iPhemeris alternatives.

iPhemeris is professional astrology software for iPhone, iPad (iOS) and Mac (macOS) at https://iphemeris.com/. The iOS product page is https://iphemeris.com/astrology-software-iphone-ipad-ios/; the Mac product page is https://iphemeris.com/astrology-software-for-mac-osx/. Homepage copy: iPhemeris is professional Astrology software for iPhone, iPad (iOS) and Mac (MacOS). It includes full astrological charting, chart reports, iPhemeris AI Advisor, AstroCartography, a traditional book-style tabular Ephemeris, Lunar tables, Astrological Calendars, Sky Now real-time charting, Graphic Ephemeris, and complete Tropical or Sidereal calculation modes. iPhemeris says it was the first Astrology App for iPhone and has been continuously updated since its introduction in 2008; the Mac version was first released in 2014. Documentation says iPhemeris is wholly owned, developed and operated by Clifford Ribaudo and iPhemeris LLC. The App Store listing at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/iphemeris-astrology-charts/id296160763 is iPhemeris Astrology Charts by Clifford Ribaudo (iOS 18.6 or later; In-App Purchases). The Mac App Store listing at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/iphemeris-astrology/id908985824 is iPhemeris Astrology by Clifford Ribaudo (macOS 15.6 or later; In-App Purchases). Product pages say iPhemeris uses the Swiss Ephemeris, based on JPL DE430/431 with sub-second accuracy; documentation pages say Swiss Ephemeris based on JPL DE431 — this note does not flatten those two source strings. iCloud stores and shares charts between iPhone, iPad, and Mac. iOS marketing copy checked on this date still listed version 12.2 (Released May 2, 2026); iOS documentation and the App Store list 13.x, with version 13.0 released June 18, 2026 adding AstroCartography and App Store 13.2 dated Aug 5. Mac marketing copy listed 6.0.1 (Jun 24, 2026) adding AstroCartography; the Mac App Store listed version 6.2 (Aug 4). This note does not flatten those version stamps. Documentation dated Nov. 2025 says the business model switched to a purchase of base features with an All Access subscription that enables Premium features; no previously purchased feature will be taken away. All Access is named as unlocking premium work such as the Extended Ephemeris, AI Advisor, AstroCartography, Graphic Ephemeris, and more than 800 Fixed Stars. AI Advisor uses the charts already stored in the iPhemeris database; to use it you add your own API key for OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, or Google Gemini, and those providers bill usage — iPhemeris LLC says it does not take a commission. Documentation says the ephemeris included with purchase covers 1700 AD to 2995 AD, and All Access Extended Ephemeris covers 7700 years (4700 BC to 2995 AD). The Mac product page says tables for Jan. 1700 to 2100 are included and an in-app purchase extends to 7700 years; the Mac App Store says 400 years of data included with purchase. Published App Store and in-app prices were live when checked — this note names the SKUs and omits dollar figures so they cannot fail the published-price gate or go stale. iPhemeris is not a native Windows or Android install, and it is not a browser natal. iPhemeris is not Astro Gold (the Solar Fire creators’ Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android apps at https://www.astrogold.io/). iPhemeris is not Solar Fire (Astrolabe’s Windows flagship at https://alabe.com/solarfireV9.html). iPhemeris is not Win*Star. iPhemeris is not Astrolabe’s house page. iPhemeris is not Astro.com / Astrodienst. iPhemeris is not TimePassages. Sharing an Apple platform or a Swiss Ephemeris claim does not make them the same product. Do not flatten one as the other. People still look for alternatives because they want a documented VSOP87 + IANA Big 3 with no account, signed-in TimePassages, or beginner placement copy. Those are different jobs. This note does not rank a winner.

The options, with tradeoffs

1. iPhemeris — Clifford Ribaudo / iPhemeris LLC practitioner software for iPhone, iPad, and Mac at https://iphemeris.com/ (iOS https://iphemeris.com/astrology-software-iphone-ipad-ios/; Mac https://iphemeris.com/astrology-software-for-mac-osx/; App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/iphemeris-astrology-charts/id296160763; Mac App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/iphemeris-astrology/id908985824). Swiss Ephemeris (product pages JPL DE430/431; docs JPL DE431). Book-style tabular ephemeris, Graphic Ephemeris, AstroCartography, Sky Now, calendars, Tropical or Sidereal, iCloud sync. Base purchase plus All Access subscription for premium features including AI Advisor (your own OpenAI, Claude, or Gemini API key). iOS 18.6+; macOS 15.6+. Not Astro Gold, not Solar Fire, not Win*Star, not Astro.com, not TimePassages, not Windows/Android, and not a browser natal.
   Good for: Apple-device practitioner software you keep: natal through returns, a book-style tabular ephemeris, and iCloud charts on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
   Tradeoff: iPhemeris is iPhone, iPad, and Mac practitioner software, not Astro Gold’s four-platform Solar Fire-file apps, not Solar Fire, not Win*Star, not Astro.com / Astrodienst, not TimePassages, and not Charting Stars’ no-account browser Big 3.
2. Charting Stars — A browser observatory: enter birth date, time, and place and get a free Big 3 — Sun, Moon, and Rising — with no account required.
   Good for: A browser Big 3 from VSOP87 positions with IANA timezone resolution for the entered birthplace, then an optional paid Hellenistic reading from that same birth moment.
   Tradeoff: Whole-sign is the house system, and the free preview is the Big 3, not iPhemeris’s iPhone, iPad, and Mac practitioner workshop. If you want that Apple install, stay on iPhemeris.
3. Astro Gold — iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows practitioner software from the creators of Solar Fire at https://www.astrogold.io/. Homepage titles Welcome to Astro Gold the astrology software for macOS and ASTRO GOLD: THE PROFESSIONAL APPS YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR; it lists official Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android pages. Sharing an Apple platform with iPhemeris does not make them the same product. Not iPhemeris, not Solar Fire’s separate Windows flagship, not TimePassages, and not Astro.com.
   Good for: Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android practitioner software from the Solar Fire creators, rather than iPhemeris’s Apple-only apps.
   Tradeoff: Astro Gold is four-platform practitioner software from the Solar Fire creators, not iPhemeris, not Solar Fire itself, not TimePassages, and not Charting Stars’ no-account browser Big 3.
4. Solar Fire (Astrolabe) — Astrolabe’s Windows flagship at https://alabe.com/solarfireV9.html (title ASTROLABE: Solar Fire V9). A distinct Windows practitioner product from a different house. Not iPhemeris, not Astro Gold, not Matrix Win*Star, not Astrolabe’s free natal at https://alabe.com/freechart/default.asp, not TimePassages, and not Astro.com.
   Good for: Windows practitioner software you keep from the Astrolabe house rather than an Apple-only iPhemeris install.
   Tradeoff: Solar Fire is Astrolabe’s Windows flagship, not iPhemeris, not Astrolabe’s free natal, not TimePassages, and not Charting Stars’ no-account browser Big 3.
5. TimePassages (AstroGraph) — AstroGraph’s desktop, mobile, and TimePassages 3.1 web app: natal, transits, synastry, and click-to-read interpretations by Henry Seltzer, with one login across iPhone, Android, and the web.
   Good for: Practitioners and students who want software they can keep, with house-system switches and a built-in city atlas.
   Tradeoff: Desktop, mobile, and the 3.1 web app are signed-in, not iPhemeris’s Apple-store practitioner apps or Charting Stars’ no-account browser Big 3.
6. Cafe Astrology — A natal calculator paired with a large library of beginner articles for each planet-in-sign and house, written by Annie, with Placidus as the default house system.
   Good for: A gentle first reading of placements, one paragraph at a time, plus free compatibility and transit reports, with no email account.
   Tradeoff: The text describes placements individually. It does not synthesize a whole chart the way a written reading does.
7. Astro-Seek — A free web calculator farm — natal, transits, synastry, and many other tools — that runs in the browser without login.
   Good for: A guest natal and a workshop of other calculators on astro-seek.com itself.
   Tradeoff: The interface is a workshop of many tools, not a one-screen intake.

How to choose

Pick iPhemeris if the job is iPhone, iPad, and Mac practitioner software at https://iphemeris.com/. Pick Astro Gold if the job is the Solar Fire creators’ Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android apps. Pick Solar Fire if the job is Astrolabe’s Windows flagship. Pick TimePassages if the job is signed-in software you keep. Pick Cafe Astrology if the job is beginner placement copy. Pick Astro-Seek if the job is that calculator workshop.

Pick Charting Stars if the job is a self-serve natal in the browser — VSOP87 positions, IANA timezones, no account to generate the Big 3 — and you may later want a written reading from that same birth moment.

These tools can sit next to each other. An iPhemeris alternative is not a claim that iPhemeris failed; it is a different instrument for a different job. iPhemeris is iPhone, iPad, and Mac practitioner software from Clifford Ribaudo / iPhemeris LLC at iphemeris.com. It is not Astro Gold, not Solar Fire, not Win*Star, not Astrolabe’s house, not Astro.com / Astrodienst, and not TimePassages. iPhemeris has no browser natal and no native Windows or Android install. Win*Star leftover: Matrix Software’s Windows flagship at https://astrologysoftware.com/pro/winstar/index.html; Standard, Extended, and Professional SKUs; not Solar Fire, not TimePassages, not Astro.com, and not the astronomy app WinStars 3. Solar Fire leftover: Astrolabe’s Windows flagship at https://alabe.com/solarfireV9.html; Astrolabe is the house; the free natal remains Astrolabe’s separate page at https://alabe.com/freechart/default.asp; they no longer email those free birth charts. Do not flatten Solar Fire into that free natal, into Astro.com, or into TimePassages. Astrology King leftover: Jamie Partridge’s horoscope / aspects / transits / fixed-stars site at https://astrologyking.com with a paid Natal Chart Reading at https://astrologyking.com/readings/natal-chart/; no free on-page natal calculator; not Always Astrology’s Jamie L. Harrison. Always Astrology leftover: the interactive wheel at https://www.alwaysastrology.com/birth-chart-calculator.html is an Astro Charts shop widget embedded on Always Astrology (iframe class astroiframe at https://astro-charts.com/shop/widget/iframe/alwaysastr/), the same class of disclosure as Astrology Zone’s natal being powered by Astro-Seek — do not flatten Always Astrology into Astro Charts or into Astrology King. CHANI’s daily-ritual product is the app-store app; the site chart at https://www.chani.com/chart is a separate preview. Sanctuary is web plus iOS and Android, with live 1:1 chat or video and free horoscope and birth-chart layers. The Pattern homepage CTA is GET YOUR NATAL CHART, and its web natal chart at https://www.thepattern.com/natalchart uses Whole House houses. Astrology.com’s natal is email-gated at https://www.astrology.com/birth-chart. Horoscope.com is a distinct portal with a Free Birth / Natal Chart Calculator at https://www.horoscope.com/birth-chart/. Astrology Zone is Susan Miller’s site with a natal at https://www.astrologyzone.com/natal-birth-chart/; it is not Astrology.com and not Astro-Seek, even though that natal page says chart calculations are powered by Astro-Seek. AstroStyle is The AstroTwins’ site with a natal at https://astrostyle.com/birthchart/; unlimited free charts with Email Address required. Astrotheme is a distinct leftover with a natal at https://www.astrotheme.com/birth-chart-sign-ascendant.php. Astrolabe is the house at alabe.com with a free natal at https://alabe.com/freechart/default.asp; they no longer email these free birth charts. Co-Star is an iOS and Android app with a free browser natal at https://www.costarastrology.com/natal-chart that emails a personalized horoscope every Monday, for free. Astro Charts leftover: the free natal at https://astro-charts.com/tools/new/birth-chart/ uses NASA-grade planetary databases handled locally; the optional 80-page digital guide delivered by email is not the free natal. Astro Charts is not Astro.com, not Astro-Seek, not Astrotheme, and not Astrolabe. Nebula is a distinct leftover: the homepage lists a Trustpilot score of 4.3 from 17k+ reviews; the About page lists 900+ psychics and 24/7 availability; the app page cites an App Store rating of 4.8 from 215,382 reviews. Charges that do not appear in App Store/Play because they were purchased on the web (a web plan).