Everything You Wanted to Know About the Nebula: Horoscope & Astrology App
If you've been reading my work long, you know that while I'm a bit of a skeptic about astrology, I still love learning about all things related to the ancient craft.
While I've tried a number of free astrology apps in the past, I've never really invested in some of the more comprehensive paid options. That is, until the folks behind Nebula: Horoscope & Astrology reached out to me. The team asked if I would like a promo code for free premium access to Nebula, which I graciously accepted, and after toying with the app for a couple of weeks, here are my honest thoughts.
The Basics
Nebula is an astrology app available for iPhone and Android. The app runs in six languages, has been downloaded more than eight million times and, according to their site is the No. 1 astrology app in the United States. You can get a free three-day trial of the app to test it out, while a weekly subscription runs for $9.99, a yearly subscription is $49.99, and the lifetime subscription costs $119.99.
Logging In
When I first got set up with Nebula, it asked me for all of the basics, including my name and gender, as well as my birth date, time and location, so it could calculate my planetary charts. It also prompted me to take photos of both of my hands in order to do palmistry readings. After inputting that top-level information, the rest of the app was ready for me to go.
Early on, I was also encountering a bug that meant each and every time I came in to check the app, it asked me to re-input my iTunes account password to log into my account before it allowed me to access the app. Eventually, this was resolved by fully deleting, and reinstalling it.
Horoscope
If you're anything like me, the app's Horoscope section is where you're going to get the most out of Nebula. At the top of you page, you get your general stats, such as your sun sign, moon sign and ascendant, as well as the element, polarity and modality of your sun sign.
Beyond that are the actual horoscopes, which are a ton of fun to check in with every day. Not only is the daily forecast for your sun sign very direct and specific, but here you can also see forecasts for the following day, the full week, the month and even the year. The app also gives you a daily focus for the day, and percentages of where you'll likely be in terms of love, career and health.
Maybe one of the most fascinating aspects of this horoscope is the biorhythm chart, which tracks your physical, emotional and intellectual wellbeing. According to the app, we're all on different, constantly moving cycles, and this chart shows you where you are at any given moment.
(Nebula: Horoscope & Astrology via Obrio Limited)
This is also where the app displays important daily astrological events. For example, today (March 25) it highlighted the Mercury square True Node. The app explained that I should take time with any decision-making today, because my head's not fully in the game—which I found to be stunningly accurate given the slightly clumsy, out-of-focus morning I've had thus far.
And, to my delight, it also shows precisely where we are in the lunar calendar. That's important not just in regards to whether the moon is waxing, waning, new or full—which impacts where you should put your mental focuses—but also which sign the moon is currently under. For example, with the moon currently in Leo, the app suggests admitting an inability to accept criticism, and not to break up with anyone right now.
There are also very specific calendars for planning everything in regards to beauty, plants, health, fitness, home and travel to allow you to map out your calendar accordingly. Not sure when to plan that trip, or schedule your next haircut? These calendars aim to guide you. While I haven't invested much time here, I think they're fascinating to look at.
(Nebula: Horoscope & Astrology via Obrio Limited)
And last but definitely not least, the bottom of this tab contains new daily tips for maintaining beautiful hair, as well as Sagittarius-geared style tips. While I don't exactly follow them, it's always fun to check in every day and see what it's suggesting for me at the time.
My Profile
"My Profile" is almost hidden within the Horoscopes tab, which is a shame, because it includes so much incredible information. This page is a little more specific than the general stats at the top of Horoscopes, showing my polarities, modalities and elements based on all of my signs together.
(Nebula: Horoscope & Astrology via Obrio Limited)
Not sure where to look at your palmistry results after your initial login? Those are here, too, with descriptions of both palms' heart, head and life lines, and what they say about you. Though this isn't as detailed of a palm reading description as you'd get in real life—it seems to focus on mostly the length and curvature of your lines rather than deepness or branching and fractured lines—it's a great top-level reading that can reveal a lot about yourself.
(Nebula: Horoscope & Astrology via Obrio Limited)
A lot more is tucked away here, too, including where all of the planets are in your chart, and what houses they live in and some fantastic analysis of what they all mean. Plus, there are some fun, fast stats about your sign.
Compatibility
Under the compatibility tab, you can match any two zodiacs and see how well they pair up in regards to relationships, business, work or friendships. It'll also ask you specific questions for some categories—like your relationship status for the romance compatibility, or whether someone is a boss or co-worker for work—to give even more finely tuned results.
From there, each one shows a compatibility percentage, as well as how compatible you might be in different areas. It then presents an overall summary of the relationship and what you should expect from this kind of pairing. For example, the relationship description will show you both your own and the other person's daily love horoscope, while the friendship compatibility will explain what you both need from the friendship, as well as the steps you can take to make additional friends.
Astrologers
Now here's an interesting one. This tab grants users access to 10 professional astrologers, each with their own areas of expertise and different services. You provide them with your birth details and any questions you might have, and they'll eventually get back to you by email.
Given the cost of the app, I wondered if this would be an included feature with the service. I selected western astrology expert Yarna to see if I could have a Natal Chart Report drawn up, and was given a prompt to pay the $49.99 it would cost. Now, given the fact that past astrology services I've tried cost at least twice that, this could be quite the deal if you're already into the app, and interested in an in-depth analysis. However, it's still a good chunk of money, and not something I was interested in at the time. A relationship compatibility report was the same cost. Perhaps it's something I'd come back to if I really wanted an expert reading in the future.
Nebulatalk
I have to say I haven't used the Nebulatalk feature at all. After creating a username, you can come here to access message boards and discuss different (not necessarily astrology-related) topics. For example, "Do you like TikTok?" is currently the top board, with more than 7,000 responses and 21,000 likes. While I myself am not very interested in talking to strangers about astrology, it's clear the community is active, and you might get a lot more mileage out of it than I have.
Guides
The Guides tab is home to both the app's Learning Center and Relationship Guide sections. The Learning Center contains extremely thorough, but easy to read and understand, guides to everything the app covers, from palmistry and every last aspect of the zodiac, from the wheel of houses and various aspects to transits and retrogrades.
The Relationship Guides section had me input my information, and the following day, I had a custom guide ready for me. This includes advice for the daily, plus dating, leisure, message and gift ideas. While it's not something I look at daily, I'm sure there are a few folks out there who will find this section invaluable.
Bottom Line
So, is Nebula worth the price? That will depend a lot on how much you're interested in astrology, and how much it's worth to you to have all of the critical information gathered in one handy place. $10 a week is a bit steep for me, personally, but I can see how others would love to have fast and easy access to this information within the Nebula app.
If you know a bit about astrology, and the zodiac, you can find a lot of this information elsewhere for free, but without the customized aspect that Nebula can offer. If that insight is valuable to you, then you might have just found the perfect match.
Love all things astrological? Click HERE to find out what I learned about myself by visiting a professional astrologer.