Comparison

Good To Stargaze vs SpaceWeatherLive

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

Head to head
About

Good To Stargaze

This app provides a comprehensive tool to determine the best times for stargazing. It offers detailed forecasts for weather, seeing conditions, transparency, and light pollution. Ideal for both amateur and professional astronomers using any viewing equipment.

Highlights
  • Weather forecast
  • Seeing conditions
  • Transparency forecast
  • Light pollution data
  • Hourly forecasts
  • Long-term forecasts
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

When will it be good to stargaze? See the weather forecast, seeing, transparency, and light pollution, all in one convenient tool. Perfect for amateur and professional astronomers alike, for naked eye viewing, binoculars, or telescopes. Become a subscriber for 24-hour, 7-day, or 15-day hourly forecast and many other features. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period at the same price you originally paid. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Terms: https://www.goodtostargaze.com/terms

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

Good To Stargaze4 screens
SpaceWeatherLive4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: SpaceWeatherLive at free with in-app purchases against Good To Stargaze's subscription. SpaceWeatherLive also leads on review sentiment (53% vs 27%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Good To Stargaze's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.4 vs 3.9). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and chart position 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. Good To Stargaze sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per 7 days 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

Good To Stargaze holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 225 and 192 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 27% of Good To Stargaze's written reviews are positive against 53% of SpaceWeatherLive's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Good To Stargaze ships an update every 2 months, SpaceWeatherLive every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Good To Stargaze versus SpaceWeatherLive: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGood To StargazeSpaceWeatherLive
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (225 ratings) — better3.9 (192 ratings)
Positive reviews27.3% of reviews53.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings225 — better192
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#142 — better#188
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size72 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMatthew LLOYDParsec vzw

Customer experience

Good To Stargaze

All ratings217 ratings
Positive83.4%
Neutral5.5%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive27.3%
Neutral11.4%
Negative61.4%

SpaceWeatherLive

All ratings189 ratings
Positive72.0%
Neutral5.8%
Negative22.2%
Written reviews132 reviews
Positive53.0%
Neutral13.6%
Negative33.3%

User reviews

Good To Stargaze

From 225 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Accurate for planning viewing nights
  • 👍 Useful for astronomers
  • 👍 Good for finding right conditions
  • 👍 Reliable forecast
  • 👍 Clean, organized interface

Room to improve

  • 😞 Expensive subscription model
  • 😞 Pessimistic predictions
  • 😞 Free features removed
  • 😞 Unusable without payment
  • 😞 Inaccurate forecasts

SpaceWeatherLive

From 192 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

Good To Stargaze

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App is a buggy site wrapper
  • App not working for current location
  • App shows previous 24 hours, not upcoming
  • App shows rain when it's clear
  • App doesn't work or is SUPER slow to load after Apple update
Show 1 more
  • Light pollution map not up to date

Requested features

9 requests
  • Grandfathering in initial users
  • Unique payment option instead of subscription
  • More precise geolocation feature
  • Map key for chart colors
  • Include light pollution map
Show 4 more
  • Update light pollution map data
  • Widget for the app
  • Fix app for Apple update
  • Add moon phases back to condition page

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

13 purchases

Good To Stargaze

Subscriptions12
  • Value Subscription - Weekly$0.497 Days
  • Value Subscription - Monthly7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Hobbyist Subscription - Weekly$1.997 Days
Show 9 more
  • Professional - Weekly$3.497 Days
  • Hobbyist - Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Elite Subscription - Weekly$6.997 Days
  • Professional - Monthly7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Value Subscription - Annual7 Days trial$6.991 Year
  • Elite Subscription - Monthly$13.991 Month
  • Hobbyist Subscription - Annual7 Days trial$25.991 Year
  • Professional - Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Elite Subscription - Annual$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • Hobby Subscription - One Year$23.99
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 Good To Stargaze free?
Good To Stargaze 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, Good To Stargaze or SpaceWeatherLive?
Good To Stargaze is rated higher. Good To Stargaze averages 4.4 out of 5 from 225 ratings, while SpaceWeatherLive averages 3.9 from 192 ratings.
Do Good To Stargaze or SpaceWeatherLive have ads?
SpaceWeatherLive shows ads; Good To Stargaze does not.
Which is updated more often, Good To Stargaze or SpaceWeatherLive?
Good To Stargaze ships an update every 2 months, and SpaceWeatherLive every 4 months. Most recently, Good To Stargaze was updated on October 24, 2026 and SpaceWeatherLive on October 25, 2026.
Which is more popular, Good To Stargaze or SpaceWeatherLive?
Good To Stargaze currently peaks at #142 in the App Store charts, and SpaceWeatherLive at #188. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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