Guide · Events and stages
How to run a speaker countdown timer you control from the booth (conference and church setups)
By Blink Brief · Updated · How pages are made
To control a speaker's countdown from the booth, run the timer's controls on a laptop or phone in the booth and show its display on a confidence monitor, a second screen, or a tablet on stage. Browser-based timers such as Stagetimer.io, CueTimer Cloud, Ontime, and Show Countdown link the two over the network; StageTime does it on the local network for free; in a church that already runs ProPresenter, its own timers and stage screen do the job.
Short answer
- No budget: StageTime (free, Mac and Windows, web remote on the same network) or Stagetimer.io's free plan (up to 3 connected devices).
- A conference with several stages: Stagetimer.io Pro at $210 a year or $28 for 30 days, or CueTimer at $25 to $65 a year.
- A church on ProPresenter: put a timer on the stage layout and run it from the booth or from the free ProPresenter Remote app.
Stage countdown timer hardware layouts: confidence monitor, second screen, or tablet
Start from where the speaker looks. The timer has to sit in their line of sight without them turning around.
| Layout | How the timer reaches the stage | Fits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confidence monitor on the floor in front of the stage | A video output of a booth computer, through a cable run or the video switcher | Conferences with an AV crew; churches whose stage screen ProPresenter already drives | The cable run from booth to stage; the monitor must not show the operator's desktop |
| Second screen on a stage computer | The timer's display link opens in a browser on a computer at the stage; the booth controls it over the network | Rooms with no video cable to the booth | Venue Wi-Fi; screen sleep on the stage computer |
| Tablet on the lectern | The display link in the tablet's browser, or an app such as ProPresenter Stage | Small rooms, breakout sessions, a pulpit with no floor monitor | Battery, auto-lock, and the speaker's notes covering it |
Conference stage countdown timer software with remote control
Each of these lets a laptop or phone in the booth control what the stage screen shows. Full details are in stage timer apps compared.
| Tool | Price | How the booth controls it | Without internet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stagetimer.io | Free up to 3 connections; Pro $210/year or $28 for 30 days | Controller link in any browser | With its desktop app, on the local network |
| CueTimer | Desktop $50/year, Cloud $25/year, both $65/year | Cloud: a shared link; Desktop: Stream Deck through Companion, or its API | Desktop: yes (activation needs internet) |
| StageTime | Free | Web remote in a browser on the same network, with a PIN | Yes |
| Ontime | Free self-hosted; Cloud from $20/month | Browser views on the same network, or through Ontime Cloud | Runs on your own computer on the local network |
| Show Countdown | Not published (a basic room needs no credit card) | Separate controller, operator, and viewer links | No: every device needs internet |
| ProPresenter | $289/year or $29/month per seat | From the ProPresenter computer, or the free ProPresenter Remote app on the local network | Not published |
Prices checked on 1 November 2026, in US dollars, on each vendor's own page.
Church stage display countdown timer in ProPresenter, controlled from the sound booth
If ProPresenter already runs your screens, you don't need a second timer app. When ProPresenter runs on the booth computer, the stage screen is one of its outputs; Renewed Vision says it supports "up to 8 unique outputs".
- Add a timer. In Timers, click the plus (+) button. Choose a countdown, a countdown to a time of day, or elapsed time. ProPresenter sets no limit on the number of timers.
- Turn on Overrun so the countdown keeps running past zero, and the stage layout can change its color.
- Put it on the stage layout. Stage layouts show timers through Linked Text, next to the current and next slide text and stage messages.
- Assign that layout to the stage screen.
- Control it from the booth or the floor. The free ProPresenter Remote app can "Start and control Timers and show Stage Messages". It needs a local network connection to the ProPresenter computer.
No floor monitor? The ProPresenter Stage app ($9.99 on the App Store) shows the stage display on an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV anywhere on the local network. A stage message "only appears on your Stage Screen", so the congregation doesn't see "Wrap up".
Step by step: set up a speaker timer you run from the booth
- Pick the speaker's screen. Floor monitor, lectern tablet, or a screen on the back wall, from the table above.
- Get the timer onto it. Either a cable from the booth computer or a device at the stage that opens the timer's display link.
- Open the controls in the booth. The controller link on the booth laptop, or the tool's remote on your phone.
- Enter the run of show. One timer per slot: a 20-minute talk, then 5 minutes of questions, then a 10-minute break.
- Set the warnings. A color change 2 minutes before zero, red at zero, and the overtime counting up.
- Stop the screens sleeping. Turn off sleep and auto-lock on every display device.
- Test without the venue Wi-Fi. Unplug it during the soundcheck. If the timer stops, use a tool that runs on the local network, or cable the display from the booth.
- Brief each speaker. "Amber means 2 minutes left, red means stop, and messages appear under the time."
Free: a full-screen stage timer in your browser
The free Stage Timer runs a full-screen countdown with no sign-up. Choose 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, or 45 minutes or your own time. The numbers turn amber with 2 minutes left, red at 0:00, and then count the overtime. A message you type appears under the time, and once the page has loaded it runs without internet.
It runs on one screen. To run it from the booth, open it on the booth laptop and send that laptop's picture to the stage monitor over a cable, mirrored: the speaker sees the time, and you press Space to pause or resume and R to reset. Set the time before you mirror, so the stage never shows the setup screen.
Our product · in development
Blink Timer: control the timer from another device, show it on several displays, and send the speaker messages. Planned price $210/year or $29 per event.
Join the early listQuestions
Can I control a stage timer from my phone?
Yes. Stagetimer.io, CueTimer Cloud, Ontime, and Show Countdown give you a link to open in any browser. StageTime's web remote and the ProPresenter Remote app work on the same local network as the computer running the timer.
Which stage timers work without internet?
StageTime "works completely offline". CueTimer Desktop "Runs with no internet at all", though activation needs internet. Stagetimer.io's desktop app serves the timer to devices on your network "even without internet". Show Countdown needs internet on every device.
How many screens can show the timer?
It depends on the tool. Stagetimer.io counts live connections: 3 on the free plan, 5 on Pro, and 50 on Premium. CueTimer Cloud allows "Unlimited operators and displays" on one cue list, and StageTime mirrors its display to "any number of extra monitors".
Sources
Prices checked on 1 November 2026.
- Stagetimer.io pricing: plans, live connections, the desktop app.
- CueTimer, Desktop and Cloud: prices, licences, offline use.
- StageTime: free, web remote, offline.
- Ontime pricing: free self-hosted and Cloud plans.
- Show Countdown and its help page: roles, internet requirement.
- ProPresenter, its stage display page, and Renewed Vision's support article on setting up timers: price, outputs, timer types, stage messages.
- ProPresenter Remote and ProPresenter Stage on the App Store.