Celestia vs Gaia Sky
Celestia
celestiaproject.spaceGaia Sky
gaiasky.spaceSide by side
| Figure | Celestia | Gaia Sky |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Astronomy Apps | 8.3 (#8) | 9.0 (#1) |
| License | Celestia is licensed under the GNU General Public License. | Gaia Sky software is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. |
| Planetarium | Users can navigate to celestial worlds, land on their surfaces, and see solar system objects in the sky. | Planetarium output supports domemaster projection and MPCDI for multi-projector systems. |
| Privacy | The site states that Celestia collects data only for analytic and diagnostic purposes. | The website says it does not use cookies, tracking codes, analytics scripts, or other privacy-invasive mechanisms. |
| Purpose | Celestia is a real-time 3D visualization of space. | Gaia Sky is a real-time 3D astronomy visualization platform for exploring the Universe with scientific datasets. |
| Support | The original project directs users to its forum or GitHub discussions, while frontend and website feedback can go through in-app feedback, GitHub issues, or email. | The project directs bug reports and feature requests to its source repository and says old releases are not supported. |
Plans
In their own words
Celestia
Celestia is free, open-source software for visualizing space in 3D. It simulates objects ranging from planets and moons to star clusters and galaxies, which can be viewed from different positions in space and at different times. Solar system positions and movements are calculated in real time, and users can choose the rate of motion. Celestia also works as a planetarium: users can travel to celestial worlds, land on their surfaces, and see solar system objects in the sky. Add-ons expand the catalogues with objects, high-resolution textures, 3D models, spacecraft, and fictional objects. Celestia is licensed under the GNU General Public License and is available for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows. The browser option is a lite version. Installation routes differ: Android versions are offered through Google Play, GitHub APK, and alternative markets; Apple versions are on the App Store, with a direct GitHub download for macOS. Windows users can use the Microsoft Store or sideload a GitHub version. The latest stable original-project release for Linux is listed as source code.