Buy BiggSky
Try it first. The 30-day trial is the complete application — nothing disabled, nothing watermarked, and no card needed to start it.
Which one do you need?
Start from what you photograph. Solar system imagers want SSE; deep sky imagers want DSO; Universe is both.
SSE Lite
Stacking, sharpening, colour balancing and post-processing for the Moon, Sun and planets.
CPU processing only — GPU acceleration and batch processing start at Pro.
SSE Pro
Everything in Lite, plus GPU acceleration and batch processing — the difference between one target an evening and a whole session unattended.
BiggSky DSO
The deep-sky suite: nebulae, galaxies and clusters. Long-exposure calibration, registration and stacking.
Universe
Everything in Pro, plus early access to DSO while it is in alpha, and priority input on the roadmap.
Founders pricing
BiggSky is in beta. Founders accept some rough edges and tell us what is wrong; in exchange they pay below launch price — permanently, on either a perpetual licence or an annual subscription.
What founders get, beyond the price
- All future major version upgrades at a discounted rate, guaranteed
- Beta features before general release
- Direct input on the roadmap — founder requests are actioned first
- Recognition in the community as a founding contributor
- Annual founders keep their rate for the life of a continuous subscription — it does not revert to list at renewal
How to claim it
Founder codes are sent by email rather than posted here, so they reach the people actually trying the beta.
Download the trial and request a key. Your founder code arrives with it. There is nothing else to do and nothing to pay — the code waits until you decide.
Each edition has a limited number of codes. If yours has run out by the time you buy, a smaller founder discount still applies — you will not be left paying full price.
The perpetual-versus-annual trade-off is the same at founder prices as at list — about three and a half years to break even.
Perpetual or annual
Buy once and keep it, or subscribe by the year. Both give you every premium feature — the difference is how you pay, not what you get.
All prices in USD. Payment is handled entirely by Stripe — your card details are entered on Stripe's own checkout and never touch biggsky.com.
Perpetual — buy it once
- One-time purchase. Yours to keep, permanently.
- All updates within the major version you bought
- Major version upgrades offered at a discounted rate
- Price changes never affect a licence you already hold
Annual — subscribe by the year
- Billed once a year. Cancel any time.
- Every premium feature for the duration
- Lower upfront cost, and a natural point each year to re-evaluate
- Access continues to the end of the billing period you have paid for
How the free trial works
Thirty days, complete
Full functionality. No watermarks, no feature restrictions, and no card details taken to begin.
The clock starts when you validate your key — not when you request it, and not when you download.
Then Free mode
Your work is never held hostage. You can still open, view and export projects you have already processed. The premium operations — stacking, deconvolution, sharpening — need a licence to keep going.
No account, ever
There is no account, no password and nothing to log in to. Your licence is your email address and a 16-character key that arrives by email.
Licence terms
| Licence type | Personal, non-commercial use |
|---|---|
| Computers | Active on up to 5 personally owned computers at a time (3 during the trial). The limit is concurrent — free a seat to move to another machine. |
| Transfer | Non-transferable. Tied to your registered email address. |
| Updates | Included within the major version you purchased |
| Major version upgrades | Available at discounted upgrade pricing |
| Changing edition | Upgrade to a higher tier at any time. You pay the difference between the two tiers at current pricing. |
| Subscription cancellation | Access continues until the end of the billing period |
| If a licence lapses | You keep the ability to view and export projects you have already processed |
| Commercial use | Requires a separate commercial licence — contact us |
Astronomy clubs, schools and non-profits
Clubs, schools and registered non-profit organisations are eligible for discounted licensing. Get in touch with your organisation's details and we will put together a quote.
Commercial, government and institutional
Personal licences cover non-commercial use only. Commercial, government and institutional licensing is available under a separate agreement — tell us what you need.
Common questions
Do I have to buy before I can try it?
No. Download the trial and use the complete application for 30 days. No card details are taken to start it, nothing is watermarked and no features are locked.
What happens when the trial or a subscription ends?
BiggSky switches to Free mode. You can still open, view and export everything you have already processed — your work stays accessible. Premium operations such as stacking, deconvolution and sharpening need a current licence to run.
How many computers can I use it on?
A paid licence can be active on 5 personally owned computers at a time, and a trial on 3. The limit is concurrent rather than a lifetime cap, so you can move to a new machine whenever you like by freeing a seat first.
The licence is tied to your registered email address and is non-transferable.
Is it a one-off purchase or a subscription?
Either — you choose. A perpetual licence is a one-time purchase you keep permanently. An annual subscription is billed once a year and can be cancelled at any time. They cost the same in total at about three and a half years.
Do I get future versions?
Every update within the major version you bought is included. New major versions are offered to existing licence holders at a discounted upgrade price, and founding members have that discount guaranteed.
Can I move up to a higher edition later?
Yes, at any time. You pay the difference between the two tiers at current pricing, so nothing you have already spent is wasted.
Will the price go up after I have bought?
Not for you. Existing perpetual licence holders are unaffected by later price changes, and founding annual subscribers keep their founding rate for the life of a continuous subscription.
How is my payment handled?
Through Stripe. You are taken to Stripe's own checkout to enter your card details, and those details are never seen by or stored on biggsky.com.
My question isn't here
Email us before you buy rather than after. Questions about licensing get a direct answer.
What arrives after I pay?
Your licence key, by email, automatically. Paste it into the License tab in BiggSky and press Validate — the same two steps as the trial. No account is created and there is nothing to log in to.
More detail on Support & licensing.
Not ready to buy?
That's the right instinct. Run it on your own data for 30 days first — it is the only test that means anything.