# ioda vs StellarMate

The clearest difference is update cadence: StellarMate at every 8 days against ioda's every 5 months. StellarMate also leads on ratings volume (24 vs 2). ioda's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.0 for ioda against 3.1 for StellarMate. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: StellarMate has 24 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 33% of ioda's written reviews are positive against 35% of StellarMate's.

ioda ships an update every 5 months, StellarMate every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | ioda | StellarMate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ioda/id412436864/reviews) | **[3.1 (24 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stellarmate/id1252626058/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 2 | **24** |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | **34.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | **Every 8 days** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 64 MB | 115 MB |
| Requires iOS | **8.0** | 16.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Guy Barrand](https://appshunter.io/developer/412436867) | [Ikarus Astronomy Company For Scientific Instruments & Tools](https://appshunter.io/developer/1252626057) |

## What reviewers say

### ioda

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ioda/id412436864)

This scientific application allows users to read and visualize data from various file formats commonly used in astronomy and high-energy physics. It supports formats like FITS, ROOT, HDF5, JPG, and FOG, and can execute specific script files.

**Highlights:** Read FITS, ROOT, HDF5, JPG, and FOG files, Browse and visualize data, Execute .kumac files, Includes gopaw core, Supports various scientific data schemas

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


### StellarMate

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stellarmate/id1252626058)

Control your astrophotography equipment remotely. Capture images, stream video, and perform precise alignment. Automatically back up your photos to the cloud with rich metadata for easy searching.

**Highlights:** Remote equipment control, Image capture and video streaming, Polar alignment assistant, Cloud image backup, Metadata search and sorting, Software updates

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is ioda free?

ioda is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is StellarMate free?

StellarMate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, ioda or StellarMate?

StellarMate is rated higher. ioda averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while StellarMate averages 3.1 from 24 ratings.

### Do ioda or StellarMate have ads?

Neither ioda nor StellarMate shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, ioda or StellarMate?

ioda ships an update every 5 months, and StellarMate every 8 days. Most recently, ioda was updated on September 27, 2026 and StellarMate on October 24, 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.*