Capital Bikeshare vs SmarTrip
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Capital Bikeshare
This app provides access to a large bike-sharing system across Washington D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. Users can purchase rides, unlock bikes, and find nearby stations with available bikes and docks. It also integrates public transit schedules for seamless travel planning.
- Purchase rides and memberships
- Unlock bikes directly from the app
- View station locations and bike availability
- Get walking directions to stations
- See public transit schedules
- Ideal for one-way trips
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Capital Bikeshare is DC, Virginia, and Maryland’s bike share system, and the first large scale bikeshare in the nation. Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) has thousands of bikes at hundreds of stations across Washington DC, Arlington, Alexandria, Tysons, Reston, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase. Best of all, it’s available 24/7. CaBi consists of a fleet of specially designed, sturdy and durable bikes that are locked into a network of docking stations throughout the city. The bikes can be unlocked from one station and returned to any other station in the system, making them ideal for one-way trips. People use bike share to commute to work, meet friends for dinner, or simply cruise around and see new sights. After signing up, all trips under 30 minutes are free. The CaBi App lets you purchase rides, unlock a bike, and ride right away. You can also view all station locations, see available bikes and docks, and get walking directions to them to start your ride. The Capital Bikeshare app also shows upcoming public transit departures, including WMATA Metrorail, Metrobus, and shuttle lines, DC Circulator buses, Fairfax Connector buses, Montgomery RideOn buses, Alexandria DASH buses, Prince George’s County TheBus buses, Arlington Regional Transit buses, VRE trains, and the Silver Line Express. Within the app, you can purchase the following: Single Ride Access Pass Membership Happy riding!
SmarTrip
Manage your SmarTrip card and account with this optional tool. Register your card for balance protection, check benefits, set up auto-reload, or purchase transit passes. It can also be added to Apple Wallet for easy tap-to-pay.
- Manage SmarTrip card and account
- Add SmarTrip to Apple Wallet
- Register card for balance protection
- Check SmartBenefits
- Setup Auto-Reload
- Buy unlimited transit passes
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This app is an OPTIONAL tool that allows you to manage your SmarTrip® card and account. This app can NOT be used to pay your transit or parking fares. You do NOT need to setup a SmarTrip account to use SmarTrip in Apple Wallet. Add SmarTrip to Apple Wallet: - Open Apple Wallet on iPhone or Apple Watch - Tap “+”, choose “Transit Card”, select “SmarTrip” - In less than a minute you’ll have a new SmarTrip card in your Apple Wallet and be ready to tap to pay for rides or parking anywhere SmarTrip is accepted. If you need to do account management, then: - Install this optional SmarTrip app to register your card for account balance protection, check SmartBenefits, setup Auto-Reload, or buy money-saving unlimited transit passes. Chat with us at WMATA.COM/CHAT or call 888-SMARTRIP (888-762-7874)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Capital Bikeshare at 4.3 against SmarTrip's 2.5. Capital Bikeshare also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months) and review sentiment (32% vs 11%). SmarTrip's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, 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.
Capital Bikeshare holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Capital Bikeshare has 1.6K ratings behind it against 57, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of Capital Bikeshare's written reviews are positive against 11% of SmarTrip's.
Capital Bikeshare ships an update weekly, SmarTrip every 5 months. Both last shipped on September 22, 2026.
| Parameter | Capital Bikeshare | SmarTrip |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (1.6K ratings) — better | 2.5 (57 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 31.6% of reviews — better | 10.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.6K — better | 57 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 247 MB | 66 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lyft Bikes and Scooters, LLC | Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority |
Customer experience
Capital Bikeshare
SmarTrip
User reviews
Capital Bikeshare
From 1.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 🚲 Convenient way to get around
- 💰 Affordable pricing
- 📍 Helpful navigation and station info
Room to improve
- 🚲 Bike and dock availability issues
- 🔍 Unclear pricing and fees
- 🤖 Poor customer service
- 🐛 Buggy app and technical problems
SmarTrip
From 57 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Convenient for commuting
- 🚀 Seamless integration with Apple Wallet
- 🚀 Straightforward account setup
Room to improve
- 🐛 Unreliable card reading at turnstiles
- 🐛 Delayed balance updates
- 🐛 Buggy app functionality
- 🔒 Excessive personal information required
- 🔒 Difficult to recover account
Bugs and requests
Capital Bikeshare
Reported bugs
3 issues- Bikes not unlocking properly
- Incorrect dock availability info
- Charges for rides that didn't happen
Requested features
4 requests- Extend ride time limit
- Improve bike and dock distribution
- Add voice navigation
- Better integration with public transit
SmarTrip
Reported bugs
3 issues- Unable to activate account due to missing activation email
- Password reset process not working
- Inconsistent behavior when adding value to card
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to transfer balance between cards
- Real-time balance updates
- Improved trip planning tools
- Apple Watch support
In-app purchases
Capital Bikeshare
No in-app purchases
SmarTrip
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Capital Bikeshare free?
Is SmarTrip free?
Which has better reviews, Capital Bikeshare or SmarTrip?
Do Capital Bikeshare or SmarTrip have ads?
Which is updated more often, Capital Bikeshare or SmarTrip?
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