Stopfinder vs First Bell
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stopfinder
This app provides parents and guardians with access to their student's daily bus stop assignments. It offers real-time bus tracking with customizable alert zones and estimated arrival times. Users can also complete electronic forms and communicate directly with the transportation department.
- View student bus stop assignments
- Real-time bus tracking with GeoAlerts
- Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) notifications
- Complete electronic district forms
- Communicate with transportation department
- Control trip stop visibility
- View attendance history
Read full descriptionHide full description
For participating Districts, Stopfinder gives parents and guardians access to view and share their student’s bus stop assignments as well as communicate with the Transportation Department. With Stopfinder GeoAlerts, app users can create alert zones at any stop or school or along your student’s route. Stopfinder users will be notified when their student’s bus has arrived at or departed from an alert zone. Know where the bus is and know your student has arrived at or departed from any location along their assigned bus route. Stopfinder Forms allows app users to complete electronic forms sent from their district through the Stopfinder app. Stopfinder users can view new forms and submitted forms through the Stopfinder Message Center. Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) notifications can be configured by Stopfinder app users to display the bus’s ETA based on their student’s assigned stop and the bus’s location. ETA notifications appear on the student’s schedule in the Stopfinder app and inform users the amount of time until the bus arrives at their student’s assigned stop. Control who can see your student’s assigned trip stops, view attendance history, and receive notifications when attendance has been taken or a vehicle substitution has been made. Send and receive messages from the school district’s Transportation department.
First Bell
This app helps high school students manage their daily class schedules with personalized views and live timers. Input your classes once to instantly organize your day and always know what's next.
- Personalized class schedules
- Live timers for current block
- View today's full schedule
- Input class names and room numbers
- Organized daily view
Read full descriptionHide full description
FIRST BELL Lake Washington School District’s new high school bell schedule includes different start times, rotating blocks, and varying lunch schedules. First Bell keeps everything simple with a personalized schedule and live timers. Just enter your classes once, and your day is instantly organized. ** FEATURES * Edit: Input your class names, room numbers, and lunch. * Today's Schedule: View your full day’s schedule, synced to day of the week with live timers. * Current Schedule: A simple view of what class is happening now and what’s next. HOW IT WORKS Set up your classes in the app, and First Bell takes care of the rest. Your current block updates in real time, so you always know exactly where you’re supposed to be. WHY FIRST BELL No more paper schedules or scrolling through reminders. First Bell is built for high school students, by a high school student, to make staying on schedule effortless. Disclaimer This free app is provided 'as is' with no warranties, express or implied. The developer assumes no liability, implicit or explicit, for any issues arising from app usage. **This app is built for regular bell schedule days only.**
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: First Bell at every 9 days against Stopfinder's every 3 months. First Bell also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 31%). Stopfinder's advantage is ratings volume (16K vs 15) and chart position (#174 vs unranked). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Stopfinder against 4.8 for First Bell. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stopfinder has 16K ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 31% of Stopfinder's written reviews are positive against 50% of First Bell's.
Stopfinder ships an update every 3 months, First Bell every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Stopfinder | First Bell |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (16K ratings) | 4.8 (15 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 31.2% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16K — better | 15 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #174 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 128 MB | 0 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Transfinder | Subramanian Ramaswamy |
Customer experience
Stopfinder
First Bell
Bugs and requests
Stopfinder
Reported bugs
4 issues- Bus location often unavailable
- Notifications not working as expected
- App login issues
- Schedules/routes disappearing from app
Requested features
4 requests- Two-way communication with transportation
- Ability to share app access with multiple family members
- More customizable notification settings
- Integration with school calendars for early release days
First Bell
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Stopfinder
No in-app purchases
First Bell
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Stopfinder free?
Is First Bell free?
Which has better reviews, Stopfinder or First Bell?
Do Stopfinder or First Bell have ads?
Which is updated more often, Stopfinder or First Bell?
Other comparisons















