Comparison

OpenSnow vs SpaceWeatherLive

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

Head to head
About

OpenSnow

Get the most accurate snow forecasts, detailed snow reports, and severe weather maps. Access 15-day forecasts, local expert insights, and offline 3D maps for snow depth, avalanche risk, and more. Track storms with advanced radar and AI-powered weather systems.

Highlights
  • 15-Day Snow Forecast
  • Local Expert Snow Reports
  • 3D & Offline Weather Maps
  • AI-Powered Weather System
  • Severe Weather Tracking
  • Mountain Webcams
  • Snow Depth & Avalanche Risk Maps
Features
Read full description

OpenSnow is your trusted source for the most accurate snow forecast, snow report, and severe weather maps. "Weather forecasting for the mountains takes extra focus, analysis, and precision, which is exactly what OpenSnow provides. The app is incredible, even for super weather nerds like myself." – Cody Townsend, Pro Skier 15-Day Snow Forecasts Finding the location that has the best conditions can feel overwhelming. With OpenSnow, deciding where to go is easy. View the latest 15-day snow forecast, snow report, conditions history, and mountain webcams for your favorite locations in just a few seconds. Local Daily Snow Experts Instead of spending hours sifting through weather data, get the inside scoop in just a few minutes. Our local experts write a new Daily Snow forecast each day in the winter for regions around the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Have one of our expert local forecasters guide you to the best conditions. 3D Weather + Snow Maps We make it easy to track incoming storms with super-res radar and global precipitation, radar, and snow forecast maps. You can also view 3D maps for snow depth, avalanche risk, slope angle, active fires, air quality, wildfire smoke, public and private land ownership, and more. Download high-resolution satellite maps to view offline. PEAKS + StormNet PEAKS is our mountain weather forecast model that is up to 50% more accurate in complex terrain. StormNet is our severe weather forecast model that produces real-time, high-resolution forecasts for lightning, hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes. Combined, PEAKS + StormNet provide a first-of-its-kind, fully operational multi-component weather forecast system. Daily Features • 15-Day Hourly Forecasts • Current + Forecast Radar • Precipitation Forecast Maps • Air Quality Forecasts • Wildfire Smoke Forecast Maps • 50,000+ Weather Stations • 3D + Offline Maps • Land Boundary + Private Ownership Maps • Recent Satellite Maps Snow + Ski Features • 15-Day Snow Forecast • Powder Quality Forecast • Snow Depth Map • Season Snowfall Map • Snow Forecast Alerts • Snow Forecast Maps • Offline Ski Resort Trail Maps • Snow Forecast + Report Widgets • Historical Snow Reports Severe Weather Features (US only) • Super-Res Radar • Lightning Risk • Tornado Risk • Hail Risk • Damaging Winds Risk • Severe Weather Alerts Free Features • My Location 15-Day Forecast • Snow Forecast 15-Day Summary • Historical Weather + Snow Reports • Snow Report Alerts • Avalanche Forecasts • Mountain Webcams • Active Fires Map • Air Quality Map • Slope Angle + Slope Aspect — Free Trial — New accounts automatically receive the full OpenSnow Premium experience, with no credit card or payment information required. If you choose not to purchase OpenSnow after the free trial is over, you will be automatically downgraded to a free account and not charged. — In-App Purchase — OpenSnow Base is an auto-renewable subscription, which will renew yearly at $49.99 USD. Payment will be charged to the user's Apple account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. The account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period and identify the cost of the renewal. If the auto-renewal fails due to a payment issue, you will still be able to access the paid content for 16 days while Apple attempts to collect payment. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Full terms and conditions can be found here: https://support.opensnow.com/legal/terms | https://support.opensnow.com/legal/privacy Sales through Apple will be governed by Apple’s refund policy. We value all of our customers and encourage you to provide feedback on your experience. Please get in touch with us by sending an email to hello@opensnow.com

About

SpaceWeatherLive

Track aurora and solar activity in real-time with detailed forecasts and historical data. Receive customizable push notifications for significant space weather events. Explore an extensive archive and learn from expert reports.

Highlights
  • Aurora and solar activity tracking
  • Real-time forecasts
  • Push notifications for space weather events
  • Dark mode for night use
  • Detailed graphs and reports
  • Extensive historical data archive
  • Beginner-friendly explanations
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

SpaceWeatherLive is the ultimate app for those who dream of seeing the northern lights or want to know everything about the activity on our Sun. With this app you will be able to see and understand how active the aurora is right now and if there might be a good chance to spot the northern or southern lights in the coming days. You will never miss an aurora display again with this app in your pocket no matter where you go! Beginner friendly - While the SpaceWeatherLive app is filled with all the space weather information you can think of both for beginning and advanced space weather enthusiasts, every item has a pop up with additional information to help you along if something is unclear. Learn more as you go along! Everything in one app - Switch between the auroral activity and solar activity modes with just one click! Dark mode - Preserve your night vision with our special dark mode! Ideal for aurora chasing out in the field! Push notifications - Free push notifications informing you of significant space weather events like solar flares, geomagnetic storms, earth-facing coronal holes and much more! You can turn any notification on or off so if you don't want to receive any notifications at all or are only interested in specific notifications: we got you covered! Modern graphs - All the data that you are interested in are represented in sleek, responsive graphs. Dials don't cut it when you are out in the field, you want to know how the data looks like in the past and right now. Our graphs provide all the information you need in the blink of an eye! News - Not only do we provide a ton of different automated alerts, we even have a dedicated team of space weather enthusiasts who write detailed hand written reports during high solar or auroral activity! Extensive help section - Are you a beginner and does our app look a bit daunting when you first open it? Fear not, we have a dedicated help section with tons of articles and a FAQ section. Give it a read and soon you will be able to make your very own aurora forecasts! Huge space weather archive - Ever looked back at your old aurora pictures and wonder what space weather was like on that specific date? We got you covered! Take a dive in our space weather archive that is filled to the brim with geomagnetic and solar data from the year 1996 until yesterday. Dig around and discover large sunspot regions, extreme geomagnetic storms and exciting data from the past! Free for all - Best of all... Our app is completely free of charge! We do have ads but those can be removed by purchasing a subscription which in turn supports us to keep our services online! PRICE AND TERMS: Although the app is free, it does contain advertising at the bottom of the screen which helps us to keep our services online. Don't want the ads? No problem, with a simple in-app purchase you can remove them! A monthly subscription is $0.99, half-yearly subscription $5.49 and yearly subscription $9.99. These prices apply to United States residents. Prices may vary in other countries respecting your local currency exchange rate. Your subscription will be charged to your iTunes account. At the end of the term, unless auto-renewables subscriptions are disabled, your subscription will automatically renew in your iTunes account. You will be charged for the regular price of your subscription within 24 hours prior to the end of the current term. You can turn off automatic renewal in your iTunes account settings at any time, but you must do so at least 24 hours before the end of the current term. Refunds will not be provided for the unused portion of any term. Terms and conditions: https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/app/terms-and-conditions Privacy policy: https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/app/privacy-policy

Screenshots

OpenSnow4 screens
SpaceWeatherLive4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: OpenSnow at 4.7 against SpaceWeatherLive's 4.0. OpenSnow also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 4 months). SpaceWeatherLive's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. OpenSnow sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per year and SpaceWeatherLive sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

OpenSnow holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OpenSnow has 9.1K ratings behind it against 189, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of OpenSnow's written reviews are positive against 53% of SpaceWeatherLive's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OpenSnow ships an update every 11 days, SpaceWeatherLive every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
OpenSnow versus SpaceWeatherLive: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpenSnowSpaceWeatherLive
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.1K ratings) — better4.0 (189 ratings)
Positive reviews80.4% of reviews — better53.4% of reviews
Number of ratings9.1K — better189
Update frequencyEvery 11 days — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#45 — better#143
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size125 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCloudnine Weather, Inc.Parsec vzw

Customer experience

OpenSnow

All ratings9,057 ratings
Positive92.1%
Neutral1.2%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews836 reviews
Positive80.4%
Neutral3.7%
Negative15.9%

SpaceWeatherLive

All ratings189 ratings
Positive72.0%
Neutral5.8%
Negative22.2%
Written reviews131 reviews
Positive53.4%
Neutral13.7%
Negative32.8%

User reviews

OpenSnow

From 9.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Accurate snow forecasts
  • 📊 Detailed weather data and maps
  • 🗺️ Comprehensive coverage of ski resorts
  • 💻 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🤖 Reliable and consistent forecasts

Room to improve

  • 💰 Subscription model can be expensive
  • 🌐 Limited coverage outside of North America
  • 🕰️ Occasional delays in updating snow conditions
  • 🤖 Inconsistent accuracy in long-term forecasts
  • 🔒 Paywall restricts access to some features

SpaceWeatherLive

From 189 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent space weather information
  • 🔍 Detailed and informative data
  • 📚 Helpful tutorials and explanations
  • 🌍 Useful for aurora chasers and enthusiasts
  • 🤖 Comprehensive data from various sources

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Overwhelming amount of information
  • 🔔 Too many notifications/alerts
  • 💰 Ads becoming too intrusive
  • 🔌 Notifications not always working
  • 🤔 Confusing navigation at times

Bugs and requests

OpenSnow

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional crashes or freezes on certain devices
  • Inconsistencies in the display of weather data and forecasts

Requested features

5 requests
  • Expand coverage to more international ski resorts
  • Improve offline functionality and data availability
  • Introduce more customization options for user preferences
  • Enhance integration with other outdoor activity planning apps
  • Provide more detailed snow and weather data for backcountry use

SpaceWeatherLive

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Video links not working
  • Alerts disappearing after opening the app
  • Inconsistent performance after updates
  • Notification count not clearing properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Customizable notification settings
  • Dark mode option
  • Location-based alerts
  • Ability to track solar activity trends
  • Integration with other weather/astronomy apps

In-app purchases

3 purchases

OpenSnow

Subscriptions3
  • OpenSnow Legacy$49.991 Year
  • OpenSnow Base$49.991 Year
  • OpenSnow Base Legacy$49.991 Year
3 purchases

SpaceWeatherLive

Subscriptions3
  • Ad-free - monthly package$0.991 Month
  • Ad-free - half-yearly package$5.496 Months
  • Ad-free - yearly package$9.991 Year

Questions

Is OpenSnow free?
OpenSnow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SpaceWeatherLive free?
SpaceWeatherLive is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, OpenSnow or SpaceWeatherLive?
OpenSnow is rated higher. OpenSnow averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9.1K ratings, while SpaceWeatherLive averages 4.0 from 189 ratings.
Do OpenSnow or SpaceWeatherLive have ads?
SpaceWeatherLive shows ads; OpenSnow does not.
Which is updated more often, OpenSnow or SpaceWeatherLive?
OpenSnow ships an update every 11 days, and SpaceWeatherLive every 4 months. Most recently, OpenSnow was updated on October 3, 2026 and SpaceWeatherLive on October 2, 2026.
Which is more popular, OpenSnow or SpaceWeatherLive?
OpenSnow currently peaks at #45 in the App Store charts, and SpaceWeatherLive at #143. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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