Comparison

Solar Orrery vs Planet

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

Head to head
About

Solar Orrery

Explore a real-time, interactive model of our solar system and the night sky. Journey through planets, moons, stars, and constellations with cinematic visuals and intuitive controls. Track celestial objects and experience the vastness of space.

Highlights
  • Interactive solar system model
  • Real-time orbital data
  • 41,000+ stars and constellations
  • Time controls for simulation
  • Touch-first camera controls
  • Colorblind-accessible themes
  • Live celestial object feeds
Features
Read full description

Orrery is an interactive, real-time model of the solar system and the nearby sky, built for curiosity and wonder. Start with a cinematic opening from deep space to Earth, then move freely through planets, moons, constellations, and live orbital data. Features: - Cinematic opening tour from deep space to Earth - Interactive planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and spacecraft - 41,000+ stars and 88 constellation line patterns - Time controls from real time to accelerated simulation - Touch-first camera: orbit, zoom, and focus, then drill into a planet's moons - An ambient tour that drifts through the system on its own - Colorblind-accessible themes - Live feeds for near-Earth objects, solar wind, and satellite positions Built for learners, stargazers, educators, and anyone who wants to feel the scale and motion of the solar system. Questions or feedback: luke@lukesteuber.com

About

Planet

Features
Read full description

Planet turns the solar system into something you can hold, spin, and poke at. Built for curious minds of all ages, it trades walls of text for things you can actually touch: drag through the orbits, tap a world to open it up, and see the real numbers behind it. EXPLORE THE SOLAR SYSTEM Pinch to zoom and drag to pan across the planets in their orbits. Tap any planet — or the Sun — to open its details: diameter, distance from the Sun, day length, and a short description. Then open it as an interactive 3D model you can turn in your hands. BROWSE AND SEARCH Every planet, the Sun, 20 notable moons, and a full overview of the solar system itself — how it formed, what's in it, and where we sit in the Milky Way. Search across all of it: type "Olympus" and you'll land on Mars. MOONS Titan's lakes of liquid methane. Enceladus firing geysers of water into space. Io, the most volcanic world we know. Ganymede, bigger than Mercury. Triton, orbiting backwards because Neptune caught it. COMPARE Put two worlds side by side and watch the scale land. Diameter, distance, day length, year length, gravity, and moons — drawn to their true relative size. Line Earth up against the Sun and see what 109 times wider actually looks like. TEST YOURSELF 135 questions, ten per round, drawn fresh every time. Every answer comes with a one-line explanation of why it's right, so a wrong guess teaches you something. Miss a few and you'll get them back at the end, with the reasons, to review. WEIGH IN, ANYWHERE Enter your weight and see what you'd weigh on every other planet — in kilograms or pounds. Enter your age and find out how many laps of the Sun you'd have made on Mars, or Neptune. SEE THEM IN 3D Load a detailed 3D model of any planet, spin it, and get close. ENGLISH AND PERSIAN Fully translated, including every article and quiz question. Switch language any time in Settings. No accounts. No ads. No data collected. Just the solar system.

Screenshots

Solar Orrery4 screens
Planet4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Planet at weekly against Solar Orrery's every 3 weeks. Solar Orrery's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Solar Orrery ships an update every 3 weeks, Planet weekly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Solar Orrery versus Planet: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSolar OrreryPlanet
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB25 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperLanguageCraftAhmad khaled Samim

In-app purchases

None

Solar Orrery

No in-app purchases

None

Planet

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Solar Orrery free?
Solar Orrery is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Planet free?
Planet is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Solar Orrery or Planet have ads?
Neither Solar Orrery nor Planet shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Solar Orrery or Planet?
Solar Orrery ships an update every 3 weeks, and Planet weekly. Most recently, Solar Orrery was updated on October 31, 2026 and Planet on October 31, 2026.

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