Comparison

Celestia vs AstroPhoto LTE

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

Head to head
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/

About

AstroPhoto LTE

Features
Read full description

Discover the cosmos, one day at a time. AstroPhoto LTE brings you NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) in a clean, beautiful app. Every day features a different image or video of our universe, from distant galaxies and glowing nebulae to planets, comets, auroras and the night sky above Earth, each with a short explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Screenshots

Celestia4 screens
AstroPhoto LTE4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: AstroPhoto LTE at none against Celestia's 4. Celestia's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 36 months). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Celestia ships an update fortnightly, AstroPhoto LTE every 36 months. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Celestia versus AstroPhoto LTE: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCelestiaAstroPhoto LTE
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (341 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings341 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 36 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better16.2
Further details — not scored
Size550 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer林峰 李Taylan Atasoy

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

AstroPhoto LTE

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

AstroPhoto LTE

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Celestia free?
Celestia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is AstroPhoto LTE free?
AstroPhoto LTE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Celestia or AstroPhoto LTE have ads?
Neither Celestia nor AstroPhoto LTE shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Celestia or AstroPhoto LTE?
Celestia ships an update fortnightly, and AstroPhoto LTE every 36 months. Most recently, Celestia was updated on November 7, 2026 and AstroPhoto LTE on October 27, 2026.

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