Comparison

Astrospheric vs SpaceWeatherLive

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Astrospheric

This app offers advanced weather forecasting and astronomical data for stargazers and astrophotographers. It provides detailed hourly forecasts, cloud and sky transparency reports, and alerts for celestial events. It also includes tools for astronomical societies and offline site setup.

Highlights
  • 84-hour hourly weather forecast
  • Ensemble cloud forecast
  • Kp index for Aurora
  • ISS flyover paths
  • Integrated smoke forecast
  • Sky and ground data
  • Rise and set times
  • Solar and Lunar eclipse data
Features
Read full description

Astrospheric provides advanced weather tools for professional astronomers and astrophotographers, and supports hundreds of astronomical societies with tools that help members stay connected. Are you using what the pros use? Features • 84 hour, hour-by-hour forecast • Free notification reminders for major astronomical events • Ensemble cloud forecast lets you quickly compare the major forecast models with hourly updates (Astrospheric Pro) • Extended cloud forecast • Kp index for Aurora viewing (and alerts with Pro) • International Space Station (ISS) flyover paths and times • Astrospheric is the only astronomy service that integrates the smoke forecast into the transparency report • Sky data: cloud, sky transparency, seeing • Ground data: wind, temperature, and humidity • Precise rise and set times for both the sun and moon • Get weather alerts when conditions meeting your requirements are met (Astrospheric Pro) • Details Solar and Lunar eclipse data Astronomical Societies • Stay connected with chat, image sharing, and event planning with all of your members. • Qualifying astronomical societies can get Pro features for all of their members Site Mode • Information necessary to quickly set up your GOTO tracking mount • Available even if you don’t have a network connection Astrospheric Professional is now available to enable Weather Alerts, Ensemble cloud forecast, and more! • Astrospheric Professional is billed monthly or yearly and will auto-renew unless turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current subscription period. The renewal cost will be the same as the initial sign-up cost of the subscription. Any changes in cost will be communicated before renewal takes place. • Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase • Subscriptions may be managed by you and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the your Account Settings after purchase. A link to these settings is made available within Astrospheric "My Profile" for easy access. • The terms of use and privacy policy may be found at https://www.astrospheric.com/privacypolicy.php, purchasing a subscription shows agreement to these terms. PLEASE NOTE: Weather data is not available for Hawaii due to the domain area covered by the Canadian Meteorological Center. However, satellite and light pollution map layers, as well as other features will work in Hawaii. More information on Astrospherics forecast domain can be found here: https://www.astrospheric.com/dynamiccontent/datadomain.html

About

SpaceWeatherLive

Track aurora and solar activity in real-time with detailed forecasts and historical data. Receive customizable push notifications for significant space weather events. Explore an extensive archive and learn from expert reports.

Highlights
  • Aurora and solar activity tracking
  • Real-time forecasts
  • Push notifications for space weather events
  • Dark mode for night use
  • Detailed graphs and reports
  • Extensive historical data archive
  • Beginner-friendly explanations
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

SpaceWeatherLive is the ultimate app for those who dream of seeing the northern lights or want to know everything about the activity on our Sun. With this app you will be able to see and understand how active the aurora is right now and if there might be a good chance to spot the northern or southern lights in the coming days. You will never miss an aurora display again with this app in your pocket no matter where you go! Beginner friendly - While the SpaceWeatherLive app is filled with all the space weather information you can think of both for beginning and advanced space weather enthusiasts, every item has a pop up with additional information to help you along if something is unclear. Learn more as you go along! Everything in one app - Switch between the auroral activity and solar activity modes with just one click! Dark mode - Preserve your night vision with our special dark mode! Ideal for aurora chasing out in the field! Push notifications - Free push notifications informing you of significant space weather events like solar flares, geomagnetic storms, earth-facing coronal holes and much more! You can turn any notification on or off so if you don't want to receive any notifications at all or are only interested in specific notifications: we got you covered! Modern graphs - All the data that you are interested in are represented in sleek, responsive graphs. Dials don't cut it when you are out in the field, you want to know how the data looks like in the past and right now. Our graphs provide all the information you need in the blink of an eye! News - Not only do we provide a ton of different automated alerts, we even have a dedicated team of space weather enthusiasts who write detailed hand written reports during high solar or auroral activity! Extensive help section - Are you a beginner and does our app look a bit daunting when you first open it? Fear not, we have a dedicated help section with tons of articles and a FAQ section. Give it a read and soon you will be able to make your very own aurora forecasts! Huge space weather archive - Ever looked back at your old aurora pictures and wonder what space weather was like on that specific date? We got you covered! Take a dive in our space weather archive that is filled to the brim with geomagnetic and solar data from the year 1996 until yesterday. Dig around and discover large sunspot regions, extreme geomagnetic storms and exciting data from the past! Free for all - Best of all... Our app is completely free of charge! We do have ads but those can be removed by purchasing a subscription which in turn supports us to keep our services online! PRICE AND TERMS: Although the app is free, it does contain advertising at the bottom of the screen which helps us to keep our services online. Don't want the ads? No problem, with a simple in-app purchase you can remove them! A monthly subscription is $0.99, half-yearly subscription $5.49 and yearly subscription $9.99. These prices apply to United States residents. Prices may vary in other countries respecting your local currency exchange rate. Your subscription will be charged to your iTunes account. At the end of the term, unless auto-renewables subscriptions are disabled, your subscription will automatically renew in your iTunes account. You will be charged for the regular price of your subscription within 24 hours prior to the end of the current term. You can turn off automatic renewal in your iTunes account settings at any time, but you must do so at least 24 hours before the end of the current term. Refunds will not be provided for the unused portion of any term. Terms and conditions: https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/app/terms-and-conditions Privacy policy: https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/app/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Astrospheric4 screens
SpaceWeatherLive4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Astrospheric at 4.8 against SpaceWeatherLive's 4.0. Astrospheric also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (88% vs 54%). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Astrospheric sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and SpaceWeatherLive sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Astrospheric holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 453 and 189 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Astrospheric's written reviews are positive against 54% of SpaceWeatherLive's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Astrospheric ships an update every 3 weeks, SpaceWeatherLive every 4 months. Both last shipped on September 23, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Astrospheric versus SpaceWeatherLive: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAstrosphericSpaceWeatherLive
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (453 ratings) — better4.0 (189 ratings)
Positive reviews87.7% of reviews — better53.9% of reviews
Number of ratings453 — better189
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#88 — better#174
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.1 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDaniel FiordalisParsec vzw

Customer experience

Astrospheric

All ratings453 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral1.5%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews146 reviews
Positive87.7%
Neutral4.8%
Negative7.5%

SpaceWeatherLive

All ratings189 ratings
Positive72.0%
Neutral5.8%
Negative22.2%
Written reviews128 reviews
Positive53.9%
Neutral14.1%
Negative32.0%

User reviews

Astrospheric

From 453 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Precision tool for astrophotography
  • 🔍 Detailed weather forecasts
  • ⭐ Accurate and reliable
  • 💻 Comprehensive data and features
  • 📊 Helpful for planning observing sessions

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional inaccurate forecasts
  • 🔍 Missing some weather data (e.g. wind)
  • 💰 Subscription required for full functionality
  • 🔌 Compatibility issues on some devices

SpaceWeatherLive

From 189 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent space weather information
  • 🔍 Detailed and informative data
  • 📚 Helpful tutorials and explanations
  • 🌍 Useful for aurora chasers and enthusiasts
  • 🤖 Comprehensive data from various sources

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Overwhelming amount of information
  • 🔔 Too many notifications/alerts
  • 💰 Ads becoming too intrusive
  • 🔌 Notifications not always working
  • 🤔 Confusing navigation at times

Bugs and requests

Astrospheric

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App crashing or not loading on some devices
  • Inconsistent temperature and wind data

Requested features

4 requests
  • Notification system for clear skies
  • Widgets for quick access to data
  • More detailed transparency and seeing data
  • Ability to flip east and west in the app

SpaceWeatherLive

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Video links not working
  • Alerts disappearing after opening the app
  • Inconsistent performance after updates
  • Notification count not clearing properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Customizable notification settings
  • Dark mode option
  • Location-based alerts
  • Ability to track solar activity trends
  • Integration with other weather/astronomy apps

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Astrospheric

Subscriptions2
  • Astrospheric Pro Subscription7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Astrospheric Pro Subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year
3 purchases

SpaceWeatherLive

Subscriptions3
  • Ad-free - monthly package$0.991 Month
  • Ad-free - half-yearly package$5.496 Months
  • Ad-free - yearly package$9.991 Year

Questions

Is Astrospheric free?
Astrospheric is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SpaceWeatherLive free?
SpaceWeatherLive is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Astrospheric or SpaceWeatherLive?
Astrospheric is rated higher. Astrospheric averages 4.8 out of 5 from 453 ratings, while SpaceWeatherLive averages 4.0 from 189 ratings.
Do Astrospheric or SpaceWeatherLive have ads?
SpaceWeatherLive shows ads; Astrospheric does not.
Which is updated more often, Astrospheric or SpaceWeatherLive?
Astrospheric ships an update every 3 weeks, and SpaceWeatherLive every 4 months. Most recently, Astrospheric was updated on September 23, 2026 and SpaceWeatherLive on September 23, 2026.
Which is more popular, Astrospheric or SpaceWeatherLive?
Astrospheric currently peaks at #88 in the App Store charts, and SpaceWeatherLive at #174. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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