3D AR Maps vs Celestia
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
3D AR Maps
Explore location data and build games with 3D cityscapes and terrain in augmented reality. This app provides development starting points using the Mapbox Maps SDK for Unity.
- 3D city and terrain previews
- Tabletop AR map building blocks
- Location-based game examples
- Augmented reality integration
- Mapbox Maps SDK for Unity
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3D AR Maps gives you a preview of some of the location data and development starting points available through the Mapbox Maps SDK for Unity. Play with location-based game, 3D city and terrain, and tabletop AR map and location data building blocks you can start with to build your games and apps. About Mapbox: Mapbox creates building blocks for mobile developers to add 2D, 3D, and AR maps and location services to their mobile games and applications. Companies like Pinterest, Lonely Planet, Uber, The Weather Channel, Under Armour, Human, GitHub, CNN, and National Geographic use our tools to create beautiful maps and experiences.
Celestia
Explore the universe in real-time 3D. Visit planets, moons, star clusters, and galaxies, viewing them from any point in space and time. Customize your experience with expandable content and detailed simulations.
- Real-time 3D space visualization
- Explore planets, moons, stars, galaxies
- Accurate solar system object positions
- Interactive planetarium mode
- Expandable content with add-ons
- Customizable celestial databases
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Celestia — real-time 3D visualization of space 3D Space Simulator | Celestia lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia simulates many different types of celestial objects. From planets and moons to star clusters and galaxies, you can visit every object in the expandable database and view it from any point in space and time. The position and movement of solar system objects is calculated accurately in real time at any rate desired. Interactive Planetarium | Celestia serves as a planetarium – for an observer on any celestial object. You can easily navigate to any world and land on its surface. When used as a planetarium, Celestia shows accurate positions of solar system objects in the sky. You can switch labels and other supporting features on and off with hotkeys, or zoom in and out on an object of interest, for example Jupiter’s system of moons. Expandable Content | Customize Celestia according to your needs. Celestia’s catalogues can be easily expanded. There are many different add-ons available containing new objects like comets or stars, high-resolution textures of Earth and other well mapped solar system bodies, as well as 3D models for asteroids and spacecraft on precise trajectories. Even fictional objects from well-known sci-fi franchises can be found. EULA(End User License Agreement): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: 3D AR Maps at 5.0 against Celestia's 4.4. 3D AR Maps also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). Celestia's advantage is ratings volume (331 vs 4) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, update cadence and ads 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
Both are free to download. Celestia sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. 3D AR Maps asks for nothing beyond the download.
3D AR Maps holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Celestia has 331 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.
3D AR Maps ships an update weekly, Celestia every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | 3D AR Maps | Celestia |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | 4.4 (331 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 79.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 331 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 53 MB | 545 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mapbox, Inc. | 林峰 李 |
Customer experience
3D AR Maps
Celestia
Bugs and requests
3D AR Maps
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Celestia
Reported bugs
3 issues- Milky Way and other galaxy textures not loading properly
- Crashes when using certain add-ons
- Issues with planet and moon orbits not being accurate
Requested features
5 requests- Add more exoplanets and distant star systems
- Implement terrain generation for planets
- Expand to include more galaxies and the overall universe structure
- Add support for black holes, pulsars, and other exotic objects
- Improve controls and camera movement
In-app purchases
3D AR Maps
No in-app purchases
Celestia
- Celestia PLUS (Weekly)7 Days trial$0.997 Days
- Celestia PLUS (Monthly)$1.991 Month
- Celestia PLUS (Yearly)$19.991 Year
- Celestia PLUS (Lifetime)$79.99
