Sky Guide vs SkySafari 7 Plus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Automatic celestial object identification
- Augmented reality sky overlay
- Satellite tracking and notifications
- Time travel for past/future viewing
- Personalized astronomical event calendar
- Offline functionality
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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
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
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.
| Parameter | Sky Guide | SkySafari 7 Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (374K ratings) — better | 4.7 (1.7K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 86.0% of reviews — better | 45.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 374K — better | 1.7K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #21 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 14.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 379 MB | 1.1 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fifth Star Labs LLC | Simulation Curriculum Corp. |
Customer experience
Sky Guide
SkySafari 7 Plus
User reviews
Sky Guide
From 374K App Store ratingsWhat 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 ratingsWhat 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
Sky Guide
- PLUS$4.991 Month
- PRO$8.991 Month
- PLUS7 Days trial$39.991 Year
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- PRO7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- All Constellations$1.99
- PRO Lifetime$249.99
SkySafari 7 Plus
- SkySafari Premium Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- SkySafari Premium7 Days trial$34.991 Year
- Apollo Lunar MissionsFree
Questions
Is Sky Guide free?
Is SkySafari 7 Plus free?
Which has better reviews, Sky Guide or SkySafari 7 Plus?
Do Sky Guide or SkySafari 7 Plus have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sky Guide or SkySafari 7 Plus?
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