Education · head to head
Clever vs Stellarium
Clever
Education
Single sign-on and roster synchronisation between district student records and classroom applications
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Stellarium
Education
Free open source desktop planetarium software, distinct from the paid Stellarium Mobile Plus app
- 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.; Stellarium it is desktop-only software, so it has no native touch-optimised phone interface; the similarly named mobile app is a different paid product from a different company.
- They diverge on capability: Clever covers Secure Sync, Stellarium covers Photorealistic sky rendering.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Clever and Stellarium actually diverge.
| Attribute | Clever | Stellarium |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | quote | Open source, no licence fee |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, ChromeOS | Windows, macOS, Linux |
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 Stellarium
- Photorealistic sky rendering
- Large object catalogue
- Telescope control
- Scripting engine
- Free and open source
- Plugin ecosystem
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 Stellarium
- Primary schools where pupils cannot yet type a password reliably and need badge loginnot Stellarium
- District IT that needs accounts created and revoked automatically as pupils enrol and leavenot Stellarium
- Evidencing to a board which licensed applications are used enough to justify renewalnot Stellarium
Stellarium
- A student or educator wanting a serious, scriptable planetarium tool without a budget line itemnot Clever
- An amateur astronomer wanting telescope control from desktop software they can inspect and modifynot Clever
- Someone running a planetarium display or public astronomy event on a scripted shownot Clever
- A hobbyist who wants a large object catalogue without paying a subscription, and does not need a phone appnot 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.
Stellarium
- It is desktop-only software, so it has no native touch-optimised phone interface; the similarly named mobile app is a different paid product from a different company.
- As a volunteer-maintained open source project, support is community-based rather than a guaranteed commercial help desk.
- The interface, while capable, is less immediately intuitive for a first-time user than a polished commercial phone app.
- Telescope control and some advanced plugins require additional setup that a non-technical user may find fiddly.
- Because it shares a name with the unrelated paid Stellarium Mobile Plus app, buyers researching pricing online can easily conflate the two products.
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
Stellarium
Free- Stellarium DesktopFree
- Full software, GPL licensed
- No account, ads or subscription
- Community-developed plugins
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 Stellarium if
- You need photorealistic sky rendering.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
- You also want large object catalogue.
Questions people ask
- Is Clever or Stellarium better?
- Neither clearly leads. Clever starts at Free and Stellarium at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Clever or Stellarium?
- Clever starts at Free and Stellarium at Free.
- Does Clever or Stellarium run on more platforms?
- Clever runs on Web, iOS, Android, ChromeOS. Stellarium runs on Windows, macOS, Linux.
- 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 Stellarium is typically brought in for.
- What can Clever do that Stellarium cannot?
- Clever covers Secure Sync, Clever portal, Clever Badges, Instant Login. Stellarium covers Photorealistic sky rendering, Large object catalogue, Telescope control, Scripting engine.
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.
Stellarium: Is Stellarium really free?
The desktop software is free and open source under the GPL licence. The separate mobile app, Stellarium Mobile Plus, is a different paid product.
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.
Stellarium: Is the mobile app made by the same team?
No. Stellarium Mobile Plus is built by Noctua Software, a different company, and is sold on subscription.
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.
Stellarium: What platforms does the free version run on?
Windows, macOS and Linux desktop.
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