Comparison

Sandbox AR vs Planets AR

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Sandbox AR

Create, build, and explore immersive virtual worlds using augmented reality. This app allows users to scale creations to life-size and share them with others. It's designed to bring interactive technology into educational settings.

Highlights
  • Create, build, and explore in AR
  • Life-size scale exploration
  • Share creations via QR code
  • Capture snapshots and videos
  • Teacher audio descriptions (DE:X subscribers)
  • Link to curated resources (DE:X subscribers)
Read full description

--- Multi award-winning augmented reality maker app --- - BETT Awards 2023 Best AR/VR ! - GESS Awards 2023 Best Digital XR / VR / AI Product - spaces4learning New Product Award 2022 ! -- What is Sandbox? -- Experience, build, and explore in AR with Discovery Education Sandbox. Designed as a companion to the award-winning Discovery Education Experience learning platform, bring immersive technology and content into the classroom. Choose from hundreds of models and create a virtual world to experience and share with fellow students and teachers. Use life size mode to scale up and walk inside your own creation! -- Features -- • Create, build and explore in augmented reality. • Explore creations in life-size scale! • Share your sandboxes with other users with a simple QR code. • Capture snapshots and videos of your sandbox. -- Enhanced features for DE:X subscribers -- As a Discovery Education Experience or Espresso subscriber, access additional features to add teacher audio descriptions to sandboxes and add links to your own curated resources on Experience or Espresso. Integrate with studio boards and access future additional model packs.

About

Planets AR

Explore our solar system with an augmented reality experience. See planets, moons, and dwarf planets come to life in your room or the night sky. Learn fascinating facts and take photos for school projects.

Highlights
  • Augmented Reality solar system visualization
  • Interactive planet controls
  • Night mode for stargazing
  • Detailed planet information
  • Capture photos of celestial bodies
  • Talking planets for guidance
Features
Read full description

Planets AR is like a spaceship that takes you on a magical journey through our incredible solar system! You'll meet all the planets, moons, and even some mysterious dwarf planets, as if you're an astronaut in outer space! But, this isn't just any ordinary journey! With our app's incredible Augmented Reality technology, you'll be able to see them right in front of your eyes, even in low-light conditions, making it an unforgettable experience! And if you prefer stargazing, you can even see them in the night sky with night mode. You can be amazed to learn that Saturn's rings were made up of ice particles and that Pluto was a dwarf planet that used to be classified as the ninth planet, as well as its history and significance in our understanding of the universe. Learning about the cosmos will become fun and easy. With just a few taps, you can snap a picture of the planets. Imagine the looks of admiration from your teacher and classmates as you present stunning, lifelike pictures for your school projects and homework. This incredible augmented reality app will elevate your work to new heights, making you the star of the classroom. But that's not all, our app is more than that - it's also a teacher! Each planet speaks its name and tells you about itself, so you can learn amazing facts and see detailed information about each planet, dwarf planet, and moon. And don't worry, you won't be alone on this journey - our Talking Planets will guide you every step of the way! So, if you're ready to blast off on an adventure to explore the wonders of our solar system, our app is the perfect spaceship for you! You'll have a blast while learning about the incredible universe that surrounds us. Discover the wonders of space through: - The Sun and our Solar System, which includes eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. - Dwarf planets, such as Pluto, Ceres, Makemake, Haumea, and Eris may be small in size but are big in intrigue. - Moons, including Earth's Moon, Europa, Ganymede, Io, Callisto, Titan, Enceladus, Iapetus, Triton, and Charon, which each have their own unique features and secrets. Planet Control Made Easy: - Explore the solar system with intuitive and user-friendly controls! - Swipe your finger to rotate the planets, and drag them to move them around in the room. - Use your two fingers to pinch in and out to make the planets bigger or smaller. - With these simple controls, you can become a space explorer in no time! What People Are Saying: - "Great app for kids! Easy and interactive way of learning (though I wish they had such beautiful tech earlier)..." - Mona - "I really like the game, I can move the planets when I touch them and it seems that you have the real planets next to it." - Salvador Gonzalez Janeiro - "It is a really cool app. I like how you can see how long a year and day is. Who ever made this app thank you." - Morgan Sisk - "Excellent, this sort of thing is hard to find.." - NVB9 Connect with us: - Visit us at https://planetsar.agrmayank.com/ or check out our other apps at https://studios.agrmayank.com/. - Have any questions or suggestions? Reach out at contact@agrmayank.com and we'll be happy to help. - Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AgrMayankStudios, Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/agrmayankstudios/, Twitter at https://twitter.com/AgrMayankStudio/, and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/agrmayankstudios/ to stay up to date.

Screenshots

Planets AR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Sandbox AR at 4.8 against Planets AR's 3.7. Sandbox AR also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). Planets AR's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 2 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

Both are free to download. Planets AR sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Sandbox AR asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sandbox AR holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 6 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sandbox AR ships an update every 2 months, Planets AR daily. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Sandbox AR versus Planets AR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSandbox ARPlanets AR
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (16 ratings) — better3.7 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings16 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsDaily — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS14.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.6 GB343 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDiscovery Education Inc.Mayank Raj

Customer experience

Sandbox AR

All ratings11 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral9.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Planets AR

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Sandbox AR

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Planets AR

One-time2
  • Remove Watermark$0.99
  • Remove Ads$2.99

Questions

Is Sandbox AR free?
Sandbox AR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Planets AR free?
Planets AR is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sandbox AR or Planets AR?
Sandbox AR is rated higher. Sandbox AR averages 4.8 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Planets AR averages 3.7 from 6 ratings.
Do Sandbox AR or Planets AR have ads?
Planets AR shows ads; Sandbox AR does not.
Which is updated more often, Sandbox AR or Planets AR?
Sandbox AR ships an update every 2 months, and Planets AR daily. Most recently, Sandbox AR was updated on November 3, 2026 and Planets AR on November 4, 2026.

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