Comparison

ARGEO Sandbox vs Celestia

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

Head to head
About

ARGEO Sandbox

Explore terrain, water flow, snow, and lava simulations in augmented reality. This app enhances real-world experiences with instant interaction and now offers live streaming to multiple tablets.

Highlights
  • Augmented reality terrain simulation
  • Water flow, snow, and lava effects
  • Live streaming to multiple tablets
  • Instant real-world interaction
  • Compatible with ARGEO Sandbox 4.0
Features
Read full description

ARGEO Sandbox uses Augmented Reality technology to present terrain, water flow, snow and lava. The instant interaction enhances the real-world user experience. Now, the latest version 4.0 provides live streaming to multiple tablets. Key Features: -Live streaming to the AR terrain of our ARGEO Sandbox -Live streaming to the function screen of our ARGEO Sandbox -New ARGEO QA System, please contact us for more information --- Compatibility --- This app has to be used with the ARGEO Sandbox 4.0 serviced by Avatech Innovation Limited. --- System Requirements --- iOS 8.0 or later

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Celestia4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Celestia at 4.4 against ARGEO Sandbox's 3.7. Celestia also leads on ratings volume (324 vs 3) and device support (4 vs 1). ARGEO Sandbox's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and review sentiment (100% vs 78%). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Celestia sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. ARGEO Sandbox asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Celestia holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Celestia has 324 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of ARGEO Sandbox's written reviews are positive against 78% of Celestia's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ARGEO Sandbox ships an update weekly, Celestia every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 7, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
ARGEO Sandbox versus Celestia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterARGEO SandboxCelestia
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (3 ratings)4.4 (324 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better78.3% of reviews
Number of ratings3324 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB545 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAvatech Innovation Limited林峰 李

Customer experience

ARGEO Sandbox

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Celestia

All ratings324 ratings
Positive83.0%
Neutral4.3%
Negative12.7%
Written reviews249 reviews
Positive78.3%
Neutral5.6%
Negative16.1%

Bugs and requests

ARGEO Sandbox

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

None

ARGEO Sandbox

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Celestia

Subscriptions3
  • Celestia PLUS (Weekly)7 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Celestia PLUS (Monthly)$1.991 Month
  • Celestia PLUS (Yearly)$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Celestia PLUS (Lifetime)$79.99

Questions

Is ARGEO Sandbox free?
ARGEO Sandbox is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Celestia free?
Celestia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ARGEO Sandbox or Celestia?
Celestia is rated higher. ARGEO Sandbox averages 3.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Celestia averages 4.4 from 324 ratings.
Do ARGEO Sandbox or Celestia have ads?
Neither ARGEO Sandbox nor Celestia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ARGEO Sandbox or Celestia?
ARGEO Sandbox ships an update weekly, and Celestia every 2 weeks. Most recently, ARGEO Sandbox was updated on June 7, 2026 and Celestia on September 21, 2026.

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