Universe Sandbox vs Everdust
Is Universe Sandbox or Everdust better? For building your own solar system and smashing it, Universe Sandbox is better: it is the deeper physics sandbox, with gravity, climate, collisions and materials, but it runs only on a Windows PC or a Mac ($29.99 on Steam, in Early Access), its mobile version has no release date, and its VR support ended in February 2025. For space physics on a phone, a tablet or a headset, for free, Everdust is the one that runs there: it's on Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV, Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and Meta Quest 3 and 3S. Everdust isn't a sandbox in the same sense, though: you play with ready-made simulations and can't build your own systems.
- Pick Universe Sandbox to build systems from scratch, collide anything with anything, and change gravity, climate and materials. It needs a Windows PC or a Mac.
- Pick Everdust for galaxy collisions and black holes you reach into on Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest, or touch on iPhone, iPad and Android, for free.
- Want the build-and-smash part on Android? Look at the gravity sandboxes in the full list of alternatives; some of them do it better than Everdust.
Side by side
| Feature | Universe Sandbox | Everdust |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A physics-based space simulator: create, destroy and interact with planets, stars and galaxies[1] | Live particle simulations of galaxies, black holes and nebulae, with physics games and narrated science Stories[2][3] |
| Best at | Open-ended "what if?" experiments: real-time gravity, climate, collisions and materials together[1] | Space physics you touch or reach into, on a phone, a tablet or a headset, with games and Stories around it[2][3] |
| Platforms | Windows and macOS on Steam; Linux via Proton. Mobile: in the works, no date[1][4][5] | Out now: Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV, Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and Meta Quest 3 and 3S. Mac: a free download from everdust.ai/mac (Mac App Store version in review).[2][3] |
| Price and free tier | $29.99 on Steam (Early Access list price). No free version, and its makers have no plans for one[1][4] | Free. Everdust Plus is optional: $4.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $79.99 once (US). The whole Story of Everything, every world and each game's first levels are free[2][3] |
| Build your own systems | Yes: start with a star, add planets, moons, rings, comets or a black hole[1] | No. You play with ready-made simulations; Orbit Architect, one of its games, has you place planets and launch a moon into a stable orbit[2][3] |
| Galaxies and black holes | Procedurally generated galaxies; light-warping black holes[1] | Two galaxies colliding with up to about a million stars, each pulled by gravity; black holes bending light[2][3] |
| Climate and materials | Yes: seasons, sea ice and boiling oceans; build planets from 12 materials[1] | No[2][3] |
| VR and AR | No longer: VR support ended with Update 35 (Feb 2025); owners can still run Update 34.1.1 on PC VR headsets. No AR mode on its Steam page[6][1] | Apple Vision Pro: full immersion, or worlds resting in your room, and you reach in with your hands. Meta Quest 3 and 3S: the worlds and games with hand tracking or Touch controllers, in passthrough or fully immersed.[2][7] |
| Offline | Yes: the DRM-free GOG and itch.io versions run without an internet connection[4] | Mostly: the simulations, games and touch toys run on the device; narrated Stories, the streamed Mixes and Tonight's Sky's cloud forecast need a connection[8] |
| Games and stories | A sandbox, plus historical events to replay (Juno, New Horizons, a total solar eclipse)[1] | Physics games with levels and a free daily level; science Stories in chapters, narrated by River[2][3] |
Each app as its own store listing or website describes it, checked November 4, 2026; US prices. Numbers in brackets are the sources below.
Where Universe Sandbox is the better pick
- Freedom: any system you can imagine, and the physics to run it.
- Climate, materials and collisions modelled together.
- Steam Workshop, so you can share and download simulations.
- A big screen, a mouse and a keyboard, which suit building things better than a phone does.
Where Everdust is the better pick
- It's on phones, tablets and headsets now, free: Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV, Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and Meta Quest 3 and 3S.
- On Apple Vision Pro the particles flow around your fingers.
- There's something to do as well as to watch: games with levels, and narrated Stories.
Where Everdust fits
I make Everdust, so read this with that in mind. Everdust is a family of apps built on one engine: space science games, narrated science Stories, a particle universe simulator, Calm sessions, and tools for artists. Every world is a live simulation, not a video.
Everdust's Night Sky on Apple Vision Pro puts the real sky for your place and time around you: look at a planet and pinch to fly there, or at one of its 29 wonders, a nebula, a galaxy or a star cluster, and fly inside it. The Everdust Atlas has a page for each.
The free version covers every world and toy, The Story of Everything in full, and each game's first 3 levels or more and its daily level; Everdust Plus unlocks the rest.
Everdust is free on Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV, Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and Meta Quest. On Mac, it’s a free download; the Mac App Store version is in review.
Everdust on the App Store for Apple Vision ProGet it on Google PlayEverdust on the App Store for iPhoneEverdust on the App Store for iPadEverdust on the App Store for Meta Quest
Questions people ask
Is Universe Sandbox on mobile? Not yet. Its makers say on universesandbox.com that a version for phones and tablets is in the works and that they don't have a release date. Apps on the stores that use the name "sandbox universe" are not Universe Sandbox.
What is a free alternative to Universe Sandbox? Universe Sandbox has no free version, and its makers say they have no plans for one. For the build-and-collide part, the free gravity sandboxes on Android come closest; the alternatives guide compares them. For galaxy collisions and black holes you can touch, Everdust is free on Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV, Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and Meta Quest 3 and 3S; the free version covers every world and toy, The Story of Everything in full, and each game's first 3 levels or more and its daily level; Everdust Plus unlocks the rest.
Is there an app like Universe Sandbox for Quest? Universe Sandbox itself has no Meta Quest app, and its VR support ended with Update 35 in February 2025 (the older Update 34.1.1 still runs on PC VR headsets). On Meta Quest 3 and 3S, Everdust (free, made by me) has galaxy collisions, black holes and physics games you play with your hands or Touch controllers, though you can't build your own systems in it.
Does Universe Sandbox work in VR or on Apple Vision Pro? Not the current version: its makers ended VR support with Update 35 in February 2025, and there is no Vision Pro app. You can run it on a Mac and view the Mac's screen in Vision Pro with Mac Virtual Display, as a flat window.
Can I build my own solar system in Everdust? Not freely, the way Universe Sandbox allows. Everdust's worlds are ready-made simulations you play with; the closest is the game Orbit Architect, where you place planets and launch a moon into an orbit that holds.
Sources
- Universe Sandbox on Steam
- Everdust on the App Store
- Everdust on Google Play
- Universe Sandbox FAQ
- Universe Sandbox mobile page
- Universe Sandbox blog: The Future of VR on Universe Sandbox (19 Feb 2025)
- Everdust on the Meta Horizon Store
- Everdust on Google Play: does it work offline?
Checked November 4, 2026. Prices and features change; the store listing is always the final word. I make Everdust, and I’ve tried to describe the other apps as fairly as their makers do. Everdust is also listed on AlternativeTo as an alternative to Universe Sandbox.