Comparison

Busly vs BartBuddies

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Live map with vehicle locations
  • Real-time arrival times
  • Detailed vehicle information
  • Favorite routes and stops
  • Nearby stops
  • Fare information
  • Light and dark themes
Read full description

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.

About

BartBuddies

This app provides real-time tracking for BART trains, allowing users to share precise arrival times at any station. It simplifies coordinating meetups with friends by eliminating guesswork.

Highlights
  • Real-time BART train tracking
  • Share exact ETA at any station
  • Coordinate meetups easily
  • Eliminates guesswork for arrivals
Features
Read full description

BartBuddies tracks your BART train in real time and lets you share its exact ETA at any station, making it easy to coordinate meetups with friends without the guesswork.

Screenshots

Busly4 screens
BartBuddies3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: BartBuddies at 100% against Busly's 43%. BartBuddies also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Busly's advantage is ratings volume (563 vs 5) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.5). On price, ads, monetization model and device support 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. Busly sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. BartBuddies asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BartBuddies holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Busly has 563 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 43% of Busly's written reviews are positive against 100% of BartBuddies's.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Busly versus BartBuddies: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBuslyBartBuddies
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (563 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews42.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings563 — better5
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.5
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlex PerezLee Alan Honigberg

Customer experience

Busly

All ratings553 ratings
Positive87.7%
Neutral3.3%
Negative9.0%
Written reviews35 reviews
Positive42.9%
Neutral2.9%
Negative54.3%

BartBuddies

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Busly

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App crashes
  • Routes do not show up
  • App cuts off
  • App is unstable
  • Long calibration times
Show 4 more
  • 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)
Show 4 more
  • 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

BartBuddies

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Busly

Subscriptions2
  • Busly Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Busly Pro Annual$9.991 Year
None

BartBuddies

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Busly free?
Busly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BartBuddies free?
BartBuddies is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Busly or BartBuddies?
BartBuddies is rated higher. Busly averages 4.5 out of 5 from 563 ratings, while BartBuddies averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Busly or BartBuddies have ads?
Neither Busly nor BartBuddies shows ads.

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