# AstroHelm vs Night Sky Planner

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Night Sky Planner at none against AstroHelm's 3. Night Sky Planner also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). AstroHelm's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly) and ratings volume (7 vs 1). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. AstroHelm sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Night Sky Planner asks for nothing beyond the download.

Night Sky Planner holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AstroHelm has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

AstroHelm ships an update fortnightly, Night Sky Planner monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | AstroHelm | Night Sky Planner |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (7 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astrohelm/id6761955319/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/night-sky-planner/id6786410221/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **7** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 87.5% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Monthly |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 78 MB | 4 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Pacizu LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1892191741) | [Bryson Loughmiller](https://appshunter.io/developer/6783925494) |

## What reviewers say

### AstroHelm

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astrohelm/id6761955319)

This astronomy app uses on-device plate solving to guide your manual telescope or telephoto lens. It analyzes star patterns in real-time to help you precisely center celestial objects without expensive motorized mounts.

**Highlights:** On-device plate solving, Real-time star pattern analysis, Push-to guidance, Hardware-agnostic compatibility, Expansive deep-sky object database

**Features:** Family Sharing, Apple Watch app

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AstroHelm Plus | $9.99 | one-time |
| Plus to Pro Upgrade | $19.99 | one-time |
| AstroHelm Pro | $29.99 | one-time |


### Night Sky Planner

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/night-sky-planner/id6786410221)

This app helps amateur astronomers find celestial objects to observe. It provides detailed information on when and how to best view planets, stars, and deep-sky objects from your specific location, even without an internet connection.

**Highlights:** Night strip timeline, Gantt view of targets, Best Nights ranking, Point Me directional guide, Printable finder rose, Object sky-survey plates, Offline functionality

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is AstroHelm free?

AstroHelm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Night Sky Planner free?

Night Sky Planner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, AstroHelm or Night Sky Planner?

Night Sky Planner is rated higher. AstroHelm averages 4.6 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Night Sky Planner averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do AstroHelm or Night Sky Planner have ads?

Neither AstroHelm nor Night Sky Planner shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, AstroHelm or Night Sky Planner?

AstroHelm ships an update fortnightly, and Night Sky Planner monthly. Most recently, AstroHelm was updated on October 24, 2026 and Night Sky Planner on October 11, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*