Telescope with Tracking and GoTo: Costs, Tech and When It Pays Off

By Alexander Merz · Published on 12 September 2026 · Details checked on 14 September 2026

Almost everyone who asks us for telescope advice eventually writes the same wish into the free-text field: it should find things on its own and follow them on its own. Among our last hundred requests that was the case 28 times – measured against everyone who wrote anything at all, that is two out of three.

The wish makes sense. Anyone trying to find a nebula by hand for the first time can easily spend half an hour on it – and see nothing in the end.

But GoTo and tracking are two different things, they cost different amounts, and for some readers the money is better spent elsewhere. This article sorts that out.

GoTo finds, tracking holds – the difference

The Earth rotates, and fast enough that an object drifts out of the eyepiece in about a minute at medium magnification. At high magnification it happens even faster.

Tracking compensates for exactly that: a motor turns the telescope slowly along. The object stays put, so you can focus calmly, call someone over or hold a phone to the eyepiece.

GoTo is something else – a controller with an object database. You pick “M13”, the motors drive there. Every GoTo brings tracking with it, but far from every tracking setup can do GoTo.

Do you actually need it? Three honest cases

Experienced observers have argued about this for years, and one argument gets to the heart of it: whoever gives up aperture to pay for GoTo ends up driving to objects that the bigger telescope would have shown them anyway.

The reverse is just as true, though. Under a brightly lit city sky you cannot even see the stars you would need to hop from. Then automation is not a luxury but the condition for finding anything at all.

The last point is the most honest one. A GoTo takes the searching off your hands – and the learning with it. Anyone who wants to recognise constellations and find their way around will do better with a simple finder and a star chart.

What tracking and GoTo cost

The decisive figure first: below roughly €535 there is no telescope with motorised GoTo that we would recommend with a clear conscience. What is offered under that either has a wobbly mount or optics that do not deserve the name.

There is an honest alternative below that, though: PushTo. You push the telescope yourself while your phone shows live where it is pointing and where the target is. No motor, no tracking – but from €259.

How the alignment really works

This is where the frustration our readers describe most often sits. One wrote to us: “GoTo, with the simplest possible polar alignment – I have spent far too many frustrating hours on that with my Meade ETX 90.”

No GoTo works without an alignment. The telescope has to know where it stands and how it is turned, otherwise it drives into empty sky. The effort involved differs considerably, though.

App control (AZ-GTi, Virtuoso GTi): set it up level, switch on, confirm two stars in the app. With a little practice that takes three to five minutes – but you have to know those stars by name.

SkyAlign (Celestron NexStar): you point at three arbitrary bright dots and the device works out which ones they were. You do not have to know a single star – which is why we recommend the NexStar range to beginners who cannot find their way around the sky yet.

Equatorial with a hand controller (SynScan): polar alignment first, then a two- or three-star alignment. That is the route that costs time – and the only one suitable for long exposures.

Alt-azimuth or equatorial – for photography this decides everything

An alt-azimuth mount moves up/down and left/right. That is intuitive, light and quick to set up – and perfectly sufficient for visual observing.

For photography it has one catch: the field of view slowly rotates. Stars at the edge turn into short arcs during longer exposures. Up to about 30 seconds you hardly notice; beyond that you do.

An equatorial mount is aligned on the celestial pole and then turns around a single axis. That is the prerequisite for deep-sky images with exposures of minutes – but it costs polar alignment, counterweights and weight.

Retrofitting tracking or GoTo

If you already own a telescope on an equatorial mount, you do not have to buy anything new. Motor kits exist for many common mounts.

One motor on the right-ascension axis is enough for pure tracking – the object stays in the eyepiece. Two motors additionally allow comfortable corrections and, later, autoguiding.

And what about smart telescopes?

A smart telescope does everything automatically: pointing, tracking, exposing, stacking. For images it is the shortest route to a result that currently exists.

The catch is rarely mentioned: you do not look through it. There is no eyepiece; the picture appears on your phone. Anyone chasing the moment of seeing Saturn with their own eye will not get it this way.

Which model suits whom is covered in our smart telescope buying guide. For the classic view through an eyepiece, a mount with tracking remains the right choice.

For astrophotography: where tracking ends

For the Moon and planets simple tracking is entirely sufficient – there you stack many short frames anyway.

Nebulae and galaxies are more demanding. With careful polar alignment 60 to 120 seconds per frame are realistic; beyond that the stars start to trail.

If you want to expose for longer you need autoguiding: a small guide scope, a guide camera and free software that constantly corrects the motor. More on that in our astrophotography guide.

Frequently asked questions about tracking and GoTo

What is a GoTo telescope?

A telescope on a motorised mount with an object database. You select a target, the motors drive to it and then hold it in the eyepiece. After a one-off alignment at the start of the evening it finds thousands of objects at the push of a button.

Is GoTo worth it for beginners?

It depends on your location and budget. In a city or from a balcony it is often the only way to find anything at all, because the guide stars are missing. Below €500 we advise against it – for the same money you get considerably more aperture, and aperture decides how much you see.

Can tracking be retrofitted?

On most equatorial mounts, yes. Motor kits cost between €89 and €179 depending on the mount. Retrofitting GoTo is more expensive – there a complete app-driven mount from €359 is usually the more sensible route.

Does a GoTo telescope need power?

Yes, usually 12 volts. Some models will run on eight AA cells at a pinch, but that will not last a whole night. A power bank with a real 12-volt output is the more reliable solution.

How accurately does a GoTo hit the object?

With a clean alignment the target lands in the field of a low-power eyepiece, usually not exactly centred. At high magnification you often still have to nudge it. The accuracy depends almost entirely on the setup, hardly on the price of the mount.

Can I photograph with an alt-azimuth GoTo mount?

For the Moon, planets and short exposures, yes. For deep-sky images beyond 30 seconds the field visibly rotates – for that you need an equatorial mount.

A Dobsonian with tracking – is that possible?

Yes, there are Dobsonians with a motorised platform or with GoTo built in. The Virtuoso GTi is the cheapest version of that. A classic Dobsonian without a motor remains the recommendation if maximum aperture per euro is the goal.

If you are unsure which variant suits your location and budget, our beginner buying guide goes through the basics, and for the Moon and planets we have a separate page with honest expectations.

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