MailerLite has a Countdown block that counts to a fixed date using your account's time zone. If you need a per-subscriber deadline, a different time zone or another style, create the timer here, copy the HTML and paste it into a Code block in the drag and drop editor. For a per-subscriber deadline, add ?rid={$email} to the URL.
MailerLite has a Countdown block in its drag and drop editor that counts down to a fixed date. If that's what you need, use it. If you want a different deadline for each subscriber, another time zone or a different look, build the timer here and paste it into a Code block. The generator below already has the HTML output selected.
Based on MailerLite's official documentation, reviewed on October 1, 2026.
The generator is already set up for this page. Change what you need and press Create timer.
Animated GIF. Recalculated every time the email is opened.
According to MailerLite's help center, the Countdown block sits in the Special tab of the drag and drop editor. It's a GIF that counts down to the date and time you choose, plays on a 90-second loop and works out the end using your account's time zone. MailerLite warns that in Outlook 2007, 2010 and 2013 it shows as a static image. The help article doesn't say which plans include it or whether it works in automations.
For an offer that ends at the same moment for your whole list, that block does the job. Ours adds something in these cases:
Code block. MailerLite's help describes it as the block for inserting HTML and notes that JavaScript and elements such as embed, frame, iframe, form, input, object and textarea aren't allowed. Our code is a table with an image and uses none of them. The image is requested from our server every time someone opens the email. The help doesn't mention a plan restriction for this block, and the pricing page lists all three MailerLite editors, Custom HTML included, on the Free plan.
Image imported from a URL, no. MailerLite's file manager lets you import an image by pasting its URL. The help doesn't say whether it keeps a copy, but it calls this importing and says images over 10 MB get resized, which points to a copy. A copy of the GIF stays on the frame from that moment and never counts down.
The code already has its & escaped and the background color set on the table and the cell, so you won't get white gaps around the GIF.
Put the deadline in the copy too, close to the timer: "Ends Friday, November 27 at midnight Eastern". Anyone who only sees the first frame, or has images turned off, still knows when it ends.
In MailerLite's automation help, you drag the Send email action into the workflow, click Design email and pick an editor. Choose drag and drop and add the Code block as you would in a campaign. According to the pricing page, the Free plan allows 3 automations.
With a fixed date, the automation can send the email on any day: the GIF is rendered at open and shows what's left until that date. If it goes out after the deadline, the subscriber sees your expired message.
In a welcome email with a 72-hour discount or a free trial that's about to end, each subscriber enters at a different time and needs their own window. That's what the evergreen timer with the subscriber variable is for.
An evergreen timer counts a duration, say 72 hours. The question is when it starts:
For the second option, add the variable to the end of the image URL, inside the code you pasted:
https://kauntodaun.com/t/k3x9q2m7ab.gif?rid={$email}
MailerLite's variables guide documents {$email} for the subscriber's email address and doesn't list one for their ID. Variables are case-sensitive, so type it exactly as shown. The guide also doesn't say whether variables get replaced inside a Code block; the test email will tell you, as explained below.
Using the email address has a downside: it travels in the image URL and can end up in the logs of servers in between. Our engine hashes it on arrival and never stores it in plain text. If the variable arrives empty, the engine ignores it and counts from that moment.
{$email} also works in test emails. Send one to an address of yours. With a per-subscriber timer, open it twice a few minutes apart: if the second open shows less time, the variable is being replaced inside the code.If you also send from another tool, see the guides for Kit, Omnisend, Mailchimp and Klaviyo. For dated campaigns, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday countdowns are ready to go.
Yes. The drag and drop editor has a Countdown block: a GIF that counts down to a date and time, using the account's time zone. MailerLite's help doesn't say which plans include it.
MailerLite's help doesn't list a plan restriction for the Code block, and its pricing page says the Free plan includes all three editors, Custom HTML among them. We haven't checked it on a free account.
Yes. The Send email action in an automation opens the same choice of editors as a campaign. Pick drag and drop and add the Code block.
{$email}. It's the subscriber variable MailerLite documents; its guide doesn't list one for the subscriber ID. Variables are case-sensitive. Our engine hashes the email and never stores it in plain text.
We don't recommend it. MailerLite calls this importing the image, which points to it keeping its own copy. A copy of the GIF never updates, so the timer would freeze.
Microsoft says Outlook for Microsoft 365, 2021 and 2024 play animated GIFs when Windows animations are on. Otherwise you'll see the first frame, which already shows the time left.