The best free interval timer apps (and when you need more than a timer)

Written by Kronos editorial team · How we write and check these guides

Updated September 5, 2026

A good interval timer is one of the most useful free tools in fitness. For HIIT, Tabata, EMOM, or AMRAP work, you mostly need clear intervals, audio cues, and something that does not get in your way. Here is how to choose, and the point where a timer alone stops being enough.

What to look for in a free interval timer

• Fast setup. You should be able to build a Tabata or EMOM in a few taps.
• Clear audio and haptic cues. You should not have to look at the screen mid-set.
• No ads mid-workout. An ad between rounds is the worst possible moment for one.
• Presets. Common protocols ready to go, plus custom intervals when you need them.
• A screen you can read while breathing hard. Tiny controls are cute until round six.
• The catch, stated upfront. “Free” often means ads, or one saved timer, or a Pro tier for the feature you wanted. Check what free actually covers after the first session, before you build your routine on it.

The strong options, one by one

These are all well-rated and good at the core job of counting intervals. We have left prices out on purpose: they change by storefront and by month, so check the listing on your own phone.

Interval Timer

The popular all-rounder. Drag-to-set intervals, reliable cues, does exactly what the name says. The free version shows ads, which is the standard trade. If you want one simple timer and do not mind the ads, this is the default for a reason.

SmartWOD Timer

Built for CrossFit and functional training: AMRAP, EMOM, For Time, Tabata, and custom MIX work are all first-class modes. Free with a Premium tier, and its custom MIX timer gives you one free MIX workout before Premium. If you already think in those formats, the buttons map straight onto your training.

Seconds

The power-user option: deep customization, templates, Apple Watch support. The free version lets you build timers but, per its own listing, not reuse them after the first run without upgrading. Serious interval athletes keep choosing it anyway.

Tabata Timer

One protocol, one tap. If all you do is Tabata, the single-purpose focus is the feature. Free with ads.

Kronos

Our timer, free on the App Store and Google Play now. HIIT, Tabata, EMOM, AMRAP presets plus full custom intervals, unlimited saved presets, no ads, no account, and it runs in nine languages. It is the free half of a full workout app: the other half generates the workout itself. The timer lives at the free timer page if you want the detail, and there is a browser version if you do not want to install anything today.

At a glance

If all you need is something to count intervals, any of the first few will do the job well, and you should pick whichever feels fastest in your hand.

The protocols, quickly

Worth knowing what the buttons mean, because the right timer depends on the work:

• HIIT. Any scheme alternating hard intervals with easy ones. Even very short versions improve fitness: three 10-minute sprint-interval sessions a week matched three 50-minute steady rides in a 12-week trial (Gillen et al. 2016, PLOS ONE).
• Tabata. The original study (Tabata et al. 1996, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise) used 20 seconds of very hard work, 10 seconds of rest, 8 rounds: 4 minutes, rests included, that improved both aerobic and anaerobic capacity in trained athletes on bikes. Most “Tabata” workouts are gentler than the original, which is fine; the structure still works. Just do not expect the study’s result from a squat circuit on the same clock.
• EMOM. Every minute on the minute: start a fixed task each minute, rest whatever is left. Loud, reliable minute cues matter most here.
• AMRAP. As many rounds as possible in a fixed window, self-paced. The timer just needs to hold the countdown and stay readable.

Best picks by workout type

• Tabata: pick the app with the fastest preset setup.
• EMOM: pick the app with loud, reliable minute cues.
• AMRAP: pick the app that keeps the screen simple.
• Custom circuits: pick the app that lets you save intervals without rebuilding them every time.
• Busy-day training: pick the timer that can become the workout when deciding is the blocker.

Whichever you pick, run one practice round before a hard session: sound on, screen locked, pause and resume. A timer you discover the settings of in round three is not a timer.

When a timer is not enough

A timer counts. It does not decide. The moment you find yourself standing there thinking “great, the timer is ready, but what exercises do I actually do,” you have hit the limit. That is a different problem: not timing, but the workout itself.

A timer that can bring the workout

Kronos has a clean free interval timer that is genuinely free and ad-free, and it is out now on the App Store and Google Play. What is different is what sits behind it: when you want more than a timer, the app picks the workout for you, shaped to your time and equipment, and counts you through it. Start with the free timer and never pay a cent. If you ever get tired of deciding what to do with it, a free account comes with five generated workouts to try, and Pro lifts the cap.

We checked the SmartWOD and Seconds pages linked above on 5 September 2026. We make Kronos, so read the comparison with that in mind.