onTime vs Busly
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
onTime
Get real-time transit information for BART, Muni, and Caltrain. View schedules, countdowns to the next train, and receive important service alerts. Go paperless and stay informed about your commute.
- Real-time train and bus countdowns
- Commuter notification service
- Automatic schedule updates
- Online and offline schedule access
- Paperless trip planning
- Integrated transit maps
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onTime is fast and easy to use. It is designed with commuters in mind. With onTime you can look up schedules anytime anywhere without having to carry and dig through paper schedules. The act of simply opening the app will show you the schedules and count-down of the next trains. Sign up for commuter-notification to receive latest outages, delays and service changes. Be on time and be environmental friendly at the same time. FEATURES: - Countdown to the next train - Track info - Commuter-Notification Service - Automatic Schedule Update - Real-time updates and track info (where available) - Online and Offline Schedule - Paperless - Trip duration - Maps onTime Premium: – $4.99 USD (or equivalent) per year and may vary from country to country. – Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase – Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period – Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal – Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase – Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable Term Of Service: http://www.mobilewareinc.com/legal/ontime_tos.html Privacy Policy: http://www.mobilewareinc.com/legal/ontime_privacy.html * Note: onTime App uses BART transit agency's schedule data but it is not affiliated with BART.
Busly
This app provides real-time transit information for buses and trains in major U.S. cities. View live vehicle locations, arrival times, and detailed route information on an interactive map. Save favorite routes and stops for quick access.
- Live map with vehicle locations
- Real-time arrival times
- Detailed vehicle information
- Favorite routes and stops
- Nearby stops
- Fare information
- Light and dark themes
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Now with support for iOS 27 & iPhone Duo! Busly lets you view live locations & arrival times for buses & trains across major U.S. cities. LIVE MAP • Get real-time bus & train position updates on a live updating map (which can also show route lines & stops!) ARRIVAL TIMES • View up-to-date arrival times for both stops & vehicles DETAILED BUS/TRAIN INFO • Get detailed vehicle information including: heading, speed, occupancy, wheelchair accessibility, bikes allowed FAVORITES • Add route lines & stops to your Favorites for quick access NEARBY STOPS • View stops nearby to your current location SEARCH • Optimized for near-instant search results to help you quickly find what you're looking for FARE INFORMATION • View detailed fare/ticketing options for the agencies in your region LIGHT & DARK THEMES • Choose between fully supported light & dark themes or automatically switch using the system setting ACCESSIBILITY • First-class accessibility support, including VoiceOver & Dynamic Type SUPPORTED REGIONS • Atlanta (MARTA) • Austin (CapMetro) • Boston (MBTA) • Chicago (Metra) • Cincinnati (Go Metro) • Cleveland (GCRTA) • Denver (RTD) • Edmonton (ETS) • Hartford (CTTransit) • Las Vegas (RTC) • Los Angeles (LA Metro) • Minneapolis (Metro Transit) • Nashville (WeGo) • Phoenix (Valley Metro) • Raleigh (GoRaleigh) • Sacramento (SacRT) • San Francisco (SF Muni, BART, Caltrain) • Seattle (King County Metro) • Washington, D.C. (WMATA) ...And many more coming soon! NO ADS, NO TRACKERS • Busly is 100% free of ads & trackers and always will be — For questions/comments/support, email support@busly.app or navigate in-app to Settings > Support > Contact App Support.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Busly at 4.5 against onTime's 3.9. Busly also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). onTime's advantage is review sentiment (53% vs 43%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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. onTime sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per year and Busly sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Busly holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Busly has 566 ratings behind it against 52, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 53% of onTime's written reviews are positive against 43% of Busly's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
onTime ships an update every 2 months, Busly fortnightly. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | onTime | Busly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (52 ratings) | 4.5 (566 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 52.9% of reviews — better | 42.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 52 | 566 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 130 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mobileware Inc. | Alex Perez |
Customer experience
onTime
Busly
Bugs and requests
onTime
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Busly
Reported bugs
9 issues- App crashes
- Routes do not show up
- App cuts off
- App is unstable
- Long calibration times
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- Buses appear ahead of reported location
- Missing key spots on routes
- Stops are out of order
- Atlanta map missing stations
Requested features
9 requests- Show bus numbers
- Show run numbers
- Color-code different bus lines on map
- Display bus number instead of line name when clicking a stop
- Improve refresh rate (currently 5 minutes)
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Add tutorial or explanation of symbols
- Allow selection of favorite stops
- Add vehicle ID and Block ID
- Revert to previous app's functionality for route lists and stop order
In-app purchases
onTime
- Premium$4.991 Year
Busly
- Busly Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Busly Pro Annual$9.991 Year






