Give readers a reason to act today.
“Sale ends Friday” is easy to put off. A live countdown that shows 11 hours left is not. InboxClock puts a real, ticking timer in any marketing email.
A deadline people can see gets acted on.
Most promo emails mention a deadline. Few readers stop to work out how long it leaves them, so they decide to come back later. Later is where sales get lost. A timer does that maths for them, at the moment they read.
Urgency you can see
“Ends Friday” is a date to remember. “11 hours, 42 minutes” is a reason to click now.
The one thing that moves
An inbox is a wall of still text. A ticking timer is where the eye lands first.
True for every reader
Each open shows the real time left, in the reader’s own timezone. Nobody has to work out what “midnight PT” means for them.
Live in about two minutes.
No app to install, no API key, no changes to how you send.
- 1
Set the deadline
A date for everyone, a personal window per reader, or a schedule that repeats.
- 2
Paste one line
Drop the code into an HTML or Code block. The merge tag for your platform is filled in.
- 3
Send as usual
Every open draws a fresh image with the real time left, in every timezone.
Wherever there is a deadline.
If your email says “ends”, “starts” or “only a few left”, a live timer or counter makes it real.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
One hard deadline across the whole list, with a plan for the day after.
Flash sales
Short windows of 24 to 72 hours, where every hour counts.
Product launches
Count down to a launch, then switch the email to “available now”.
Webinars and events
Registration deadlines and start times for live sessions.
Welcome offers
A personal 48-hour offer for each new subscriber, in an automation.
Seats and stock counters
A live number that drops as people buy: seats, stock or spots left.
A deadline for every kind of campaign.
A sale ends for everyone at once. A welcome offer ends 48 hours after each person signs up. A shipping cutoff comes back every weekday. One tool handles all three.
- Fixed dates in any timezone, with daylight saving handled
- Evergreen windows that start at each reader’s first open
- Recurring cutoffs on the weekdays you choose
Zero is not the end of the email.
People open emails for weeks after a sale ends. Show them it has ended, and turn their click into a visit to your next offer instead of a dead page.
- Show a message, hold at zero, or hide the timer
- Send late clicks to your next offer, not a dead page
- Every click counted, per day
Show scarcity with a real number.
“Only a few left” is easy to ignore. “12 seats left” is not, as long as it is true. A counter is drawn at every open, so readers see the current number. Update it in the app, or let your shop update it through the API.
See how counters workSee what the timer did.
Daily views and clicks for each timer, and which email apps your readers use. We explain what a view means instead of inventing open rates.
How views are countedOr just ask your AI app.
Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor to InboxClock once. Then ask in plain words: make a timer, move a deadline, take three seats off a counter, or tell you how last week’s timer did.
- Connect with one click, no code
- It can change timers, never your account
- Disconnect any time from your account
Built for real campaigns.
No plugins to install and nothing behind a higher plan. These work on every timer.
Edit after sending
Change the date, design or text. Every email already sent shows the new version on its next open.
Your brand, exactly
Seven layouts, five number fonts, any colors and labels in eight languages. Fonts are built into the image.
Small, fast images
Only the changing digits are redrawn per frame, so most timers are 15–40 KB, drawn on Cloudflare close to readers.
Smart links
One link for while the timer runs and another for after it ends. Late clicks land on a live page.
Alerts by email
Hear 24 hours before a timer ends, when it ends, and get a weekly summary of views and clicks.
Private by design
Subscriber merge tags are stored only as one-way hashes. No tracking pixels, no reader profiles.
Where it works.
Every app shows the timer, because it is an ordinary image. They differ in how they animate it.
| Email app | What readers see |
|---|---|
| Apple Mail (Mac, iPhone, iPad) | Animated Privacy Protection may load images early; opening again loads a fresh one. |
| Gmail (web, iOS, Android) | Animated Loaded through Gmail’s image proxy. |
| Outlook (new, web, Mac, mobile) | Animated |
| Outlook for Windows (classic) | First frame The first frame always shows the correct time. |
| Yahoo Mail, Samsung Email, Thunderbird | Animated |
Email apps change. Details and how to test.
Straight answers.
Do countdown timers really increase sales?
A timer makes a real deadline easy to notice and hard to put off, which is why marketers use them for sales, launches and offers. Results depend on your offer and your list, so test it: send half your list the email with a timer and half without, then compare clicks.
How can an image in an email count down?
The timer is an animated GIF that InboxClock draws at the moment the email opens. It shows the real time left, then plays for 15, 30 or 60 seconds. Every new open draws a fresh image.
Does it work in Gmail, Apple Mail and Outlook?
Yes. Gmail, Apple Mail, Yahoo and most mobile apps play the animation. Classic Outlook for Windows shows only the first frame, and that frame always has the correct time. See every app.
Can I change a timer after the email goes out?
Yes. Change the date, the design or the text, and readers see the change on their next open.
What happens when the timer reaches zero?
You choose: a message such as “This offer has ended”, zeros, or nothing at all. With a smart link, late clicks go to a different page.
Do I need to change email platform?
No. If your platform lets you paste HTML or insert an image by URL, it works. Evergreen timers come with the right merge tag for each platform.
Can Claude or ChatGPT make timers for me?
Yes. Connect InboxClock to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any app that supports MCP, then ask it to create a timer, change a deadline or update a counter. It works on your timers only. Connect an AI app.
What does it cost?
InboxClock is free while it is in beta. Read about pricing.
Your next email has a deadline. Show it.
Design a timer without an account. Sign up when you want the embed code.
- Free during beta
- No credit card
- Works with any email platform