Comparison

Labscope Material vs Celestia

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

Head to head
About

Labscope Material

Transform your ZEISS microscope into a WiFi-enabled imaging system. Capture images and videos of microscopic samples, add annotations, and create reports. Ideal for educational settings, it facilitates a digital classroom experience for students.

Highlights
  • WiFi-enabled microscope imaging
  • Image and video capture
  • Annotations and report creation
  • Digital classroom system
  • Virtual microscope for testing
Read full description

With Labscope, you transform your ZEISS microscope and camera into a WiFi-enabled imaging system. Be it in the laboratory, university, school or even for your hobby - Labscope snaps images and records videos of your microscopic samples, easier than ever. You can create annotations and reports, do image processing and save the files to your Windows network, or simply share them with anyone. Anywhere. Moreover, with Labscope you can easily create a high-quality digital classroom system, showing students a fun way of learning. Benefit from more than 160 years of experience in microscopy and explore the freedom of mobile digital imaging. Easy. Precise. Efficient. Download Labscope and test all features with the built-in virtual microscope! List of compatible ZEISS microscopes and cameras: - Primo Star – www.zeiss.com/primostar - Primovert HDcam – www.zeiss.com/primovert - Stemi 305 cam – www.zeiss.com/stemi305 - AxioCam ERc 5s (Rev. 2) - www.zeiss.com/axiocam-erc5s - Primotech – www.zeiss.com/primotech (for additional materials microscopy functionality, please use the Matscope app instead) For more information visit www.zeiss.com/labscope Intended use - Labscope Labscope is for Research Use Only*- not for use in Diagnostic procedures. Note:* A Research application is not intended for in vitro diagnostic or in clinical use, but is intended solely for use in the research or educational setting, for example university or pharmaceutical development. These applications are described as Research Applications or Research Use Only.

About

Celestia

Explore the universe in real-time 3D. Visit planets, moons, star clusters, and galaxies, viewing them from any point in space and time. Customize your experience with expandable content and detailed simulations.

Highlights
  • Real-time 3D space visualization
  • Explore planets, moons, stars, galaxies
  • Accurate solar system object positions
  • Interactive planetarium mode
  • Expandable content with add-ons
  • Customizable celestial databases
Features
Read full description

Celestia — real-time 3D visualization of space 3D Space Simulator | Celestia lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia simulates many different types of celestial objects. From planets and moons to star clusters and galaxies, you can visit every object in the expandable database and view it from any point in space and time. The position and movement of solar system objects is calculated accurately in real time at any rate desired. Interactive Planetarium | Celestia serves as a planetarium – for an observer on any celestial object. You can easily navigate to any world and land on its surface. When used as a planetarium, Celestia shows accurate positions of solar system objects in the sky. You can switch labels and other supporting features on and off with hotkeys, or zoom in and out on an object of interest, for example Jupiter’s system of moons. Expandable Content | Customize Celestia according to your needs. Celestia’s catalogues can be easily expanded. There are many different add-ons available containing new objects like comets or stars, high-resolution textures of Earth and other well mapped solar system bodies, as well as 3D models for asteroids and spacecraft on precise trajectories. Even fictional objects from well-known sci-fi franchises can be found. EULA(End User License Agreement): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Celestia4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Labscope Material at none against Celestia's 4. Labscope Material also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 79%) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). Celestia's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (331 vs 2). On price, rating 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. Celestia sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Labscope Material asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Labscope Material against 4.4 for Celestia. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Celestia has 331 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Labscope Material's written reviews are positive against 79% of Celestia's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Labscope Material ships an update every 4 months, Celestia every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Labscope Material versus Celestia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLabscope MaterialCelestia
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2 ratings) — better4.4 (331 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better79.2% of reviews
Number of ratings2331 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB545 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCarl Zeiss AG林峰 李

Customer experience

Labscope Material

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Celestia

All ratings331 ratings
Positive83.1%
Neutral4.2%
Negative12.7%
Written reviews259 reviews
Positive79.2%
Neutral5.4%
Negative15.4%

Bugs and requests

Labscope Material

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Celestia

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Milky Way and other galaxy textures not loading properly
  • Crashes when using certain add-ons
  • Issues with planet and moon orbits not being accurate

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more exoplanets and distant star systems
  • Implement terrain generation for planets
  • Expand to include more galaxies and the overall universe structure
  • Add support for black holes, pulsars, and other exotic objects
  • Improve controls and camera movement

In-app purchases

None

Labscope Material

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Celestia

Subscriptions3
  • Celestia PLUS (Weekly)7 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Celestia PLUS (Monthly)$1.991 Month
  • Celestia PLUS (Yearly)$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Celestia PLUS (Lifetime)$79.99

Questions

Is Labscope Material free?
Labscope Material is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Celestia free?
Celestia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Labscope Material or Celestia?
Labscope Material is rated higher. Labscope Material averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Celestia averages 4.4 from 331 ratings.
Do Labscope Material or Celestia have ads?
Neither Labscope Material nor Celestia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Labscope Material or Celestia?
Labscope Material ships an update every 4 months, and Celestia every 2 weeks. Most recently, Labscope Material was updated on October 1, 2026 and Celestia on October 13, 2026.

Other comparisons