Comparison

Moon Miner vs Idle Space Mining

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

Head to head
About

Moon Miner

Pilot a drill-bot into a living planet, excavating procedurally generated strata for glowing ore. Sell your findings to upgrade your equipment and descend deeper. Survive hazards and uncover a story with a climactic finale.

Highlights
  • Procedurally generated digging
  • Mineral discovery and upgrades
  • Hazard survival
  • Uncover a story
  • Satisfying dig-sell-upgrade loop
Features
Read full description

Pilot a small drill-bot into a living planet. Dig through procedurally generated strata, fill your cargo with glowing ore, surface to sell and upgrade, then descend deeper than before. FEATURES - A satisfying dig - sell - upgrade loop across eight strata, from soft dirt to deep obsidian - 16 minerals to discover and a long upgrade ladder for your drill, cargo, hull, lamp and more - Hazards: gas pockets, magma, cave-ins and fall damage to read and survive - A story uncovered through the depths of the moon with a climactic finale - Free to play with optional rewarded ads; achievements and cloud save via Game Center and iCloud

About

Idle Space Mining

Dig through galaxies, merge miners to increase their strength, and build machines that mine while you're away. Discover new planets, upgrade your crew, and unlock powerful boosts to speed up your progress. Compete in timed events and earn rewards.

Highlights
  • Incremental mining gameplay
  • Miner merging and upgrading
  • Idle machine mining
  • Galaxy exploration
  • Dark Matter upgrades
  • Event planets with leaderboards
  • Cloud save functionality
Features
Read full description

Idle Space Mining is an incremental clicker about digging your way across 12 galaxies. Drag your miners onto rocks and watch them dig. Merge two of a kind into a stronger miner. Dig out machines buried in the ground, build them, and they keep mining while you are away. Mine through the walls, reach the launch pad, and launch to the next planet. DIG WITH YOUR CREW Every rock holds gold ore, and now and then you find a rare Dark Matter rock. Pick which rocks your crew works and collect what they drop. Your crew comes with you to every new planet. MERGE YOUR MINERS Two miners of a level make one of the next. Higher levels dig faster. MINE THROUGH THE WALLS Each area ends in a wall. Dig a way to it, put your crew on it, and mine it down to open the next area. DIG OUT YOUR MACHINES Every planet starts with just the Ore Crusher. Fifteen more buildings lie buried across the galaxies, from the Power Plant and Drill Press to the Refinery, Smelter and Nuclear Plant. Reach one and buy more of it from the Upgrades menu. 96 PLANETS, 12 GALAXIES Eight planets in each galaxy, each with its own look, its own rock and its own walls. Launching earns Dark Matter, which you keep forever. FIVE DARK MATTER UPGRADES Spend Dark Matter on Ore Yield, Dig Speed, Miner Slots, Dark Affinity and Auto-Collect, ten levels each. They make every planet after it faster. RESEARCH AND COLONY BOOSTS Dig out the Power Core to open research, and grow the whole colony with Colony boosts. EVENT PLANETS Event planets open for three days at a time. Everyone starts with the same kit. Mine as many rocks as you can and see your rank on the Game Center leaderboard: your Top %, and where you stand among friends. Nothing is for sale on an event planet. THE LAST PLANET Mine through planet 96 and you have crossed all 12 galaxies. A finish screen marks it, and the event planets keep going after that. COMETS, DAILY GOALS, ACHIEVEMENTS Catch comets for a burst of ore. Clear daily goals. Claim achievements for a permanent bonus. EARNS WHILE YOU SLEEP Your machines keep mining when the app is closed. Come back to a pile. One optional ad, only if you want it: watch it for double production for four hours. No banners, no interstitials, nothing that interrupts play. No energy timers. Cloud save keeps your progress safe.

Screenshots

Moon Miner4 screens
Idle Space Mining4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Moon Miner at 4.8 against Idle Space Mining's 4.3. Moon Miner also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 6) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Idle Space Mining sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Moon Miner asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Moon Miner holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 4 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Moon Miner ships an update every 5 days, Idle Space Mining every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Moon Miner versus Idle Space Mining: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMoon MinerIdle Space Mining
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (6 ratings) — better4.3 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 10 days
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB160 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMobX GmbHISAAC MICHAEL FRETT

In-app purchases

None

Moon Miner

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Idle Space Mining

One-time6
  • Dark Matter Cache$1.99
  • Temporal Shunt$2.99
  • Deep Cryo Vault$3.99
Show 3 more
  • Dark Matter Flask$4.99
  • Overclock$4.99
  • Dark Matter Reservoir$9.99

Questions

Is Moon Miner free?
Moon Miner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Idle Space Mining free?
Idle Space Mining is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Moon Miner or Idle Space Mining?
Moon Miner is rated higher. Moon Miner averages 4.8 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Idle Space Mining averages 4.3 from 4 ratings.
Do Moon Miner or Idle Space Mining have ads?
Both Moon Miner and Idle Space Mining show ads.
Which is updated more often, Moon Miner or Idle Space Mining?
Moon Miner ships an update every 5 days, and Idle Space Mining every 10 days. Most recently, Moon Miner was updated on October 31, 2026 and Idle Space Mining on November 10, 2026.

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