AkastroidComparison
Akastroid vs GraXpert
GraXpert is free and open source, and it does two things well: it removes light pollution gradients and it reduces noise with AI. It works on an image you have already stacked. Akastroid does both of those inside a full run from raw frames, with its own methods. We tried GraXpert ourselves before deciding, and this is what we found.
The short answer
Use GraXpert if you already stack and process in other software and want a free, strong gradient and noise step to add to it.
Use Akastroid if you want stacking, gradient removal, colour, noise reduction and sharpening done together in one run, from the raw frames, with nothing else to install.
Where GraXpert is better
It is free and open source. For two steps of the process, that is hard to beat.
Its AI noise reduction is good. When we ran it on our own Veil session in October 2026 it cut the blotches and rings our older noise reduction left. That result is part of why we built a trained noise reduction of our own.
Where Akastroid is different
Akastroid is the whole process, not two steps: calibration, frame grading, alignment, stacking, gradient removal, colour calibration from star catalogue colours, noise reduction, sharpening and export, in one run.
Gradient removal: we ran GraXpert's background extraction against ours on the same session, and ours gave the better finished picture, so Akastroid keeps its own.
Noise reduction: GraXpert's noise model is licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, for non-commercial use only. Rather than ship something we may not sell, we trained our own network on our own sessions. It runs automatically and needs no download.
Akastroid also stacks planet, Moon and Sun videos, which GraXpert does not do.
Side by side
| GraXpert | Akastroid | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free and open source | Free to try with every feature, then a one-time licence |
| What it does | Gradient removal and AI noise reduction | The whole process, raw frames to finished picture |
| Input | A stacked image | Raw frames, a smart telescope folder, or a planet video |
| Gradient removal | Yes | Yes, our own |
| Noise reduction | AI model, non-commercial licence | Our own trained network |
| Stacking and calibration | No | Yes |
| Planets, Moon and Sun video | No | Yes |
What Akastroid does not do
Akastroid is not free beyond its trial, and GraXpert is free. Akastroid also has no separate gradient or noise tool to run on a picture made elsewhere: it does those steps as part of its own run.
Questions
Is GraXpert free?
Yes. GraXpert is free and open source, and it is one of the best value tools in astrophotography for the two jobs it does: removing gradients and reducing noise.
Why does Akastroid not use GraXpert inside it?
We tried. In October 2026 we ran GraXpert's background extraction against ours on the same session, and ours gave the better finished picture, so we kept ours. Its noise reduction did help, but its noise model is licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, which does not allow it to be used inside a paid app. So we trained our own noise reduction network on our own sessions, and that is what Akastroid runs.
Can I use GraXpert and Akastroid together?
You can, but there is little reason to: Akastroid already removes the gradient and reduces the noise as part of its run.
What this page says about GraXpert comes from its own pages, read on 25 October 2026: GraXpert, GraXpert on GitHub. 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.