Comparison

ARPlanets 2 vs Sandbox AR

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

Head to head
About

ARPlanets 2

Explore the augmented reality Solar System with interactive 3D models and intuitive gestures. Learn basic and advanced astronomy concepts through engaging AR lessons.

Highlights
  • Augmented reality Solar System exploration
  • Interactive 3D model manipulation
  • Discover celestial body details
  • AR-based astronomy lessons
  • User-friendly interface
Features
Read full description

Introducing ARPlanets 2! Completely rewritten from scratch to offer the ultimate user experience this app will bring the entire augmented reality Solar System into your pocket! The AR user experience is of the highest level with total control of the models thanks to intuitive gestures. The new great AR Lessons section will teach you with nice lessons in augmented reality basic astronomy concepts such as Kepler's Laws up to advanced notions such as differential photometry. Learning has never been so beautiful! -> Main features - User friendly user interface aimed at offering the maximum user experience - Completely manipulate 3D models thanks to very simple gestures. - Discover the names of the most interesting areas of the Moon, Mars and Jupiter simply by getting closer with your phone! - Learn notions of basic astronomy in augmented reality such as the Earth-Moon system and Kepler's Laws up to advanced topics such as differential photometry thanks to the AR Lessons section! Learning has never been so beautiful!

About

Sandbox AR

Create, build, and explore immersive virtual worlds using augmented reality. This app allows users to scale creations to life-size and share them with others. It's designed to bring interactive technology into educational settings.

Highlights
  • Create, build, and explore in AR
  • Life-size scale exploration
  • Share creations via QR code
  • Capture snapshots and videos
  • Teacher audio descriptions (DE:X subscribers)
  • Link to curated resources (DE:X subscribers)
Read full description

--- Multi award-winning augmented reality maker app --- - BETT Awards 2023 Best AR/VR ! - GESS Awards 2023 Best Digital XR / VR / AI Product - spaces4learning New Product Award 2022 ! -- What is Sandbox? -- Experience, build, and explore in AR with Discovery Education Sandbox. Designed as a companion to the award-winning Discovery Education Experience learning platform, bring immersive technology and content into the classroom. Choose from hundreds of models and create a virtual world to experience and share with fellow students and teachers. Use life size mode to scale up and walk inside your own creation! -- Features -- • Create, build and explore in augmented reality. • Explore creations in life-size scale! • Share your sandboxes with other users with a simple QR code. • Capture snapshots and videos of your sandbox. -- Enhanced features for DE:X subscribers -- As a Discovery Education Experience or Espresso subscriber, access additional features to add teacher audio descriptions to sandboxes and add links to your own curated resources on Experience or Espresso. Integrate with studio boards and access future additional model packs.

Screenshots

ARPlanets 23 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sandbox AR at 100% against ARPlanets 2's 57%. Sandbox AR also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. ARPlanets 2 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sandbox AR asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sandbox AR holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of ARPlanets 2's written reviews are positive against 100% of Sandbox AR's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ARPlanets 2 ships an update every 6 weeks, Sandbox AR every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ARPlanets 2 versus Sandbox AR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterARPlanets 2Sandbox AR
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (15 ratings)4.7 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15 — better11
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPad
Requires iOS17.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size423 MB1.6 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDaniele CitiDiscovery Education Inc.

Customer experience

ARPlanets 2

All ratings15 ratings
Positive53.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral14.3%
Negative28.6%

Sandbox AR

All ratings11 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral9.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ARPlanets 2

One-time1
  • Full Access AR$1.99
None

Sandbox AR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ARPlanets 2 free?
ARPlanets 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sandbox AR free?
Sandbox AR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ARPlanets 2 or Sandbox AR?
Sandbox AR is rated higher. ARPlanets 2 averages 3.3 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Sandbox AR averages 4.7 from 11 ratings.
Do ARPlanets 2 or Sandbox AR have ads?
Neither ARPlanets 2 nor Sandbox AR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ARPlanets 2 or Sandbox AR?
ARPlanets 2 ships an update every 6 weeks, and Sandbox AR every 2 months. Most recently, ARPlanets 2 was updated on September 27, 2026 and Sandbox AR on October 8, 2026.

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