Barnest ‑ Announcement Bar vs Announcer & Countdown
Two Shopify apps, side by side: detected stores, momentum, reviews, plans, listed features and who runs each. Store counts as of Oct 13, 2026 for Barnest, Nov 5, 2026 for Announcer & Countdown.
The short answer
- Only Announcer & Countdown lists a free plan. Paid plans start at $1/month for Barnest and $4.99/month for Announcer & Countdown.
- Announcer & Countdown lists 13 features Barnest’s listing doesn’t mention, including Backgrounds, Color and font, Countdown.
Head to head
- United States
- Australia
- Barbados
Momentum
New reviews each month
Review pace is the clearest public read on how fast an app is winning new merchants.
Pro
- · Countdown timer, fixed or evergreen
- · Date, page & country scheduling
- · Dismiss with 24-hour remind-me
- · Full color, font & spacing control
- · Live shipping bar from cart value total
- · Scrolling marquee or 5 rotating messages
Starter
- · 1 Active announcement bar
- · Countdown, Moving Text, Rotating Bars
- · Scheduling
- · Templates library
- · Views & click analytics
Growth
- · Advanced Scheduling & Recurring Bars
- · Countdown, Moving Text, Rotating Bars
- · Page & visibility targeting
- · Templates library
- · Unlimited active announcement bars
Premium
- · A/B testing
- · Advanced Scheduling & Recurring Bars
- · Countdown, Moving Text, Rotating Bars
- · Multi-Language & Auto-translations
- · Page & visibility targeting
- · Regional variants
Coverage counts what each App Store listing names. Every feature, checked off app by app, is in Shoplist.
See every featureAnnouncement Bar Pro adds a customizable message bar to your storefront. Run flash sales with a countdown timer (fixed date or evergreen). Show a live shipping bar that updates instantly as customers add to cart. Scroll a marquee or rotate up to 5 messages, each with its own link. Schedule bars by date, and target by page, collection, or country. Full control over colors, fonts, and spacing.
Grab attention with on-brand announcement bars. Choose five bar types — simple, rotating, news ticker, typewriter, and countdown — to run sales, free-shipping offers, and news on any page. Countdown timers add urgency with flip-clock, box, or circle styles, then show a fallback message when time runs out. Schedule bars ahead, target them by page, and show different messages per market or language.
- Countdown timer with fixed end date or evergreen rolling duration
- Shipping bar that updates live from the customer's real cart total
- Scrolling marquee or up to 5 rotating messages, each with its own link
- Schedule by date range, and target by page, collection, or country
- Simple bar, urgency countdown, or news ticker with a live indicator.
- Display Multiple announcements as slider or news ticker
- Scheduling and automatic expiration with fallback messages
- Custom announcements for different pages
All the numbers
Every figure, side by side
A green dot marks the app ahead on a measured figure. Estimates, gaps and apps that leave no storefront trace never take the lead.
Adoption
| Measure |  Barnest |  Announcer & Countdown |
|---|---|---|
| Detected stores | Not published | 29 |
| Net store change, 28 days | 0 | −1 |
| Stores added, 28 days | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Big-brand share | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Top store categories | Not published | Apparel & Accessories, Arts & Entertainment, Electronics |
| Top store countries | Not published | United States, Australia, Barbados |
Reviews
| Measure | Barnest | Announcer & Countdown |
|---|---|---|
| App Store rating | Not published | 5.0 ★ |
| App Store reviews | Not published | 2 |
| New reviews, 28 days | Not enough data | 0 |
| Reviewers a year or more in | Not enough data | Not enough data |
Pricing
| Measure | Barnest | Announcer & Countdown |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Not listed | Yes |
| Lowest paid monthly plan | $1/month(ahead) | $4.99/month |
| Longest free trial | 5 days | 7 days |
| Plans listed | 1 | 3 |
Listing
| Measure | Barnest | Announcer & Countdown |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify category rank | #447 | #181(ahead) |
| Shopify App Charts | Not on this week’s charts | Not on this week’s charts |
| Built for Shopify | No | No |
| Launched | Sep 18, 2026 | Aug 8, 2016 |
| Languages | 1 | 1 |
| Developer | Quikbench Software | Pasilobus |
FAQ
Barnest and Announcer & Countdown: common questions
- Is Barnest or Announcer & Countdown cheaper?
- Only Announcer & Countdown lists a free plan. Paid plans start at $1/month for Barnest and $4.99/month for Announcer & Countdown. Shoplist compares base prices only between monthly plans in the same currency; usage charges and annual plans vary, so check each plan’s limits.
- What features does each app list that the other doesn’t?
- Announcer & Countdown lists 13 the others don’t mention, such as Backgrounds, Color and font, Countdown, Custom CSS. A feature missing from a listing may still be supported; this compares what each App Store listing says.
- Where does this comparison’s data come from?
- Shoplist crawls Shopify storefronts to detect which apps each store runs, and reads each app’s Shopify App Store listing for reviews, pricing, features and integrations. Store counts are as of Oct 13, 2026 for Barnest, Nov 5, 2026 for Announcer & Countdown; estimated figures are labeled.
How Shoplist compares apps
Store counts come from Shoplist’s crawl of Shopify storefronts, which detects the apps each store runs; they are as of Oct 13, 2026 for Barnest, Nov 5, 2026 for Announcer & Countdown. Reviews, ratings, plans, features and integrations come from each app’s Shopify App Store listing. 28-day figures are labeled when estimated, and a figure that is missing or estimated never decides who leads. Read the methodology.