Comparison

Stellar Tour vs Telescopius

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

Head to head
About

Stellar Tour

Explore the cosmos with an augmented reality stargazing app guided by an astrophysicist. Discover exoplanets, solar system bodies, and deep-sky objects with scientifically accurate narratives and detailed visuals.

Highlights
  • Augmented reality stargazing
  • Astrophysicist-guided tours
  • Detailed exoplanet information
  • High-resolution solar system visuals
  • Exploration of galaxies and nebulae
  • Interactive 3D planet and moon models
Features
Read full description

Stellar Tour is the only AR stargazing app written by an astrophysicist. Point your phone at the night sky and get a guided tour of everything up there: 1.7 billion real stars, every planet and major moon, eclipses, meteor showers, 13,000 deep-sky objects, and a course in astronomy that starts with the sky over your head and ends at the edge of the universe. Astrophysicist Dr. Aaron Day wrote every word. Instead of the standard flood of random facts, Stellar Tour tells the scientifically accurate story of each world: what it is like on the ground, in the seas, or floating through the clouds. THE NIGHT SKY, FOR REAL • 1.7 billion stars from ESA's Gaia survey, each in its true position. Pinch to zoom from your backyard to the galactic core. • The Milky Way as it actually looks, drawn from every star Gaia measured, with constellations, planets, and satellites overlaid on your live sky. • A sky that looks like the time it is: dawn, daylight, twilight, and full dark, with a real atmosphere and hazy ridges on the horizon. The Moon shows its earthshine, and Earth's night side its city lights. • Night Vision mode keeps your eyes dark-adapted with a pure red display. LEARN THE SKY • Fifteen short lessons, from the sky over your head to the edge of the universe. Every stop is a live visit: the lesson flies you to the star, steps the clock, or opens the tool it is talking about. The first three lessons are free. • Three reference books inside the app, How We Know, The Sky, and The Whole Story, with a glossary and dozens of labeled diagrams. SEVEN SKIES • See the stars the way Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, India, and the Arabian desert saw them: their star figures and folk names drawn on your sky, their stories on each star's page, and their lunar festivals on the calendar. PLAN YOUR NIGHT • Sky Calendar: every eclipse, meteor shower, conjunction, and full moon, filtered by type. The week ahead is free; the full year comes with the expansion. • Night Planner: the best targets for your sky tonight, hour by hour. Sky Forecast: the cloud cover over your spot, hour by hour. • Reminders that fire only when something is worth stepping outside for, including ISS and Tiangong passes with a live countdown. • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets for rise and set times and the next sky event. Ask Siri what is visible tonight. ECLIPSE EXPLORER Simulate any solar or lunar eclipse from any place on Earth: local timings, a disc animation of the Moon crossing the Sun, and a live countdown. The next solar eclipse at your own location is free: its times, what you will see there, and a reminder. GO DEEPER • Telescope Catalog: 13,000 NGC, IC, and Messier objects, searchable and shown on your sky. • Exoplanets: nearly every known world, in its actual position on the sky, with sizes, temperatures, and orbits. • The Solar System up close: planets and major moons in NASA probe imagery, in visible light, ultraviolet, infrared, and radar. Rotate them to any angle. • Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope pictures, on the pages of the objects they show. FOR EVERYONE • Kid Mode rewrites the whole tour for explorers aged five to seven. • Birthday Sky: a shareable card of the sky on the night you were born. • Smart search: ask for exactly what you want. • Fifteen languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Vietnamese, and Icelandic. Dates in your own calendar. • VoiceOver and Dynamic Type throughout. ONE PURCHASE, NO SUBSCRIPTION Cosmic Expansion adds the planner, the catalog, the eclipses, the exoplanets, the galaxies, the full year of the calendar, and the whole course in a single purchase that is yours forever. Take the Stellar Tour!

About

Telescopius

Discover celestial objects for your telescope and plan stunning astrophotography shots. Save favorite targets, simulate camera framings, and create intricate mosaics. Explore a community gallery of breathtaking astrophotography.

Highlights
  • Find telescope targets
  • Save favorite celestial objects
  • Simulate astrophotography framings
  • Plan image mosaics
  • Community astrophotography gallery
Features
Read full description

Astronomy and astrophotography tools. Find targets for your telescope, save your favorites, simulate astrophotography framings, plan mosaics, and enjoy our community-driven astrophotography gallery. Astronomy Planning Made Easy, 100% free.

Screenshots

Stellar Tour4 screens
Telescopius4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Stellar Tour at 4.7 against Telescopius's 3.6. Stellar Tour also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 54%) and ratings volume (1.7K vs 8). Telescopius's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support 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. Stellar Tour sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Telescopius asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Stellar Tour holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stellar Tour has 1.7K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Stellar Tour's written reviews are positive against 54% of Telescopius's.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Stellar Tour versus Telescopius: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStellar TourTelescopius
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.7K ratings) — better3.6 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews83.5% of reviews — better53.8% of reviews
Number of ratings1.7K — better8
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size570 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAaron DaySebastian Oscar Garcia Rojas

Customer experience

Stellar Tour

All ratings1,695 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral3.7%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive83.5%
Neutral5.5%
Negative11.0%

Telescopius

All ratings8 ratings
Positive62.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative37.5%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive53.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative46.2%

Bugs and requests

Stellar Tour

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Login screen freezes
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Videos not playing offline as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add support for viewing comets and other celestial events
  • Improve AR functionality and integration
  • Provide more detailed information on exoplanets
  • Introduce a dark mode option for better visibility at night

Telescopius

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Stellar Tour

One-time5
  • Remove Ads 1$2.99
  • Upgrade: Lessons & Sky Tools$3.99
  • Cosmic Expansion2 variants$9.99
Show 2 more
  • Remove Ads 2$9.99
  • Remove Ads 3$14.99
None

Telescopius

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Stellar Tour free?
Stellar Tour is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Telescopius free?
Telescopius is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Stellar Tour or Telescopius?
Stellar Tour is rated higher. Stellar Tour averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.7K ratings, while Telescopius averages 3.6 from 8 ratings.
Do Stellar Tour or Telescopius have ads?
Neither Stellar Tour nor Telescopius shows ads.

Other comparisons