Busly vs Pantograph
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
Pantograph
Visualize your entire transit network on a single map, seeing all active buses, trains, ferries, and streetcars. Get real-time departure estimates, vehicle statistics, and passenger load information for supported agencies. Track missed trips and customize your view to gain deep insights into system performance.
- Real-time transit vehicle map
- Departure estimates
- Vehicle statistics and load
- Route and stop schedules
- Missed trip reports
- Customizable vehicle icons
- Pro filtering system
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Pantograph gives you insights into your travels—and the whole transit system—like no app before it. Every active bus, train, ferry, and streetcar from over 130 supported agencies is visible on one map, empowering you with information only before seen by dispatchers. Plus, when you know your stop, see realtime departure estimates for every route arriving. Pantograph is named after the part of an electric train that connects it to the overhead electrical wire—just likes it connects you vital information about the transit network. Key features: • Identify at a glance areas where vehicles across all routes are getting delayed. • View statistics for all vehicles on the map, including how many are on-time, currently serving each route, and more. • View current vehicle passenger load and capacity (supported agencies only). • See route and stop schedules with realtime updates based on current conditions, and save favorite stops for later. • Customize what data is displayed on vehicle icons. • See an up-to-the-minute report on how many trips are being missed each day. • Add widgets showing the status of a selection of routes. • Learn exactly which bus, train, or ferry is serving each trip, as well as its model information—helping you get a more enjoyable ride. • View the full set of trips each vehicle will be serving today, as well as each trip's full stop schedule. • Browse the daily timetables for each route, plus use an advanced Block Timeline to see vehicle schedules. • Explore the assignment history for every route and vehicle, helping you learn what routes get certain kinds of buses, track down the bus you left your headphones on, follow new additions to the fleet, and more. With a Pantograph Pro subscription, you can also: • Explore the full database of assignment history and schedules. • See missed trips for the entire period available in Pantograph. • Get push notifications when select vehicles are assigned to a new block. Currently available for over 130 transit agencies: • Greater Puget Sound (King County Metro, Sound Transit, Community Transit, Pierce Transit, Intercity Transit, Everett Transit, Seattle Streetcar, Whatcom Transportation Authority, Skagit, Washington State Ferries, more) • Eastern Washington (Spokane, Pullman, more) • Vancouver, BC (TransLink) • Montréal, QC (STM, exo) • Portland, McMinnville, Eugene, and Corvallis, OR (TriMet, Yamhill County Transit, Cherriots, Lane Transit District, Corvallis Transit System, Benton Area Transit) • Los Angeles and Southern California (LA Metro, Foothill Transit, Orange County, San Diego MTS, Torrance, more) • The San Francisco Bay Area (SF Muni, AC Transit, SamTrans, VTA, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, Tri Delta Transit, Wheels, Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit, more) • Central CA (FAX, Merced, GET Bus, StanRTA, more) • Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD (WMATA, MTA Maryland, Arlington, Fairfax Connector, Virginia Railway Express, DASH, more) • Boston, MA (MBTA) • Providence, RI (RIPTA) • Philadelphia, PA (SEPTA) • Minneapolis, MN (Metro Transit, Met Council, Maple Grove, MVTA, more) • Denver and Boulder, CO (RTD, Via, Bustang) • Islands of O'ahu, Maui, and Kaua'i; Hawai'i • ...with more on the way! If you choose to purchase a Pantograph Pro subscription, payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your account settings on the App Store after purchase. Terms of Use: https://pantographapp.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://pantographapp.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Busly at free against Pantograph's freemium. Busly also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (555 vs 81). Pantograph's advantage is review sentiment (54% vs 43%). 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. Busly sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Pantograph sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Busly against 4.4 for Pantograph. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Busly has 555 ratings behind it against 81, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 43% of Busly's written reviews are positive against 54% of Pantograph's.
Busly ships an update fortnightly, Pantograph every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Busly | Pantograph |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (555 ratings) — better | 4.4 (81 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 42.9% of reviews | 53.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 555 — better | 81 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alex Perez | Round Trip Productions, LLC |
Customer experience
Busly
Pantograph
Bugs and 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)
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- 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
Pantograph
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Busly
- Busly Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Busly Pro Annual$9.991 Year
Pantograph
- Pantograph Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Pantograph Pro Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Pantograph Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$14.991 Year
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- Pantograph Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$29.991 Year








