Comparison

Sol Explorer vs Solar System Scope

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

Head to head
About

Sol Explorer

Experience our Solar System from a first-person perspective in your own spaceship. Explore planets, moons, and space probes, traveling billions of miles across the cosmos. Learn about over 40 celestial objects and gain new perspectives on Earth and beyond.

Highlights
  • First-person spaceship exploration
  • Travel across the entire Solar System
  • Learn about 40+ celestial objects
  • Explore planets, moons, and probes
  • View from the edge of interstellar space
  • Size comparison videos
Features
Read full description

Get a first-person view of the planets and moons of our Solar System. Climb aboard your very own spaceship and explore... - It's your spaceship – fly wherever you want. - Cruise across the entire Solar System – over eight billion miles end to end. - Stop and learn about any object you see – moons, planets, and space probes. Over 40 celestial objects in all. - Observe Mars, explore the moons of Jupiter, fly through the rings of Saturn, travel to the edge of interstellar space. - Fly to the distant edge of the Solar System and look back on Earth. - Watch the Size of the Planets video and get amazing perspective on the planets in our Solar System – then explore some more.

About

Solar System Scope

Explore and discover the solar system and outer space with realistic 3D visualizations and detailed celestial simulations. This app offers an educational and engaging experience for all ages, featuring a comprehensive encyclopedia and a night sky observatory.

Highlights
  • 3D Encyclopedia of celestial bodies
  • Realistic 3D visualizations
  • Night sky observatory with time simulation
  • Accurate orbital parameter calculations
  • High-quality planetary and moon maps
  • Multilingual support
Features
Read full description

Solar System Scope is a fun way of Exploring, Discovering and Playing with the Solar System and Outer Space. Solar System Scope (or just Solar) contains many views and celestial simulations, but most of all - it brings you closer to the furthest reaches of our world and lets you experience lots of fantastic space sceneries. It aspires to be the most illustrative, easy to understand and simple to use space model. - 3D Encyclopedia In Solar’s unique encyclopedia you will find the most interesting facts about every planet, dwarf planet, every major moon and more – and everything is accompanied by realistic 3D visualizations. Solar’s encyclopedia is available in 10 languages: English, Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Korean and Slovak. More languages are coming soon! - Nightsky Observatory Enjoy Stars and constellation of the night sky as viewed from any given location on Earth. You can point your device at the sky to see all objects in their proper place, but you can also simulate Night sky in the past or in the future. Now with advanced options that let you simulate ecliptic, equatorial and azimuthal line, or grid (among other things). - Scientific Instrument Solar System Scope calculations are based on up-to-date orbital parameters published by NASA and let you simulate celestial positions at any given time. - For Everyone Solar System Scope is well suited for all audiences and ages: It is enjoyed by space enthusiasts, teachers, scientists, but Solar is successfully used even by children of 4+ years of age! - Unique Maps We are proud to present a very unique set of planetary and moon maps, that let you experience a true-color space as never before. These accurate maps are based on NASA elevation and imagery data. Colors and shades of the textures are tuned according to true-color photos made by Messenger, Viking, Cassini and New Horizon spacecrafts, and the Hubble Space Telescope. Basic resolution of these maps is for free – but if you would like the best experience, you can check out the highest quality, which is available with In-App purchase. - Join our vision Our vision is to build the ultimate space model and bring you the deepest space experience. And you can help - try Solar System Scope and if you like it, spread the word! And don’t forget to join the community and vote for new features on our homepage.

Screenshots

Sol Explorer4 screens
Solar System Scope4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Sol Explorer at 5.0 against Solar System Scope's 4.4. Sol Explorer also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (100% vs 80%). Solar System Scope's advantage is update cadence (every 4 months vs every 86 months) and ratings volume (895 vs 6). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Solar System Scope sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sol Explorer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sol Explorer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Solar System Scope has 895 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Sol Explorer's written reviews are positive against 80% of Solar System Scope's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sol Explorer ships an update every 86 months, Solar System Scope every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Sol Explorer versus Solar System Scope: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSol ExplorerSolar System Scope
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better4.4 (895 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better79.8% of reviews
Number of ratings6895 — better
Update frequencyEvery 86 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size268 MB154 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReason InteractiveINOVE, s.r.o.

Customer experience

Sol Explorer

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Solar System Scope

All ratings895 ratings
Positive83.7%
Neutral4.5%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews545 reviews
Positive79.8%
Neutral5.7%
Negative14.5%

Bugs and requests

Sol Explorer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Solar System Scope

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when dragging Jupiter
  • Upside-down orientation on tablets
  • Unable to restore purchases
  • Freezes and crashes on launch

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more celestial bodies (Messier objects, Planet 9/10, black holes, etc.)
  • Enable exploration of other galaxies and deep space objects
  • Improve telescope/zoom functionality
  • Add more moons and irregular satellites
  • Implement continental drift and solar system evolution

In-app purchases

None

Sol Explorer

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Solar System Scope

One-time1
  • HQ Textures / No Ads$5.99

Questions

Is Sol Explorer free?
Sol Explorer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Solar System Scope free?
Solar System Scope is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sol Explorer or Solar System Scope?
Sol Explorer is rated higher. Sol Explorer averages 5.0 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Solar System Scope averages 4.4 from 895 ratings.
Do Sol Explorer or Solar System Scope have ads?
Neither Sol Explorer nor Solar System Scope shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sol Explorer or Solar System Scope?
Sol Explorer ships an update every 86 months, and Solar System Scope every 4 months. Most recently, Sol Explorer was updated on October 24, 2026 and Solar System Scope on November 1, 2026.

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