Star Stacker vs Lightning Camera
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Create star trail images
- Generate time-lapse videos
- Full trails effect
- Faded trails effect
- Shooting star effect
- Warp mode effect
- Import photos from gallery
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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
Lightning Camera
This app automatically captures photos of lightning strikes as they happen. Simply open the application and let it detect and photograph lightning for you. It's designed for easy use by anyone interested in weather phenomena.
- Auto lightning detection
- Automatic photo capture
- Easy to use interface
- No photography skills required
- Weather fan tool
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ThunderCatch detects lightning and automatically takes photos when it strikes. Whether you're a weather fan or just want to capture lightning, open the app and let ThunderCatch do the rest. - Auto Lightning Detection: The app snaps a photo as soon as lightning is detected. - Easy to Use: Just tap to start, and ThunderCatch handles everything. - Simple Interface for Everyone: No photography skills needed, anyone can use it. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Lightning Camera at Free against Star Stacker's $3.99. Lightning Camera also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 months). Star Stacker's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume 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
Lightning Camera is free to download; Star Stacker costs $3.99 up front. Lightning Camera sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Star Stacker asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Star Stacker against 4.3 for Lightning Camera. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 95 and 38 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 56% of Star Stacker's written reviews are positive against 50% of Lightning Camera's.
Star Stacker ships an update every 6 months, Lightning Camera every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Star Stacker | Lightning Camera |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (95 ratings) | 4.3 (38 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.3% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 95 — better | 38 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | michael webb | Sezer Iltekin |
Customer experience
Star Stacker
Lightning Camera
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
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- 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
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- 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
Lightning Camera
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Star Stacker
No in-app purchases
Lightning Camera
- ThunderCatch PRO Weekly$4.997 Days
- ThunderCatch PRO Annual$12.991 Year
- ThunderCatch PRO Yearly$12.991 Year
- ThunderCatch PRO Lifetime DC$19.99
- ThunderCatch Pro Lifetime$49.99
Questions
Is Star Stacker free?
Is Lightning Camera free?
Which has better reviews, Star Stacker or Lightning Camera?
Do Star Stacker or Lightning Camera have ads?
Which is updated more often, Star Stacker or Lightning Camera?
Other comparisons
