McGill’s Buses vs ZoneCard
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
McGill’s Buses
Purchase and use mobile tickets directly from your device, eliminating the need for paper tickets. Track your bus in real-time, plan your journeys, and find nearby stops. Access timetables and save favorite routes for convenient travel.
- Mobile ticketing
- Real-time bus tracking
- Journey planning
- Find nearest stops
- User-friendly timetables
- Save favorite services
Read full descriptionHide full description
McGill’s new and improved m-ticket and real-time app allows you to buy your tickets within the app and use your mobile device as your ticket as well as view real-time information, meaning you can check exactly where your bus is, at any given time – all in the once place! With other added features including- planning my journey, find my nearest stop, user friendly timetable information and saving your favourite services, this will make McGill’s bus travel even easier, with everything you need fitting into your pocket. With M-Ticketing you can buy and load your tickets to your phone and use them whenever suits you; including saving your tickets for later! No more searching for change and for use on any McGill’s bus across our extensive network of services, with payment accepted via PayPal, credit or debit card. There are over half a million journeys on a McGill’s bus every week. Our app makes it even easier to get on-board and track your bus right to your stop! McGill’s operates over 120 routes across Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire and Glasgow city. Once you have downloaded the app, create an account and you’re ready! With adult, student, child and family offers available, we have a ticket to suit you. We look forward to welcoming you on board!
ZoneCard
This app simplifies public transport ticketing for bus, rail, and subway in West Scotland. It allows users to purchase and manage smartcards, buy tickets, and download them directly to their phone via NFC. Users can also manage their account details and view past purchases.
- Register and purchase smartcards
- Associate existing transport cards
- Buy flexible tickets
- Download tickets via NFC
- Manage account details
- View purchase history
Read full descriptionHide full description
ZoneCard is the smart ticket for bus, rail and Subway across the west of Scotland – one card to get where you’re going. With the free ZoneCard app you can register an account and purchase a new smartcard. If you already have a ScotRail, Subway, McGill’s, Stagecoach or National Entitlement Card you can simply associate that to your account. Once you have a smartcard setup in your account, you can use the ZoneCard app to buy tickets for it. There’s a flexible range of tickets to suit just what you need. Then, simply hold your smartcard to the NFC reader on your phone, and your ZoneCard ticket will download and you’re ready to travel. You can also use the app to manage your account – for example see your previous purchases or update your address details. See spt.co.uk/zonecard for more information about ZoneCard.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: McGill’s Buses at 42% against ZoneCard's 0%. McGill’s Buses also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 21 months) and device support. ZoneCard's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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.
McGill’s Buses ships an update fortnightly, ZoneCard every 21 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | McGill’s Buses | ZoneCard |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (11 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 42.2% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 11 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 21 months |
| Ads | No | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | — |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 12.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | McGill's Buses | Strathclyde Partnership for Transport |
Customer experience
McGill’s Buses
ZoneCard
Bugs and requests
McGill’s Buses
Reported bugs
22 issues- App signs users out
- Account termination threats
- App causes iPhone to overheat
- App crashes when tracking transport
- App doesn't show any bus times
Show 17 moreShow fewer
- App doesn't update in real-time
- App is slow to load
- Live bus locations cause app to crash
- App turns brightness down on phone
- App doesn't show bus times anymore
- App removed ability to know bus capacity
- Website doesn't update in real-time
- App is more expensive than cash
- Tickets expire in 15 minutes
- No live tracking available
- Ticket activation expires after 10 minutes
- App freezes when trying to buy tickets
- Discount codes cannot be applied
- Tickets not transferring from old app
- Payment system flags as fraud
- Real-time tracking is inaccurate
- App doesn't work on quick page on new iPhone update
Requested features
6 requests- Add screen for next stop
- Fix the 66 bus route
- More 66 buses
- Add ability to know when bus is full/moderate/empty
- Add ticket gifting speed
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Improve real-time tracking accuracy
ZoneCard
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
McGill’s Buses
No in-app purchases
ZoneCard
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is McGill’s Buses free?
Is ZoneCard free?
Which is updated more often, McGill’s Buses or ZoneCard?
Other comparisons
