Omnisend has its own countdown, but only on the Standard and Pro plans and with the same end date for everyone. For the free plan or a per-contact deadline, create the timer here, copy the HTML and paste it into an HTML block in your email. For a per-contact deadline, add ?rid=[[contact.email]] to the image URL.
Omnisend has a countdown of its own in the email builder, but only on paid plans and with a single end date for everyone. If you're on the free plan, or each contact needs their own deadline, the route is the one Omnisend's help center suggests itself: an HTML block holding an outside timer. The generator below already has the HTML output selected.
Based on Omnisend'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 its help center, Omnisend's Countdown timer item is available on the Standard and Pro plans and works in campaigns and automations. You pick the date, the format (DD:HH:MM:SS, HH:MM:SS or MM:SS), the font and the color. When it ends, a fallback image takes its place. It uses your store's time zone and the same end date for every recipient.
If you already pay for Omnisend and your offer ends at the same moment for your whole list, that item is enough. Ours makes sense in these cases:
HTML block. You paste a table holding the timer image, which is requested from our server every time someone opens the email. Omnisend's help asks for images in this block to use absolute URLs that start with https:// and are publicly accessible, which is what our code has. The HTML tags it doesn't support are iframe, script, div, font, video and audio; the generator's code uses none of them.
Image block, no. Omnisend's help describes that block for uploading files (JPG, PNG, GIF or WebP) and doesn't mention external URLs. An uploaded GIF is a fixed copy: it stays on the frame from the moment you uploaded it 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.
According to Omnisend, the HTML block works the same way in campaigns and automation workflows. Open the workflow, edit the email and repeat steps 4 to 6.
With a fixed date, the workflow 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 contact sees your expired message.
In an abandoned cart flow or a welcome email with a 48-hour coupon, each contact enters at a different time and needs their own window. That's what the evergreen timer with the contact tag is for.
An evergreen timer counts a duration, say 48 hours. The question is when it starts:
For the second option, add the contact tag to the end of the image URL, inside the code you pasted:
https://kauntodaun.com/t/k3x9q2m7ab.gif?rid=[[contact.email]]
Omnisend's personalization guide documents [[contact.email]] among the contact tags, but it doesn't list one for the internal contact ID. That's why the identifier here is the email address. The HTML block guide confirms that dynamic tags work inside the code, with an example placed in an image URL. The downside is that 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 tag arrives empty or unreplaced, the engine ignores it and counts from that moment.
If you also send from another tool, see the guides for MailerLite, Kit, Klaviyo and Shopify Email. For dated campaigns, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday countdowns are ready to go.
Yes. The Countdown timer item in Omnisend's editor is available on the Standard and Pro plans, works in campaigns and automations, and uses one end date for every recipient.
Omnisend's HTML block guide doesn't mention any plan restriction. We haven't checked it on a free account.
Yes. According to Omnisend, the HTML block works in campaigns and automation workflows. The GIF is rendered when the email is opened, so the workflow can send it on any day.
[[contact.email]]. It's the contact tag Omnisend documents; its guide doesn't list one for the internal contact ID. Our engine hashes the email and never stores it in plain text.
Omnisend test emails don't use real contact data, and tags without a default value come out empty. The engine gets an empty identifier, ignores it and counts from the open.
We don't recommend it. An uploaded GIF is a fixed copy showing the frame from the moment of upload, so the timer won't count down. Use the HTML block.
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.