Comparison

Planetary Guide vs VisualAstro

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

Head to head
About

Planetary Guide

Features
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Daily Planetary Guide showing exact timing of transits for selected locations / timezones (additional timezones can be added on request. This app provides all the information that you would expect in a daily planetary guide to assist with finding the best time for opportunities. Includes many techniques used by Mundane astrologers. Planetary Guide provides: - exact transit timing (to the minute) of planets, including retrogrades and ingresses - choice of either tropical or sidereal zodiacs defaults - variety of default locations / timezones to choose from - full /new moons, solar /lunar eclipse - retrogrades, ingresses and outer planet transit for extended periods - current longitude of planets and for the sidereal zodiac navamsha and nakshatra for each planet is included - current longitude by degree - this assists users to identify planets at close degrees, planets combust Sun or planets about to leave a sign - current aspects with orbs - current aspects to midpoints - ephemeris tables - longitude and declination - 30 and 45 degree graphical ephemeris - 2 options: All planets - 15 days, Outers - 90 days - annual retrogrades - eclipse dates for a 1 year period - aspects to new and full moons - 30 days prior and post selected date - moon void of course for next 30 days - 2 heat maps - current for the next 20 days and biannual for the next 180 days. Ingresses and Direct/Retrogrades can be overlayed to each heat map - transit chart for selected locations in both round and diamond format. The diamond format used by Sidereal Astrologers has a 9th harmonic chart and a listing of planetary strengths, aspects, combustion with the Sun - sort strip for a 15 degree equivalent longitude degree - solar lunar calendar - lunar cycle - planetary cycles - select a planetary pair to show their planetary cycle by way of a pie-chart. Also includes a summary listing of various planets and their current phase in their respective cycle - add notes - aspect / retrograde / ingress / planet to degree search for a 1 year period - Watch List capability so users can add / delete selected aspects / retrogrades / ingresses / degree from the Search menu option. Items can also be added to the Watch List from Moon, Ingresses, Retro , Outers tabs and Eclipses - date picker so user can select other time periods for all calculations - high precision calculations based on the latest Swiss Ephemeris The app is easy to use with clear, concise tables setting out the information

About

VisualAstro

Explore precise astrological analyses with detailed charts, transits, and progressions. Analyze relationships with synastry and composite charts, and delve into vibrational astrology with advanced visualizations. Features include customizable settings and privacy-focused on-device processing.

Highlights
  • Accurate astrological charts
  • Transit and progression analysis
  • Synastry and composite charts
  • Vibrational astrology reports
  • Interactive chart visualizations
  • Customizable house systems and orbs
  • On-device Apple Intelligence processing
Features
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VisualAstro brings a modern and very intuitive Astrology analysis to your device — and it's free. Easily explore harmonics, midpoints, fixed stars, anticia, golden mean midpoint and pattern highlights with professional‑grade chart accuracy. And much much more: - Accurate charts: Swiss Ephemeris, time‑zone rules by date/place (including pre‑standard offsets), and an offline world‑cities database. Includes Topocentric calculation for all objects and Planet's True Positions. Precision up to the second of arc. 0-4000 AD. - Read chart data from photo for your commodity. Use your camera to capture name, date, time and location from sources like AstroDataBank and other reference software for your commodity. Simple and agile. - Transits: fast lookups for any aspected related pair of objects date/time; dynamic step by year/month/day/hour/minute with transits-natal, transits-transits and ingresses in sign/houses. - Secondary Progressions: fast lookups for any aspected related pair of objects date/time; dynamic step by year/month/day/hour/minute with progression to natal, lunation, ingresses and retrograde cycles. - Synastry and Composite Davison Method: bi‑wheel overlays to compare two charts; create Davison composites for relationship analysis. Davison Chart for the Transits. - Vibrational Astrology: Vibrational Charts and secondary vibes, midpoint structures, golden‑mean midpoints, aspect strength/highlights, clear visuals for discovery. Full Vibrational Chart Reports with customisable vibe ranges, advanced rating system for score ranking, spotlights on quincunxes, 11/24, 4 or more conjunction and Isotraps below 1 minute. Interactive spectrum graph analysis with all the feature in the Vibrational Report plus Fractals and Prominent Primes highlights and multiple filters for the astrological explorer. - Easy visualisation: clean charts, click-to-highlight features in the chart, color‑coded aspects, retrograde markers, smart labels with contextual information, light/dark mode. Single chart with dual layout for your preference. - Antícia, Fixed Stars and Golden Mean Midpoint with orb customisable conjunction detection. - Customisation: multiple house systems (12 to choose from), flexible orb settings for individual technique, Tropical, Sidereal and Heliocentric Zodiac Type. Customise your work area with sections reordering. multi-language (english and portuguese) and time‑format options, tags/type for chart classification and exploratory research. Notes to organize work and keep track of notable insights. Topocentric and True planetary positions at your service. - NEW FEATURE: Apple Intelligence Vibration Synthesis in circuits, isotraps, midpoint structures and Vibrational Chart Report vibrations: Private and runs only in-device. Data is not sent out to online LLMs. - NEW FEATURE: Time-Continuum for primary chart. Dynamically updates calculations and allows Chart Rectification with the help of Transits and Progressions. - Privacy‑first: no account required; calculations run on‑device; optional iCloud Sync stores your charts in your private iCloud. - Works anywhere: offline cities and built‑in time‑zone data. Optional inexpensive add‑ons (via in‑app purchase): Synastry, Davison Composite, Transits, Progressions, Vibrational Chart Reports and Vibrational Chart Spectrum .

Screenshots

Planetary Guide4 screens
VisualAstro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: VisualAstro at Free against Planetary Guide's $9.99. Planetary Guide's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

VisualAstro is free to download; Planetary Guide costs $9.99 up front. VisualAstro sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Planetary Guide asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Planetary Guide ships an update weekly, VisualAstro every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on July 16, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Planetary Guide versus VisualAstro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlanetary GuideVisualAstro
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating—5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—5 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB389 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperAllyson Jane BuntingNelson Jorge Vieira Ramos

In-app purchases

None

Planetary Guide

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

VisualAstro

One-time9
  • Small support donation$1.99
  • Small Donation to the Project$1.99
  • Composite$3.99
Show 6 more
  • Vibrational Chart Spectrum$3.99
  • Synastry$3.99
  • Davison Composite Charts$3.99
  • Transits$8.99
  • Progressions$8.99
  • Vibrational Chart Report$8.99

Questions

Is Planetary Guide free?
Planetary Guide costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is VisualAstro free?
VisualAstro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Planetary Guide or VisualAstro have ads?
Neither Planetary Guide nor VisualAstro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Planetary Guide or VisualAstro?
Planetary Guide ships an update weekly, and VisualAstro every 10 days. Most recently, Planetary Guide was updated on July 16, 2026 and VisualAstro on September 10, 2026.

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