Education · head to head
Clever vs Star Walk 2
Clever
Education
Single sign-on and roster synchronisation between district student records and classroom applications
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Star Walk 2
Education
Freemium stargazing app with a low-cost ad-free upgrade, aimed at casual sky watchers
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Clever coverage is built around United States district data models and state reporting patterns, so schools outside the United States often find their student information system unsupported and their local identity conventions unrepresented.; Star Walk 2 its object catalogue is far smaller than SkySafari Pro, so it has little to offer once someone wants to go beyond naked-eye stargazing.
- They diverge on capability: Clever covers Secure Sync, Star Walk 2 covers Augmented reality sky view.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Clever and Star Walk 2 actually diverge.
| Attribute | Clever | Star Walk 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | quote | Freemium, low-cost ad-free subscription upgrade |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, ChromeOS | iOS, Android, macOS, Windows |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Education).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Clever
- Secure Sync
- Clever portal
- Clever Badges
- Instant Login
- Clever IDM
- Application analytics
Only in Star Walk 2
- Augmented reality sky view
- Time travel mode
- Satellite tracking
- Night mode
- Meteor shower and event alerts
- Ad-free Plus tier
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Clever
- A district that has bought forty classroom applications and wants pupils to reach all of them without forty passwordsnot Star Walk 2
- Primary schools where pupils cannot yet type a password reliably and need badge loginnot Star Walk 2
- District IT that needs accounts created and revoked automatically as pupils enrol and leavenot Star Walk 2
- Evidencing to a board which licensed applications are used enough to justify renewalnot Star Walk 2
Star Walk 2
- A parent wanting a cheap, simple app to show a child the night skynot Clever
- A traveller who wants to identify stars and planets without a big subscription commitmentnot Clever
- A casual stargazer who does not need telescope control or a deep-sky cataloguenot Clever
- Someone wanting satellite pass tracking including the ISS on a budgetnot Clever
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Clever
- Coverage is built around United States district data models and state reporting patterns, so schools outside the United States often find their student information system unsupported and their local identity conventions unrepresented.
- Because application vendors pay and districts do not, a district has no commercial leverage when a sync breaks, and support priority follows the paying side of the market.
- Rostering is a single point of failure. One bad field mapping propagates wrong class lists to every connected application at once, and unpicking it means correcting the source system and waiting for the next sync cycle.
- Sync is scheduled rather than immediate for many connections, so a pupil who transfers mid week can sit in the wrong class in several applications for a day or more.
- Ownership moved to Kahoot! in 2021 and then to a private equity consortium in 2023, so a district is now depending on infrastructure whose long term roadmap is set by investor timelines rather than by education procurement cycles.
Star Walk 2
- Its object catalogue is far smaller than SkySafari Pro, so it has little to offer once someone wants to go beyond naked-eye stargazing.
- It has no telescope control, unlike SkySafari Plus and Pro, so it cannot drive a motorised mount.
- The free tier carries ads, which some users find intrusive during a stargazing session.
- It shares a visual style with many similar AR sky map apps, so its differentiation beyond price is limited.
- Content depth for deep-sky objects and satellite catalogues lags noticeably behind Sky Guide Pro and SkySafari Pro.
Pricing, plan by plan
Clever
Free- Clever core rostering and single sign-on$undefined/year
- Free to United States districts
- Funded by application vendors rather than the district
- Secure Sync, portal and Badges included
- Clever paid district products$undefined/year
- Identity management and account provisioning
- Multi-factor authentication for staff
- Pricing quoted per district, not published
Star Walk 2
Free- Star Walk 2Free
- Core sky map and AR view
- Ad-supported
- Star Walk 2 Plus$5.99/year
- Ads removed
- Additional sky content
Which should you pick?
Choose Clever if
- You need secure sync.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, ChromeOS.
- You also want clever portal.
Choose Star Walk 2 if
- You need augmented reality sky view.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.
- You also want time travel mode.
Questions people ask
- Is Clever or Star Walk 2 better?
- Neither clearly leads. Clever starts at Free and Star Walk 2 at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Clever or Star Walk 2?
- Clever starts at Free and Star Walk 2 at Free.
- Does Clever or Star Walk 2 run on more platforms?
- Clever runs on Web, iOS, Android, ChromeOS. Star Walk 2 runs on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.
- Can I use Clever for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Clever best used for?
- Clever is most often used for a district that has bought forty classroom applications and wants pupils to reach all of them without forty passwords, primary schools where pupils cannot yet type a password reliably and need badge login, district it that needs accounts created and revoked automatically as pupils enrol and leave, evidencing to a board which licensed applications are used enough to justify renewal. Of those, a district that has bought forty classroom applications and wants pupils to reach all of them without forty passwords and primary schools where pupils cannot yet type a password reliably and need badge login are not what Star Walk 2 is typically brought in for.
- What can Clever do that Star Walk 2 cannot?
- Clever covers Secure Sync, Clever portal, Clever Badges, Instant Login. Star Walk 2 covers Augmented reality sky view, Time travel mode, Satellite tracking, Night mode.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Clever: Does Clever really cost a district nothing?
The core rostering and single sign-on service is free to districts. Application vendors pay for the connection and build that cost into what they charge the district, so the money reaches Clever through the software bill instead of a direct invoice.
Star Walk 2: Is Star Walk 2 free?
A free ad-supported version exists; Star Walk 2 Plus removes ads and adds content for a low annual or monthly fee.
Clever: Is Clever FERPA and COPPA compliant?
Clever operates as a school official under FERPA, acting on district instruction, and relies on district consent rather than parental consent for COPPA. It has signed the Student Privacy Pledge.
Star Walk 2: Does it support telescope control?
No. For telescope control, SkySafari Plus or Pro is the better choice.
Clever: What happens if we leave Clever?
Every connected application loses its roster feed and needs a replacement method, either a competing rostering service or manual CSV uploads per application. That is why districts rarely switch once more than a handful of applications depend on it.
Star Walk 2: How does it compare to SkySafari on price?
It is substantially cheaper, but with a much smaller star and deep-sky object catalogue.
Related pages
More on Star Walk 2
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