Comparison

Sky Guide vs Sky Tonight

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

Sky Tonight

Explore the night sky with this astronomy app. Identify celestial objects, discover upcoming astronomical events, and track their positions. Customize your view, set reminders, and access detailed information for a personalized stargazing experience.

Highlights
  • Real-time interactive sky map
  • Augmented reality mode
  • Time Machine for past/future positions
  • Customizable object filters
  • Event reminders
  • Astronomy calendar with weather forecast
  • Flexible search for celestial objects
Features
Read full description

SKY TONIGHT is a brand-new astronomical app for exploring the sky. It helps stargazers answer the three most common questions: ⁕ What is that bright dot in the sky? ⁕ What astronomical events can I see tonight? ⁕ How can I find the object I'm interested in? Made by the developers of Star Walk apps, Sky Tonight is a customizable stargazing tool, that is designed for users with different needs and wants. You can adjust the constellation's appearance, set a reminder for any space body configuration, explore the unique relative to observer trajectory, set up a magnitude limit to filter out space objects, and much more. SKY TONIGHT FEATURES: ► Point your device at the sky to see the real-time positions of space objects on the interactive sky map. ► Activate the Time Machine and determine the position of celestial bodies at different time periods. ► Use the augmented reality mode and see the sky map overlaid on the image from your device's camera. ► Get extended information about any sky object by tapping on its name. ► Stay updated on the latest news from the world of astronomy with the What's new section. ► Turn on the night mode to make your sky observation in the nighttime more comfortable. ► Filter the objects that appear on the sky map according to their visual brightness. ► Regulate the brightness of objects on the sky map. ► Spot dozens of asterisms along with the official constellations. ► Adjust the visible constellations and customize their representation on the screen. UNIQUE FEATURES: ◆ INTERACTIVE TRAJECTORIES RELATIVE TO AN OBSERVER Instead of the classic trajectory that shows the object’s trajectory in the celestial sphere relative to the Earth’s center, the app presents the object’s trajectory in the sky relative to an observer. A long touch on the trajectories relative to the observer will move the sky object to the selected point. While holding the touch, move your finger along the trajectory to change the time. ◆ FLEXIBLE SEARCH Make use of the flexible search — quickly find space objects, easily navigate across different objects and events’ types. Look for "stars", "mars moons", "mars conjunctions", "solar eclipse", and the app will show you all related objects, events, and articles! There are also Trending and Recent categories in the search section. The first one presents the currently most popular objects, events, or news; the second category contains objects you recently selected. ◆ FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE EVENT REMINDERS Set event reminders on any time and date not to miss a solar eclipse, a Full Moon, or a star-planet configuration you're interested in. ◆ ASTRONOMY CALENDAR WITH A STARGAZING INDEX AND WEATHER FORECAST Check out the calendar of celestial events that includes lunar phases, meteor showers, eclipses, oppositions, conjunctions, and other exciting events. Learn what astronomy events will occur this month or see what happened in the sky a year ago! Verify the Stargazing Index calculated from a Moon phase, light pollution, cloudiness, and time when an object is visible. The higher this index is, the better the observation conditions are. You don’t need several apps for your stargazing planning anymore; Sky Tonight contains all the info you need. Premium Access: * The app includes paid Premium Access. Get Premium Access to use Sky Tonight with no limits! Without the subscription, you can’t see most of the interface items in various sections such as Visible Tonight, Calendar, and Search. Therefore, you’re limited in planning and improving your observations. Premium Access will allow you to unlock all the interface items in any view and make the most of all the app’s features. Advertisements will also be removed not to interrupt your stargazing experience. Privacy policy: https://vitotechnology.com/privacy-policy Terms of use: https://vitotechnology.com/terms-of-use

Screenshots

Sky Guide4 screens
Sky Tonight4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Sky Guide at none against Sky Tonight's shown. Sky Guide also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (379K vs 76K). Sky Tonight's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and in-app purchases 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. Sky Guide sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Sky Tonight sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 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 4.8 for Sky Tonight. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 379K and 76K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of Sky Guide's written reviews are positive against 81% of Sky Tonight's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sky Guide ships an update every 2 weeks, Sky Tonight every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Sky Guide versus Sky Tonight: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSky GuideSky Tonight
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (379K ratings) — better4.8 (76K ratings)
Positive reviews86.0% of reviews — better80.6% of reviews
Number of ratings379K — better76K
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#27 — better#112
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size380 MB518 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFifth Star Labs LLCVito Technology Inc.

Customer experience

Sky Guide

All ratings377,838 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral1.7%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews2,780 reviews
Positive86.0%
Neutral3.3%
Negative10.6%

Sky Tonight

All ratings74,594 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral3.0%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews726 reviews
Positive80.6%
Neutral4.8%
Negative14.6%

User reviews

Sky Guide

From 379K 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

Sky Tonight

From 76K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great app for finding new things
  • 🌟 Amazing and accurate
  • 🔭 Helpful for learning about the night sky
  • 🗓️ Provides calendar of sky events
  • 🌍 Shows satellites and planets

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Difficult to calibrate and use
  • 📢 Too many intrusive ads
  • 💰 Paywall for many features
  • 🔔 Confusing/unnecessary notifications
  • 🧭 Compass/location 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

Sky Tonight

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes or freezes frequently
  • Menus and options not working properly
  • Location tracking and sky view not updating correctly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more free content and features
  • Improve calibration and compass accuracy
  • Provide better onboarding and instructions
  • Reduce ads or offer ad-free version
  • Allow filtering by visible objects only

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
8 purchases

Sky Tonight

Subscriptions6
  • 1-month Premium Access7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • 1-month Premium Access$2.991 Month
  • 1-month Premium Access3 Days trial$2.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • 1-year Premium Access7 Days trial$4.991 Year
  • 1-year Premium Access$5.991 Year
  • 1-year Premium Access3 Days trial$5.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime Premium Access Sale$7.99
  • Lifetime Premium Access$12.99

Questions

Is Sky Guide free?
Sky Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sky Tonight free?
Sky Tonight is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sky Guide or Sky Tonight?
Sky Guide is rated higher. Sky Guide averages 4.8 out of 5 from 379K ratings, while Sky Tonight averages 4.8 from 76K ratings.
Do Sky Guide or Sky Tonight have ads?
Sky Tonight shows ads; Sky Guide does not.
Which is updated more often, Sky Guide or Sky Tonight?
Sky Guide ships an update every 2 weeks, and Sky Tonight every 2 months. Most recently, Sky Guide was updated on November 1, 2026 and Sky Tonight on November 1, 2026.
Which is more popular, Sky Guide or Sky Tonight?
Sky Guide currently peaks at #27 in the App Store charts, and Sky Tonight at #112. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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