Exoplanet vs Earth
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Exoplanet
Explore a vast, interactive database of discovered exoplanets and their host stars. Visualize their physical properties, locations in the night sky, and orbital paths. Discover the observable universe from Earth to the cosmic microwave background with stunning 3D models and augmented reality features.
- Interactive visualizations and animations
- Daily updated exoplanet and host star properties
- 3D Milky Way model with exoplanet locations
- Augmented reality sky map
- Exoplanet orbit and habitable zone visualizations
- Data from multiple exoplanet catalogs
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Exoplanets are planets orbiting stars beyond our own solar system. This app allows you to explore all discovered exoplanets, their measured physical properties, their location in the night sky, and their host stars. An interactive model shows you the entire observable universe, all the way from the surface of the Earth to the cosmic microwave background. This app has been developed by a professional astronomer. Main features: * Interactive visualizations and animations. * Physical properties of all detected exoplanets and their host stars, updated on a daily basis. * Stunning 3D model of our Milky Way showing the location of all known exoplanets. You can zoom into any planetary system, explore how the night sky and the constellations look from the surface of other planets, or zoom out and see other local galaxies and galaxy clusters as well as the cosmic microwave background. * Visualizations of exoplanet orbits and the habitable zone. * Choose between the Open Exoplanet Catalogue, the NASA Exoplanet Archive, and the Extrasolar Planet Encyclopedia (exoplanet.eu). * Push notifications are sent out whenever a new planet is discovered. * Augmented reality sky map: point the phone towards the sky to find an exoplanet! * Interactive multi-touch correlation plots. * Solar System planets, major moons, and asteroids are included. * Explore S-Stars orbiting the black hole at the Galactic Center of our Milky Way * Background information about exoplanets and detection methods. * Full support of planets in binary, triple, quadruple systems and orphan planets. * Real-time ray tracing on the GPU.
Earth
Visualize global climate data from NASA satellites, including temperature, CO2, and sea level. Explore 3D Earth models with interactive controls and color-coded maps to understand environmental conditions.
- Global climate data visualization
- Satellite data from Earth Science
- Surface air temperature maps
- CO2 and CO levels
- Ozone and water vapor data
- Gravity and sea level variations
- Interactive 3D Earth model
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NASA's Earth Now is an application that visualizes recent global climate data from Earth Science satellites, including surface air temperature, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and water vapor as well as gravity and sea level variations. Data sets are visually described using "false color" maps. Color-coded legends are provided to indicate relative strength or weakness of an environmental condition. The resulting 3D model of the Earth may be rotated by a single finger stroke, and may also be zoomed in or out by pinching 2 fingers. It was developed by the Earth Science Communications and Visualization Technology Applications and Development Teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with support from NASA Headquarters.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Earth at none against Exoplanet's 7. Exoplanet's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (91% vs 74%). On price, rating, ads 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
Both are free to download. Exoplanet sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Earth asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Exoplanet against 4.6 for Earth. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Exoplanet has 956 ratings behind it against 42, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of Exoplanet's written reviews are positive against 74% of Earth's.
Exoplanet ships an update every 2 weeks, Earth every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Exoplanet | Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (956 ratings) — better | 4.6 (42 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 91.0% of reviews — better | 73.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 956 — better | 42 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 105 MB | 181 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hanno Rein | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Customer experience
Exoplanet
Earth
User reviews
Exoplanet
From 956 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great app
- 👍 Insanely entertaining
- 👍 Amazing graphics and interactive diorama
- 👍 Detailed explanation of planets
- 👍 Awesome app for astronomy and physics lovers
Room to improve
- 🐛 Some exoplanets not showing up in search
- 🐛 Inconsistent behavior when switching between databases
- 🔒 Paid upgrades required to access more features
- 🐛 Upgrade purchase issues with Galaxy Clusters and CMB add-on
- 🐛 Exoplanets represented as generic white balls
Earth
From 42 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🌍 Real-time Earth data visualization
- 👍 User-friendly interface and easy navigation
- 🎨 Beautiful and mesmerizing graphics
- 📊 Comprehensive satellite data from NASA/JPL
- 🆓 Free access to scientific information
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes on older devices
- ⏳ Slow loading times on poor internet
- 🔍 Difficult to understand without scientific background
- 🗺️ Antarctica and polar regions blacked out/missing
- 📐 Zooming and scrolling too sensitive
Bugs and requests
Exoplanet
Reported bugs
2 issues- Upgrade purchase issues with Galaxy Clusters and CMB add-on
- Kepler objects of interest disappearing when switching databases
Requested features
9 requests- Add more detailed textures and visuals for exoplanets
- Ability to view multiple databases simultaneously
- Option to see planet surfaces and atmospheres
- Inclusion of dwarf planets in our solar system
- Ability to zoom in on and explore other galaxies
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- Addition of black holes, pulsars, and other celestial objects
- Inclusion of satellite and spacecraft orbits
- Narration or audio commentary for key discoveries
- Ability to view the universe from the surface of planets
Earth
Reported bugs
12 issues- App crashes on startup or during use
- Endless 'Loading model' message
- Crashes on iPhone 4 and older devices
- Pixel doubler requirement on iPad
- No landscape orientation support
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- Doesn't fill iPhone 5 screen properly
- Extremely slow data loading
- Menu navigation issues
- Equator display shows slashes of emptiness
- Zoom sensitivity causes twitchy behavior
- Text readability issues against Earth background
- Geographic data coverage gaps
Requested features
17 requests- Celsius/Kelvin temperature unit options
- Satellite information (height, launch date)
- ISS tracking capability
- Ocean current visualization
- Ice sheet data layers
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- Methane concentration data
- Snapshot/screenshot capability
- Adjustable animation playback speed
- Manual timeline scrolling for animations
- Higher resolution maps for Retina displays
- Landscape orientation support
- iPad version
- Google Earth integration
- More detailed explanations of data
- Selectable date ranges for animations
- Atmospheric CO2 levels (previously removed)
- Surface temperature data (previously removed)
In-app purchases
Exoplanet
- Galaxy Clusters and CMB$0.99
- Asteroids$0.99
- Gaia Stars$0.99
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- S-Stars$0.99
- Catalogues$0.99
- Developer Appreciation Coffee$1.99
- Kepler Add-on$2.99
Earth
No in-app purchases









