Acquisition layer
Free Explorer
$0forever
- Free dark-sky map
- One-spot tonight check
- Bortle/SQM context
- Basic cloud and moon checks
- Free stargazing guides
Darkest Hour Pricing
Choose Your Night-Sky Edge
Spend less than a coffee to avoid wasting a rare clear window. Pro is the paid planning layer for photographers, aurora chasers and serious sky watchers who need to know which night and site are actually worth planning around.
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Instant account unlock
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Recovery built in
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Pro Monthly
$4.99USD · per month
- Clear-Window Finder
- Top 3 nearby candidate spots
- Best night this week
- Location-aware moon/cloud/seeing brief
- Cancel any time
Best recurring value
Pro Annual
$49.99USD · per year
- Two months cheaper than monthly
- Season-long drive planning
- Milky Way and aurora planning brief
- Saved-location alerts beta priority
- Best for repeat photographers
Beta concierge fallback
Not sure Pro will help your actual observing site? Send your nearest town, target night and max drive radius before paying. During beta we can sanity-check the use case manually instead of pretending automated alert delivery is already live.
Ask before payingNeed observatory, club or team access? Contact Darkest Hour. Otherwise start monthly, prove it helps tonight, and cancel any time.
Where paid PDF guides fit
One-time secure PDF guides may appear as companion products or annual-plan bonuses, but they are not the main paid product. The subscription value is the Pro night-sky planner: nearby-site comparison, best-night scan, beta saved-place alert priority and session briefs before a real setup or trip.