# StellarMate vs QUARCS

StellarMate and QUARCS both sit at 3.1 stars, but that hides the real split: 35% of StellarMate's written reviews are positive against 0% of QUARCS's. StellarMate also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (24 vs 1). QUARCS's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.1 for StellarMate against 3.0 for QUARCS. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: StellarMate has 24 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 35% of StellarMate's written reviews are positive against 0% of QUARCS's.

StellarMate ships an update every 8 days, QUARCS every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | StellarMate | QUARCS |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.1 (24 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stellarmate/id1252626058/reviews)** | [3.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/quarcs/id6479396546/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **24** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | **34.5% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 8 days** | Every 6 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 115 MB | 30 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **14.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ikarus Astronomy Company For Scientific Instruments & Tools](https://appshunter.io/developer/1252626057) | [Light Speed Vision(Beijing) Co., Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1511662353) |

## What reviewers say

### StellarMate

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stellarmate/id1252626058)

Control your astrophotography equipment remotely. Capture images, stream video, and perform precise alignment. Automatically back up your photos to the cloud with rich metadata for easy searching.

**Highlights:** Remote equipment control, Image capture and video streaming, Polar alignment assistant, Cloud image backup, Metadata search and sorting, Software updates

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

**In-app purchases:** none


### QUARCS

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/quarcs/id6479396546)

This open-source software kit enables remote astrophotography capture via Wi-Fi and computer. It offers comprehensive control over telescope mounts, cameras, autoguiding, and electric focusers, integrating with Stellarium for sky mapping.

**Highlights:** Remote capture via Wi-Fi, Computer remote capture via LAN, Mount control, Camera control, Autoguiding, Electric focuser control, Stellarium skymap integration

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is StellarMate free?

StellarMate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is QUARCS free?

QUARCS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, StellarMate or QUARCS?

StellarMate is rated higher. StellarMate averages 3.1 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while QUARCS averages 3.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do StellarMate or QUARCS have ads?

Neither StellarMate nor QUARCS shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, StellarMate or QUARCS?

StellarMate ships an update every 8 days, and QUARCS every 6 months. Most recently, StellarMate was updated on October 24, 2026 and QUARCS on October 6, 2026.

---

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