Comparison

Stagecoach Bus vs Southeastern

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

Head to head
About

Stagecoach Bus

Plan your bus journeys, track buses in real-time, and purchase mobile tickets securely. Features an interactive map to view services and stops, with options to save favorite routes.

Highlights
  • Interactive route map
  • Real-time bus tracking
  • Find nearest stops
  • Save favorite journeys
  • Secure mobile ticket purchase
  • Instant ticket delivery
Features
Read full description

Use the app to see bus information on your mobile, plan your journey, check when your bus will arrive, search for the right mobile ticket and buy securely on your phone all in one place. App Features: *Interactive map* We’ve made it easier to travel on our buses with a new interactive map, showing all of our services and stops – simply tap on a bus or stop to find your journey information. *Latest bus information* Check when your bus will arrive and how far away from you it is. *Find the right stop for you* View your nearest bus services and stops wherever you are, which buses stop there and what routes they take. *Favourites* Save your favourite journeys, bus services and stops to make journey planning even easier. *Mobile tickets:* Buy mobile tickets safely and securely and your tickets will appear instantly on your phone ready to use. Simply activate your ticket when you're ready to board and show it to the driver. Stagecoach buses run in the following areas: Aberdeenshire Alton and Petersfield Alyth Blairgowrie and Coupar Angus Andover and Salisbury Arbroath Montrose and the Mearns Coast Ashford Aviemore Ayrshire and Arran Barnsley Barrow and Furness Basingstoke Bedfordshire Blackwater Valley Caithness Cambridgeshire Canterbury Cardiff Carlisle Penrith and Wigton Cheltenham Cheshire Chesterfield Chichester and Bognor Regis Cirencester Clackmannanshire Falkirk and Stirling Doncaster Dover Dronfield Dumfries and Galloway Dundee Dunfermline and West Fife Eastbourne East Devon Edinburgh Folkestone Forest of Dean Forfar and Brechin Fort William Gainsborough Glasgow Glenrothes Leven and Kirkcaldy Gloucester Greater Exeter Grimsby Cleethorpes Guildford and South Surrey Gwent Hartlepool Hastings Herefordshire Highland Perthshire Hull Inverness Kendal and The Lakes Lancashire Leicestershire Lincoln Manchester Mansfield Merseyside Merthyr Tydfil Milton Keynes Moray Morecambe and Lancaster Newark Newcastle upon Tyne Norfolk Northamptonshire North Cornwall North Devon Orkney Oxfordshire Perth Peterborough Plymouth Portsmouth and Havant Powys Retford Rhondda Cynon Taf Rotherham Salford Scunthorpe Sheffield Skegness Skye Somerset South Hams South Perthshire South Shields Staffordshire St Andrews Cupar and the East Neuk Stockport Stroud Sunderland Swindon Tameside Teesside Teignbridge Tewkesbury Thanet Torbay Wakefield Warwickshire and Coventry West Cumbria West Devon West Perthshire Wigan Winchester Worcestershire Worksop Worthing and Brighton

About

Southeastern

Purchase train tickets for any UK railway station with no booking fees. Get real-time updates, digital railcards, and automatic delay compensation claims. This app offers a user-friendly interface with accessibility features.

Highlights
  • Buy train tickets to any UK station
  • eTickets and Key Smartcard options
  • Personalized common journeys
  • One-click delay compensation claims
  • Real-time journey alerts
  • Digital Railcards
  • SeatFinder busy train information
Features
Read full description

Travel anywhere: buy train tickets to and from any UK railway station, getting you where you need to go. eTickets and Key Smartcard tickets: offer more sustainable alternatives to paper tickets. Common Journeys: personalise your home screen and receive real-time updates on journeys you regularly make. One Click Delay Repay: making delays easier! We’ll automatically generate a delay replay claim and tell you about the compensation you’re entitled to if your train is delayed by 15 minutes or more. Journey alerts: get real-time notifications for journeys you are about to make straight to your phone. Digital Railcards: save money with the convenience of a Digital Railcard on your phone. Check how busy your train will be with SeatFinder information. Powered by data from Southeastern, National Rail Enquiries and Transport for London. Built with accessibility in mind: the user-friendly interface helps those with accessibility needs, and makes booking travel assistance easy.

Screenshots

Stagecoach Bus4 screens
Southeastern4 screens

Verdict

The call

Stagecoach Bus and Southeastern both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 43% of Southeastern's written reviews are positive against 10% of Stagecoach Bus's. Stagecoach Bus's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (814 vs 86). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Stagecoach Bus against 4.7 for Southeastern. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stagecoach Bus has 814 ratings behind it against 86, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 10% of Stagecoach Bus's written reviews are positive against 43% of Southeastern's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stagecoach Bus ships an update monthly, Southeastern every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Stagecoach Bus versus Southeastern: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStagecoach BusSoutheastern
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (814 ratings)4.7 (86 ratings) — better
Positive reviews10.4% of reviews42.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings814 — better86
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS14.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size68 MB169 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStagecoach Group plcThe Go-Ahead Group plc

Customer experience

Stagecoach Bus

All ratings813 ratings
Positive89.1%
Neutral4.1%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews701 reviews
Positive10.4%
Neutral9.0%
Negative80.6%

Southeastern

All ratings86 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral1.2%
Negative4.7%
Written reviews197 reviews
Positive42.6%
Neutral15.2%
Negative42.1%

User reviews

Stagecoach Bus

From 814 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Convenient ticket purchase
  • 👍 Good for frequent travelers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Apple Pay not working
  • 🐛 Unreliable bus tracking
  • 🐛 Inaccurate timetables
  • 🐛 Glitchy app performance
  • 🐛 Difficult to navigate

Southeastern

From 86 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Convenient for booking tickets
  • 🚀 Fast and efficient
  • 💡 Useful features like delay repay
  • 👍 User-friendly interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent issues with loading tickets to key card
  • 🐛 Unreliable app performance, crashes and glitches
  • 🐛 Confusing and unintuitive user experience
  • 🐛 Inconsistent functionality across different device types
  • 🐛 Poor accessibility for disabled users

Bugs and requests

Stagecoach Bus

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Routes disappearing from app
  • Ticket purchases failing
  • Inability to purchase youth/student tickets

Requested features

3 requests
  • More regional voice announcers
  • Improved bus cancellation notifications
  • Better integration with mobile payment options

Southeastern

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Inability to load tickets onto key card
  • Inconsistent behavior when purchasing tickets
  • Errors and crashes when trying to claim delay repay
  • Issues with recognizing and applying railcard discounts
  • Problems with syncing ticket purchases across devices

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to save and reuse common journeys
  • Offline support for accessing tickets
  • Integration with mobile wallets like Apple Pay
  • Improved accessibility features
  • Better tracking and management of purchased tickets
Show 1 more
  • More intuitive and streamlined user interface

In-app purchases

None

Stagecoach Bus

No in-app purchases

None

Southeastern

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Stagecoach Bus free?
Stagecoach Bus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Southeastern free?
Southeastern is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Stagecoach Bus or Southeastern?
Southeastern is rated higher. Stagecoach Bus averages 4.6 out of 5 from 814 ratings, while Southeastern averages 4.7 from 86 ratings.
Do Stagecoach Bus or Southeastern have ads?
Neither Stagecoach Bus nor Southeastern shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stagecoach Bus or Southeastern?
Stagecoach Bus ships an update monthly, and Southeastern every 3 weeks. Most recently, Stagecoach Bus was updated on November 6, 2026 and Southeastern on November 7, 2026.

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