The Solar System vs Alien Planets
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
The Solar System
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Use the latest in AR technology to bring the entire solar system right into your immediate environment with this augmented reality app. Imagine the immersive thrill of an augmented reality experience for your students who are studying the solar system. Walk around and move forward and back to get close-up views of each planet. The Solar System - AR adds a whole new dimension for science teachers who want to engage their students by providing unique learning experiences. Use the slider to select a planet in order to view it more closely and to learn about the planet by reading interesting information. The Solar System - AR uses Apple's ARKit and allows you to instantly view and learn about the solar system. It perfect for classrooms and will help get kids excited about exploring the information provided about each planet. In addition, tables of information are presented when icons are tapped. The information for each planet includes: length of day, distance from the sun, diameter, number of moons and mass. Note: Since camera access is required for AR experience please make sure that Settings -> General -> Restrictions -> Camera is set to allow access to the iPad camera.
Alien Planets
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Alien Planets is a field guide to worlds that do not orbit our Sun. Somewhere out there, a year can last a few days, a sky can hold two suns, and a planet can be so close to its star that its surface is a permanent storm. This app turns those distant discoveries into something you can actually browse. Open it and move through confirmed exoplanets and the stars they circle. Each world comes with the details that make it real: how large it is, how massive, how long it takes to orbit, how far away it sits, and how it was found. Set a planet next to Earth or Jupiter and the scale snaps into place. A βsuper-Earthβ stops being a label and starts looking like a place. The catalog keeps growing. New observations revise old numbers, and planets once listed as candidates become confirmed. Alien Planets stays with that living record, written in plain language, so you can follow the nearest known worlds, the strangest orbits, and the thin band astronomers call the habitable zone without getting lost in a research paper. Save the planets you want to come back to. Then keep going. The galaxy is full of new worlds, and most of them still have a story waiting.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: The Solar System at $1.99 against Alien Planets's $9.99. The Solar System also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 27.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
The Solar System costs $1.99 and Alien Planets $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
The Solar System ships an update every 29 months, Alien Planets every 24 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Solar System | Alien Planets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 β better | $9.99 |
| Update frequency | Every 29 months | Every 24 months β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad β better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 β better | 27.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 112 MB | 51 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ventura Educational Systems | Jose Leal |
In-app purchases
The Solar System
No in-app purchases
Alien Planets
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Solar System free?
Is Alien Planets free?
Do The Solar System or Alien Planets have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Solar System or Alien Planets?
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