Best Custom Star Map Companies in 2026 (Honest Comparison)

Prices are in USD unless noted, as shown to a US visitor on the date above. "Digital" means a downloadable file you can print yourself.

Two notes on reading the table. First, "from" prices for prints are the smallest size and plainest finish; every company charges more as size goes up. Second, promotional codes are everywhere in this category (Twinkle In Time and The Night Sky both ran buy-more discounts on the day we checked), so the price you see may be lower than the list price for a week and back to normal the next.

The Night Sky

The Night Sky is the largest brand in the space by review volume, with "over 20,000 five star reviews" and a 4.6 Trustpilot rating cited on its homepage. The core product is a museum-grade print on Hahnemühle 200 gsm paper with pigment inks rated for 100+ years, starting at $39 and available in seven sizes, including squares. They also sell foil, glow-in-the-dark and canvas versions, plus jewellery.

Best for: someone who wants a physical print from the most established name, with the widest range of sizes and finishes.

Weak point: digital. Their help centre says a digital file is only offered "for certain countries we cannot ship to", and that digital files are non-refundable and non-editable once ordered. If you want a file to print yourself in the US, The Night Sky is effectively not an option. Their accuracy page names the ESA Hipparcos catalogue but does not state a magnitude cut-off or star count.

Under Lucky Stars

Under Lucky Stars is the company that made this category mainstream, and it shows in the polish. Twelve designs, a clean designer, a $29 digital product that gives you three 300 DPI PDFs at 12x16, 18x24 and 24x36, and a statement that a NASA astronomer validated the maps.

Best for: a premium digital file from a well-known brand, or a print where brand recognition matters to the recipient.

Weak point: print pricing. Their support pages quote $130 for an unframed 12x16, with frames from $45 on top and paid shipping on framed orders. That is more than double most competitors for the same size. Digital files are excluded from their 30-day return policy, though they will correct ordering errors.

Twinkle In Time

A San Diego company with a recognisable colour-forward style and a broader catalogue (street maps and zodiac maps alongside star maps). Prints start at $55 with free shipping, and a frame can be added at checkout. They state that they use "data from NASA" and invite you to verify their maps against Stellarium.

Best for: someone who likes their colour palette or wants to buy a star map and a street map from one place.

Weak point: transparency. On the day we checked, their public pages did not state sizes, a delivery window, a refund policy or a digital price. That may all be fine once you are in checkout, but you cannot compare it from outside. We have written "not published" throughout rather than guess.

GreaterSkies

GreaterSkies has been selling star maps since 2006 and is the closest thing the category has to an accuracy specialist. They name their sources (HYG and the Yale Bright Star Catalog), plot stars to magnitude 7 (fainter than most rivals), publish a 1900 to 2100 date range with the reason for it (precession), and draw right ascension and declination grids on the map itself. They render each digital size from scratch rather than upscaling, offer ten download sizes, and promise a full refund with no questions asked.

Best for: anyone who cares about the astronomy first and the décor second, and for the most generous refund terms in the category.

Weak point: the visual design is plainer than the others, with four styles, and pricing is shown in your local currency (we were shown Moroccan dirhams, MAD 209 for digital and MAD 609 for the smallest print). We could not find a published USD price, so we have not printed one.

Mapiful

Mapiful is a Swedish poster company for which star maps are one line among city maps, line art and more. What it does well is choice: "100+ themes and styles" across the editor, three US sizes (11x17, 18x24, 24x36), FSC-certified 200 gsm matte paper, frames and hangers, and local production through roughly 100 print partners in 30 countries. Delivery is 4 to 10 business days including production, and there is a 30-day return window (you pay return shipping).

Best for: matching a star map to a specific interior, or ordering it in the same style as a city map for a gallery wall.

Weak point: no digital file at all, and no published accuracy statement. If you want to know which catalogue or how many stars, you will not find it on their site.

Starrymaps

Starrymaps sells posters from $55, framed prints in black, white or oak, stretched canvas, and a digital download, produced through a network of partner labs. Their accuracy page names the Yale Bright Star Catalog for stars and Donald Menzel's field guide for constellation lines, and invites you to check the result in Stellarium. Processing is 3 to 4 business days, then 2 to 20 working days for standard shipping depending on region.

Best for: a framed print with a choice of frame finish, produced near you if you are outside the US.

Weak point: the digital price and framed prices were not published on the pages we could reach, and the refund policy covers damaged or misdescribed items only, with no change-of-mind returns and digital files non-refundable for typos.

OwnStarMap

OwnStarMap is a French company selling the cheapest credible digital star map we found: $14 for the file, with prints from $35 and a duo bundle from $21. Their technical page is unusually specific: an HYG v4.2 derived catalogue of 8,921 stars to magnitude 6.5, and 238 automated tests against known astronomical values. The creation tool is free and you pay only when satisfied.

Best for: the lowest price on a genuinely computed digital file.

Weak point: print sizes are an odd mix (US Letter, A2, 16x20, 18x24) that will not fit every off-the-shelf frame, printed delivery runs 10 to 15 business days in total, and personalised prints cannot be returned for a change of mind.

Etsy sellers

There are hundreds of star map listings on Etsy, most between $6 and $38 for a digital file, many on permanent "sale". Some are excellent. The structural problems are that most sellers make the file by hand after you order (so "instant download" often means one to five days), there is usually no live preview, accuracy is rarely documented, and every seller has their own refund terms.

Best for: a very specific aesthetic you cannot find elsewhere, or a budget under $10.

Weak point: consistency. You are buying from an individual, not a system.

The Star Moment

Our own product, described the way we described the others. You design in the browser and see the full map, watermarked, before paying anything and without giving an email. The digital file is $25 for a 300 DPI PNG and a print-ready PDF in 12x16, 18x24 and 24x36, delivered by email within minutes. Framed prints are $69, $109 and $179 in the same three sizes, in a black wood frame with an acrylic front on 170 gsm semi-gloss paper, with free US shipping in 7 to 12 business days. Twelve designs. Every order has a 14-day money-back guarantee, digital included. Our accuracy page sets out the catalogue (HYG, about 9,000 stars to magnitude 6.5), the 88 IAU constellations, the projection, and the 1900 to 2100 limit.

Best for: a print-ready digital file that a frame shop will accept without questions, or a framed print in the US at a middle price, from a company that publishes its method.

Weak point: we are new, so we do not have a decade of reviews behind us. We ship framed prints to the US only at present (digital is worldwide). We offer three sizes, not seven. And our paper is 170 gsm semi-gloss rather than a heavy archival matte stock, which is the right call for a framed piece behind acrylic but not the same as an unframed Hahnemühle print.

Cheapest digital file: OwnStarMap at $14. Etsy can be cheaper, but with the caveats above. We are $25, Under Lucky Stars is $29.

Best framed print, price no object: The Night Sky, for the paper and the range of finishes, or Starrymaps if you want a choice of frame colour. Under Lucky Stars is excellent but expensive once framed.

Best framed print at a middle price: we think The Star Moment at $69 for a framed 12x16 with free US shipping is hard to beat, but Mapiful's frames on top of a $39 poster are worth pricing against us for your size.

Fastest: for a file, anyone with true instant delivery (The Star Moment, OwnStarMap, GreaterSkies, Under Lucky Stars all deliver in minutes). For a print, Mapiful's 4 to 10 business days including production is the shortest published window; The Night Sky's 3 days plus 6 to 10 is close behind.

Most thorough accuracy documentation: GreaterSkies and OwnStarMap publish the most technical detail, and our accuracy page is written to the same standard. The Night Sky, Under Lucky Stars, Twinkle In Time and Starrymaps name a source but not a magnitude limit or star count. Mapiful publishes nothing.

Most designs: Mapiful by a distance. Then The Star Moment and Under Lucky Stars at 12 each.

Most generous refunds: GreaterSkies (full refund, no questions asked). Then The Star Moment (14 days, digital included). Most others exclude digital files and change-of-mind returns.

Ask yourself three questions. Will you print it yourself? If yes, buy a digital file from a company that gives you a proper 300 DPI PDF at the exact frame size you own, and skip the companies that only sell prints. Does the recipient care that it is real? If yes, choose a company that publishes its catalogue and date limits, and check the result in Stellarium before you gift it (our how it works page explains the steps). Do you need it this week? If yes, digital is the only honest answer, whoever you buy from.

If you want to see what your own moment looks like before deciding anything, you can design a map here for free; the preview is the finished map with a watermark, and the pricing is the same as above.

All pages opened on 20 September 2026.

• The Night Sky homepage: https://thenightsky.com/
• The Night Sky star map prints (sizes, paper, Hipparcos): https://www.thenightsky.com/catalogue/star-map-prints
• The Night Sky classic print ($39 base): https://www.thenightsky.com/shop/night-sky-classic-star-map-print
• The Night Sky digital file policy: https://help.thenightsky.com/en/articles/9507742-pdf-or-digital-file
• The Night Sky shipping times: https://help.thenightsky.com/en/articles/9507593-prints-framed-prints-canvas-shipping-times
• The Night Sky refund policy: https://thenightsky.com/legal/refunds
• The Night Sky accuracy: https://www.thenightsky.com/accuracy-of-our-star-maps
• Under Lucky Stars homepage (12 designs, NASA astronomer): https://www.underluckystars.com/
• Under Lucky Stars digital maps ($29, 3 PDFs): https://support.underluckystars.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013188100-Digital-Star-Maps
• Under Lucky Stars prices ($130 unframed 12x16, frames from $45): https://support.underluckystars.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022352254-How-to-order-what-are-the-prices
• Under Lucky Stars FAQ (sizes, delivery times): https://www.underluckystars.com/en/faq
• Under Lucky Stars return policy: https://www.underluckystars.com/en/return-policy
• Twinkle In Time homepage and product page: https://twinkleintime.com/ and https://twinkleintime.com/products/star-map/
• GreaterSkies digital star map: https://greaterskies.com/digital-star-map/
• GreaterSkies custom star map: https://greaterskies.com/custom-star-map/
• GreaterSkies FAQ: https://greaterskies.com/faq/
• GreaterSkies homepage (catalogues, magnitude 7): https://www.greaterskies.com/
• Mapiful US star map prints: https://www.mapiful.com/us/our-customizable-star-map-prints/
• Mapiful US homepage: https://www.mapiful.com/us/
• Mapiful refund and returns: https://www.mapiful.com/refund_returns/
• Mapiful shipping times: https://mapiful.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006828812-Shipping-times
• Starrymaps FAQ: https://starrymaps.com/faq/
• Starrymaps accuracy: https://starrymaps.com/accuracy-of-our-star-maps/
• Starrymaps posters: https://starrymaps.com/products/poster/
• Starrymaps returns: https://starrymaps.com/legal/returns-and-refunds/
• OwnStarMap (English): https://ownstarmap.fr/en/
• Etsy market page for digital star maps: https://www.etsy.com/market/star_map_digital_download
• The Star Moment pricing: https://thestarmoment.com/pricing
• The Star Moment accuracy: https://thestarmoment.com/accuracy