Comparison

meterUP Parking vs PennTransit Mobile

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

Head to head
About

meterUP Parking

Easily pay for on-street and off-street parking directly from your phone. Find available parking spots, extend your session remotely, and receive expiration alerts. Supports over 500 cities nationwide.

Highlights
  • Mobile parking payment
  • Extend parking remotely
  • Expiration alerts
  • Find available parking
  • Save favorite locations
  • Track car location
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

The meterUP app, powered by ParkMobile, gives you a smarter way to park in Philadelphia. Easily pay for on-street and off-street parking right from your mobile device. You can use the meterUP app in over 500 other cities across the country, including Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, Dallas, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and more. Why Use meterUP? • Skip the meter and easily pay for parking from your mobile device • Extend your parking duration remotely from the app • Get alerts so you know when your parking session is going to expire • Use ParkMobile in over 3000 locations coast-to-coast including venues, airports, and universities •. Find areas of the city where there is available parking and avoid areas where there’s no parking How to Set Up Your Account • Download the meterUP app and create an account with your email address and password • Enter your license plate number and the state where your vehicle is registered • Add your method of payment and start using the meterUP app How It Works On-Street and Off-Street Parking: • Enter the zone number on the posted signs around the meter • Select the amount of time you want to park and confirm your information • Touch the “Start Parking” button to begin your parking session • Extend time in the app if you are running late App Features • Customizable notifications delivered via email, text, and/or app • Save your favorite parking locations for next time • Store up to five cars in your account • “Find my car” feature directs you back to the location where you parked • Multiple payment methods available •. Parking Availability feature shows streets with open parking spots in your area About ParkMobile ParkMobile, LLC is the leading provider ParkMobile, LLC is the leading provider of parking payment solutions in the United States, helping over 40 million people easily find, reserve, and pay for parking from their mobile devices. Looking for Help? At ParkMobile, we’re serious about customer service. We process nearly 500,000 parking transactions every day and we know that every now and then, something might go wrong. If you have an issue, we will do everything we can to make it right. Our customer service is 24/7/365. If you need help, here’s how to get in touch with us: Web: https://ParkMobile.io/ Online Help Center: https://support.ParkMobile.io/hc/en-us/requests/new Video Tutorials: https://ParkMobile.io/tips-demos/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParkMobile Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParkMobile/

About

PennTransit Mobile

Navigate campus and surrounding areas with real-time transit information. Plan trips, view schedules, and track shuttles for easy travel to, from, and around campus.

Highlights
  • Advanced Trip Planner
  • Real-time Vehicle Locations
  • Accurate Arrival Times
  • Schedule & Route Review
  • Intelligent Notifications
  • On-Demand Shuttle Tracking
Features
Read full description

PennTransit Mobile helps you travel to, from, and around campus and the surrounding neighborhoods easily. See all of your options in one place: Penn Bus East and West, On-Demand Shuttles, and specialty services like the Pennovation Works Shuttle and Penn Accessible Transit. This app provides you accurate vehicle locations and arrival times, ensuring you have the information you need when you need it so you can arrive safely and on time. Simply download the app, login securely with your PennKey, and you're ready to go! KEY FEATURES: Advanced Trip Planner—from your start location to your final destination, know the route you’re going to take and determine whether our fixed-route buses or on-demand shuttles will get you there faster. Schedule & Route Review—view route schedules on a stop-by-stop basis on all available routes so you can plan every trip ahead of time. The app also lets you know our service area boundaries so you can see if you need to use complimentary transportation such as SEPTA, LUCY, or Drexel Bus to get you to your final destination. Intelligent Notifications—subscribe to routes or stops to get arrival, departure, and delay information sent directly to your device. On-Demand—When using our on-demand shuttles, you can get a real-time view of your shuttle. Alerts – Check the app for updates from Penn Transit Services. Questions? Email transit@upenn.edu.

Screenshots

meterUP Parking4 screens
PennTransit Mobile4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: meterUP Parking at fortnightly against PennTransit Mobile's every 8 months. meterUP Parking also leads on ratings volume (54K vs 886) and chart position (#125 vs unranked). PennTransit Mobile's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). 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

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 — 4.8 for meterUP Parking against 4.8 for PennTransit Mobile. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: meterUP Parking has 54K ratings behind it against 886, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 33% of meterUP Parking's written reviews are positive against 25% of PennTransit Mobile's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

meterUP Parking ships an update fortnightly, PennTransit Mobile every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
meterUP Parking versus PennTransit Mobile: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametermeterUP ParkingPennTransit Mobile
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (54K ratings) — better4.8 (886 ratings)
Positive reviews33.1% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings54K — better886
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 8 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#125 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size186 MB55 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperParkmobile USA, Inc.University of Pennsylvania

Customer experience

meterUP Parking

All ratings54,295 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.8%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews121 reviews
Positive33.1%
Neutral9.9%
Negative57.0%

PennTransit Mobile

All ratings760 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral1.7%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

User reviews

meterUP Parking

From 54K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Convenient parking payment
  • 🚀 Saves time and money
  • 👍 Ability to stop/extend parking remotely

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Unreliable notifications
  • 💰 Expensive fees and double/triple charges
  • 🔒 Difficult to prove payment
  • 🐛 Glitches and login issues

PennTransit Mobile

From 886 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple to schedule rides
  • 💡 Ability to favorite routes

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Notification issues
  • 🐛 Inconsistent bus arrival times
  • 🐛 Inefficient routing algorithm
  • 🐛 Drivers not knowing routes

Bugs and requests

meterUP Parking

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App failing to register parking payments
  • Parking history not saving or accessible
  • Notifications not working as expected

Requested features

3 requests
  • Comprehensive parking location list
  • Ability to change vehicle nickname during parking
  • Improved parking history and customer support

PennTransit Mobile

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App not working properly
  • Frequent route changes causing longer trips

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add notifications when buses arrive
  • Provide more transparent bus schedules
  • Improve security by calling users who don't show up

In-app purchases

None

meterUP Parking

No in-app purchases

None

PennTransit Mobile

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is meterUP Parking free?
meterUP Parking is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PennTransit Mobile free?
PennTransit Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, meterUP Parking or PennTransit Mobile?
meterUP Parking is rated higher. meterUP Parking averages 4.8 out of 5 from 54K ratings, while PennTransit Mobile averages 4.8 from 886 ratings.
Do meterUP Parking or PennTransit Mobile have ads?
Neither meterUP Parking nor PennTransit Mobile shows ads.
Which is updated more often, meterUP Parking or PennTransit Mobile?
meterUP Parking ships an update fortnightly, and PennTransit Mobile every 8 months. Most recently, meterUP Parking was updated on November 4, 2026 and PennTransit Mobile on November 3, 2026.

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