Comparison

Space Borders vs Star Command

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

Head to head
About

Space Borders

Command a fleet of starships in a real-time strategy war against hostile aliens. Build your armada, harvest resources, and use tactical formations and superweapons to protect Earth and its colonies from annihilation.

Highlights
  • Real-time strategy gameplay
  • Build and customize fleet (15 ship types)
  • Resource harvesting and upgrades
  • Tactical ship formations
  • Superweapons and special powers
  • Campaign, Survival, and Sandbox modes
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Command massive star ships in a large-scale war, against a powerful alien force! Put your tactical skills to work and protect humanity and Earth from certain annihilation. Space Borders is a 2D space RTS game, which features lots of gameplay depth, colorful graphics, cool special effects & a great overall atmosphere. _________________ GAMEPLAY • Real-time strategy (RTS) • Build up your fleet by choosing from 15 different types of ships (with unique abilities) • Harvest resources to buy new ships, power-ups and upgrade your mothership • Protect friendly ships and stations from attacks & ambushes • Create custom formations of fighters, destroyers, carriers & support vessels • Coordinate your ships to gain tactical advantages in difficult situations • Use superweapons to destroy large clusters of enemies • Distract the enemy with special powers • and much more... FEATURES • Great visual effects • 3D audio for realistic sound effects (headphones required) • Wide variety of battleships (fighters, carriers, destroyers & more) • Unrestricted camera freedom • Ambient space soundtracks • Training mission • Campaign Mode (8 missions) • Survival Mode (endless play) • Deep Space Mining mode (resource booster) • Sandbox Mode • Conquest Mode (add-on) PLOT In the late 23rd century humans have populated most of Earth. Troubled by the poor quality of life and the excessive amount of damage inflicted on Earth, they decide to plant new colonies on distant planets. The Earth military (EDF or Earth Defense Fleet) is in charge of organizing and carrying out this immense project. During the colonization, the EDF encounters a new life form, which turns out to be extremely hostile. Multiple attacks on EDF key installations, as well as on a research ship, force the EDF to improvise new strategies for a full evacuation. You are a high ranking officer of the EDF, who is in the midst of all the action. Make sure you all get back home to Earth safe & sound. _________________ SPACE BORDERS ONLINE • spaceborders.proboards.com - submit feedback, feature requests & more • facebook.com/spacebordersapp - receive the latest news about Space Borders • http://spaceborders.proboards.com/thread/260/ - Conquest Mode FAQ THANK YOU Thank you all for supporting Space Borders with reviews, ratings, ideas for new features and a lot more. This game is truly powered by its fans! Check out the links above and be part of it. _________________ SPECIAL CREDITS • Space Borders is powered by the Sparrow Framework.

About

Star Command

Command your own starship, recruit and level up your crew, and explore a vast universe. Engage in tactical combat, manage ship roles, and make decisions that impact your journey through space.

Highlights
  • Build and command your starship
  • Hire and level up crew members
  • Explore the universe
  • Defend against alien civilizations
  • Tactical combat and ship management
  • Multiple ship hull choices
  • Discover alien species
Features
Read full description

Build and command your own starship, hire your crew, and explore the universe, and defend against alien civilizations! Star Command™ Game Features - • Universal App - iPad and iPhone included. • Premium game - No In-App Purchase (IAP) roadblocks. • HD support for retina pixel goodness. • Level your crew members up and earn new skills. • Build a ship in your own image! • Four distinct ship hulls to choose from. • Focus on tactical, science or engineering. • Amazing soundtrack intensifies the action and exploration. • Over 10 alien species to discover. Brought to you in beautiful HD pixelated glory, Star Command™ brings to life the challenges and joys of managing a starship. Upgrade your ship, get out into the unknown and watch your crew die grizzly deaths all at your command. Strange and annoying alien civilizations await you at every turn. Manage each of your ships roles, focusing on science skills, tactical combat and ship engineering. Prevent alien invaders from taking over your ship and causing massive amounts of damage with sentry guns. Revive dying crew members with new rooms! And don’t forget that your decisions matter - an enemy made early could come back to haunt you later. If you're a fan of Star Wars and Star Trek, or if you enjoy games like XCOM, Clash of Clans, FTL, or Pixel Starships, you'll love Star Command! ---------------------------- Featured Reviews - "...equal parts challenging and clever, making it a must-play for sci-fi strategy fans." - Maclife "A great mobile space romp which adopts a great theme, great gameplay and will keep you busy for quite a few hours..." - AndroidSpin "With hilarious, self-aware satire and surprisingly deep tactical gameplay, this long-awaited adventure is a must-play for any sci-fi fan and a love letter to all things Star Trek." - Editors' Choice "If you're looking for a strategy title on the iOS that will keep you on your toes, Star Command should more than suffice." - Appspy "Should you dive in immediately? Absolutely." - TouchArcade ---------------------------- Star Command © 2011 Warballoon, LLC (formerly Star Command, LLC). STAR COMMAND and related marks and logos are trademarks of Warballoon, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy: https://www.starcommandgame.com/privacy-apple.html

Screenshots

Space Borders4 screens
Star Command4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Space Borders at 4.7 against Star Command's 4.0. Space Borders also leads on review sentiment (91% vs 66%) and price ($1.99 vs $2.99). Star Command's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months). On ads, chart position, device support and iOS requirement 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

Space Borders costs $1.99 and Star Command $2.99 up front. Space Borders sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Star Command asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Space Borders holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Star Command has 905 ratings behind it against 167, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of Space Borders's written reviews are positive against 66% of Star Command's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Space Borders ships an update every 2 months, Star Command every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Space Borders versus Star Command: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpace BordersStar Command
Price$1.99 — better$2.99
Rating4.7 (167 ratings) — better4.0 (905 ratings)
Positive reviews90.9% of reviews — better66.2% of reviews
Number of ratings167905 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#200#106 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.6
Further details — not scored
Size166 MB101 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperAmasis BrauchStar Command, LLC

Customer experience

Space Borders

All ratings167 ratings
Positive92.2%
Neutral1.2%
Negative6.6%
Written reviews110 reviews
Positive90.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative5.5%

Star Command

All ratings905 ratings
Positive73.1%
Neutral8.7%
Negative18.1%
Written reviews834 reviews
Positive66.2%
Neutral13.1%
Negative20.7%

User reviews

Space Borders

From 167 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Excellent RTS gameplay mechanics
  • 💰 No pay-to-win or microtransactions
  • 🎨 Charming 2D graphics and visual style
  • ⚙️ Deep fleet customization options
  • 📱 Works smoothly on older devices

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes during missions
  • 💾 No save/checkpoint system for long missions
  • 🎨 Cartoony graphics in newer versions
  • 🤖 Poor AI behavior
  • ⏱️ Missions are very long without breaks

Star Command

From 905 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing game
  • 🚀 Fun and challenging gameplay
  • 🚀 Great music and visuals
  • 👍 No in-app purchases
  • 👍 Replayability

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • 🐛 UI issues (e.g. buttons off-screen)
  • 🔍 Short story/content
  • 🔍 Repetitive gameplay
  • 🔍 Lack of updates/new content

Bugs and requests

Space Borders

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • App crashes mid-mission with no progress recovery
  • Save file corruption and rollback after updates
  • Mission failure without clear cause or visibility
  • Resource disappearance between campaign episodes
  • Harvester ships launching into enemy fire
Show 6 more
  • Ships spinning uncontrollably when near targets
  • Occasional lag with action controls
  • Controls requiring multiple inputs to register
  • Crashes on iOS 11 with iPhone 7
  • Game-breaking resource management allowing soft-lock
  • End-mission crashes before hyperspace exit

Requested features

19 requests
  • Multiplayer or online gameplay
  • Sequel or major expansion
  • Additional campaign missions and episodes
  • More ship types and varieties
  • More turret and weapon options
Show 14 more
  • Larger fleet size capacity
  • Cloud save/iCloud synchronization
  • Checkpoint system for long missions
  • Ability to save and place destroyed ship debris in sandbox
  • 3D graphics upgrade
  • Larger maps and scaled battles
  • Local multiplayer support
  • Drones and sentry gun units
  • Base building mechanics
  • Planet-based gameplay
  • Larger hangar sizes
  • More varied campaign storylines
  • Speed-up options accessible from play screen
  • Ability to unlock sandbox mode without beating conquest

Star Command

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game crashes on startup
  • Crew members getting stuck or lost
  • Weapons/UI elements disappearing
  • Progression/save data issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • More ships, rooms, and customization options
  • Expanded story and missions
  • Multiplayer and co-op modes
  • Ability to board enemy ships
  • Improved crew management and AI

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Space Borders

One-time1
  • Conquest Mode$1.99
None

Star Command

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Space Borders free?
Space Borders costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Star Command free?
Star Command costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Space Borders or Star Command?
Space Borders is rated higher. Space Borders averages 4.7 out of 5 from 167 ratings, while Star Command averages 4.0 from 905 ratings.
Do Space Borders or Star Command have ads?
Neither Space Borders nor Star Command shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Space Borders or Star Command?
Space Borders ships an update every 2 months, and Star Command every 10 days. Most recently, Space Borders was updated on October 5, 2026 and Star Command on October 15, 2026.
Which is more popular, Space Borders or Star Command?
Space Borders currently peaks at #200 in the App Store charts, and Star Command at #106. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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