What is the best PhotoPills alternative for sunsets?
If you shoot mostly sunsets from a handful of places and want to know whether tonight is worth going out, a focused sunset planner like Asterfold is simpler; if you need Milky Way, exposure tools or 3D terrain, stay with PhotoPills or The Photographer's Ephemeris.
PhotoPills is a big, capable toolkit, and its own homepage lists a planner, augmented reality views, a database of over 10,000 points of interest and a long list of calculators. That breadth is the reason some people look for something smaller. Comparison checked November 2026 against photopills.com, photoephemeris.com and Asterfold's App Store listing.
Breadth is a feature until you only need one thing at 5:40pm.
Your first week: the next 7 sunsets where you are
Pick your city. The table works out the next seven sunset times and the compass bearing where the Sun meets a flat horizon, then gives you one small task per evening. It's the same first week we'd suggest with any planner.
Estimate: NOAA solar equations in your browser, flat horizon, refraction included. Bearings are degrees from true north.
Honest limits of Asterfold
- Flat horizon. Hills, buildings and trees aren't modelled. TPE's 3D tools handle terrain.
- No photo calculators. No depth of field, exposure or time-lapse tables; PhotoPills has those.
- Ratings are estimates. A rule of thumb, not a probability or a guarantee. Forecast, calculated and observed data are labelled differently.
- Free has edges. Two viewpoints, the next 3 evenings and 45 days of events are free. Unlimited viewpoints, smart sky alerts, the 10-day outlook and a year of sky events are Asterfold Plus.
- iPhone only.
One design decision we made: each journal check-in is compared with the forecast Asterfold saved before the sunset, never a later one, so the app can't quietly grade its own homework.
How Asterfold works in three steps
- See the Sun's path. The Light Path Studio draws the Sun's real path for any place and date, coloured by golden hour, blue hour and twilight. Calculated on your iPhone, so it works offline.
- Aim your view. Save the exact spot you shoot from, turn toward your shot on a first-person horizon and pick a lens from 14 mm to 200 mm.
- Check, then record. Read tonight's ratings and cloud, go, then rate the sky in two taps so the journal learns your sky.
Inside the app
PhotoPills alternative questions
Is there a simpler alternative to PhotoPills for sunsets?
If sunsets are most of what you shoot, a dedicated sunset planner can be simpler. Asterfold, which we make, focuses on the Sun's path from places you save, tonight's sunset rating with cloud layers, and a field journal. PhotoPills covers far more ground, including Milky Way, star trails and a set of photo calculators.
What does PhotoPills do?
According to photopills.com (checked November 2026), it plans Sun, Moon and Milky Way positions, shows them in augmented reality, saves points of interest, and includes calculators such as Spot Stars, a star trails simulator, field of view and depth of field previews, hyperfocal tables and a time-lapse table. Its site lists $9.99 to start.
Is The Photographer's Ephemeris better for terrain?
For terrain, it is the stronger choice. The Photographer's Ephemeris offers 3D planning in TPE Web and a separate TPE 3D iOS app for landscape lighting, plus an AR view on iOS. Asterfold assumes a flat horizon and does not model hills, buildings or trees.
Does Asterfold forecast whether a sunset will be colourful?
It gives Sunset, Stars and Sunrise ratings with plain-English reasons, hour-by-hour low, mid and high cloud from MET Norway, and point forecasts 60 km and 180 km toward the setting Sun. The ratings are a rule-of-thumb estimate, not a probability or a guarantee.
How accurate is the 7-sunset table on this page?
It runs the NOAA solar position equations in your browser for the city you pick. Sunset times are typically within a minute or two for a flat horizon. Treat it as an estimate; real skylines hide the Sun earlier.
What does Asterfold cost?
The Studio, aiming and plans for 2 viewpoints, the journal, tonight's ratings, the next 3 evenings and 45 days of events are free. Asterfold Plus adds unlimited viewpoints, smart sky alerts, the 10-day outlook and a year of sky events, as Yearly (with a 7-day free trial for eligible new subscribers), Monthly or a one-time Lifetime purchase. The app shows your price before you buy.
Try it tonight
Check Tonight, save one viewpoint, and see if the Sun lands in your frame.
Get Asterfold free on the App Store
Updated November 2026
Related
- Asterfold: golden hour and sunset plannerSee where the Sun sets from your own viewpoint, when golden and blue hour start, and how the sky really turned out. Free on iPhone.
- How to predict a good sunset: 4 methods comparedLooking up is the worst way to predict a good sunset. Four methods compared on five common skies, with the cloud rules forecasters use.
- Civil, nautical and astronomical twilight: an evening glossaryCivil, nautical and astronomical twilight, golden hour, blue hour and dusk, defined by Sun angle, with tonight's estimated times for your city.
- Earliest sunset of the year: find your city's dateThe earliest sunset comes before the winter solstice. Pick your city to see the 2026 date and time, the latest sunrise, and when evenings get longer.