meterUP Parking vs PennTransit Mobile
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Mobile parking payment
- Extend parking remotely
- Expiration alerts
- Find available parking
- Save favorite locations
- Track car location
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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/
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.
- Advanced Trip Planner
- Real-time Vehicle Locations
- Accurate Arrival Times
- Schedule & Route Review
- Intelligent Notifications
- On-Demand Shuttle Tracking
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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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
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.
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.
| Parameter | meterUP Parking | PennTransit Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (54K ratings) — better | 4.8 (886 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 33.1% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 54K — better | 886 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 8 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #125 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 186 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Parkmobile USA, Inc. | University of Pennsylvania |
Customer experience
meterUP Parking
PennTransit Mobile
User reviews
meterUP Parking
From 54K App Store ratingsWhat 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 ratingsWhat 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
meterUP Parking
No in-app purchases
PennTransit Mobile
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is meterUP Parking free?
Is PennTransit Mobile free?
Which has better reviews, meterUP Parking or PennTransit Mobile?
Do meterUP Parking or PennTransit Mobile have ads?
Which is updated more often, meterUP Parking or PennTransit Mobile?
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