Ventra vs Park Evanston
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ventra
Manage your public transit fares and tickets for Chicago's CTA, Metra, and Pace services. Load value, buy Metra mobile tickets, and access real-time arrival information all in one place. Add your Ventra Card to your iPhone for seamless travel.
- Manage Ventra Card balance and passes
- Load value and passes to Ventra Card
- Buy Metra mobile tickets
- Real-time CTA, Metra, Pace arrivals
- Add Ventra Card to Apple Wallet
Read full descriptionHide full description
Ride CTA, Metra & Pace with Ventra: Manage your fares, buy Metra mobile tickets, get arrivals and add your Ventra Card for riding CTA and Pace to iPhone and Apple Wallet. Use transit in and around all of Chicago: It's easy to manage and pay your fare on CTA, Metra and Pace buses and trains with the Ventra app. Find all the features you're used to on the Ventra website and more, including mobile ticketing for Metra trains! With the Ventra app, you can: • Check your balance and available passes in your Ventra Card's transit account. • Instantly load value or passes to your Ventra Card's transit account. • Switch autoload for transit value or passes on and off. • Buy and use Metra mobile tickets to ride any Metra train. • Use transit value you've loaded to buy a Metra ticket. • Get real-time account notifications so you know when it's time to load more fare or buy more tickets. • Get real-time arrival/departure information from CTA, Metra and Pace all in one app—by picking a stop, using favorites or looking at service near where you're standing.
Park Evanston
Manage your parking sessions easily with the official app for Evanston, IL. Pay for parking, extend your session remotely, and receive alerts before your time expires. Find parking spots using an interactive map and view future rate changes.
- Pay for parking via smartphone
- Extend parking sessions remotely
- Receive parking session end alerts
- Find parking with interactive map
- View future parking rate changes
- Manage parking history and receipts
Read full descriptionHide full description
No more digging for coins. This is how parking should be. Pay, extend, and manage your parking session with Evanston, IL's official parking app. It’s easy! FIND PARKING Use the map to search for parking, then pay quickly with your smartphone. - Time's precious, stop wasting it feeding a meter. - Forget refilling the meter in the rain or braving the cold. NO PRICE SURPRISES See when parking rates will change in the future – even when there’s free parking! - Receive email receipts at the end of your parking session. - Expenses made easy, manage your parking history through the mobile app. STRESS-FREE PARKING Get alerts when your parking session is about to end. - Stop worrying about how much time is left on the meter, we have you covered. NO NEED TO RUSH Add time to your parking session directly from your phone.* - Your plans change, your parking spot shouldn't. Simply extend your parking session via our app. -------- GET STARTED TODAY 1. Download the ParkEvanston app. 2. Park where you see ParkEvanston app signs. 3. Pay for your parking session from your phone. 4. Relax, welcome to parking as it should be. -------- COMING SOON The ParkEvanston app is not done yet! We're constantly updating the app based on your feedback. -------- APP PERMISSIONS - Location Services (optional): Used to quickly provide nearby parking zones. * where applicable"
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Park Evanston at 4.3 against Ventra's 1.9. Park Evanston also leads on review sentiment (18% vs 8%). Ventra's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 15 months) and chart position (#87 vs unranked). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Park Evanston holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.5K and 752 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 8% of Ventra's written reviews are positive against 18% of Park Evanston's.
Ventra ships an update every 3 months, Park Evanston every 15 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ventra | Park Evanston |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.9 (3.5K ratings) | 4.3 (752 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 7.9% of reviews | 17.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.5K — better | 752 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 15 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #87 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 107 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chicago Transit Authority | City of Evanston |
Customer experience
Ventra
Park Evanston
User reviews
Ventra
From 3.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 🚀 Convenient for transit
- 🚀 Helpful for visitors
- 🚀 Reliable payment processing
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🐛 Inaccurate arrival/departure times
- 🐛 Confusing user interface
- 🐛 Unreliable login and account management
- 🐛 Payment issues and declined transactions
Park Evanston
From 752 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Convenient parking payment
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Fast and efficient
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and errors
- 💰 Expensive convenience fees
- 🔒 Payment issues and security concerns
- 👎 Poor customer support
Bugs and requests
Ventra
Reported bugs
5 issues- Purchase button not working on iPhones
- Favorites list glitches and resets
- Inconsistent and unreliable ticket display
- Frequent app crashes and login issues
- Payment processing failures and lost funds
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to manage Ventra cards and balances
- Improve real-time transit tracking and notifications
- Allow saving of favorite routes and stations
- Integrate with Apple Wallet for easier access
- Provide more transparent and user-friendly payment options
Park Evanston
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login and payment issues
- Wallet balance disappearing
- Inability to update payment information
Requested features
3 requests- Add Apple Pay support
- Allow partial time extensions
- Improve wallet management and refund options
In-app purchases
Ventra
No in-app purchases
Park Evanston
No in-app purchases
