Comparison

Celestia vs StarScope

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

StarScope

Features
Read full description

StarScope 是一款 AR 天文觀星 App,打開相機對準天空,即可看到星座、行星和國際太空站的即時位置。 主要功能: • AR 即時星空疊加 — 88 個星座連線、行星標示、ISS 太空站追蹤 • 點擊任一星座或行星,查看神話故事與天文知識 • 兒童友善設計 — 可愛 emoji 圖示,讓小朋友輕鬆認識星空 • 中英雙語故事卡 — 自動依系統語言切換 • 一鍵拍照存到相簿,記錄你的觀星時刻 適合全家大小一起使用,帶孩子認識浩瀚星空的最佳工具。

Screenshots

Celestia4 screens
StarScope3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: StarScope at none against Celestia's 4. On update cadence, 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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Celestia ships an update fortnightly, StarScope every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Celestia versus StarScope: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCelestiaStarScope
PriceFree — better—
Rating4.4 (339 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings339 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size550 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer林峰 李Su YI-HUNG

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

StarScope

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

StarScope

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Celestia free?
Celestia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is StarScope free?
Pricing for StarScope is not currently listed on the App Store.
Do Celestia or StarScope have ads?
Neither Celestia nor StarScope shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Celestia or StarScope?
Celestia ships an update fortnightly, and StarScope every 8 days. Most recently, Celestia was updated on October 29, 2026 and StarScope on October 7, 2026.

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