Reading Buses vs Carousel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Reading Buses
Plan your bus journeys, purchase mobile tickets, and track live departures. This app provides real-time bus information, fare discovery, and contactless journey history. Save your favorite routes and stay updated on service disruptions.
- Mobile ticket purchase
- Live departure tracking
- Journey planning
- Fare discovery
- Timetable access
- Contactless journey history
- Service update notifications
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Our new app has everything you need to travel with Reading Buses. NEW! Discover your fare: Find the fare for the journeys you are planning whether you want to buy a mobile ticket in advance or pay on the bus. Mobile Tickets: Purchase mobile tickets securely with a debit/credit card and scan when boarding - no more searching for cash! Live Departures: Browse and view bus stops on the map, explore upcoming departures, or check out the routes from a stop to see where you could travel next. Journey Planning: It’s now even easier to plan ahead with Reading Buses. Timetables: We’ve squeezed the whole timetable into the palm of your hand. Contactless Journeys: View the journeys you have made using your contactless cards and a breakdown of charges and savings. Favourites: You can quickly save your favourite Departure Boards, Timetables and Journeys, with quick access from one convenient menu. Service Updates: You’ll be able to keep up to date with disruption information from our Twitter feed inside the app. As always, we welcome your feedback. You can send it to us via the app.
Carousel
Plan your bus journeys and purchase tickets for High Wycombe and Buckinghamshire. View live departures, access timetables, and manage contactless journeys. Save your favorite routes for quick access.
- Mobile ticket purchase
- Live departure times
- Journey planning
- Route timetables
- Contactless journey history
- Favorite routes
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Our new app has everything you need to get around High Wycombe and Buckinghamshire with Carousel Buses. It’s packed full of everything you’ll need to get mobile on the bus. Mobile Tickets: Purchase mobile tickets securely with Apple Pay or a debit/credit card and show the driver when boarding - no more searching for cash! Live Departures: Browse and view bus stops on the map, explore upcoming departures, or check out the routes from a stop to see where you could travel next. Journey Planning: Plan your commute, trip to the shops or night out with friends. It’s now even easier to plan ahead with Carousel Buses. Timetables: We’ve squeezed all of our routes and timetables into the palm of your hand. Contactless Journeys: View the journeys you have made using your contactless cards and a breakdown of charges and savings. Favourites: You can quickly save your favourite Departure Boards, Timetables and Journeys, with quick access from one convenient menu. Disruptions: You’ll be able to keep up to date with service changes directly from our disruption feeds inside the app. As always, we welcome your feedback. You can send it to us via the app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Reading Buses at 61% against Carousel's 26%. Reading Buses also leads on ratings volume (83 vs 3). Carousel's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, update cadence, 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.
Carousel holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Reading Buses has 83 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 61% of Reading Buses's written reviews are positive against 26% of Carousel's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Reading Buses | Carousel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (83 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 61.2% of reviews — better | 26.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 83 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Reading Buses | The Go-Ahead Group plc |
Customer experience
Reading Buses
Carousel
In-app purchases
Reading Buses
No in-app purchases
Carousel
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Reading Buses free?
Is Carousel free?
Which has better reviews, Reading Buses or Carousel?
Do Reading Buses or Carousel have ads?
Which is updated more often, Reading Buses or Carousel?
Other comparisons
