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KStars vs Stellarium: catalog facts
KStars	Stellarium
Free Free and open source from the KDE community.	Free Free and open source under the GPL 2.0, funded by donations and sponsorship.
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Sky simulation with up to 100 million stars, plus comets and asteroids Observation planner and calculation tools such as conjunction prediction	Accurate sky for any location, date and time Simulates the view through binoculars, telescopes and specific eyepieces
The large feature set takes time to learn Some information and imagery features rely on internet resources	The three-dimensional rendering needs a reasonable graphics card Default catalogues are limited until you download the extra ones
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-2.0
No account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.