AkastroidComparison
Akastroid vs BlurXTerminator
BlurXTerminator, from RC-Astro, is the best known AI deconvolution tool in astrophotography: it sharpens a deep sky image and corrects star shapes. It is one step, used inside a workflow. Akastroid is the whole workflow, with its own deconvolution as one step. They are not really rivals, so here is what each does.
The short answer
Use BlurXTerminator if you already process in PixInsight, or with Siril and RC-Astro's command line, and want the strongest sharpening and star correction step you can add to that workflow.
Use Akastroid if you want the whole process, from raw frames to a finished picture, in one app and one run, with sharpening included and nothing else to buy or install.
Where BlurXTerminator is better
It is a specialist tool built for exactly one job, and it is widely used for it. If you already run a full manual workflow, it slots straight into it.
It also corrects star shapes across the frame, which Akastroid's deconvolution does not set out to do.
Where Akastroid is different
Akastroid is the whole process: calibration, frame grading, alignment, stacking, gradient removal, colour, noise reduction, sharpening and export, all in one run. BlurXTerminator does one of those steps and needs the others done elsewhere.
Its deconvolution uses the blur measured from your own stars, so it adapts to each session without a setting. Nothing else has to be installed or bought.
It also stacks planet, Moon and Sun videos, which BlurXTerminator is not built for.
RC-Astro's PixInsight page lists BlurXTerminator at 99.95 US dollars on its own, before PixInsight. An Akastroid licence covers every step, and every future version.
Side by side
| BlurXTerminator | Akastroid | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | One step: AI deconvolution and star correction | The whole process, raw frames to finished picture |
| Runs in | PixInsight, or RC-Astro's stand-alone command line | On its own |
| Price | 99.95 US dollars, listed on RC-Astro's PixInsight page | One licence for everything |
| Sharpening | AI deconvolution | Deconvolution from your measured star shape |
| Star shape correction across the frame | Yes | No |
| Stacking, gradient, colour, noise | No, done elsewhere | Yes |
| Planets, Moon and Sun video | No | Yes |
What Akastroid does not do
Akastroid does not correct star shapes across the frame the way BlurXTerminator does, and it has no PixInsight plug-in. If you already work in PixInsight, BlurXTerminator belongs in that workflow.
Questions
Is Akastroid a replacement for BlurXTerminator?
Not one for one. BlurXTerminator is a single step, AI deconvolution and star correction, that you add to a workflow you already run. Akastroid is the whole workflow, and its deconvolution is one of the steps inside it. I have not measured Akastroid's sharpening against BlurXTerminator, so I make no claim about which sharpens better.
Do I need PixInsight for BlurXTerminator?
RC-Astro sells it as a PixInsight plug-in. Its pages also describe a stand-alone version, a command-line tool that licence holders can download at no extra cost, and that Siril can call. Akastroid needs nothing else installed.
How does Akastroid sharpen deep sky images?
It measures the shape of your stars and uses that blur for the deconvolution, so the strength comes from your own data. The noise reduction that follows is our own trained network. Both run automatically.
What this page says about BlurXTerminator comes from its own pages, read on 25 October 2026: BlurXTerminator FAQ, RC-Astro PixInsight tools. If something here is out of date, write to hello@akastroid.com and I will correct it.
Try it on your own data
Free, every feature, five free processing runs and two exports to try it on. No account, and nothing leaves your computer.