Commute Together vs SmarTrip
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Commute Together
Coordinate carpools and vanpools with ease. Members set their riding days and exceptions, while coordinators manage driver schedules and expenses. Stay informed with customizable notifications and exportable schedules.
- Member-defined riding schedules
- Driver schedule management
- Schedule exceptions
- Expense tracking
- Customizable notifications
- PDF schedule export
- Group texting
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Easily manage the schedule for a ride share or carpool by allowing each person to set their own schedule. Send a text to everyone or just the people riding today. Learn more at: https://commutetogether.com/GettingStarted Features: - Each member sets which days of the week they ride. - Members can add exceptions to the usual schedule for specific dates. - Group coordinators set the schedule of who drives on which days. - Can have multiple rotating drive schedules. - Coordinators can add exceptions to the usual driver schedule for specific dates. - The Schedule tab displays who is riding and driving for each day. - Can export the schedule as a PDF calendar. - Send texts to all group members or just the people riding today. - Sends notifications to other group members when someone changes their schedule. - Each person can turn notifications on/off or set a time period to hold all notifications during a specific time and send them once that time has passed. - Any group member can add fuel expenses. - Coordinators can create invoices and add other expenses.
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 review sentiment: Commute Together at 100% against SmarTrip's 11%. Commute Together also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.5) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months). SmarTrip's advantage is ratings volume (57 vs 5) and chart position (#208 vs unranked). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Commute Together holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmarTrip has 57 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Commute Together's written reviews are positive against 11% of SmarTrip's.
Commute Together ships an update every 6 weeks, SmarTrip every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Commute Together | SmarTrip |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better | 2.5 (57 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 10.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5 | 57 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #208 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.4 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 48 MB | 66 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Brasher Ventures | Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority |
Customer experience
Commute Together
SmarTrip
Bugs and requests
Commute Together
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
Commute Together
No in-app purchases
SmarTrip
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Commute Together free?
Is SmarTrip free?
Which has better reviews, Commute Together or SmarTrip?
Do Commute Together or SmarTrip have ads?
Which is updated more often, Commute Together or SmarTrip?
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