Education · head to head
Sky Guide vs UltraCamp
Sky Guide
Education
iOS astronomy app that moved from a one-time purchase to a free-to-download, subscription-tiered model
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
UltraCamp
Education
Camp registration priced per reservation, with the fee schedule published in full
- From
- $4/reservation
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Sky Guide has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Sky Guide it is iOS-only, unlike SkySafari which also covers Android and desktop.; UltraCamp per-reservation pricing scales linearly with growth, so a large camp pays substantially more than it would under a flat licence and has little leverage until it passes 2,000 reservations and enters quoted territory.
- They diverge on capability: Sky Guide covers Light pollution forecasting, UltraCamp covers Per-reservation registration.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Sky Guide and UltraCamp 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 Sky Guide
- Light pollution forecasting
- Meteor shower prediction
- Camera and gyroscope sky view
- Deep-sky object catalogue
- Extreme zoom
- Satellite tracking
Only in UltraCamp
- Per-reservation registration
- Billing and payment plans
- Facility and retreat rentals
- Point of sale
- Photo gallery
- Custom reporting
- Unlimited staff users
- Online store
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Sky Guide
- An iOS stargazer who wants light pollution forecasting to plan a dark-sky observing tripnot UltraCamp
- Someone tracking meteor showers and wanting a forecast of viewing conditionsnot UltraCamp
- A user who wants extreme zoom into deep-sky objects without owning a telescopenot UltraCamp
- A buyer comparing subscription astronomy apps on iOS specifically, rather than cross-platform toolsnot UltraCamp
UltraCamp
- A camp that wants to know its software cost per registration before the season rather than negotiate an annual licencenot Sky Guide
- A conference or retreat centre that rents facilities off-season and needs booking as well as camper registrationnot Sky Guide
- A small camp whose volume would make a flat enterprise licence poor valuenot Sky Guide
- A camp switching vendors that wants a named price for data migration rather than an open-ended services quotenot Sky Guide
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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.
UltraCamp
- Per-reservation pricing scales linearly with growth, so a large camp pays substantially more than it would under a flat licence and has little leverage until it passes 2,000 reservations and enters quoted territory.
- UltraCamp retains 30% of photo gallery sales, a revenue share far above the 3% it takes on merchandise, which turns a parent-facing nicety into a meaningful cost of doing business.
- Health and medical record handling is thinner than CampMinder's, so camps with a staffed health centre and daily medication rounds often find it insufficient.
- The interface and reporting are functional rather than modern, and building the unlimited custom reports on offer takes administrator time the camp has to fund itself.
- The $1,200 annual minimum means very small camps pay for reservations they never make, so the effective per-reservation cost for a camp of two hundred is closer to $6.
Pricing, plan by plan
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
UltraCamp
$4/reservation- Reservations 0 to 999$4/reservation
- $4.00 per reservation
- $1,200 annual minimum in reservation fees
- Unlimited staff users and custom reports
- Reservations 1,000 to 1,999$3.75/reservation
- $3.75 per reservation
- Above 2,000 reservations priced by quote
- Card processing about 2.5% plus $0.35 and roughly $20 a month in gateway fees
- Optional modules$600/year
- Point of sale $600 a year
- Facility rental and retreat management $700 a year
- Photo gallery with 30% of sales retained by UltraCamp
Which should you pick?
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.
Choose UltraCamp if
- You need per-reservation registration.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want billing and payment plans.
Questions people ask
- Is Sky Guide or UltraCamp better?
- Neither clearly leads. Sky Guide starts at Free and UltraCamp at $4/reservation, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Sky Guide or UltraCamp?
- Sky Guide has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Sky Guide and $4/reservation for UltraCamp.
- Does Sky Guide or UltraCamp run on more platforms?
- Sky Guide runs on iOS. UltraCamp runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use Sky Guide for free?
- Yes. Sky Guide has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. UltraCamp starts at $4/reservation.
- What is Sky Guide best used for?
- Sky Guide is most often used for an ios stargazer who wants light pollution forecasting to plan a dark-sky observing trip, someone tracking meteor showers and wanting a forecast of viewing conditions, a user who wants extreme zoom into deep-sky objects without owning a telescope, a buyer comparing subscription astronomy apps on ios specifically, rather than cross-platform tools. Of those, an ios stargazer who wants light pollution forecasting to plan a dark-sky observing trip and someone tracking meteor showers and wanting a forecast of viewing conditions are not what UltraCamp is typically brought in for.
- What can Sky Guide do that UltraCamp cannot?
- Sky Guide covers Light pollution forecasting, Meteor shower prediction, Camera and gyroscope sky view, Deep-sky object catalogue. UltraCamp covers Per-reservation registration, Billing and payment plans, Facility and retreat rentals, Point of sale.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
UltraCamp: What will it actually cost us?
Take your reservation count times $4.00, or $3.75 above a thousand, subject to a $1,200 annual minimum, plus $299 setup and any data import. Then add card processing at roughly 2.5% plus $0.35 on tuition.
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.
UltraCamp: Is there a contract?
No. UltraCamp sells without a term contract, which is unusual in this market and materially reduces switching risk.
Sky Guide: Does Sky Guide support telescope control?
No. For telescope control, SkySafari Plus or Pro is the better choice.
UltraCamp: What does the photo gallery cost?
UltraCamp keeps 30% of photo sales. If parents spend heavily on photos, price that before enabling the module.
UltraCamp: How does it compare to CampMinder on health records?
CampMinder is stronger. If you run a health centre with a nurse and medication logs, test that area carefully before choosing UltraCamp.
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