About BestTimers
Last updated: July 2026
BestTimers started from a small irritation: needing a timer, opening a browser, and finding a site that did exactly one thing. Set a countdown here, open a second tab for a stopwatch, hunt for a third site when an interval timer was needed. Every one of them free, every one of them fine, none of them enough on its own.
So this site does the opposite. Ten timing tools live on a single page, sharing the same interface, the same ten alarm sounds and the same keyboard shortcuts. Learn it once and you never need another tab.
What is on the page
- Countdown timer — accurate to a hundredth of a second, with 170+ ready-made presets for cooking, focus and everyday routines.
- Stopwatch — counting up, with lap times and splits.
- Multi-timers — as many countdowns in parallel as you need, each with its own sound.
- Interval sequences — Tabata, HIIT, CrossFit, Yoga and Pomodoro, with voice announcements between phases.
- Metronome — 30 to 260 BPM with tap tempo and accented downbeats.
- Sleep cycle calculator — works from your bedtime or from the hour you need to be up.
How it is built
The whole site is a single HTML file. There is no framework, no build step, no database and no back end. Every alarm sound is generated by the browser's own audio engine rather than downloaded as a file, which is why the page loads once and then works with no further requests.
Timing is handled carefully, because most web timers are not. Rather than decrementing a counter every second — which drifts as soon as a tab goes to the background — the time remaining is recalculated on every frame against a stable reference clock. A 25-minute countdown is still exactly 25 minutes whether you watched it the whole way or switched tabs six times. The metronome goes further, scheduling each click ahead of time on the browser's audio clock so the pulse stays rock steady at any tempo.
What this site does not do
It does not ask you to sign up, because a timer has no reason to know who you are. It has no server, so there is nowhere for your data to go. It does not track you across the web, and it never sends anything you type or record to anyone.
If you allow it, the site saves your preferences and running timers in your own browser's local storage so they survive a reload — and you can withdraw that permission at any time. That is the full extent of it. See the privacy policy for the details.
Who is behind it
BestTimers is built and maintained by Nox Sylvain, an independent developer based in France.
It is a personal project rather than a company product, which is why it is free and why it stays deliberately simple. If it saves you opening a second tab, it has done its job.
Questions, bug reports and suggestions are genuinely welcome: get in touch.
Accuracy and limitations
The cooking times, workout presets and sleep cycle figures on this site are widely used starting points, not prescriptions. Ovens differ, pasta shapes differ, and sleep cycles vary from one person to the next and across a single night. Use them as a sensible default and adjust to what works for you.
BestTimers is a timing tool. It offers no medical, financial or professional advice of any kind.