ARPlanets 2 vs Sandbox AR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Augmented reality Solar System exploration
- Interactive 3D model manipulation
- Discover celestial body details
- AR-based astronomy lessons
- User-friendly interface
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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!
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.
- 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)
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--- 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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. ARPlanets 2 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sandbox AR asks for nothing beyond the download.
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.
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.
| Parameter | ARPlanets 2 | Sandbox AR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (15 ratings) | 4.7 (11 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 57.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | 11 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 423 MB | 1.6 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Daniele Citi | Discovery Education Inc. |
Customer experience
ARPlanets 2
Sandbox AR
In-app purchases
ARPlanets 2
- Full Access AR$1.99
Sandbox AR
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ARPlanets 2 free?
Is Sandbox AR free?
Which has better reviews, ARPlanets 2 or Sandbox AR?
Do ARPlanets 2 or Sandbox AR have ads?
Which is updated more often, ARPlanets 2 or Sandbox AR?
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