Education · head to head
Elevate vs Sky Guide
Elevate
Education
Cognitive skills training app from Elevate Labs covering reading, writing, maths and speaking games
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Sky Guide
Education
iOS astronomy app that moved from a one-time purchase to a free-to-download, subscription-tiered model
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Elevate the free tier limits daily games enough that the personalised programme the app is designed around is effectively a paid-only feature.; Sky Guide it is iOS-only, unlike SkySafari which also covers Android and desktop.
- They diverge on capability: Elevate covers Daily game sets, Sky Guide covers Light pollution forecasting.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Elevate and Sky Guide actually diverge.
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 Elevate
- Daily game sets
- Personalised training plan
- Progress tracking
- Reading and comprehension drills
- Maths and estimation games
- Writing and proofreading games
Only in Sky Guide
- Light pollution forecasting
- Meteor shower prediction
- Camera and gyroscope sky view
- Deep-sky object catalogue
- Extreme zoom
- Satellite tracking
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Elevate
- An adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skillsnot Sky Guide
- Someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drillsnot Sky Guide
- A user comparing Elevate against Lumosity on whether they want practical skills or abstract cognitive gamesnot Sky Guide
- A buyer wanting to sample the format on the limited free tier before committing to a subscriptionnot Sky Guide
Sky Guide
- An iOS stargazer who wants light pollution forecasting to plan a dark-sky observing tripnot Elevate
- Someone tracking meteor showers and wanting a forecast of viewing conditionsnot Elevate
- A user who wants extreme zoom into deep-sky objects without owning a telescopenot Elevate
- A buyer comparing subscription astronomy apps on iOS specifically, rather than cross-platform toolsnot Elevate
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Elevate
- The free tier limits daily games enough that the personalised programme the app is designed around is effectively a paid-only feature.
- As with the brain training category generally, evidence that improved performance on Elevate specific games transfers to broader real-world cognitive or task performance is weaker than marketing framing implies.
- The annual subscription auto-renews and, as with most mobile subscriptions, must be cancelled through app store settings rather than inside the app itself.
- Game variety within each skill category is finite, and long-term daily users report the exercises becoming repetitive after extended use.
- It does not replace structured instruction for skills like reading comprehension or maths where a genuine foundational gap exists; it is practice and drilling rather than teaching from first principles.
Sky Guide
- It is iOS-only, unlike SkySafari which also covers Android and desktop.
- It has moved from one-time purchase to a subscription model, and long-time users who paid once for earlier versions have criticised the change publicly.
- Pro tier pricing is high relative to Star Walk 2 for broadly similar core stargazing functionality.
- It has no telescope control, unlike SkySafari Plus and Pro, which limits it to naked-eye and camera-based observing.
- Its relationship to other apps under the same distribution platform is not clearly documented, which makes long-term support commitments harder to assess.
Pricing, plan by plan
Elevate
Free- Elevate Pro$9.99/month
- Free tier gives a limited number of games per day
- Pro unlocks the full game library and personalised training plan
- Annual Pro plans typically run $44.99 to $59.99, cheaper per month than monthly billing
Sky Guide
Free- Sky GuideFree
- Base sky map and object labelling
- Sky Guide Plus$19.99/year
- Larger star and satellite catalogue
- Light pollution forecasting
- Meteor shower prediction
- Sky Guide Pro$39.99/year
- Very large deep-sky object catalogue
- Exoplanet data
- Extreme zoom
Which should you pick?
Choose Elevate if
- You need daily game sets.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, Android.
- You also want personalised training plan.
Choose Sky Guide if
- You need light pollution forecasting.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS.
- You also want meteor shower prediction.
Questions people ask
- Is Elevate or Sky Guide better?
- Neither clearly leads. Elevate starts at Free and Sky Guide at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Elevate or Sky Guide?
- Elevate starts at Free and Sky Guide at Free.
- Does Elevate or Sky Guide run on more platforms?
- Elevate runs on iOS, Android. Sky Guide runs on iOS.
- Can I use Elevate for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Elevate best used for?
- Elevate is most often used for an adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skills, someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drills, a user comparing elevate against lumosity on whether they want practical skills or abstract cognitive games, a buyer wanting to sample the format on the limited free tier before committing to a subscription. Of those, an adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skills and someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drills are not what Sky Guide is typically brought in for.
- What can Elevate do that Sky Guide cannot?
- Elevate covers Daily game sets, Personalised training plan, Progress tracking, Reading and comprehension drills. Sky Guide covers Light pollution forecasting, Meteor shower prediction, Camera and gyroscope sky view, Deep-sky object catalogue.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Elevate: Is Elevate free?
A limited number of games per day are free. The full library, personalised training plan and progress tracking require Elevate Pro.
Sky Guide: Is Sky Guide free?
The base app is free to download; Plus and Pro are subscription upgrades for a larger catalogue and forecasting features.
Elevate: Does Elevate improve real-world cognitive ability?
It reliably improves performance on the specific games practised. Evidence that this transfers broadly to real-world cognitive or task performance is limited, consistent with the brain training category generally.
Sky Guide: Did Sky Guide used to be a one-time purchase?
Yes, earlier versions were sold as a one-time purchase before it moved to the current free-plus-subscription model.
Elevate: How is Elevate different from Lumosity?
Elevate focuses on practical skills such as reading, writing and workplace maths, while Lumosity is built around broader abstract memory, attention and reasoning games.
Sky Guide: Does Sky Guide support telescope control?
No. For telescope control, SkySafari Plus or Pro is the better choice.
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