Planetary Idle vs Santa's Workshop
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Planetary Idle
Explore planets with a retro sci-fi idle theme. Hire scientists for passive income, tap for boosts, and research expeditions for discoveries. Prestige to reset with permanent upgrades and unlock perks with rare QBits.
- Hire Scientists for passive income
- Tap to boost active income
- Research expeditions for discoveries
- Prestige system with permanent upgrades
- Earn QBits for powerful perks
- Offline progress for 6 hours
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Discover planets with a retro sci-fi idle theme with Planetary Idle! • Hire Scientists - Generate steady passive income and scale your operation. • Tap to Boost - Tap for extra cash when you’re active. • Research Expeditions - Spend money and brave scientists on one-way missions for discoveries and income bonuses! • Prestige - Reset, keep permanent upgrades, blast past your previous best. • QBits & Upgrades - Earn rare QBits and unlock powerful perks. • Play Your Pace - Short bursts or long idles; progress for 6 hours when offline. • Game Center - Many achievements to unlock!
Santa's Workshop
Help the elves craft toys and find Santa before it's too late in this holiday-themed idle game. Manage your workshop, care for reindeer, and complete missions to spread joy.
- Tap to build 25 unique toys
- Offline toy crafting
- Complete missions
- Care for reindeer
- Search for Santa
- Collect achievements
- Accessibility mode
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The elves need your help! Santa is missing and they need your help to craft toys and find him before it's too late. This game features no ads, and no data mining! - Tap to build 25 unique toys. - Open factories to craft toys offline. - Chat with the head elf and complete missions. - Wrap presents and collect holiday spirit. - Feed and care for your Reindeer. - Use the locator to search for Santa! - Collect achievements along the way. Offers guides on each screen to help you navigate the game, and notifications so you know when it's time to return and collect your coins! Santa's Workshop was designed with accessibility in mind, and features an accessibility mode that provides greater support for Voice Over. Santa's Workshop takes inspiration from classic idle games and offers a unique holiday themed adventure. Fun for all ages, talk to the holiday elves and manage the workshop to build enough toys. Feed and take care of your reindeer and even decorate the stables. Use the locator to help search for Santa, and fly on your reindeer to search for him. Santa's Workshop was designed to help you get in the holiday spirit and spread a little joy!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Santa's Workshop at none against Planetary Idle's 3. Santa's Workshop also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (60% vs 50%). Planetary Idle's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Planetary Idle sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Santa's Workshop asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Planetary Idle against 4.7 for Santa's Workshop. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 80 and 42 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of Planetary Idle's written reviews are positive against 60% of Santa's Workshop's.
Planetary Idle ships an update weekly, Santa's Workshop every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Planetary Idle | Santa's Workshop |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (80 ratings) — better | 4.7 (42 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 80 — better | 42 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 112 MB | 147 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Roberto Frias Nerio | aleros.io LLC |
Customer experience
Planetary Idle
Santa's Workshop
In-app purchases
Planetary Idle
- Booster Pack$0.99
- Research Pack$2.99
- Quantum Pack$6.99
Santa's Workshop
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Planetary Idle free?
Is Santa's Workshop free?
Which has better reviews, Planetary Idle or Santa's Workshop?
Do Planetary Idle or Santa's Workshop have ads?
Which is updated more often, Planetary Idle or Santa's Workshop?
Other comparisons
