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.

Deadlines that actually change the price.

Start free Read the docs

02days

14hrs

22min

17sec

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

SurfacesLanding page · checkout · email

A deadline should change the sale, not just the screen.

A real deadline, anchored to every part of 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_atThe 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 limitCap total redemptions so an early-bird tier is honest about what's actually scarce — units, not just minutes.Coupon frequencyLimit redemptions per customer so a launch deal can't be stacked by the same buyer across sessions.Promo test modeRehearse 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 stylingSeven named variants out of the box — clean, boxed, urgent, minimal, neon, purple, light — theme-able down to color, font, and size.Email GIF promoSame engine renders the countdown as an animated GIF for email, with a per-recipient deadline via merge tag.Promo typesInline, sticky, banner, or modal — pick the surface that fits the page without switching to a different product.PromosThe 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 promosDecide what happens to traffic that arrives after zero — send them to a waitlist, an evergreen page, or anywhere else clean.CouponsOne coupon record drives the discount, the eligibility, and the countdown's deadline. Edit it in one place.Promo typesTwelve 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 stylingTheme 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 modeRehearse the full timer + coupon + redirect combination in test mode so launch day is the second time you see it, not the first.Promo typesSwap timer surfaces during a launch without losing the underlying deadline — change the banner, keep the clock.

One deadline, every visual treatment.

Offer ends in

00:00:00:00

Clean

variant: clean

Offer ends in

00DAY:00HRS:00MIN:00SEC

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

00DAY:00HRS:00MIN:00SEC

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

00DAY:00HRS:00MIN:00SEC

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

00DAY:00HRS:00MIN:00SEC

Gold

variant: gold

Subscriptions close

00:00:00:00

Paper

variant: paper

> countdown.tick

00DAY:00HRS:00MIN:00SEC

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.

Plandalf vs. templated timer tools

Capability

Plandalf Timers

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.

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.

Works with the tools you already use

Stripe

payment

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

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.

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.

TimersOffers

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.

Promo resolves
Returns price, coupon, seconds_remaining, spots_remaining.
Offer delivers
Hosted page, bump, upsell, theme. Renders the resolved decision to the buyer.
Sequence fires at cancel
Save offer reads the same live promo state — no second tool, no drift.

Deadline types for every campaign.

Evergreen
Live
Per-visitor evergreen. First touch starts the clock for that buyer.
```
trigger: first_visit
deadline: 72h
surface: checkout + email
```
Tripwire
Live
Short-window upsell right after opt-in. Great for the first hour.
```
trigger: subscribed
deadline: 60m
offer: one_time
```
Product Launch
Soon
Open cart, close cart. Everyone sees the same launch window.
```
starts: launch_open
ends: launch_close
mode: shared
```
Flash Sale
Soon
Fixed window for everyone — Black Friday, day-of, weekend-only.
```
segment: warm_leads
deadline: 6h
coupon: FLASH
```
Limited Quantity
Soon
Ends on quantity or time, whichever happens first.
```
limit: 50
deadline: 24h
end_when: either
```
Abandoned Cart
Soon
Bring a lost buyer back with a deadline that follows the cart.
```
trigger: cart_left
deadline: 23h
channel: email
```
Automated Webinar
Soon
Timer opens and expires from the moment they watch.
```
trigger: video_75
deadline: 30m
surface: replay
```
Page-Only Deadline
Soon
Starts when someone lands on a specific page or private link.
```
trigger: page_view
path: /private-offer
deadline: 48h
```
Announcement Bar
Soon
A sitewide banner points every visitor to the campaign state.
```
surface: top_bar
deadline: shared
cta: /checkout
```
Seasonal
Soon
Recurring date range every year — summer, holiday, end-of-season.
```
season:
  from: "06-01"
  to: "08-31"
```
Hybrid (Rolling)
Soon
Weekly or monthly rolling deadlines without manual resets.
```
cadence: weekly
cohort: signup_week
deadline: sunday
```
Staggered Launch
Soon
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.

Four campaigns you can ship this week

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. 1Create a `flash_sale` promo with a global `expires_at`.
2. 2Attach a coupon — `expires_at` reads the same field as the promo.
3. 3Drop the `urgent` countdown variant on every checkout and landing page.
4. 4Rehearse in test mode against a stub timeline before traffic shows up.
Promo typesPromosCoupon expires_atPromo stylingPromo 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. 1Create a `launch` promo combining quantity cap (100) with a Friday-9pm deadline.
2. 2Stack a coupon with usage limit = 100 and per-customer frequency = 1.
3. 3Wire `promo_redirect` so post-deadline traffic lands on the waitlist.
Promo typesCoupon usage limitCoupon frequencyRedirect 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. 1Create a `deadline` promo with `per_participant: true`.
2. 2Resolve it from your landing page — returns price, coupon, seconds_remaining.
3. 3Render the `neon` countdown variant inline next to the buy button.
PromosCoupon expires_atPromo 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. 1Create an `early_bird` promo with a hard `expires_at`.
2. 2Generate the email GIF from the same promo — per-recipient merge tag for the deadline.
3. 3Render the matching countdown on the checkout so nothing drifts.
Email GIF promoPromosPromo stylingCoupon expires_at

Put the same deadline everywhere buyers see it.

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.

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.

Real deadlines on real campaigns

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.

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

The path from a deadline to a sale.

01

Bind urgency to the sale

A deadline should change checkout behavior: coupon, price, redirect, quantity, save offer, or launch window. Keep the timer tied to the record that controls the offer.

Explore this step

The Numi promo overview screen showing campaign timing and status.

02

Show the same deadline everywhere

Use embedded promos, email countdown GIFs, hosted landing pages, and checkout links from the same deadline state so the buyer sees one consistent campaign.

Explore this step

The Numi promo email GIF screen for countdown emails.

03

Hand the buyer into Offers

Timers works best when the resolved promo state lands in a Plandalf Offer with products, prices, coupons, order bumps, upsells, invoices, and automation.

Explore this step

The Numi coupon discount settings panel.

04

Control the deadline and the discount together

Coupon expiration, usage limits, discount type, and deadline campaigns should live together so the promo cannot keep promising a price that checkout no longer honors.

Explore this step

The Numi coupon expiration settings panel for an offer.

05

Send deadline state into follow-up

When a timer expires, the resolved state can route into checkout, redirects, webhooks, automations, and sequences instead of stopping at a visual countdown.

Explore this step

The Numi offer editor automation tab showing sequence controls beside the checkout canvas.

Ship Plandalf Timers this afternoon.

Sign up free Read the docs

Deadlines that actually change the price.

A deadline should change the sale, not just the screen.

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

Time-based scarcity that's actually real

Visible everywhere your customer is

Wired into your checkout

Set it and trust it

One deadline, every visual treatment.

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

Deadline types for every campaign.

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

Put the same deadline everywhere buyers see it.

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

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.

The path from a deadline to a sale.

Bind urgency to the sale

Show the same deadline everywhere

Hand the buyer into Offers

Control the deadline and the discount together

Send deadline state into follow-up

Ship Plandalf Timers this afternoon.