Comparison

Sky Guide vs Star Tracker Lite

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

Star Tracker Lite

Explore the universe by pointing your device at the sky. Identify stars, constellations, and deep sky objects in real-time. Features offline data, a 3D compass in AR mode, and detailed graphics for an immersive stargazing experience.

Highlights
  • Offline celestial data
  • Identify stars, constellations, planets
  • Augmented reality compass
  • Automatic location setting
  • High-quality graphics
Features
Read full description

Hey, get outdoor with your friends and start star gazing! Let StarTracker guide you to explore the universe. Just hold up and point the device to the sky and have fun! You can see any stars, constellations and deep sky objects you are watching in reality. ======================== What our user said: "Best star gazing app I've ever used. Very well put together and great visuals!!! From end to end this app is a must-have for anyone interested in astronomy!!" "This app is a marvel of technology, art, and science. Super smooth operation, great graphics and a great merging of the devices capabilities. Having grown up using star charts and compasses, this app feels like science fiction come to life. Great job!" "Looking at the sky was never this incredible!" "If you download only one app, make sure it's this one!! This is one of the best apps I've ever seen, period! Its quality is unmatched among star gazing apps!" ======================== Features: • All data is offline! • Sun, Moon, planets, 88 Constellations and 8000+ stars visible to the naked eyes. • 12 Zodiac Constellations Art & 6 famous deep sky objects with magnificent graphics. • 3D compass in AR mode, indicate position of objects your searched. • Location auto set by GPS, or set manually. • Auto hide all menus and enter AR track mode when lift up the device and point to sky. • Smooth motion flow and quick response which is realized by cutting edge signal processing technique. • Superb high quality graphic display by enabling the retina display of the device and the full screen anti-aliasing technology employment. Pro version: • Full 88 Constellations & 100+ deep sky objects with magnificent graphics. • Search and guide you to stars, constellations, planets and deep sky objects. • Time Machine menu and location menu to encourage children to exploring more on time and location dimension. • Night mode switch, to protect children's eye when doing star gazing outdoor. Usage: • Top Left: Location Menu, choose location from a world map. • Buttom Left: AR Compass indicator in AR track mode, pan the screen to enter un-track mode and click track button to back. Tips: • When under un-track mode, just lift up the screen and point it to the sky to enter AR track mode.

Screenshots

Sky Guide4 screens
Star Tracker Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Sky Guide at none against Star Tracker Lite's shown. Sky Guide also leads on ratings volume (374K vs 2.1K) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). Star Tracker Lite's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, 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

Both are free to download. Sky Guide sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Star Tracker Lite sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sky Guide holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sky Guide has 374K ratings behind it against 2.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Sky Guide's written reviews are positive against 73% of Star Tracker Lite's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sky Guide ships an update every 2 weeks, Star Tracker Lite every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Sky Guide versus Star Tracker Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSky GuideStar Tracker Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (374K ratings) — better4.6 (2.1K ratings)
Positive reviews86.0% of reviews — better73.4% of reviews
Number of ratings374K — better2.1K
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
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 iOS18.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size379 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFifth Star Labs LLC身吉 潘

Customer experience

Sky Guide

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

Star Tracker Lite

All ratings2,126 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative6.2%
Written reviews316 reviews
Positive73.4%
Neutral5.1%
Negative21.5%

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

Star Tracker Lite

From 2.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Accurate star and planet tracking
  • 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
  • 🌌 Helpful for learning about the night sky
  • 🤩 Visually appealing and engaging
  • 🔍 Useful for identifying celestial objects

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional location/compass issues
  • 🤔 Inaccurate positioning of celestial objects
  • 🙄 Cluttered or confusing interface
  • 💰 Paid version not worth the cost
  • 🔍 Limited functionality in free version

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

Star Tracker Lite

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes or freezes
  • Incorrect location/orientation detection
  • Paid features not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to track comets and asteroids
  • More detailed information on celestial objects
  • Customizable display options
  • Improved search and navigation
  • Integration with other astronomy apps/tools

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
2 purchases

Star Tracker Lite

One-time2
  • Remove Ads$0.99
  • Full version$2.99

Questions

Is Sky Guide free?
Sky Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Star Tracker Lite free?
Star Tracker Lite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sky Guide or Star Tracker Lite?
Sky Guide is rated higher. Sky Guide averages 4.8 out of 5 from 374K ratings, while Star Tracker Lite averages 4.6 from 2.1K ratings.
Do Sky Guide or Star Tracker Lite have ads?
Star Tracker Lite shows ads; Sky Guide does not.
Which is updated more often, Sky Guide or Star Tracker Lite?
Sky Guide ships an update every 2 weeks, and Star Tracker Lite every 3 weeks. Most recently, Sky Guide was updated on September 25, 2026 and Star Tracker Lite on September 24, 2026.

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