Education · head to head
Linewize vs Sky Guide
Linewize
Education
School web filtering, classroom control and student wellbeing alerting from the Qoria group
- 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: Linewize automated wellbeing flagging produces false positives on ordinary adolescent language, and each false positive is a recorded concern about a named child that the school must then handle and retain.; Sky Guide it is iOS-only, unlike SkySafari which also covers Android and desktop.
- They diverge on capability: Linewize covers Filtering on and off network, 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 Linewize and Sky Guide actually diverge.
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 Linewize
- Filtering on and off network
- Classwize
- Wellbeing alerting
- Pulse reporting
- School to home
- Multi-platform agents
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.
Linewize
- A United Kingdom school evidencing Keeping Children Safe in Education monitoring expectations at inspectionnot Sky Guide
- Districts with take home devices that need policy applied off the school networknot Sky Guide
- Schools that want teachers to control lesson browsing without raising a ticket with the network managernot Sky Guide
- Safeguarding teams that need a documented trail of flags raised and actions takennot Sky Guide
Sky Guide
- An iOS stargazer who wants light pollution forecasting to plan a dark-sky observing tripnot Linewize
- Someone tracking meteor showers and wanting a forecast of viewing conditionsnot Linewize
- A user who wants extreme zoom into deep-sky objects without owning a telescopenot Linewize
- A buyer comparing subscription astronomy apps on iOS specifically, rather than cross-platform toolsnot Linewize
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Linewize
- Automated wellbeing flagging produces false positives on ordinary adolescent language, and each false positive is a recorded concern about a named child that the school must then handle and retain.
- Buying alerting without staffing it is a liability. If nobody reads the queue, the school has created evidence that it was told and did not act.
- Off site monitoring of school devices extends school visibility into the home, and unless the school publishes the hours and scope, families discover it after the fact rather than at the point of consent.
- The group sells both the school monitoring platform and a consumer parental control product to the same families, which is a commercial incentive to widen monitoring that the sales conversation will not surface.
- Consolidation through acquisition means overlapping products from different codebases inside one group, and schools that bought a now acquired product face migration onto the group platform at renewal.
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
Linewize
On request- Linewize$undefined/year
- Quoted per pupil per year
- Filtering, classroom and wellbeing modules priced separately
- Multi-year school and district agreements
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 Linewize if
- You need filtering on and off network.
- You work on Web, ChromeOS, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
- You also want classwize.
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 Linewize or Sky Guide better?
- Neither clearly leads. Linewize 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, Linewize or Sky Guide?
- Sky Guide has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Linewize and Free for Sky Guide.
- Does Linewize or Sky Guide run on more platforms?
- Linewize runs on Web, ChromeOS, Windows, macOS, 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. Linewize starts at On request.
- What is Linewize best used for?
- Linewize is most often used for a united kingdom school evidencing keeping children safe in education monitoring expectations at inspection, districts with take home devices that need policy applied off the school network, schools that want teachers to control lesson browsing without raising a ticket with the network manager, safeguarding teams that need a documented trail of flags raised and actions taken. Of those, a united kingdom school evidencing keeping children safe in education monitoring expectations at inspection and districts with take home devices that need policy applied off the school network are not what Sky Guide is typically brought in for.
- What can Linewize do that Sky Guide cannot?
- Linewize covers Filtering on and off network, Classwize, Wellbeing alerting, Pulse reporting. Sky Guide covers Light pollution forecasting, Meteor shower prediction, Camera and gyroscope sky view, Deep-sky object catalogue.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Linewize: Is Linewize the same company as Smoothwall and Qustodio?
They are all part of Qoria, the group formerly known as Family Zone Cyber Safety. Product roadmaps and renewals are coordinated at group level.
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.
Linewize: Does it monitor pupils outside school hours?
On school managed devices it can, and the school decides the scope. Define the hours and the data retention period in policy and tell families, because the software will not decide proportionality for you.
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.
Linewize: Is it FERPA and COPPA aligned?
For United States deployments it contracts as a school official under FERPA with COPPA consent handled by the district. In the United Kingdom the relevant frameworks are UK GDPR and Keeping Children Safe in Education, which impose different retention and review duties.
Sky Guide: Does Sky Guide support telescope control?
No. For telescope control, SkySafari Plus or Pro is the better choice.
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