Comparison

StarEdit vs Zenith Annotation

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

Head to head
About

StarEdit

Easily remove stars from your galaxy photos to make intuitive edits. Adjust star count, size, and saturation, then combine starless and star images for social media. This app uses AI for convenient mobile editing.

Highlights
  • Instantly remove stars from photos
  • Adjust star count, size, and saturation
  • Apply curve and color adjustments
  • Combine starless and star images
  • AI-powered mobile editing
  • Edit target and sky in starless images
Features
Read full description

A specialised app to instantly remove stars from your photo so that you can make intuitive changes to your galaxy. Then add back the stars. Besides applying curve and color to your galaxy/nebulae, you could also adjust the number of star, size of star and saturation of star. Then combine the starless and star into a single image for your social media post. Traditionally, user has to download and remove stars on a laptop. This app makes it convenient and easy to do it on the phone using AI. Workflow: 1) Starless > Curve > Color 2) Star > Curve > Color 3) Both > Curve > Color Additional editing for Target and Sky in the Starless image if device has 4G RAM or more. Note: - The app is designed for seestar image of resolution 1080 x 1920 pixels. Larger image will need longer time to load and remove stars. Requirement: - App works best with 4G RAM and above. If the device has less than 4G RAM, it will use lesser weights for AI and produce degraded image. - Image is optimised at 1920 x 1080 pixels. Support: Please write to ustransit74@gmail.com. If the app does not process the stars in your image correctly, please send me your original photo. I will add your photo to the next AI training. A new app update will then be release. Video tutorial is available at https://www.instagram.com/ycbsl

About

Zenith Annotation

Read full description

Study and present your astronomical images on iPhone and iPad. Zenith Annotation brings image import, astrometry, annotations, and presentation tools together in a guided workflow. Explore the field • Open the images you choose from Photos or Files, including TIFF and TIF images. • Solve a field online when you request it and agree to send a working copy. • Browse catalogs and review object and session details. Prepare your annotations • Organize layers, labels, data, and visual styles. • Keep project progress on your device. • Preserve the original file: online solving uses a reduced grayscale copy, not the original. Present your work • Design carousels with editable text, charts, palettes, and animations. • Arrange images and text in collages. • Export a result to save or share yourself. Online solving requires a connection and your explicit action. For this feature, the app sends Astrometry.net a reduced grayscale copy of up to 2048 pixels without EXIF metadata. Zenith Annotation does not transmit the original file or publish your images to social networks. Annotation Studio Choose how to start: try 14 days free if your Apple account is eligible, or pay for the year up front. The plan automatically renews after the trial at the price shown by your App Store; in Mexico, that price is MXN $549 per year. Direct payment charges the displayed annual price at the start. Manage or cancel renewal in your Apple account settings. Purchase restoration is included. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

StarEdit4 screens
Zenith Annotation3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: StarEdit at none against Zenith Annotation's 2. Zenith Annotation's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 3 weeks). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Zenith Annotation sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. StarEdit asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

StarEdit ships an update every 3 weeks, Zenith Annotation daily. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
StarEdit versus Zenith Annotation: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarEditZenith Annotation
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB47 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developeryong chong lohEduardo Martinez Gomez

In-app purchases

None

StarEdit

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Zenith Annotation

Subscriptions2
  • Annotation Studio with Trial14 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Annotation Studio Annual$24.991 Year

Questions

Is StarEdit free?
StarEdit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zenith Annotation free?
Zenith Annotation is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do StarEdit or Zenith Annotation have ads?
Neither StarEdit nor Zenith Annotation shows ads.
Which is updated more often, StarEdit or Zenith Annotation?
StarEdit ships an update every 3 weeks, and Zenith Annotation daily. Most recently, StarEdit was updated on September 22, 2026 and Zenith Annotation on October 6, 2026.

Other comparisons