Education · head to head
Lightspeed Systems vs Sky Guide
Lightspeed Systems
Education
Filtering, classroom management and student safety monitoring for K-12 device fleets
- 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: Lightspeed Systems no module has published pricing, so districts cannot benchmark a quote without running a formal procurement, and the eventual figure depends heavily on which co-operative contract they buy through.; Sky Guide it is iOS-only, unlike SkySafari which also covers Android and desktop.
- They diverge on capability: Lightspeed Systems covers Filter, 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 Lightspeed Systems and Sky Guide actually diverge.
| Attribute | Lightspeed Systems | 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, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS | 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 Lightspeed Systems
- Filter
- Alert
- Classroom
- Insight
- Signal
- MDM
- StopIt
- Hall Monitor
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.
Lightspeed Systems
- A district with 15,000 take-home Chromebooks that needs filtering to follow the device onto home and public networksnot Sky Guide
- A technology director being asked to justify the edtech budget, who can use app usage data to cancel licences nobody opensnot Sky Guide
- A school board that has agreed to safety monitoring but has no staff able to respond to alerts at night, and so buys the human review servicenot Sky Guide
- A one-to-one iPad rollout wanting device enrolment, filtering and teacher screen control from one vendornot Sky Guide
Sky Guide
- An iOS stargazer who wants light pollution forecasting to plan a dark-sky observing tripnot Lightspeed Systems
- Someone tracking meteor showers and wanting a forecast of viewing conditionsnot Lightspeed Systems
- A user who wants extreme zoom into deep-sky objects without owning a telescopenot Lightspeed Systems
- A buyer comparing subscription astronomy apps on iOS specifically, rather than cross-platform toolsnot Lightspeed Systems
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Lightspeed Systems
- No module has published pricing, so districts cannot benchmark a quote without running a formal procurement, and the eventual figure depends heavily on which co-operative contract they buy through.
- Alert detection and the 24/7 human review that makes it actionable are priced separately, so a district that budgets for Alert alone ends up owning the overnight triage burden itself.
- The agent model means coverage stops at the managed device, and students moving to a personal phone on mobile data are outside filtering and monitoring entirely, which undercuts the compliance claim in the exact scenario administrators worry about.
- Teacher screen monitoring is frequently deployed without training, and lessons stall while staff learn the interface, so the first term of a Classroom rollout often produces complaints rather than the intended benefit.
- Buying eight modules from one vendor makes renewal a single high-value negotiation with no partial leverage, and districts locked into a multi-year co-operative contract cannot easily drop a module that underperforms.
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
Lightspeed Systems
On request- Lightspeed Filter$undefined/year
- Device-level content filtering on and off network
- YouTube and social media policy controls
- Quoted per student device per year
- Lightspeed Alert$undefined/year
- Safety signal detection
- 24/7 human review sold as an additional service
- Quoted
- Lightspeed Classroom, Insight, Signal, MDM, StopIt and Hall Monitor$undefined/year
- Each sold as a separate per-student module
- Quoted, commonly bundled
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 Lightspeed Systems if
- You need filter.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS.
- You also want alert.
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 Lightspeed Systems or Sky Guide better?
- Neither clearly leads. Lightspeed Systems 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, Lightspeed Systems or Sky Guide?
- Sky Guide has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Lightspeed Systems and Free for Sky Guide.
- Does Lightspeed Systems or Sky Guide run on more platforms?
- Lightspeed Systems runs on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS. 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. Lightspeed Systems starts at On request.
- What is Lightspeed Systems best used for?
- Lightspeed Systems is most often used for a district with 15,000 take-home chromebooks that needs filtering to follow the device onto home and public networks, a technology director being asked to justify the edtech budget, who can use app usage data to cancel licences nobody opens, a school board that has agreed to safety monitoring but has no staff able to respond to alerts at night, and so buys the human review service, a one-to-one ipad rollout wanting device enrolment, filtering and teacher screen control from one vendor. Of those, a district with 15,000 take-home chromebooks that needs filtering to follow the device onto home and public networks and a technology director being asked to justify the edtech budget, who can use app usage data to cancel licences nobody opens are not what Sky Guide is typically brought in for.
- What can Lightspeed Systems do that Sky Guide cannot?
- Lightspeed Systems covers Filter, Alert, Classroom, Insight. Sky Guide covers Light pollution forecasting, Meteor shower prediction, Camera and gyroscope sky view, Deep-sky object catalogue.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Lightspeed Systems: How much does Lightspeed Filter cost per student?
Lightspeed does not publish rates. Pricing is quoted per student device per year and varies with district size, module mix and which purchasing co-operative contract you buy through.
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.
Lightspeed Systems: Is 24/7 human alert review included with Alert?
No. Alert provides the detection; the staffed round-the-clock review service is an additional purchase, and it is usually what districts actually need.
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.
Lightspeed Systems: Does filtering work when students are at home?
Yes, the agent runs on the device rather than the network, so policy follows the Chromebook or laptop off site.
Sky Guide: Does Sky Guide support telescope control?
No. For telescope control, SkySafari Plus or Pro is the better choice.
Lightspeed Systems: What does Insight actually do for the budget?
It reports which licensed apps are opened and by whom, which districts use to cancel subscriptions with low usage. It also flags whether an app meets named privacy and accessibility standards.
Related pages
More on Lightspeed Systems
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