Comparison

Star Stacker vs SharpStacker

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

SharpStacker

Read full description

SharpStacker turns a series of night-sky exposures into a single clean, detailed image. By aligning and stacking your shots, it reduces noise and reveals faint detail — stars, the Milky Way and deep-sky objects — that a single frame can't capture. It's built to make astrophotography stacking accessible to everyone: a deliberately simple interface gives you an immediate, intuitive workflow — without the cost or complexity of traditional desktop software. Full RAW support preserves maximum quality from capture to export. The blending mask is generated automatically by a machine-learning model — or drawn by hand — and can be fine-tuned manually for full control. • Full RAW import • Automatic star alignment and stacking • Noise reduction through stacking • ML-generated mask, editable by hand • Simple, immediate workflow • iPhone, iPad and Mac • On-device processing — your photos never leave your device Import your exposures, start the stack, and export a cleaner, more detailed night sky.

Screenshots

Star Stacker4 screens
SharpStacker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SharpStacker at Free against Star Stacker's $3.99. SharpStacker also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months). Star Stacker's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.6). On ads, in-app purchases and 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

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Star Stacker ships an update every 6 months, SharpStacker fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Star Stacker versus SharpStacker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStar StackerSharpStacker
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (95 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews56.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings95 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developermichael webbLUIGI VANNOZZI

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

SharpStacker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Star Stacker

No in-app purchases

None

SharpStacker

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Star Stacker free?
Star Stacker costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is SharpStacker free?
SharpStacker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Star Stacker or SharpStacker have ads?
Neither Star Stacker nor SharpStacker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Star Stacker or SharpStacker?
Star Stacker ships an update every 6 months, and SharpStacker fortnightly. Most recently, Star Stacker was updated on September 30, 2026 and SharpStacker on September 28, 2026.

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