# Night Sky Planner vs Skyla

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Night Sky Planner at none against Skyla's 1. Skyla's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Skyla sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Night Sky Planner asks for nothing beyond the download.

Night Sky Planner ships an update monthly, Skyla fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Night Sky Planner | Skyla |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/night-sky-planner/id6786410221/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **1** | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 4 MB | 5 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Bryson Loughmiller](https://appshunter.io/developer/6783925494) | [Birkan Aksoy](https://appshunter.io/developer/1626910993) |

## What reviewers say

### 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


### Skyla

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/skyla-star-map-and-astronomy/id6801831756)

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

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Skyla Pro | $4.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Night Sky Planner free?

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

### Is Skyla free?

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

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

Neither Night Sky Planner nor Skyla shows ads.

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

Night Sky Planner ships an update monthly, and Skyla fortnightly. Most recently, Night Sky Planner was updated on October 31, 2026 and Skyla on November 6, 2026.

---

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