Comparison

NextTrain vs SubwayNow

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

NextTrain

Read full description

Don't worry about train time! NextTrain shows train's schedule that it will arrive station around you in Boston. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. NextTrain is not affiliated with the MBTA.

About

SubwayNow

Features
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SubwayNow shows the next New York City subway trains at the stations that matter to you, with live MTA data and no account. LOCK SCREEN WIDGETS Add SubwayNow under your clock and glance at the next trains in both directions. Three widgets to choose from: Nearest Station, Pinned Station 1, and Pinned Station 2. Also available as Home Screen widgets in small, medium, and large sizes. NEAREST STATION Tap refresh and SubwayNow finds the closest stations to you, with walking time and the next arrivals in each direction. PIN YOUR STATIONS Pin the stations you use every day: your home stop, your work stop. They show first in the app and power the Pinned Station widgets. EVERY LINE, EVERY STATION All 472 stations and every route, including the Staten Island Railway, in the official MTA colors you already know. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your location is read only when you refresh, never tracked in the background. SubwayNow collects no data and has no accounts, ads, or analytics. Arrival times come from the MTA's public real-time feeds. SubwayNow is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Screenshots

NextTrain4 screens
SubwayNow3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: SubwayNow at every 4 days against NextTrain's every 9 days. NextTrain's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NextTrain ships an update every 9 days, SubwayNow every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
NextTrain versus SubwayNow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNextTrainSubwayNow
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysEvery 4 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS9.3 β€” better17.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size23 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChonnawee PhiphatkulXingliang Chen

In-app purchases

None

NextTrain

No in-app purchases

None

SubwayNow

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is NextTrain free?
NextTrain is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SubwayNow free?
SubwayNow is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do NextTrain or SubwayNow have ads?
Neither NextTrain nor SubwayNow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NextTrain or SubwayNow?
NextTrain ships an update every 9 days, and SubwayNow every 4 days. Most recently, NextTrain was updated on October 13, 2026 and SubwayNow on October 24, 2026.

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