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Comparison · Tax-residency day trackers · 2026

TaxBird vs Country Days Tracker

TaxBird is a set-and-forget GPS day counter for US states, Canadian provinces and countries, $39.99 a year with an account. Country Days Tracker is a deeper, cheaper iPhone counter with rolling limits, Schengen, photo and flight backfill and proof exports. Here is how I would choose between them — and where Stretch comes in.

By David Toniolo, Do a Stretch · Updated 2026-08-29 · Prices and facts checked 2026-08-17 · 9 min read

Who each one is for

Pick TaxBird if you are on Android, or if your year splits between US states or Canadian provinces and your accountant wants a report. Pick Country Days Tracker if you are on iPhone and want more shapes of rule, with past years rebuilt from photos and flights. Neither is free, and neither knows a visa rule: you type the limit.

If you need tax-residency days counted beside your visa days, read the third option below.

TL;DR

Feature TaxBird Country Days Tracker Winner
What it counts Country, state, province, NYC Any range, rolling limits, Schengen Country Days Tracker
How days get in Background GPS, manual fixes GPS, photo and flight backfill Country Days Tracker
Price and account $39.99/yr, nothing free, account $34.99/yr, thin free tier, no account Country Days Tracker
Proof Yearly summary report PDF, CSV, proof photos per day Country Days Tracker
Reviewers complain about Missed locations The free tier Country Days Tracker
Platforms iPhone and Android iPhone and Apple-silicon Macs TaxBird
Support Email, quick replies In-app chat with the maker Tie

Country Days Tracker is the better counter for most people on iPhone: more kinds of rule, backfill, proof exports, no account, and it costs less. TaxBird wins on Android and on US states. Neither is free, and neither knows a visa rule — hence the third option below.

Quick verdict

If you want… Choose
Android, or US-state counts with a year-end report TaxBird
The widest set of day rules on iPhone Country Days Tracker
Day-by-day proof for a residency claim Country Days Tracker
To pay nothing for the counter, ever Stretch
Visa days and tax days from one log Stretch (Stretch+)

TaxBird at a glance

What it is. A residency day tracker from ware2now LLC of Newtown, Connecticut, on the App Store since 2017. Background location counts your days per country, US state, Canadian province and for New York City, warns you as you near a threshold you set, takes planned trips, and produces a yearly report for your residency position. You sign up with your email.

Price. $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year after a 30-day trial, the same on both stores (checked 17 August 2026). No free tier: after the trial, in its own words, "TaxBird requires a subscription".

Platforms. iPhone and Android — one of very few tax-day trackers with real Android downloads. Version 3.1.4 shipped August 2026.

Rating. 3.9★ from 239 ratings on the US App Store, and 3.9★ from 113 reviews and 10K+ downloads on Google Play.

Country Days Tracker at a glance

What it is. An iPhone day counter by Andrey Solovyev, out since 2022. It shows the days you have spent in each country over the last 183 or 365 days or any range you set, with a count-only-nights option, a Stay Limit Manager for fixed and rolling limits, a Schengen 90/180 calculator, custom areas, and — since version 7.5 in July 2026 — absence rules for UK ILR and UAE-style residency. It rebuilds history from photo metadata, imports flights, and exports PDF and CSV. No account, offline, twelve languages.

Price. Pro is $34.99 a year or $5.99–6.99 a month (£23.49 a year in the UK), checked 17 August 2026. There is a free tier, but per our August 2026 market review it shows only the last seven days.

Platforms. Listed "Only for iPhone"; it runs on Apple-silicon Macs. No Android version on Google Play.

Rating. 4.0★ from 73 ratings in the US, 4.0★ from 99 in the UK. A UK reviewer on the free tier: "There is no point downloading this app if you don't intend on purchasing the paid version."

Stretch at a glance

The app. Counts every country on your passports from one log, sets your must-leave date when you log an entry, reminds you at 14, 7, 3 and 1 days, and keeps your e-visas on the stay they cover. All free, forever, with no account and no server. Every rule shows its source and the date it was last checked, published at doastretch.com/visa.

Stretch+. $49.99 a year, after a 7-day trial. It adds Explore, the Visa Desk — it prepares your tourist-visa and entry-declaration forms with you; you review, pay the government and submit — on-device GPS logging, tax-day tallies, planning and travel-history PDFs. iPhone and Android.

Feature comparison

What gets counted

TaxBird counts days present per jurisdiction against a threshold you set — the classic 183-day test — at country, US-state, Canadian-province and New York City level. Country Days Tracker counts the same way but in more shapes: any range you like, rolling as well as fixed limits, Schengen's 90/180, custom areas for states and cities, and absence rules counting the time you spend outside a country for UK ILR.

Winner Country Days Tracker — more kinds of rule, and rolling windows done properly.

Which countries, and which phones

TaxBird: every country, plus US states, Canadian provinces and New York City, on iPhone and Android. Country Days Tracker: every country, Schengen as a zone, any area you draw — but iPhone only. For a snowbird whose accountant asks about Florida against New York, sub-national counting is the job; and if you carry a Pixel, only one of these exists.

Winner TaxBird — sub-national counting, and Android exists.

Getting the days in, and the proof you get out

TaxBird's promise is set-and-forget background GPS, and its reviews split on exactly that: "Just set it and forget it" against "Continually misses my location" and "Must update count manually". Country Days Tracker's move is backfill: scan photo metadata, import flights from Flighty or App in the Air, and a first year of history appears without a spreadsheet — a reviewer calls it a "lifesaver". TaxBird then gives your accountant a yearly summary; Country Days Tracker exports PDF and CSV with photos and notes on any day.

Winner Country Days Tracker — backfill in, proof per day out.

Price, free tier and accounts

TaxBird's top tier is $39.99 a year, and after 30 days nothing is free. It wants an account with your email, and its App Store label lists email, phone, location and a user ID as data linked to you. One Play reviewer put it bluntly: "A simple day tracking app SHOULD NOT require an online account." Country Days Tracker is $34.99 a year, needs no account and works offline — though its own label declares identifiers and usage data used for advertising.

Winner Country Days Tracker — $5 a year less, no login, and something rather than nothing when you stop paying.

Reminders, planning and support

TaxBird warns you as you near a threshold and takes planned travel for projected counts; support is by email, and one reviewer reports "Excellent customer service and a quick response" while an older one says support gave up. Country Days Tracker's calendar shows whether a future trip would break a stay limit, and its maker answers reviews personally and shipped one reviewer's suggestions "the following week".

Winner Tie — both warn, both plan, and both answer.

Can't decide? The third option: Stretch

Most people weighing these two are not choosing a tax tool. They are choosing an app to keep them legal in more than one country, and tax days are one of the numbers. Both rivals leave the visa side to you: neither knows that Thailand gives your passport 60 days, that Japan gives 90, that Schengen is 90 in a rolling 180. You type a limit and hope you typed the right one. Stretch starts from that side: it knows the rule for every destination on your passports with its source and checked date, sets the must-exit date when you log an entry, and reminds you at 14, 7, 3 and 1 days — free, forever, no account. Stretch+ ($49.99 a year, $10 more than TaxBird) adds tax-day tallies from the same log, GPS you confirm border by border, planning, PDFs and the Visa Desk. If Schengen is one of your numbers, the free calculator answers that in a browser.

Feature TaxBird Country Days Tracker Stretch
Price $39.99/yr, nothing free after 30 days $34.99/yr, free tier shows 7 days $49.99/yr — counter free
Platforms iPhone, Android iPhone, Mac iPhone and Android
Account Required None None, and no server
Visa rules known No — you set thresholds No — you set limits Every destination, with its source
Tax-day tallies Yes Yes Yes (Stretch+), same log
Visa Desk No No Yes (Stretch+)

Choose TaxBird if you…

  • are on Android;
  • split your year between US states or provinces and want a year-end report;
  • don't mind an account, a subscription with nothing free underneath, and correcting a missed day by hand.

Choose Country Days Tracker if you…

  • are on iPhone and want the widest set of day rules — rolling limits, Schengen, ILR and UAE absences;
  • need to rebuild past years from photos and flights, or export daily proof;
  • want no account and offline use, and like dealing with a responsive solo developer.

Choose Stretch if you…

  • want the counter, the reminders and your documents free, forever, on iPhone or Android, with no account;
  • cross borders with a number attached and want the app to know the rule and its source, not tell you to type one;
  • want visa days and tax days from one log, and GPS that never invents a day.

How we evaluated

  • What gets counted, and whether the app knows the rule or you type it
  • How days get in: GPS reliability per reviewers, backfill, proof and exports
  • Price by maximum tier, and what remains when you stop paying
  • Accounts, privacy labels, platforms and support — read from the App Store, Google Play and each vendor's site, 17 August 2026

Frequently asked questions

Which is better for tax residency, TaxBird or Country Days Tracker?

Country Days Tracker is better for most travellers on iPhone: rolling windows, Schengen, absence rules, backfill from photos and flights, proof exports, no account, and $34.99 a year against TaxBird's $39.99. TaxBird is better on Android, or for US-state counts with a year-end report. If you also need visa days, Stretch does both from one log, free.

Is TaxBird free?

No. TaxBird has a 30-day trial and then requires a subscription — $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year on both stores (checked 17 August 2026). Stretch's counter, reminders and documents are free forever; only Stretch+ is paid, at $49.99 a year.

Is Country Days Tracker free?

Partly. It installs free, but the free tier is a preview: per our August 2026 market review it shows only the last seven days, and the advertised features need Pro, at $34.99 a year (checked 17 August 2026).

Can Stretch replace TaxBird or Country Days Tracker for tax days?

Yes, for country-level 183-day tallies: Stretch+ counts them from the same log as your visa days, so one entry moves both. TaxBird's US-state thresholds and Country Days Tracker's backfill are things Stretch does not do.

Sources

Count it, don't carry it

Do a stretch. Don't snap.

The counter, the alerts and your documents are free, forever. Coming to the App Store and Google Play — one email when it lands.

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Prices, ratings and features are as published by each product on the date shown; they change — check the store listing before you buy. Stretch is a tracker, not legal advice.