Comparison

Sky Map vs Open Planetarium

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

Head to head
About

Sky Map

Identify stars, planets, and constellations by pointing your device at the sky. Offers offline functionality, multiple visual styles, and real-time ISS and meteor shower tracking. Includes Apple Watch and widget support.

Highlights
  • Live star and planet identification
  • Offline functionality
  • ISS and meteor shower tracking
  • Multiple visual sky styles
  • Apple Watch integration
  • 13 customizable widgets
  • 100% red night mode
Features
Read full description

Point your phone at the sky — and know. Sky Map identifies every star, planet, constellation and deep-sky object you point at, instantly and fully offline. 115,000+ real stars and all 88 constellations render at buttery frame rates, aligned to your exact horizon. FIRST ON THE APP STORE • ISS Pass Live Activity — a countdown and pass arc right on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Never miss a flyover again. • Meteor-shower peak nights and darkness countdowns as Live Activities too. THE SKY, YOUR WAY — 8 STYLES Realistic, Chart, Atlas (engraved gold), Red Night, Astro-photo, Aurora, Ink & Paper, Minimal Mono. Your chosen look follows you across the app, all 13 widgets and Apple Watch. BUILT FOR REAL NIGHTS • True 100% red night mode — protects your dark adaptation on every screen • Stargazing Index: one 0–10 score from clouds, Moon and light pollution • Drag-to-align compass correction + magnetic-interference detection • Stars twinkle. Planets don't. (That's real physics — and how you tell them apart.) ON YOUR WRIST Wrist-guided ISS spotting with a live bearing ring, a whole-sky dial, a solar-system orrery you can scrub through time, and Smart Stack complications that surface exactly at dusk. 13 WIDGETS Live sky chart, 360° horizon panorama, Moon phase calendar, solar system now, constellation of the day, aurora Kp index, the Sun live from NASA SDO, event countdowns with a one-tap reminder bell, and a red Nightstand mode for StandBy. HONEST BY DESIGN • Works 100% offline — airplane mode, backcountry, anywhere • No account. Your location never leaves your device. • The free tier stays free, forever. Premium adds depth: the 115,000-star deep catalog, 450+ NGC/IC objects, satellites, comets, event reminders, observation lists with FREE iCloud sync, and every style. The sky is out tonight. Go look up. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. • Terms of use: https://deeplyai.app/terms.html • Privacy policy: https://deeplyai.app/privacy.html Support & Contact Need help? • Rate us! Got feedback? info@deeplyai.app

About

Open Planetarium

Features
Read full description

Open Planetarium is a beautiful, scientifically accurate virtual planetarium. The full sky works completely offline — all star, constellation, and deep-sky data is bundled with the app. FEATURES • Real star catalog: 8,920 stars down to magnitude 6.5 (HYG v4.1), with scientifically accurate star colors derived from each star's B-V color index • All 88 constellations: lines, names (English / Japanese / Latin), and official IAU boundaries • Solar system: the Sun, the Moon with phases and lunar age, and all 7 planets, computed with Meeus/Standish-compliant algorithms • Deep-sky objects: the complete Messier catalog (110 objects) plus major NGC/IC objects — 717 objects in total, with type icons • Powerful search: object names, constellations, M/NGC/IC numbers, planets • Object details: magnitude, coordinates, altitude/azimuth, and rise/transit/set times for your location • Time travel: set any date and time with the calendar dialog, scrub through the day with the time slider, or play diurnal motion at 60×/600×/3600× • Observing location: pick your spot on a zoomable world map with 1,250+ cities, search by country/city, enter coordinates manually, or use GPS • Survey imagery: overlay DSS2 sky survey layers (downloaded on demand and cached for offline re-display) • Equipment & field-of-view simulator: register telescopes, cameras, eyepieces and Barlows/reducers to preview framing and plan mosaic imaging • Milky Way rendering and adjustable light-pollution levels PRIVACY Your location is used only on your device to compute the sky above you — it is never sent anywhere. If location permission is denied, you can set the observing location manually. Open Planetarium is free, open source (MIT), with no ads and no tracking.

Screenshots

Sky Map4 screens
Open Planetarium4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Open Planetarium at none against Sky Map's 4. Open Planetarium also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). On price 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. Sky Map sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Open Planetarium asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Sky Map versus Open Planetarium: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSky MapOpen Planetarium
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks—
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDEEPLY AICatsAI Agency

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Sky Map

Subscriptions3
  • Sky Map Premium Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Sky Map Premium Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Sky Map Premium Yearly$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Sky Map Premium Lifetime$79.99
None

Open Planetarium

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sky Map free?
Sky Map is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Open Planetarium free?
Open Planetarium is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Sky Map or Open Planetarium have ads?
Sky Map shows ads; Open Planetarium does not.

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