# Star Stacker vs AstroPlan

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 (#86 vs unranked). On ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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.

Star Stacker ships an update every 2 months, AstroPlan every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Star Stacker | AstroPlan |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $3.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.3 (99 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-stacker/id1549693927/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **99** | — |
| Positive reviews | 56.9% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 4 days** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Best chart rank | **#86** | — |
| Size | 4 MB | 40 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [michael webb](https://appshunter.io/developer/622398499) | [Martin Wilcox](https://appshunter.io/developer/6774190373) |

## What reviewers say

### Star Stacker

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

**Currently charting:** #86 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


### AstroPlan

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astroplan/id6774190371)

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

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AstroPlan Pro Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| AstroPlan Pro AI Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| AstroPlan Pro Yearly | $39.99 | per year |
| AstroPlan Pro AI Yearly | $79.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked 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 23, 2026 and AstroPlan on October 11, 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.*