# Star Stacker vs AstroFileViewer

The clearest difference is price: AstroFileViewer at Free against Star Stacker's $3.99. AstroFileViewer also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 57%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.3). Star Stacker's advantage is ratings volume (99 vs 1) and chart position (#148 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

AstroFileViewer is free to download; Star Stacker costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

AstroFileViewer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Star Stacker has 99 ratings behind it against 1, 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 100% of AstroFileViewer's.

Star Stacker ships an update every 2 months, AstroFileViewer every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Star Stacker | AstroFileViewer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $3.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.3 (99 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-stacker/id1549693927/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astrofileviewer/id6760240080/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **99** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 56.9% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 11 days** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | **#148** | — |
| Size | 4 MB | 1 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **16.4** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [michael webb](https://appshunter.io/developer/622398499) | [Joerg Klaas](https://appshunter.io/developer/1879846001) |

## What reviewers say

### Star Stacker

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-stacker/id1549693927)

**Currently charting:** #148 Top Paid · Photo & Video (US App Store)

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:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

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

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes when starting stack
- App crashes when attempting to stack
- App crashes during stacking process
- App crashes when rendering video
- Cannot load photos

**Requested features**

- Option to export live photos
- Help info for stacking options
- Manual stacking option
- Advanced editing software
- Automatic alignment function


### AstroFileViewer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astrofileviewer/id6760240080)

View astronomical image files like FITS and XISF on your iPhone or iPad. Get an early impression of your data with PixInsight-compatible auto-stretching, gradient control, and noise reduction. Fun and useful for astrophotographers.

**Highlights:** Open FITS and XISF files from various sources, PixInsight-compatible STF auto-stretch, Mono and RGB image support with OSC debayer, Dark point and contrast sliders, Color saturation adjustment, GPU bilateral denoise, Gradient correction

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Star Stacker free?

Star Stacker costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is AstroFileViewer free?

AstroFileViewer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Star Stacker or AstroFileViewer?

AstroFileViewer is rated higher. Star Stacker averages 4.3 out of 5 from 99 ratings, while AstroFileViewer averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do Star Stacker or AstroFileViewer have ads?

Neither Star Stacker nor AstroFileViewer shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Star Stacker or AstroFileViewer?

Star Stacker ships an update every 2 months, and AstroFileViewer every 11 days. Most recently, Star Stacker was updated on October 24, 2026 and AstroFileViewer on October 6, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*