NightScape Lab vs StarNet++
StarNet++ pioneered neural-network star removal, and it's free. It does one thing (separate the stars from everything else) and does it well. In NightScape Lab, star removal is one tool on the Stars tab, with the whole workflow (stacking through the Foreground Sky Merge, plus Star Trails) built around it in one tool inside Photoshop.
Free, capable star removal
StarNet++ helped make starless processing mainstream. As a free command-line tool or plugin, it cleanly separates stars from nebulosity and landscape so you can process each independently. For anyone who just needs a starless image now and then, it's a proven, no-cost option we're happy to recommend.
Capability comparison
| Capability | NightScape Lab | StarNet++ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $129 once | free |
| Star removal (starless image) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Separate star map to recombine | ✓ Star Map layer (Linear Dodge) | via subtraction |
| Star reduction | ✓ Declutter · Constellation Guard | ✗ |
| Runs inside Photoshop | ✓ panel | CLI / plugin |
| Platform | macOS & Windows | macOS · Windows · Linux |
| Calibrated RAW stacking (sky + ground) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Lightroom Classic round-trip | ✓ | ✗ |
| White Balance / Defringe | ✓ | ✗ |
| Foreground Sky Merge + Star Trails | ✓ | ✗ |
| Delivers a signed linear base image | ✓ 16-bit ProPhoto | n/a |
Stars, plus everything around them
- ✓Starless and a Star Map layer. Star Removal delivers a starless layer plus a separate Star Map layer (Linear Dodge), so you can process each and recombine on your terms.
- ✓Or just Declutter. Flux-sculpted reduction dims faint clutter by prominence while Constellation Guard protects the bright, round stars: no full removal needed.
- ✓A full toolset around it. White Balance, Defringe, and Recipes on the Prepare tab, all working on the same clean, scene-linear base image.
- ✓Stacking, the merge, and trails included. Calibrated RAW stacking before, the color-matched Foreground Sky Merge and Star Trails after: no command line, all inside Photoshop, with a Lightroom Classic round-trip.
Honest questions
StarNet++ is free. Why pay for NightScape Lab?
If star removal alone is all you need, StarNet++ is free and does that job well. NightScape Lab is for people who want star handling as part of a full nightscape workflow (stacking, the Lightroom round-trip, White Balance, Defringe, the Foreground Sky Merge, and star trails) without leaving Photoshop or dropping to a command line.
Is NightScape Lab's star removal better?
Both use neural star separation and results are comparable. The difference is integration: NightScape Lab gives you a starless layer and a Star Map layer as ordinary Photoshop layers, adds Declutter star reduction with Constellation Guard, and keeps it all on a linear base image inside Photoshop.
Star removal is one part of it.
Stack, finish, and merge in one Photoshop panel.
30-day money-back guarantee. If it's not for you, email for a full refund, no questions asked.