Celestia vs Earth Rotation
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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/
Earth Rotation
Explore a 3D simulation of celestial bodies. Adjust rotation speeds, reverse direction, and alter lighting angles. Choose from three distinct Earth visual styles for an interactive learning experience.
- Adjustable rotation speed
- Reverse rotation direction
- Adjustable sun lighting angle
- Three Earth visual styles
- 3D celestial animation
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This is a 3D animation in which the sun, the earth, and the moon rotate. -You can change the rotation speed. The fastest is 1 second, and the slowest is 300 seconds to make one revolution. -It can rotate in the reverse direction, which is not possible in the natural world. -The earth and the moon can change the light from the sun by 30 degrees. -There are three types of earth: night lights, nature, and globes.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Celestia at Free against Earth Rotation's $0.99. Celestia also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 22 months) and ratings volume (338 vs 1). Earth Rotation's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and in-app purchases (none vs 4). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Celestia is free to download; Earth Rotation costs $0.99 up front. Celestia sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Earth Rotation asks for nothing beyond the download.
Earth Rotation holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Celestia has 338 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Celestia ships an update fortnightly, Earth Rotation every 22 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Celestia | Earth Rotation |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 4.4 (338 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 338 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 22 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 550 MB | 46 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | 林峰 李 | Masahiro Tomosada |
Customer experience
Celestia
Earth Rotation
Bugs and 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
Earth Rotation
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
Earth Rotation
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Celestia free?
Is Earth Rotation free?
Which has better reviews, Celestia or Earth Rotation?
Do Celestia or Earth Rotation have ads?
Which is updated more often, Celestia or Earth Rotation?
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