surface gets the same answer.

Move off your old countdown tool in an afternoon.

Map your existing timers to promos

Connect Stripe or PayPal

Rebuild your countdown style

Wire your existing email & automation

Built by operators who got tired of fake urgency.

Real deadlines on real campaigns

Drop counter at the market

Coupon expiry tied to the offer

Launch window wired to the email

Free to start. Pay as you sell.

Build Timers into the rest of the commerce stack.

Ship Plandalf Timers this afternoon.