How to add a countdown timer to MailerLite

MailerLite’s editor is deliberately simple, and a countdown should not be the thing that breaks that. A tikio timer is one image URL you paste into a Custom HTML block — no plugin, no separate countdown builder, and the same design also embeds on your MailerLite landing page.

  1. Design your countdown in tikio

    Create a timer in the tikio editor: pick colors, fonts, labels and the languages you need. What you see in the editor is exactly what lands in the inbox — the timer is delivered as a regular animated image.

  2. Publish and copy the image URL

    Hit Publish and copy the public image URL. The deadline lives in the URL as a parameter, so the same link works for every campaign — change the date, not the link.

    https://tikio.io/e/a1b2.gif?target=2026-08-01T20:00

  3. Insert the timer into your MailerLite campaign

    In the drag-and-drop editor, add a Custom HTML block and paste the snippet below. MailerLite variables use the {$name} form and are merged inside the URL for each subscriber at send time.

    <img src="https://tikio.io/e/a1b2.gif?target=2026-08-01T20:00" alt="Offer ends soon" width="480" style="max-width:100%;" />

Per-recipient evergreen deadlines

Use the {$email} variable as the recipient key. Every subscriber then gets their own deadline measured from their first open, which is what automation emails need. A custom field holding your own ID works just as well and keeps addresses out of the URL.

<img src="https://tikio.io/e/a1b2.gif?duration=86400&uid={$email}" alt="Offer ends soon" width="480" style="max-width:100%;" />

FAQ

Does the timer also work on a MailerLite landing page?

Yes — embed the same design as an iframe in a Custom HTML block on the page. The page and the email then show the same deadline, because both read it from the same URL parameter.

Will it render on the free plan?

The timer is a normal image, so it renders on any MailerLite plan that lets you add a Custom HTML block.

What happens after the deadline passes?

By default the timer shows zeros. You can also configure the link to hide the timer or swap in a different image once it hits zero, and point clicks to a different page before and after.

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