Comparison

Star Stacker vs Layout for Instagram

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

Head to head
About

Star Stacker

Create stunning star trail images and time-lapse videos from sequences of night sky photos. Offers various effects like full trails, faded trails, shooting stars, and warp mode. Supports importing photos from your device's gallery.

Highlights
  • Create star trail images
  • Generate time-lapse videos
  • Full trails effect
  • Faded trails effect
  • Shooting star effect
  • Warp mode effect
  • Import photos from gallery
Features
Read full description

Star Stacker allows you to import a sequence of star photos taken throughout the night and turn them into star trail images or a time lapse video. After importing you can create the images and/or a time-lapse video with a few different effects. - Full trails - every star at full brightness - Faded trails - Stars get brighter as the process runs - Shooting star - Like faded trails but the last image is brighter than any previous giving a shooting star effect - Javelin - Both ends of the trail are faded - Warp mode - zooms into the image stack slowly creating a warped effect. This will also affect the foreground so post processing may be required if the images have the foreground included. You can also choose to save a video of the time-lapse based on the options used for the image stacking. Can import images from your photos app. RAW files that have been recently imported from an SD card reader, may take a few minutes before the full resolution files are available. There are resolution limits depending on the device being used and the memory it has: - 6gb - 62mp - 5gb - 62mp - 4gb - 62mp - 3gb - 42mp - 2gb - 30mp

About

Layout for Instagram

Create stunning photo collages and Instagram Stories with a variety of layouts and templates. Enhance your images with professional editing tools, filters, and text. Save your editing steps as recipes for future use.

Highlights
  • Photo collage creation
  • Instagram Story templates
  • Advanced photo editing tools
  • 100+ filters
  • Customizable recipes for edits
  • Watermarking and text addition
Features
Read full description

Layout is an easy to use photo editor for Instagram. It takes your Instagram posts to the next level. With Layout, you can: - Remix photos into collage with a bunch of Layouts. - Craft stunning Instagram Stories effortlessly with beautifully designed Templates. - Edit photo like a pro with Crop, Rotate, Flip, Skew tools. - Choose from 100 Filters enhance photos. - Adjust details with Brightness, Contrast, Grain, HSL, Curves, etc. - Frame photo into square post, post no crop image on Instagram. - Add your own watermark. - Turn filter, adjust, frame, and watermark edits into a Recipe for future use. - Add Text on photo. - Decorate photo with Stickers. - Unleash your creativity with Overlay. About Subscription: 1. Unlock Premium Features: Photo Layout Pro offers access to premium filters and advanced editing tools. 2. Try Before You Commit: Enjoy a 3-day free trial of Photo Layout Pro. After the trial, a yearly subscription fee of $24.99 will be charged. 3. Auto-Renewal: Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of each period unless canceled at least 24 hours before the current period expires. 4. Manage Subscriptions: You can manage your subscription by going to "Settings" > "Your Name" > "Subscription" > "Cancel Subscription." 5. Privacy Policy: https://www.shamble.xyz/privacy 6. Terms and Conditions: https://www.shamble.xyz/terms

Screenshots

Star Stacker4 screens
Layout for Instagram4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Layout for Instagram at Free against Star Stacker's $3.99. Layout for Instagram also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (7.2K vs 99). Star Stacker's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On device support 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

Layout for Instagram is free to download; Star Stacker costs $3.99 up front. Layout for Instagram sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $24.99 per year. Star Stacker asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Layout for Instagram holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Layout for Instagram has 7.2K ratings behind it against 99, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of Star Stacker's written reviews are positive against 71% of Layout for Instagram's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Star Stacker ships an update every 2 months, Layout for Instagram every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 27, 2026.

Scorecard9 real differences · 1 level
Star Stacker versus Layout for Instagram: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStar StackerLayout for Instagram
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (99 ratings)4.8 (7.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews56.9% of reviews71.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings997.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB240 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developermichael webbShamble, Inc.

Customer experience

Star Stacker

All ratings99 ratings
Positive82.8%
Neutral2.0%
Negative15.2%
Written reviews65 reviews
Positive56.9%
Neutral6.2%
Negative36.9%

Layout for Instagram

All ratings6,988 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral2.2%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews239 reviews
Positive71.1%
Neutral5.0%
Negative23.8%

User reviews

Star Stacker

From 99 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • ✨ Great results
  • 🚀 Fast processing
  • 💡 Versatile for different uses
  • 👨‍🏫 Useful for teaching

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • 💸 Not worth the money
  • 🤔 Unintuitive interface
  • 🤷‍♂️ Lack of documentation
  • 🐌 Slow stacking speed

Layout for Instagram

From 7.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to navigate
  • 👍 Useful for creating collages
  • 👍 Great layout features
  • 👍 Flexible and customizable
  • 👍 Simple to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 💰 Many premium features
  • 🔍 Difficult to find specific photos
  • 📺 Intrusive ads even with subscription
  • 🔍 Tedious to scroll through layouts

Bugs and requests

Star Stacker

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App crashes when starting stack
  • App crashes when attempting to stack
  • App crashes during stacking process
  • App crashes when rendering video
  • Cannot load photos
Show 7 more
  • Cannot enter the app
  • Cannot select photos after choosing specific access
  • App crashes at nearly 90%
  • App crashes after stacking completes
  • App crashes on MacBook Pro
  • App crashes when trying to stack images
  • App crashes when adding images

Requested features

12 requests
  • Option to export live photos
  • Help info for stacking options
  • Manual stacking option
  • Advanced editing software
  • Automatic alignment function
Show 7 more
  • Ability to set picture format
  • Support for .raw files
  • Ability to import from Files app
  • Option to select all photos
  • Clear all option
  • 4K video export
  • Chinese language support

Layout for Instagram

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes with any image
  • Difficulty unsubscribing
  • Incompatible with older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Alphabetical album search
  • More free layout options
  • Ability to place photos precisely
  • Dark mode
  • Better organization and search

In-app purchases

None

Star Stacker

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Layout for Instagram

Subscriptions1
  • Photo Layout Pro3 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Star Stacker free?
Star Stacker costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Layout for Instagram free?
Layout for Instagram is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Star Stacker or Layout for Instagram?
Layout for Instagram is rated higher. Star Stacker averages 4.3 out of 5 from 99 ratings, while Layout for Instagram averages 4.8 from 7.2K ratings.
Do Star Stacker or Layout for Instagram have ads?
Layout for Instagram shows ads; Star Stacker does not.
Which is updated more often, Star Stacker or Layout for Instagram?
Star Stacker ships an update every 2 months, and Layout for Instagram every 3 weeks. Most recently, Star Stacker was updated on October 27, 2026 and Layout for Instagram on October 27, 2026.

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