Dry Fire Timer Apps Compared: Par Timers vs Shot Timers

A par timer gives you two beeps: a start beep after a random delay (1 to 4 seconds on ours) and a par beep when your time is up. A shot timer listens through a microphone or feels recoil through a watch or sensor, and records the time of every shot: the first one and each split after it. A par timer never hears you; you decide whether the rep beat the beep.

Below are nine dry-fire timers for the browser, iPhone and Android. DrillLane makes two of them — the browser timer and the app — and the table says where they fall short.

Par timer vs shot timer: the one difference that matters

A par timer runs a deadline. You set a time, say 0.7 seconds for a draw to a sight picture, press start, wait through the random delay, and move on the first beep. If the sights settle before the second beep, the rep counts. It cannot tell you how much time you had to spare.

A shot timer measures instead of judging. In dry fire the only sound is the trigger click. Dry Fire Pro says it measures splits from the click. AlbertLab’s DryFire times the first shot once sensitivity is calibrated, and “works best in a quiet room”.

Whichever kind you use, the par moves as you improve. Pistol Wizard prints a plain rule next to its timer: pass 10 of 10 reps and cut the par by 0.1 second; pass at least 8 of 10 and keep practicing until you get 10 of 10; pass fewer than 8 of 10 and add 0.1. If you only want the beep, our free browser par timer needs no install and no account.

Nine dry fire timers side by side

Checked October 6, 2026 on the US App Store, Google Play and each maker’s site. Prices change; the store page is the final word.

“Not stated” means the listing does not say either way. It is not the same as “no”.

Par timers: a beep and a deadline

Pistol Wizard (browser)

A free timer page with no account. You set a par time, a start delay with a “Randomizer” that adds a random amount up to a maximum you choose, and a number of reps. The difficulty presets are, in the page’s words, “based off of USPSA standards and DryFire Reloaded (2017) by Ben Stoeger”, and the drill list covers Dry Trigger, Draw steps, Target Transition and Speed Reload. It does not listen for shots and does not save results.

ShootOnTime: Par Timer (iPhone)

LiberApps calls it “entirely free”, and the App Store listing shows no in-app purchases. It says so plainly: the app “does NOT register or detect the audible firing of firearms.” The version history adds optional stand by and par beeps, an optional reset time, saved presets and up to five par beeps. We found no Android version.

DrillLane browser timer

Our dry-fire timer in the browser takes a par from 0.1 to 600 seconds, 1 to 200 reps and a rest of 0.5 to 120 seconds between them. Every rep starts after a random 1 to 4 second delay, and spoken range commands (“Make ready”, “Stand by”, “Reset” and a closing range-clear call) can be switched on or off. It keeps the screen awake and installs nothing. It needs no account and saves no results; saving is in the DrillLane app.

Shot timer apps: what each listing says

Dry Fire Pro: Gun Shot Timer (iPhone)

The maker describes it as “a par timer that listens”. It has a random standby with a minimum and maximum, voice commands, and a machine-learning detector that “detects your trigger click” on the device, then reports “reaction times, splits, and averages”. A “My Firearm” setup records a few trigger clicks for “sharper detection, tuned to you”. The free plan includes the shot timer and starter drills; Pro costs $2.99 a month, $19.99 a year, or $34.99 once for lifetime access (listed as Pro Tier). A Google Play app called DryFire Pro – 10m Trainer is a different product.

DryFire — Shot Timer by AlbertLab (Android)

Free to use, with ads. It offers a “configurable random start delay”, a “fixed or descending par” and spoken start commands. In shot-timer mode, after the start beep the microphone “detects each shot and times your first shot and splits automatically”. For dry fire the listing promises less: once sensitivity is calibrated, the microphone “picks up the trigger click and times your first ‘shot'”, and it “works best in a quiet room”. Training and saved results work offline, “without an account or cloud”. We found no iPhone version.

Dry Fire – Shot Timer by Daniel Yaakob (iPhone)

Easy to confuse with the one above. The App Store listing names par time drills, start delays, an optional countdown, split time drills and sensitivity levels, and the 2.0.0 notes mention “more accurate tracking algorithms”, but it never says how shots are picked up. Detection is implied, not described. A $6.99 Premium upgrade is sold in the app. The last update on the listing is version 2.0.0 from December 15, 2023. We found no Android version.

PlinkPal Shot Timer & Dry Fire (iPhone, Android, watches)

Its Google Play listing says it uses “advanced audio algorithms and your phone’s accelerometer to detect shots”, adds a smartwatch recoil timer, and “tracks draw time, split times, and total elapsed time”. For dry fire it has a par timer with custom par times, and with a laser cartridge the camera “detects the laser dot”. The maker’s site also lists a “Dry Fire Shot Timer”. Results go into a performance tracker with charts, loadouts and a leaderboard. Premium in-app purchases on the App Store range from $6.99 to $59.99.

Drills by Shooters Global: built for their hardware

Drills is the companion app for the SG Timer and SG Pulse, and the maker’s FAQ is clear about what that means: “Does the Drills app work without SG Devices? No. In order to input data, you need an SG Timer or SG Pulse. You may only review your progress and shooting history without devices connected.”

With the hardware paired it is a full logbook: shot times from the timer, a cloud-backed calendar, progress per drill and hit factor. The App Store description also offers Shotisize AI: upload a video “filmed with any device” and it detects “the sound of a start signal and shots”. The app is free; SG Pro costs $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year.

Where DrillLane fits

Both DrillLane timers are par timers. Neither one hears a shot, and neither measures your first shot or your splits. If you need that, see the shot timer apps above.

What we built instead is the drill side. The same timer sits on every drill page that has a par: 111 of our 152 drills, as of October 6, 2026. The first time you open it, the par comes from the drill; after that the timer reuses the settings you last started with on that drill. The par is 0.3 seconds on Trigger Press, 0.7 on Draw to Sight Picture, 1.0 on Standing Reload and 2 seconds on the First Shot Drill.

The DrillLane app runs on iPhone, Android and the web with the same timer rules: the first run takes the drill’s par, and after that it reuses the settings you last started with. The timer does not measure your shot times. Signed in with a free account, you can tap Save after a run started from a drill to keep its par and reps done; the standalone Timer tab does not save. You also type in your results: the time, say from a shot timer at the range, plus points or hits when the drill is scored that way. From those the app keeps your personal best and your progress on each drill.

Put simply: if you want the phone to time your shots, pick a listening app. If you want a drill list with par times and a log of your results, that is what we built.

How to pick one

• Just a beep, nothing to install: a browser timer. Pistol Wizard or our dry-fire timer.
• iPhone, no account, par only: ShootOnTime.
• Measured dry fire: Dry Fire Pro on iPhone; DryFire — Shot Timer by AlbertLab on Android (first shot only, after calibration).
• Splits on live fire and a timer on your wrist: PlinkPal.
• You already own an SG Timer or SG Pulse: Drills by Shooters Global.
• A drill library with par times and a log of your results: DrillLane. Start with the 30-day dry fire routine or the draw time benchmarks.

At the range, a Bill Drill on a printed Bill Drill target shows the difference: six shots, and only a shot timer gives you the splits.

Sources

All pages below were checked on October 6, 2026.

• Pistol Wizard, Free Dry Fire Timer.
• LiberApps, ShootOnTime: Par Timer on the App Store.
• Adam Gelatka, Dry Fire Pro: Gun Shot Timer on the App Store and dryfirepro.com.
• AlbertLab, DryFire — Shot Timer on Google Play.
• Daniel Yaakob, Dry Fire – Shot Timer on the App Store.
• PlinkPal, PlinkPal Shot Timer & Dry Fire on the App Store, on Google Play and plinkpal.com.
• Shooters Global, Drills: Shooting Training app on the App Store, on Google Play and the SG Timer FAQ.
• DrillLane timer limits and drill counts — our own code and drill database.