NightScape Lab vs Sequator
Sequator is free, fast, and a genuinely good place to start stacking nightscapes on Windows. NightScape Lab is a different kind of tool for a different kind of photographer: one who wants the whole nightscape-astrophotography workflow in one tool inside Photoshop and Lightroom Classic, with calibrated stacking and a color-managed base image. Both run on Windows, so the choice comes down to this: the free basic stacker, or the $129 tool that carries the whole workflow.
It's free, and it works
Sequator has introduced a lot of people to stacking, and for good reason: it's free, it separates sky from foreground, aligns the stars, and reduces noise with almost no setup. If you're on Windows and want to try nightscape stacking without spending a cent, it's a great first step and a tool we happily point beginners toward.
Calibrated stacking and the full finish
Sequator stops at the stack. NightScape Lab keeps going, because for a hands-on editor, the stack is the beginning, not the end.
- ✓Real calibration. Pre-demosaic Bayer-domain dark subtraction and two-pass kappa-sigma rejection, not just an averaging pass. Deterministic, too: the same input produces the identical output, byte for byte.
- ✓Dual-stream compositing you can steer. Sky registered to the stars, foreground kept sharp, and the AI sky mask arrives as a real Photoshop layer. Paint it and restack until the boundary is right.
- ✓The Lightroom round-trip. Send a night's frames from Lightroom Classic; the stacked base image imports back into your catalog automatically and opens in Photoshop.
- ✓The whole finish, plus star trails. White Balance, Defringe, the star tools, the Foreground Sky Merge, and five star-trail looks, all in the same $129 purchase.
Capability comparison
| Capability | NightScape Lab | Sequator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $129 once | free |
| Platforms | macOS & Windows | Windows only |
| Sky + foreground stacking | ✓ dual-stream | ✓ |
| Pre-demosaic dark calibration | ✓ | basic |
| Two-pass kappa-sigma rejection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Color-managed linear base image | ✓ | ✗ |
| White Balance / Defringe / star tools | ✓ | ✗ |
| Foreground Sky Merge (color-matched) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sky mask as an editable Photoshop layer (paint + restack) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Lightroom Classic round-trip (auto-import to catalog) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Runs inside Photoshop | ✓ panel | separate app |
Honest questions
Sequator is free. Why pay $129?
If stacking is all you need, you probably shouldn't. Sequator is excellent for that and costs nothing. NightScape Lab is worth it when you want the whole workflow: calibrated stacking with an editable sky mask, a clean base image, the finishing toolset, the Foreground Sky Merge, star trails, and the Lightroom Classic round-trip, all in one tool inside Photoshop.
I'm on Windows. Which should I use?
Both run on your machine, so it's a genuine choice now. If free-and-basic covers your nights, keep Sequator; it's a fine stacker. If you want calibrated stacking plus the whole finish, inside Photoshop and Lightroom Classic, NightScape Lab runs on Windows today and covers the full job for $129.
I'm on a Mac. Can I use Sequator?
Not natively; Sequator is Windows-only. NightScape Lab runs natively on macOS (and Windows), so Mac nightscape shooters aren't left improvising.
Can I stack in Sequator and finish in NightScape Lab?
You can bring a stacked TIFF into Photoshop, but NightScape Lab's tools are gated to its own signed base images by default (a clear override exists). You'll get the most out of it when its own calibrated stack produces the base image from the start.
From a quick free stack to a calibrated, finished nightscape.
The whole nightscape workflow in one tool inside Photoshop, with a Lightroom round-trip. macOS & Windows.
30-day money-back guarantee. If it's not for you, email for a full refund, no questions asked.