Comparison

Star Stacker vs AstroPlan

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

AstroPlan

Features
Read full description

Plan your night under the stars with AstroPlan. Discover the best targets for your location, see when and where they’ll be visible, and make the most of every clear night. Whether you’re observing visually or capturing deep-sky images, AstroPlan helps you choose what to shoot, when to start, and how long you’ll have. Now featuring a built-in Astro AI Chat agent to help you choose targets, plan imaging sessions, understand equipment, and get quick answers to your astronomy questions. Clear skies. Better planning. Smarter imaging. FREE • Tonight's ranked target list • Home dashboard with moon, Bortle, cloud, wind, and darkness • Calendar planning (day, week, month, year) • Sky Map with disc view • AR sky map (7-day trial, then limited daily sessions) • Popular catalogue targets and favourites ASTROPLAN PRO • Full Messier, NGC, and planet catalogue • Unlimited AR sky map • Save telescope and camera rigs with field-of-view preview • Detailed tonight's outlook and guides on every target • Hourly conditions and 7-night forecast • Pro imaging and About guides tuned to your rig No account required. Core astronomy runs on your device. Weather from Open-Meteo. Optional Pro AI when online. User guide: https://astroplan.p2apps.com Terms of Use: https://astroplan.p2apps.com/terms

Screenshots

Star Stacker4 screens
AstroPlan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: AstroPlan at Free against Star Stacker's $3.99. AstroPlan also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months). Star Stacker's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and chart position (#70 vs unranked). On 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

AstroPlan is free to download; Star Stacker costs $3.99 up front. AstroPlan sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Star Stacker asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Star Stacker ships an update every 2 months, AstroPlan every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Star Stacker versus AstroPlan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStar StackerAstroPlan
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (99 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews56.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings99 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
Best chart rank#70 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developermichael webbMartin Wilcox

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

AstroPlan

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Star Stacker

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

AstroPlan

Subscriptions4
  • AstroPlan Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • AstroPlan Pro AI Monthly$9.991 Month
  • AstroPlan Pro Yearly$39.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • AstroPlan Pro AI Yearly$79.991 Year

Questions

Is Star Stacker free?
Star Stacker costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is AstroPlan free?
AstroPlan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Star Stacker or AstroPlan have ads?
Neither Star Stacker nor AstroPlan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Star Stacker or AstroPlan?
Star Stacker ships an update every 2 months, and AstroPlan every 4 days. Most recently, Star Stacker was updated on October 20, 2026 and AstroPlan on October 11, 2026.

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