Darakaraka Calculator: 8 Free Tools Compared, and Why They Disagree
Eight free Darakaraka calculators checked on their own pages: which count seven planets or eight, which show the degrees, which warn you when your birth time decides the answer, and why two tools name different spouse planets.
Disclosure: Supastro publishes this guide and makes one of the calculators. Competitor facts come from each tool's own page. I entered no birth details anywhere, so what a page does not say is marked "not stated". The worked example and sample figures come from Supastro's engine. Nobody paid to be listed. Figures last checked on 5 November 2026.
A Darakaraka calculator ranks the seven planets, Surya (Sun) to Shani (Saturn), by how far each has gone into its own sign, 0 to 30 degrees, and names the last one: your spouse planet. Parashara's Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (BPHS) ranks those seven by falling degree and ends with the Stri Karaka, the wife's significator (BPHS 32.1 to 2, 32.13 to 17). The top one is your Atmakaraka (soul planet), so most tools are an Atmakaraka and Darakaraka calculator in one. The whole system is in our chara karaka guide.
How we compared free Darakaraka calculators
- Seven or eight: does it count Rahu, and can you choose?
- Zodiac: Vedic (sidereal), and which ayanamsa, the offset from the Western zodiac?
- Degrees: can you see what it ranked?
- Birth-time warning: does your result say when a nearby time changes it?
- The catch: sign-up, personal details, paid upsells.
Free Darakaraka calculators at a glance
| App | Best for | What it asks you for | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Supastro Soul Planet (ours) | A Darakaraka you can trust with a rounded birth time | Gender, birth date, time and place | Seven planets only; degrees not printed |
| 2. KundliGPT | Privacy: runs in your browser, stores nothing | Birth date, time and place | Eight planets only; gemstone recommender on the site |
| 3. DesiUtils | Switching between seven and eight planets | Birth date, time and place | Defaults to eight; flags only near-exact ties |
| 4. PanchangBodh | Hindi, with a switch to add Rahu | Name, gender, city, date and exact time | Birth-time warning only in its FAQ; premium 70+ page report |
| 5. Jagannatha Hora | Serious students who want every setting | Free Windows software; full birth data | Windows only; latest version from 2016 |
| 6. OurNakshatra | A clean seven-planet degree ranking | Name, place, date, time (IST); consent tick | No birth-time warning stated |
| 7. Darakaraka.com | A seven-planet table with a degree column | Date, time and a time-zone offset you pick | Birthplace only for your reference; claims spouse looks |
| 8. Prokerala | A familiar site | Name, gender, birth date, time and place | Scheme and ayanamsa not stated; paid reports |
Ranked for one job: naming your Darakaraka and telling you whether to trust it. Supastro is ours.
What each Darakaraka calculator gives you
| App | Planets counted | Zodiac | Degrees shown | Warns when birth time decides | Sign-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supastro | 7 | Lahiri | No; the gap shows only in the close-call hover note | Yes: 2 hours either side, each planet at its own speed | No |
| DesiUtils | 8 by default; 7 on a switch | Lahiri | Not stated | Near-ties within about 5 arc-minutes, and sign edges | No; runs in your browser |
| PanchangBodh | 7; Rahu on a switch | Lahiri (its Jaimini page) | Yes (its Jaimini page) | Not stated; its FAQ says 10 to 15 minutes can matter | No |
| Jagannatha Hora | 7 or 8 | Six ayanamsas, Lahiri, Raman and Krishnamurti among them, or Western | Yes, with speeds | Not stated | No; free download |
| KundliGPT | 8 | Lahiri | Not stated | No; its FAQ warns about the Moon | No |
| OurNakshatra | 7 | Lahiri | Yes | Not stated | No login on the form |
| Darakaraka.com | 7 | Lahiri | Yes | A fixed note, not a check | No login on the form |
| Prokerala | Lists 7 roles | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | No login on the form |
1. Supastro: best when your birth time is rounded
Supastro's Soul Planet calculator ranks all seven on Lahiri and shows your Darakaraka with its Navamsa sign (the D9 chart, which Parashara reads for the spouse, BPHS 7.1 to 8). It is first for its warning: it moves every planet at its own speed, flags a close call when a birth up to two hours either side hands the seat to another planet, and says when the Moon could change sign. The catch: seven planets only, no degrees on screen, a gender question the maths ignores, and a daily cap on the written reading (not the ranking).
2. KundliGPT: best for privacy and the eight-planet answer
It runs in your browser, stores nothing you type and works on Lahiri, counting eight planets with Rahu. Its FAQ warns that a fast Moon can change the answer. Beats us on: the eight-planet answer and privacy. The catch: eight planets only, with no seven-planet view, degrees not stated, and a gemstone recommender elsewhere on the site.
3. DesiUtils: best for switching seven and eight
Eight planets by default, seven on a switch, Lahiri, computed in your browser. Beats us on: the switch. The catch: its provisional flag covers planets about 5 arc-minutes apart, a margin for calculation error, not for a wrong birth time.
4. PanchangBodh: best in Hindi
English or Hindi, seven planets with a Rahu switch, and degree, dignity and Navamsa per its Jaimini page. Free, no registration. Beats us on: Hindi. The catch: it wants your name and gender, and its birth-time warning sits in the FAQ.
5. Jagannatha Hora: best for serious students
P.V.R. Narasimha Rao's free desktop program gives both schemes, six ayanamsas plus the Western zodiac, mean or true Rahu, and every longitude and speed. Beats us on: every setting. The catch: Windows only (Mac needs an emulator), and version 8.0 dates from 1 January 2016.
6 to 8: the rest
- OurNakshatra: a seven-planet degree ranking, but it wants your name and a consent tick.
- Darakaraka.com: a degree column, but you pick the time-zone offset yourself, and it describes spouse looks down to a mole or scar, with no verse behind them.
- Prokerala: a free form, but the page names no ayanamsa and no Rahu rule.
How do you find your Darakaraka by hand?
To calculate your Darakaraka by hand, take your degrees on the Lahiri ayanamsa (our free kundli prints them), then:
- Note how far each planet, Surya to Shani, has gone into its sign. Leave out Rahu and Ketu.
- Rank them by degrees, then minutes, then seconds (BPHS 32.3 to 8).
- Highest is your Atmakaraka; lowest is your Darakaraka.
- Check the gap above the lowest. The Moon covers about half a degree an hour; within a degree, your birth time decides.
A hypothetical birth, 5 August 2000 at 10:40 pm in Bengaluru, from our engine:
| Planet | Sign | Degree in its sign | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surya (Sun) | Kark (Cancer) | 19°42' | Atmakaraka (soul) |
| Guru (Jupiter) | Vrishabh (Taurus) | 12°49' | Amatyakaraka (career) |
| Mangal (Mars) | Kark (Cancer) | 9°09' | Bhratrikaraka (siblings) |
| Shani (Saturn) | Vrishabh (Taurus) | 5°52' | Matrikaraka (mother) |
| Shukra (Venus) | Singh (Leo) | 4°53' | Putrakaraka (children) |
| Chandra (Moon) | Tula (Libra) | 4°01' | Gnatikaraka (rivals) |
| Budha (Mercury) | Kark (Cancer) | 3°30' | Darakaraka (spouse) |
Budha (Mercury) is lowest, so Mercury is the Darakaraka. But the Moon sits just over half a degree above it. Born 67 minutes earlier, at 9:33 pm, the Moon drops below Mercury and takes the seat. Our tool flags this chart as a close call.
Why do Darakaraka calculators give different answers?
Four reasons; the hypothetical chart shows three of them.
- Seven planets or eight. Parashara records three views: the seven; Rahu added only when two planets share a degree; Rahu always (BPHS 32.1 to 2). Rahu moves backwards, so you count 30 minus his degree (BPHS 32.3 to 8). Here Rahu sits at 29°40' of Mithun (Gemini), counts as 0°20' and takes the seat. In 20,000 random births I ran, Rahu took it in 12.5%. Supastro counts seven.
- Zodiac. Vedic degrees count from a fixed star point, Western ones from the moving equinox (translator's remark, Brihat Jataka 1); on Lahiri the gap was 23°52' for this birth. Shifting every planet keeps the gaps, but a planet near 0° of a sign drops to near 30° of the previous one, last place to first. In the Western zodiac this chart's Darakaraka is Mangal (Mars); across the 20,000 births it changed in 82.5%.
- Exact ties. Two planets at the same longitude become one karaka and a role goes empty (BPHS 32.13 to 17). A tool that hides minutes cannot show how close the race was.
- Birth time. The Moon is the fastest of the seven. Our close call fired on the Darakaraka in 15.4% of the sample, and the Moon held or took the seat in 2,502 of those 3,072.
How do you check if a Darakaraka calculator is right?
- Count the planets. If it names Rahu, it counts eight.
- Check one planet against a Lahiri chart. Signs one ahead for most planets mean the Western zodiac.
- Read the gap. Under a degree with the Moon involved, fix your birth time first.
Frequently asked questions
What does Darakaraka mean?
The spouse planet: the lowest-degree of the seven. Parashara calls it the Stri Karaka, the wife's significator (BPHS 32.13 to 17); Supastro reads it as the spouse planet in every chart.
Is there a free Atmakaraka and Darakaraka calculator?
Yes. All eight here are free and name both. Supastro, PanchangBodh and KundliGPT need no account.
Can I find my Darakaraka without a birth time?
Only roughly. The Moon moves about 13 degrees a day, so across one date it can pass several planets in the ranking. Supastro needs a time.
Does the house matter for the Darakaraka?
Not for finding it; degree alone picks it. Its house comes from your rising sign, which needs an exact time. For the spouse, Supastro reads it beside your Upapada Lagna and the 7th house in the Future Partner reading.
Should I use seven or eight karakas?
Pick one and never mix them. I use seven: Parashara's chapter opens with the seven, Sun to Saturn, and gives the Rahu views as what some say (BPHS 32.1 to 2). Our guide's part 2 covers the eight-planet roles.
Does the Darakaraka show what my spouse looks like?
No verse gives it a face. What it does show is in our Darakaraka and spouse post.
Sources
- DesiUtils, KundliGPT, OurNakshatra, Darakaraka.com, Prokerala
- PanchangBodh: calculator, Jaimini page
- Jagannatha Hora: download page, features
- Texts: BPHS 7 and 32; Brihat Jataka 1, translator's remark (our library's editions)
