Education · head to head
Infinite Campus vs Sky Guide
Infinite Campus
Education
K-12 student information system sold direct to districts and state education agencies
- From
- On request
- 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
- Only Sky Guide has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Infinite Campus no pricing is published anywhere, so the only way to know what it costs is a sales conversation against your certified enrolment, and districts routinely discover the quoted rate differs from a neighbouring district of similar size.; Sky Guide it is iOS-only, unlike SkySafari which also covers Android and desktop.
- They diverge on capability: Infinite Campus covers Per-student single licence, 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 Infinite Campus and Sky Guide actually diverge.
| Attribute | Infinite Campus | Sky Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | Free |
| Pricing model | quote | Free download with Plus and Pro subscription upgrades |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | iOS |
Identical on both: 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 Infinite Campus
- Per-student single licence
- State reporting
- Campus Parent and Campus Student
- Scheduling engine
- Special education
- Food service
- Campus Digital Repository
- Ad hoc reporting
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.
Infinite Campus
- A district leaving a private-equity-owned SIS after a repricing or a support quality drop, and specifically wanting an owner whose roadmap is not on an exit clock.not Sky Guide
- A state education agency standardising every district on one SIS and one reporting extract so state submissions stop being a per-district reconciliation exercise.not Sky Guide
- A secondary school with complicated timetabling, block schedules, dual enrolment and weighted GPA rules that a simpler SIS cannot model without workarounds.not Sky Guide
- A district that wants meal accounts, fee payments, health records and special education in the same record as attendance and grades rather than integrated across four vendors.not Sky Guide
Sky Guide
- An iOS stargazer who wants light pollution forecasting to plan a dark-sky observing tripnot Infinite Campus
- Someone tracking meteor showers and wanting a forecast of viewing conditionsnot Infinite Campus
- A user who wants extreme zoom into deep-sky objects without owning a telescopenot Infinite Campus
- A buyer comparing subscription astronomy apps on iOS specifically, rather than cross-platform toolsnot Infinite Campus
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Infinite Campus
- No pricing is published anywhere, so the only way to know what it costs is a sales conversation against your certified enrolment, and districts routinely discover the quoted rate differs from a neighbouring district of similar size.
- The interface is dense and inherited from an earlier era of web software; staff who use it occasionally, such as substitute teachers or front office cover, need retraining each time rather than working it out.
- Implementation is a data conversion project, not an install, and districts that underestimate historic transcript and special education record migration end up running two systems in parallel for a year.
- Getting real value out of it requires at least one dedicated district-level Campus administrator, which is a salaried post smaller districts often cannot justify and which becomes a single point of failure when that person leaves.
- It is overwhelmingly a US product tuned to US state reporting; international schools and non-US systems get little of the compliance value that justifies the price, and the grading and enrolment models assume American conventions.
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
Infinite Campus
On request- Infinite Campus SIS$undefined/year
- Priced per enrolled student against a certified enrolment snapshot
- Licence, hosting, support and training bundled rather than sold as modules
- Volume tiers reduce the per-student rate as enrolment rises
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 Infinite Campus if
- You need per-student single licence.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want state reporting.
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 Infinite Campus or Sky Guide better?
- Neither clearly leads. Infinite Campus starts at On request and Sky Guide at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Infinite Campus or Sky Guide?
- Sky Guide has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Infinite Campus and Free for Sky Guide.
- Does Infinite Campus or Sky Guide run on more platforms?
- Infinite Campus runs on Web, iOS, Android. Sky Guide runs on iOS.
- Can I use Sky Guide for free?
- Yes. Sky Guide has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Infinite Campus starts at On request.
- What is Infinite Campus best used for?
- Infinite Campus is most often used for a district leaving a private-equity-owned sis after a repricing or a support quality drop, and specifically wanting an owner whose roadmap is not on an exit clock., a state education agency standardising every district on one sis and one reporting extract so state submissions stop being a per-district reconciliation exercise., a secondary school with complicated timetabling, block schedules, dual enrolment and weighted gpa rules that a simpler sis cannot model without workarounds., a district that wants meal accounts, fee payments, health records and special education in the same record as attendance and grades rather than integrated across four vendors.. Of those, a district leaving a private-equity-owned sis after a repricing or a support quality drop, and specifically wanting an owner whose roadmap is not on an exit clock. and a state education agency standardising every district on one sis and one reporting extract so state submissions stop being a per-district reconciliation exercise. are not what Sky Guide is typically brought in for.
- What can Infinite Campus do that Sky Guide cannot?
- Infinite Campus covers Per-student single licence, State reporting, Campus Parent and Campus Student, Scheduling engine. Sky Guide covers Light pollution forecasting, Meteor shower prediction, Camera and gyroscope sky view, Deep-sky object catalogue.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Infinite Campus: Does Infinite Campus publish its per-student price?
No. Every quote is negotiated against your certified enrolment, and public procurement records are the only reliable way to see what comparable districts actually paid.
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.
Infinite Campus: Is it owned by a private equity firm?
No. It is privately held and founder-controlled, and has taken no venture or private equity investment, which distinguishes it from PowerSchool under Bain Capital.
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.
Infinite Campus: Can it replace a separate LMS?
Partly. It has assignment and gradebook tools, but districts running Canvas, Schoology or Google Classroom keep them and integrate rostering rather than dropping them.
Sky Guide: Does Sky Guide support telescope control?
No. For telescope control, SkySafari Plus or Pro is the better choice.
Infinite Campus: How long is a typical contract?
Multi-year. Annual-only terms are unusual because the implementation cost is front-loaded and neither side wants to repeat it.
Infinite Campus: What happens to the price when enrolment falls?
It is tied to the enrolment snapshot, so declining districts should confirm the contract reprices downward rather than holding a floor.
Related pages
More on Infinite Campus
Other head to heads
- Infinite Campus vs Aeries Student Information System
- Infinite Campus vs PowerSchool
- Infinite Campus vs Clever
- Infinite Campus vs Skyward
- Infinite Campus vs ClassLink
- Infinite Campus vs Veracross
- Infinite Campus vs GoGuardian
- Infinite Campus vs Gaggle
- Infinite Campus vs Securly
- Infinite Campus vs Skoolur
- Infinite Campus vs Bark for Schools
- Infinite Campus vs Lightspeed Systems
- Infinite Campus vs GoStudent
- Infinite Campus vs Melodics
- Infinite Campus vs PictureThis
- Infinite Campus vs Replit AI Agent
- Infinite Campus vs Simply Piano
- Infinite Campus vs SkySafari
- Infinite Campus vs Star Walk 2
- Infinite Campus vs Stellarium
- Infinite Campus vs Anki
- Infinite Campus vs Yousician
- Infinite Campus vs Elevate
- Infinite Campus vs Lumosity
- Infinite Campus vs Photomath
- Infinite Campus vs Merlin Bird ID
- Infinite Campus vs Flowkey
- Infinite Campus vs Busuu
- Infinite Campus vs Gimkit
- Infinite Campus vs Jackrabbit Class
- Infinite Campus vs eBird
- Sky Guide vs Aeries Student Information System
- Sky Guide vs PowerSchool
- Sky Guide vs Clever
- Sky Guide vs Skyward
- Sky Guide vs ClassLink
- Sky Guide vs Veracross
- Sky Guide vs GoGuardian
- Sky Guide vs Gaggle
- Sky Guide vs Securly
- Sky Guide vs Skoolur
- Sky Guide vs Bark for Schools
- Sky Guide vs Lightspeed Systems
- Sky Guide vs GoStudent
- Sky Guide vs Melodics
- Sky Guide vs PictureThis
- Sky Guide vs Replit AI Agent
- Sky Guide vs Simply Piano
- Sky Guide vs SkySafari
- Sky Guide vs Star Walk 2
- Sky Guide vs Stellarium
- Sky Guide vs Anki
- Sky Guide vs Yousician
- Sky Guide vs Elevate
- Sky Guide vs Lumosity
- Sky Guide vs Photomath
- Sky Guide vs Merlin Bird ID
- Sky Guide vs Flowkey
- Sky Guide vs Busuu
- Sky Guide vs Gimkit
- Sky Guide vs Jackrabbit Class
- Sky Guide vs eBird