# Astro review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Mac app for App Store keyword research and daily rank tracking Checked Oct 23, 2026 ยท graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA. Astro is a Mac app for App Store optimization. It shows keyword popularity taken from Apple Ads and its own difficulty score, tracks where an app ranks for each keyword every day, and suggests keywords an app or a competitor already ranks for. One annual subscription covers unlimited apps and keywords on a single Mac. - **Category:** App Store Optimization (ASO) - **Made by:** 28 bit S.R.L. - **Website:** https://tryastro.app - **Runs on:** macOS - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if your app is on Google Play too, as the pages read only cover Apple's App Store. - **Facts last checked:** Oct 23, 2026 ## Pricing As of Oct 23, 2026, Astro has a free plan, and paid plans start at $9 per month, billed annually ($108 a year). - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** The free version tracks up to 10 keywords, without the popularity and difficulty scores. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free version | $0 | Up to 10 keywords with daily rank updates; popularity and difficulty scores are left out. | | Single Mac License | $9 per month, billed annually ($108 a year) | Unlimited apps and keywords, popularity and difficulty data, suggestions, competitor keywords, ratings analysis and translations. | Read from https://tryastro.app/ on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Astro before buying. ## Key features - **Popularity and difficulty scores:** Popularity comes from Apple Ads; difficulty is Astro's own estimate of how hard it is to reach the top 10. Both need the paid license. - **Daily keyword rank tracking:** Keywords are re-checked every 24 hours while the app is running, with position changes and a day-by-day ranking chart. - **Keyword suggestions:** Lists keywords an app ranks or has ranked for, drawn from searches made by all Astro users, so new or niche apps may get few suggestions. - **Competitor keywords:** Paste a competitor's App Store link to see the keywords it ranks for in a chosen store, sorted by popularity and difficulty. - **Ratings across stores:** A ratings view sums ratings from every country's App Store, with daily changes, per-store counts and a chart over time. - **MCP server (beta):** A local MCP server, switched on in Settings, lets AI assistants such as Claude, Cursor and VS Code Copilot query Astro's data. ## Good for - Indie iOS and Mac developers doing their own ASO - Tracking thousands of keywords for one flat annual price - Researching keywords for an app idea before it is published ## Worth knowing - It runs only on Macs with macOS 14 or later, and each license is active on one Mac at a time. - It covers Apple's App Store (iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS apps); the pages read make no mention of Google Play. - Billing is annual only, at $108 a year; refunds can be requested within 14 days. - Rankings update only while the app is open on the Mac. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Oct 23, 2026. Astro is a Mac app that shows App Store keyword popularity from Apple Ads with its own difficulty score, tracks your ranks every day and finds the keywords competitors rank for, at $108 a year for unlimited apps and keywords on one Mac. It doesn't cover Google Play, it needs macOS 14 or later, and ranks only update while the app is open. - **Value for money: B.** $108 a year, about $9 a month, for unlimited apps and keywords, inside this category's cheaper quarter, which runs to $10. Billing is annual only, and the license works on one Mac at a time. - **Free plan and trial: C.** The free version tracks up to 10 keywords with daily updates, but leaves out the popularity and difficulty scores, which is most of the point. No trial is on record. - **Features: C.** Popularity and difficulty scores, daily rank tracking, keyword suggestions, competitors' keywords, ratings across every country's store and a local MCP server. It does App Store keyword work fully, but that's a smaller job, and Google Play isn't mentioned. - **Ease of use: B.** No rating on record. It's a Mac app you install, then you search a keyword or paste an App Store link and add your app, with no store account to connect. - **Platforms and integrations: D.** Mac only, on macOS 14 or later, one Mac per license. It links to Apple Ads and DeepL, and its MCP server works with Claude, Cursor and VS Code. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Astro's own pages on 23 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among app store optimization tools - Astro's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 18 of the 42 other app store optimization tools we grade, and level with 11. - It stands best on ease of use (B, above 39 of 42) and worst on platforms and integrations (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $9 a month, against a middle price of $19 for the category: 5 of the 33 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 4 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/app-store-optimization ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Astro you would be making keyword rankings and popularity scores from both app stores, gathered every day. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $108 a year. - You could not: Keyword rankings and popularity scores from both app stores, gathered every day. - You could not: Search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date. - You could not: Daily checks of where your pages rank in search results. - You could not: A real app for macOS. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Apple Ads, DeepL and Claude among them. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Apple Ads, DeepL, Claude, Cursor, VS Code **Tags:** App store optimization, Keyword research, Rank tracking ## Alternatives - [ASO.dev](https://toolgpa.com/tools/aso-dev): App Store Connect manager with unlimited ASO keyword tracking. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/aso-dev-vs-astro) - [RespectASO](https://toolgpa.com/tools/respectaso): Open-source Mac app for App Store keyword research, with AI Pro tools. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/astro-vs-respectaso) - [ASOTool](https://toolgpa.com/tools/asotool): Keyword research and rank tracking for App Store and Google Play. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/asotool-vs-astro) - [Appfigures](https://toolgpa.com/tools/appfigures): App analytics, review replies and ASO keyword tracking in one account. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/appfigures-vs-astro) - [AppTweak](https://toolgpa.com/tools/apptweak): App store optimization and Apple Ads platform for apps and games. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/apptweak-vs-astro) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026: - https://tryastro.app/ - https://tryastro.app/docs/installation - https://tryastro.app/docs/add-your-first-app - https://tryastro.app/docs/how-to-add-keywords - https://tryastro.app/docs/data-overview-keywords - https://tryastro.app/docs/data-overview-ratings - https://tryastro.app/docs/spy-on-competitors-keywords - https://tryastro.app/docs/temporary-apps - https://tryastro.app/docs/license-transfer - https://tryastro.app/docs/mcp Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/astro Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).