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Education · head to head

Skyward vs Stellarium

Skyward logo

Skyward

Education

Student information and school ERP for K-12 districts and municipalities

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Stellarium logo

Stellarium

Education

Free open source desktop planetarium software, distinct from the paid Stellarium Mobile Plus app

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Stellarium has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Skyward no pricing is published anywhere, so the only way to learn what a district of your size pays is to enter a sales cycle, and comparative quotes across vendors are hard to obtain before a board meeting deadline.; Stellarium it is desktop-only software, so it has no native touch-optimised phone interface; the similarly named mobile app is a different paid product from a different company.
  • They diverge on capability: Skyward covers Qmlativ SIS, Stellarium covers Photorealistic sky rendering.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Skyward and Stellarium actually diverge.

Attributes where Skyward and Stellarium differ
AttributeSkywardStellarium
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWindows, macOS, Linux

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 Skyward

  • Qmlativ SIS
  • School Business Suite
  • Position control
  • Family and student access
  • State reporting packs
  • Municipality edition
  • Data mining and reporting
  • Employee access

Only in Stellarium

  • Photorealistic sky rendering
  • Large object catalogue
  • Telescope control
  • Scripting engine
  • Free and open source
  • Plugin ecosystem

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Skyward

  • A district of 8,000 students that wants payroll, position budgeting and the SIS on one vendor contract instead of paying an integrator to reconcile employee records nightlynot Stellarium
  • A Wisconsin or Texas district where state submission deadlines are the dominant compliance burden and prebuilt state packs remove weeks of extract worknot Stellarium
  • A district still on the older PaC client-server product deciding whether to migrate to Qmlativ or replace the SIS outrightnot Stellarium
  • A county government buying the finance and HR half on its own, separate from any school usenot Stellarium

Stellarium

  • A student or educator wanting a serious, scriptable planetarium tool without a budget line itemnot Skyward
  • An amateur astronomer wanting telescope control from desktop software they can inspect and modifynot Skyward
  • Someone running a planetarium display or public astronomy event on a scripted shownot Skyward
  • A hobbyist who wants a large object catalogue without paying a subscription, and does not need a phone appnot Skyward

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Skyward

  • No pricing is published anywhere, so the only way to learn what a district of your size pays is to enter a sales cycle, and comparative quotes across vendors are hard to obtain before a board meeting deadline.
  • State reporting depth is uneven: the packs are excellent in the states where Skyward has a large installed base and thin elsewhere, so a district in a low-penetration state inherits reporting work the vendor absorbs for others.
  • The third-party integration ecosystem is much smaller than PowerSchool's, so an edtech tool your teachers want may support the market leader first and Skyward months later or not at all.
  • Two product generations are still live and the migration from PaC to Qmlativ is a project in its own right, meaning a district can be paying for a modernisation programme rather than new capability.
  • Buying SIS and ERP from one vendor concentrates risk: a pricing increase, an ownership change or a product direction you dislike affects enrolment, payroll and the general ledger simultaneously, and unpicking that is a multi-year replacement rather than swapping one system.

Stellarium

  • It is desktop-only software, so it has no native touch-optimised phone interface; the similarly named mobile app is a different paid product from a different company.
  • As a volunteer-maintained open source project, support is community-based rather than a guaranteed commercial help desk.
  • The interface, while capable, is less immediately intuitive for a first-time user than a polished commercial phone app.
  • Telescope control and some advanced plugins require additional setup that a non-technical user may find fiddly.
  • Because it shares a name with the unrelated paid Stellarium Mobile Plus app, buyers researching pricing online can easily conflate the two products.

Pricing, plan by plan

Skyward

On request
  • Student Management Suite$undefined/year
    • Enrolment, scheduling, attendance and grading
    • State reporting
    • Family and student portals
  • School Business Suite$undefined/year
    • Finance, payroll and HR
    • Position control
    • Usually quoted alongside the SIS as a bundle
  • Municipality Edition$undefined/year
    • Finance and HR for local government
    • Quoted per organisation

Stellarium

Free
  • Stellarium DesktopFree
    • Full software, GPL licensed
    • No account, ads or subscription
    • Community-developed plugins

Which should you pick?

Choose Skyward if

  • You need qmlativ sis.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want school business suite.
Skyward review

Choose Stellarium if

  • You need photorealistic sky rendering.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want large object catalogue.
Stellarium review

Questions people ask

Is Skyward or Stellarium better?
Neither clearly leads. Skyward starts at On request and Stellarium at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Skyward or Stellarium?
Stellarium has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Skyward and Free for Stellarium.
Does Skyward or Stellarium run on more platforms?
Skyward runs on Web, iOS, Android. Stellarium runs on Windows, macOS, Linux.
Can I use Stellarium for free?
Yes. Stellarium has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Skyward starts at On request.
What is Skyward best used for?
Skyward is most often used for a district of 8,000 students that wants payroll, position budgeting and the sis on one vendor contract instead of paying an integrator to reconcile employee records nightly, a wisconsin or texas district where state submission deadlines are the dominant compliance burden and prebuilt state packs remove weeks of extract work, a district still on the older pac client-server product deciding whether to migrate to qmlativ or replace the sis outright, a county government buying the finance and hr half on its own, separate from any school use. Of those, a district of 8,000 students that wants payroll, position budgeting and the sis on one vendor contract instead of paying an integrator to reconcile employee records nightly and a wisconsin or texas district where state submission deadlines are the dominant compliance burden and prebuilt state packs remove weeks of extract work are not what Stellarium is typically brought in for.
What can Skyward do that Stellarium cannot?
Skyward covers Qmlativ SIS, School Business Suite, Position control, Family and student access. Stellarium covers Photorealistic sky rendering, Large object catalogue, Telescope control, Scripting engine.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Skyward: Was Skyward bought by PowerSchool?

No. Skyward remains an independent company based in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and competes directly with PowerSchool in the K-12 SIS market. It is one of the few SIS vendors of scale not owned by a private equity roll-up.

Stellarium: Is Stellarium really free?

The desktop software is free and open source under the GPL licence. The separate mobile app, Stellarium Mobile Plus, is a different paid product.

Skyward: Is pricing per student?

Yes, the student system is generally quoted per student per year with the finance suite priced separately, but no rate card is published and discounts vary heavily by district size and term length.

Stellarium: Is the mobile app made by the same team?

No. Stellarium Mobile Plus is built by Noctua Software, a different company, and is sold on subscription.

Skyward: Can we buy just the finance and HR suite?

Yes. School Business Suite is sold on its own, and there is a municipality edition for city and county government with no school component.

Stellarium: What platforms does the free version run on?

Windows, macOS and Linux desktop.

Skyward: What is the difference between Qmlativ and PaC?

PaC is the older client-server generation and Qmlativ is the current browser-based product. New districts buy Qmlativ; existing PaC districts are being migrated.

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