Prices and features were checked on tryastro.app and appdrift.co/pricing on September 10, 2026. Disclosure: AppDrift is our product.
Short answer: Astro is a focused, well-liked native macOS app for App Store keyword research: unlimited keywords, popularity read from Apple Search Ads, difficulty scores, daily ranks with history, competitor keyword extraction, more than 60 storefronts, $9 a month billed annually. It does not touch Google Play, does not write or publish listings, and has no free plan. AppDrift runs in the browser, covers both stores, tracks keywords with a difficulty score, writes and translates the listing into 60+ languages, generates screenshots, monitors and publishes, and on paid plans shows Apple's own impressions and conversion per search term. If you are iOS-only and want the best cheap research tool, Astro. If you need the listing produced and shipped on both stores, AppDrift.
Quick Comparison Table
| Capability | Astro | AppDrift |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9/month billed annually ($108/year), one Mac license | Free plan; Basic $9.99/month ($99/year); Pro $19.99; Studio $39.99 |
| Free plan | No (14-day refund window) | Yes: 1 app, 5 keywords forever, 50 AI tokens, unlimited screenshot exports |
| Platform | Native macOS app (macOS 14+) | Web app, any platform |
| Stores | App Store only, 60+ storefronts | App Store + Google Play, 150+ storefronts |
| Tracked keywords | Unlimited | 5 free · 50 Basic · 500 Pro · 1,500 Studio |
| Popularity source | Apple Search Ads | Computed from top-ranking apps; plus Apple's real impressions and conversion per term on paid plans |
| Difficulty score | Yes, for top-10 rankings | Yes, 0-100 beside every keyword, free plan included |
| Competitor keywords | Yes, extraction from competitor metadata | Yes, 3 / 10 / 25 competitors by plan; rank tracking on Studio |
| AI metadata generation | No (keyword suggestions) | Yes |
| Translation | Keyword translation via DeepL | Full listing into 60+ languages with per-market keyword research |
| Screenshots | No | Yes, free and unlimited |
| Publish to the stores | No | Yes |
| Store monitoring and alerts | Ratings analysis | Metadata changes, rating drops, rank regressions |
| API / MCP | No | REST API from Basic + appdrift-mcp on npm |
What Is Astro?
Astro is a native macOS application for iOS developers who want to do App Store keyword research without an enterprise subscription. Its reputation among indie developers comes from three things: the price ($9 a month, billed as $108 a year, for one Mac license with no per-keyword fees), the interface (it feels like a Mac app because it is one), and the popularity data, which it reads from Apple Search Ads rather than estimating. For a keyword you get popularity, a difficulty score for the top-10, daily rank history, related suggestions, and a side-by-side look at how competing apps use the term in their metadata. It covers more than 60 storefronts and can translate keyword lists through DeepL.
Its boundaries are equally clear. Astro is App Store only: no Google Play. It runs only on macOS 14 and later. It does not write listings, generate screenshots, monitor competitors' metadata changes, or publish anything; you take its research to App Store Connect yourself. There is no free plan, only a 14-day refund window. Its site claims that 90% of users see more impressions within a week; treat that as the vendor's number.
What Is AppDrift?
AppDrift is a browser-based ASO platform for indie developers and small studios covering both stores: keyword tracking with a 0-100 difficulty score beside every term, AI metadata generation that regenerates until the copy fits Apple's and Google's limits, translation into 60+ languages on live per-market keyword research, a free screenshot generator, store monitoring with alerts, a weekly action plan, and one-click publishing.
For an iOS developer the most relevant AppDrift feature is Apple Search Performance. Since August 2026, paid plans sync App Store Connect Analytics daily and show impressions, tap-through rate, conversion rate, retention cohorts and revenue per acquisition search term for your own app, joined to your tracked ranks. Astro's Apple Search Ads popularity tells you how much a term is searched; App Store Connect tells you how many of those searches became your installs. Both are Apple numbers; only one is about your app.
AppDrift's limits: AI actions are metered in tokens (500 a month on Basic, 3,000 on Pro, 8,000 on Studio; a full generation costs 7 tokens per language on iOS). Tracked keywords are capped at 5 on Free, 50 on Basic, 500 on Pro and 1,500 on Studio, against Astro's unlimited. Competitor rank tracking is a Studio feature. Google Play rank checks see roughly the top 30 results. There is no native Mac app and no Apple Search Ads campaign management.
Features Compared
Keyword research
Astro is the deeper research tool for the App Store specifically: unlimited keywords, Apple Search Ads popularity, and competitor keyword extraction in a fast native interface. AppDrift's research is built into the workflow: its difficulty and popularity scores are the same ones behind the free keyword difficulty checker, its Keyword Ideas panel pulls live autocomplete from each storefront, and the keywords it finds flow straight into the title and subtitle it writes. If you want to spend an afternoon exploring a category on iOS, Astro. If you want the research to end in a shipped listing, AppDrift.
Apple data
This is the real dividing line for iOS developers in 2026. Astro's popularity is a demand-side estimate from Apple Search Ads. AppDrift's Apple Search Performance is Apple's own supply-side measurement of your app: which search terms produced impressions, taps, installs, retained users and revenue. Apple shipped that data in July 2026; AppDrift syncs it daily; Astro does not read it. Both tools compute difficulty themselves, because Apple does not publish one.
Writing, localization, screenshots, publishing
Astro suggests keywords and translates keyword lists. AppDrift writes the listing (title, subtitle, keyword field, description, promotional text, release notes), translates the whole listing into 60+ languages with per-market keyword research, makes the screenshots for every device size for free, and pushes the result to App Store Connect and Google Play through your own credentials. When we scored 123 real listings, 94% graded D on localization; that is the part of the job a research app leaves entirely to you.
Platform and stores
Astro is Mac-only and App Store-only. AppDrift runs anywhere with a browser and covers Google Play, with the honest caveat that Play rank checks are capped near the top 30 by the public Play surface. A developer on Windows or Linux, or one with an Android build, cannot use Astro at all.
Pricing Compared
| Plan | Astro | AppDrift |
|---|---|---|
| Free | None (14-day refund) | 1 app, 5 keywords forever, 50 AI tokens, screenshots, ASO score |
| About $9 | $9/month billed annually ($108/year), unlimited keywords, one Mac | Basic $9.99/month ($99/year): 5 apps, 50 keywords, 500 tokens, every paid feature |
| $19.99 | - | Pro: 20 apps, 500 keywords, 3,000 tokens |
| $39.99 | - | Studio: 50 apps, 1,500 keywords, 8,000 tokens, competitor rank tracking |
Per year the two entry plans are $108 and $99. Astro's buys unlimited App Store research on a Mac. AppDrift's buys 50 tracked keywords on both stores plus generation, translation, screenshots, monitoring, publishing and Apple's per-keyword data. The right question is not which is cheaper but which half of the job you are paying to remove.
Who Should Pick Which
Pick Astro if
- You ship only on the App Store and work on a Mac
- You want unlimited keyword research with Apple Search Ads popularity for $9
- You write and submit your own metadata and prefer a native app to a web dashboard
- You do not need Google Play, screenshots or publishing
Pick AppDrift if
- You publish on both stores, or on any OS other than macOS
- You want the listing written and translated, not just researched
- You want Apple's real per-keyword impressions and conversion for your app next to your ranks
- You want free screenshots and alerts when something changes
- You want a free plan to start and an API or MCP server for automation
Can You Use Both?
Yes, and for an iOS-first developer it is a good pairing at about $19 a month: Astro for wide keyword exploration on the Mac, AppDrift to write, translate, screenshot and publish the result and to read Apple's conversion numbers on the keywords you chose. AppDrift's free plan alone covers the second half for one app with five tracked keywords.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Astro or AppDrift better for an indie iOS developer?
For App Store keyword research on a Mac, Astro. For producing and shipping the listing on both stores, and for Apple's own per-keyword conversion data, AppDrift.
Does Astro support Google Play?
No. Astro is App Store only. AppDrift covers both stores.
Where does each tool's popularity come from?
Astro: Apple Search Ads. AppDrift: a computed score from the top-ranking apps, plus Apple's actual impressions and conversion per term for your own app on paid plans.
Which is cheaper?
Astro is $9 a month billed annually with no free plan. AppDrift has a free plan and paid plans from $9.99 a month or $99 a year.
Does either tool write or translate metadata?
Astro suggests keywords and translates keyword lists via DeepL. AppDrift writes the full listing, translates it into 60+ languages, and publishes it.
Conclusion
Astro is the best cheap App Store research app for Mac-based iOS developers in 2026, and it does that one thing very well. AppDrift is the tool for everything after the research, on both stores, and the only one of the two that reads Apple's own search-term performance for your app. See also AppDrift vs Applyra, AppDrift vs Sonar and the 22 best ASO tools compared.
References
- Astro (pricing and features checked September 10, 2026)
- AppDrift Pricing
- What App Store Connect now shows per search keyword
- Long-tail App Store keyword difficulty, from 862 scored checks
