# Grow Castle! vs Stellar!

The clearest difference is rating: Grow Castle! at 4.5 against Stellar!'s 2.2. Grow Castle! also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (2.2K vs 5). Stellar!'s advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Grow Castle! sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Stellar! sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Grow Castle! holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Grow Castle! has 2.2K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 76% of Grow Castle!'s written reviews are positive against 83% of Stellar!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Grow Castle! ships an update every 5 days, Stellar! every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Grow Castle! | Stellar! |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (2.2K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/grow-castle/id1133478462/reviews)** | [2.2 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stellar-infinity-defense/id1379005158/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **2.2K** | 5 |
| Positive reviews | 76.1% of reviews | **83.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 122 MB | 104 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 12+ | 9+ |
| Developer | [YONG OK PARK](https://appshunter.io/developer/581876748) | [SeHyeon Im](https://appshunter.io/developer/1294084939) |

## What reviewers say

### Grow Castle!

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/grow-castle/id1133478462)

Defend your castle from waves of enemies by strategically placing heroes and archers. Upgrade your defenses and recruit over 80 unique heroes, each with special skills, to create powerful combinations and climb the global rankings.

**Highlights:** Castle defense gameplay, Hero and archer placement, Hero skill system, Strategic hero mounting (up to 9), Tower and archer upgrades, Global ranking system

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gold | $2.99 | one-time |
| Crystal | $2.99 | one-time |
| Gold | $4.99 | one-time |
| Crystal | $4.99 | one-time |
| Golden Horn | $4.99 | one-time |
| Auto Battle | $4.99 | one-time |
| Item Box | $4.99 | one-time |
| Gold | $9.99 | one-time |
| Crystal | $9.99 | one-time |
| Hero Slot | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Fun and addictive gameplay
- 🚀 Offline playability
- 💎 Good free-to-play model with optional purchases
- 🕹 Simple yet engaging tower defense mechanics
- 🔥 Satisfying progression and character upgrades

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
- 🕰 Slow progression without paying
- 🔍 Lack of in-depth tutorials
- 🌐 Connectivity issues with online features
- 🎨 Outdated or suboptimal UI on newer devices

**Reported bugs**

- Inability to save or load game progress
- Frequent crashes when accessing the world map
- Disappearing items and lost progress after updates
- Unreliable auto-battle and offline earnings features

**Requested features**

- Add more heroes and towers
- Implement a PvP mode for player-vs-player battles
- Introduce more diverse enemy types and boss battles
- Allow players to create and manage their own guilds
- Improve offline earnings and afk progression


### Stellar!

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stellar-infinity-defense/id1379005158)

Defend the last planet with life from alien robots by controlling a spaceship and strategically placing towers. Loot spaceships and towers, upgrade abilities, and combine cards to build your unique defense strategy. Compete globally on the ranking system.

**Highlights:** Control spaceship to defend base, Select tactical upgrades, Loot spaceships and towers, Unique tower abilities, Combine spaceship and tower cards, Global ranking system

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 20 GEMS | $0.99 | one-time |
| 110 GEMS | $4.99 | one-time |
| 240 GEMS | $9.99 | one-time |
| 550 GEMS | $19.99 | one-time |
| 1500 GEMS | $49.99 | one-time |
| 3200 GEMS | $99.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Grow Castle! free?

Grow Castle! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Stellar! free?

Stellar! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Grow Castle! or Stellar!?

Grow Castle! is rated higher. Grow Castle! averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2.2K ratings, while Stellar! averages 2.2 from 5 ratings.

### Do Grow Castle! or Stellar! have ads?

Both Grow Castle! and Stellar! show ads.

### Which is updated more often, Grow Castle! or Stellar!?

Grow Castle! ships an update every 5 days, and Stellar! every 2 months. Most recently, Grow Castle! was updated on October 26, 2026 and Stellar! on October 25, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*