Comparison

Sky Guide vs SkySafari 7 Plus

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

Head to head
About

Sky Guide

Identify stars, constellations, planets, and satellites in real-time by holding your device overhead. Explore celestial bodies with AR overlays, track satellites like the ISS, and travel through time to view past and future astronomical events. Perfect for both novice and experienced stargazers.

Highlights
  • Automatic celestial object identification
  • Augmented reality sky overlay
  • Satellite tracking and notifications
  • Time travel for past/future viewing
  • Personalized astronomical event calendar
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Bring the beauty of the stars down to Earth. Hold Sky Guide® overhead to automatically identify any star, constellation, planet or satellite! Easy to use and powerful, it’s epic stargazing for any experience level. Is it a star or the planet Mars? Knowing what’s up in your night sky is easier than ever. Sky Guide’s AR mode superimposes figures onto your real sky so visualizing the heavens becomes effortless. Have you ever wished you could recognize constellations but didn’t want to fumble around with paper star charts? Now you can. A speck of light crosses the night sky, growing brighter. What could it be? You don’t have to wonder anymore. Track a bright satellite and receive perfectly-timed notifications whenever the International Space Station is about to fly over your location. With Sky Guide, you’ll be saying ‘Goodbye, aliens’ and ‘Hellooooo, astronauts!’ Voyage to the past or future with cinematic time controls. Know where the Moon will be later in the evening so you can capture that perfect photo or be an eyewitness to history’s greatest comets. Whether you’re searching for Sagittarius, Saturn, or the next big meteor shower, Sky Guide is jam-packed with information and rich graphics that will satisfy the most curious minds. Plus, stay current with location-filtered events like solar and lunar eclipses with Sky Guide’s personalized Calendar. Camping in the backcountry? Sky Guide can function with or without Wi-Fi, cellular service or GPS, so everything is at your fingertips no matter where you go. Join the millions who have discovered a more personal connection to the stars with Sky Guide. It might forever change the way you look up. Terms of Use: https://www.fifthstarlabs.com/terms-of-use

About

SkySafari 7 Plus

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
Read full description

SkySafari 7 Plus goes beyond most basic stargazing apps by providing you with a full-featured space simulator with telescope control. If you are looking to dive deeper into astronomy, start your journey with the #1 recommend app for amateur astronomers since 2009. Note that there is no discount upgrade path from SkySafari 7 Plus to SkySafari 7 Pro. Choose carefully! Here's what’s new in version 7: + Complete support for iOS 15 and iPhone 13. Version 7 brings a new and immersive stargazing experience. + Events Finder - go to the new Events section to unlock a powerful search engine that finds astronomical events visible tonight and far into the future. The finder dynamically generates a listing of moon phases, eclipses, planetary moon events, meteor showers and planetary phenomenon such as conjunctions, elongations and oppositions. + Notifications - the notifications section has been completely revamped to allow you to customize and manage which events trigger an alert notification on your device. + Telescope Support - telescope control is at the heart of SkySafari. Version 7 takes a giant leap forward by supporting ASCOM Alpaca and INDI. These next generation control protocols allow you to effortlessly connect to hundreds of compatible astronomical devices. + OneSky - allows you to see what other users are observing, in real time. This feature highlights objects in the sky chart and indicates with a number how many users are observing a particular object. + SkyCast - allows you to guide a friend or group around the night sky through their own copy of SkySafari. After initiating SkyCast, you can generate a link and conveniently share it with other SkySafari users via text message, apps or social media accounts. + Sky Tonight - jump to the new Tonight section to see what’s visible in your sky tonight. Expanded information has been designed to help plan your night and includes Moon & Sun info, calendar curations, events and the best positioned deep sky and solar system objects. + Improved Observation Tools - SkySafari is the perfect tool to help you plan, record and organize your observations. New workflows make it easier to add, search, filter and sort data. + Home Screen and Lock Screen Widgets keep your favorite astro information at your fingertips. The Small Touches: + You can now edit the Jupiter GRS Longitude Value in the Settings. + Better Moon Age calculation. + New grid & reference options allow you to display Solstice and Equinox markers, Orbit Node markers for all solar system objects, and tick marks and labels for the Ecliptic, Meridian, and Equator reference lines. + Previous In-app Purchases are Now Free - this includes the H-R diagram and 3D Galaxy view. Enjoy. + Many more. If you haven't used SkySafari 7 Plus before, here's what you can do with it: + Hold your device up, and SkySafari 7 Plus will find comets, stars, constellations, planets, and more! + Simulate the night sky up to 10,000 years in the past or future! Animate meteor showers, conjunctions, eclipses, and other celestial events. + Learn the history, mythology, and science of astronomy! Browse over 1500 object descriptions and astronomical images. Stay up-to-date with the Calendar for all major sky events every day! + Control your telescope, log and plan your observations. + Night Vision – Preserve your eyesight after dark. + Orbit Mode. Leave the Earth’s surface behind, and fly through our solar system. + Time Flow – Follow the motion of sky objects as days, months, and years are compressed into a few seconds. + Advanced Search – Find objects using properties other than their name. + Much more! For even more features, and a gigantic database aimed at the most dedicated amateur or professional astronomer, check out SkySafari 7 Pro! https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Sky Guide4 screens
SkySafari 7 Plus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Sky Guide at Free against SkySafari 7 Plus's $9.99. Sky Guide also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 46%) and ratings volume (374K vs 1.7K). SkySafari 7 Plus's advantage is iOS requirement (14.1 vs 18.0). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Sky Guide is free to download; SkySafari 7 Plus costs $9.99 up front. Sky Guide sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Sky Guide against 4.7 for SkySafari 7 Plus. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sky Guide has 374K ratings behind it against 1.7K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of Sky Guide's written reviews are positive against 46% of SkySafari 7 Plus's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sky Guide ships an update every 2 weeks, SkySafari 7 Plus monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Sky Guide versus SkySafari 7 Plus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSky GuideSkySafari 7 Plus
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating4.8 (374K ratings) — better4.7 (1.7K ratings)
Positive reviews86.0% of reviews — better45.7% of reviews
Number of ratings374K — better1.7K
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#21 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.014.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size379 MB1.1 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFifth Star Labs LLCSimulation Curriculum Corp.

Customer experience

Sky Guide

All ratings374,372 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral1.7%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews2,721 reviews
Positive86.0%
Neutral3.3%
Negative10.7%

SkySafari 7 Plus

All ratings1,671 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews92 reviews
Positive45.7%
Neutral14.1%
Negative40.2%

User reviews

Sky Guide

From 374K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Stunning visuals and graphics
  • 📚 Wealth of information on celestial objects
  • 🧭 Accurate and responsive compass/AR features
  • 🌌 Immersive stargazing experience
  • 🔍 Ability to identify stars, planets, and satellites

Room to improve

  • 🧭 Occasional compass/location calibration issues
  • 💰 Subscription model limits access to some features
  • 🌍 Lack of support for certain regions/locations
  • 🕰️ Outdated information on some celestial objects

SkySafari 7 Plus

From 1.7K App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

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

Bugs and requests

Sky Guide

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App freezes when near polar regions
  • Occasional crashes or performance issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more detailed information on moons of planets
  • Implement mosaic planning tools for astrophotography
  • Provide earlier notifications for satellite/ISS passes
  • Allow users to share their observations and photos
  • Improve integration with telescope/camera equipment

SkySafari 7 Plus

Reported bugs

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

Requested features

5 requests
  • 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

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Sky Guide

Subscriptions4
  • PLUS$4.991 Month
  • PRO$8.991 Month
  • PLUS7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • PRO7 Days trial$59.991 Year
One-time2
  • All Constellations$1.99
  • PRO Lifetime$249.99
3 purchases

SkySafari 7 Plus

Subscriptions2
  • SkySafari Premium Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • SkySafari Premium7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Apollo Lunar MissionsFree

Questions

Is Sky Guide free?
Sky Guide 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, Sky Guide or SkySafari 7 Plus?
Sky Guide is rated higher. Sky Guide averages 4.8 out of 5 from 374K ratings, while SkySafari 7 Plus averages 4.7 from 1.7K ratings.
Do Sky Guide or SkySafari 7 Plus have ads?
Neither Sky Guide nor SkySafari 7 Plus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sky Guide or SkySafari 7 Plus?
Sky Guide ships an update every 2 weeks, and SkySafari 7 Plus monthly. Most recently, Sky Guide was updated on September 25, 2026 and SkySafari 7 Plus on September 24, 2026.

Other comparisons