# Night Sky vs SkySafari 7 Plus

The clearest difference is price: Night Sky at Free against SkySafari 7 Plus's $9.99. Night Sky also leads on ratings volume (498K vs 1.7K) and review sentiment (63% vs 46%). SkySafari 7 Plus's advantage is iOS requirement (14.1 vs 16.4). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Night Sky is free to download; SkySafari 7 Plus costs $9.99 up front. Night Sky sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and SkySafari 7 Plus sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Night Sky against 4.7 for SkySafari 7 Plus. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Night Sky has 498K ratings behind it against 1.7K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 63% of Night Sky's written reviews are positive against 46% of SkySafari 7 Plus's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Night Sky | SkySafari 7 Plus |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $9.99 |
| Rating | **[4.7 (498K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/night-sky/id475772902/reviews)** | [4.7 (1.7K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/skysafari-7-plus/id1567654881/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **498K** | 1.7K |
| Positive reviews | **62.9% of reviews** | 45.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Monthly |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#22** | — |
| Size | 530 MB | 1.1 GB |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | **14.1** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [iCandi Apps Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/305827577) | [Simulation Curriculum Corp.](https://appshunter.io/developer/791341744) |

## What reviewers say

### Night Sky

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/night-sky/id475772902)

**Currently charting:** #22 Top Grossing · Reference, #56 Top Free · Reference (US App Store)

Explore the cosmos with an AI-powered planetarium. Identify stars, planets, and satellites by pointing your device at the sky. Discover celestial objects in augmented reality and share your stargazing experiences with others.

**Highlights:** AI personal planetarium, Identify stars, planets, constellations, satellites, Augmented Reality (AR) exploration, AI Super Astronomer (subscription), Customizable Sky Tags, Connected Stargazing with SharePlay, Spatial Audio Object Navigation

**Features:** Family Sharing, Apple Watch app, iMessage stickers, SharePlay

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Night Sky+ | $5.99 | per month |
| Night Sky + | $5.99 | per 7 days |
| Night Sky + | $9.99 | per month |
| Night Sky + Aura | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| Night Sky + Aura | $17.99 | per month |
| Night Sky+ | $39.99 | per year |
| Night Sky + | $49.99 | per year |
| Night Sky + Aura | $69.99 | per year |
| Night Sky + Aura | $69.99 | per year |
| Night Sky + Aura (Unlimited) | $229.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🌟 Excellent app for stargazing and learning about the night sky
- 🔭 Detailed information on celestial objects, satellites, and space events
- 🌍 Accurate mapping of the sky to real-world locations
- 🎨 Beautiful visuals and animations
- 🔍 Helpful for identifying stars, planets, and constellations

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Frequent prompts to upgrade to premium subscription
- 🔌 Concerns about high battery consumption
- 🤔 Calibration and alignment issues with the AR features
- 🤯 Overwhelming amount of information and features for casual users
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches reported

**Reported bugs**

- App crashing or freezing during use
- Inaccurate mapping of the night sky compared to the real-world view
- Issues with the app continuing to run and consume data in the background even when not in use

**Requested features**

- Option to disable or reduce the frequency of subscription prompts
- Improved accuracy and responsiveness of the AR sky blending
- More customization options to tailor the app experience
- Better support for users in areas with high light pollution
- Ability to search for and locate specific celestial objects more easily


### SkySafari 7 Plus

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/skysafari-7-plus/id1567654881)

Explore the cosmos with a powerful space simulator and telescope control. Discover astronomical events, track celestial objects, and plan your stargazing sessions with real-time data and historical simulations.

**Highlights:** Full-featured space simulator, Telescope control (ASCOM Alpaca, INDI), Events Finder for astronomical occurrences, Real-time user observation tracking (OneSky), Guided stargazing sessions (SkyCast), Observation planning and recording tools, Home and Lock Screen widgets

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SkySafari Premium Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| SkySafari Premium | $34.99 | per year |
| Apollo Lunar Missions | Free | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great app, preferred over Stellarium
- 👍 Intuitive and clean interface
- 👍 Useful 'Tonight' tab
- 👍 Accurate and precise for telescope use
- 👍 Impressive data and functionality

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🙄 Constant upgrade spam and notifications
- 🐛 'Tonight' feature crashes on iPad
- 💰 Paid features hidden behind paywall
- 🐛 Crashes when using 'Tonight' feature
- 🐛 Syncing and connectivity issues

**Reported bugs**

- 'Tonight' feature crashes
- App crashes on launch or when using certain features
- Connectivity issues with telescopes
- Syncing problems between devices

**Requested features**

- Add more telescope brands and models
- Improve notification settings to only show relevant events
- Allow hiding of menu bar for cleaner viewing
- Improve font sizes and readability
- Add ability to import observation records from previous versions


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Night Sky free?

Night Sky is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is SkySafari 7 Plus free?

SkySafari 7 Plus costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Night Sky or SkySafari 7 Plus?

Night Sky is rated higher. Night Sky averages 4.7 out of 5 from 498K ratings, while SkySafari 7 Plus averages 4.7 from 1.7K ratings.

### Do Night Sky or SkySafari 7 Plus have ads?

Neither Night Sky nor SkySafari 7 Plus shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Night Sky or SkySafari 7 Plus?

Night Sky ships an update monthly, and SkySafari 7 Plus monthly. Most recently, Night Sky was updated on October 29, 2026 and SkySafari 7 Plus on October 27, 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.*