KVB vs EPbuddy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
KVB
Plan trips, view live departure times, and purchase tickets for public transport and shared mobility services in Cologne. Find and book bicycles, cars, and taxis.
- Trip planner with live data
- Departure monitor for stations
- Ticket purchasing
- KVB-Rad bicycle booking
- Car-Sharing and Taxi-Ruf integration
- Disruption information
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The KVB-App provides time tables, trip planning, navigation as well as a ticket shop for busses and trains in the area of Cologne and around. Beside the trip planner and discruption information you are able to get live data for your station. The KVB-App offers all information about KVB-Rad, Car-Sharing and Taxi-Ruf in Cologne. You can register yourself an account, localize vehicles and bicycles and you are able to book a bicycle/care directly. Overview of the functions: - Trip planner (live data) - Departure monitor for stations (live data) - Save station and ticket favorites and change their names individually - Purchase tickets (also anonymous) - Tariff price information - Information about disruptions - KVB-Rad (Bicylce search, prices, registration and booking) - Taxi-Ruf Cologne (Show places where you can get a taxi and booking within the KVB-App) - Car-Sharing (Vehicle location, registration and booking) The KVB-App will be updated and enhanced with new features and functions frequently.
EPbuddy
Navigate Europa-Park and Rulantica with real-time wait times, show schedules, and interactive maps. Plan your day efficiently, find open restaurants, and utilize AR overlays for an optimized park experience.
- Live wait times for rides and shows
- Park hours and smart alerts
- Favorite ride and show pinning
- Daily itinerary planning and routing
- Height and age limit checks
- Interactive park maps with navigation
- Restaurant and show schedules
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Discover the magic of Europa-Park and Rulantica with EPbuddy – your ultimate guide to hassle-free adventures! Say goodbye to endless waiting and hello to more thrills! Get instant updates on wait times for every ride, so you can skip the lines and dive into the fun. Plan your day like a pro with real-time park hours and smart alerts when things change. Why EPbuddy? - See live wait times for all attractions and shows, neatly organized from busiest to least busy, and share them as a picture - When a ride is down, see since when, so you know whether it's worth waiting - Colours that shift with the wait: green under 15 minutes, yellow up to 30 minutes and red for longer lines - Star your favourite rides and shows to keep them pinned at the top of the list - My day: tick off your rides, plan rides, shows and restaurants for today or tomorrow, sort them into the shortest walking route, see it on a map and share your day as a picture - Check height and age limits before you walk across the park, so nobody is turned away at the entrance - Full ride stats at a glance: top speed, height, ride duration, g-force and sensation ratings - Photos of rides, restaurants, shows, places and train stations, with a full-screen viewer - Showtimes for today and tomorrow, in your language, filtered by park (Europa-Park, Rulantica or the hotels), with every performance time and one tap to find the venue on the map - In the park with location on, see the shows near you, nearest first, with the distance to each - A Restaurants tab showing which restaurants and bars at Europa-Park and Rulantica are open right now, filtered by park, searchable, with the closest ones first when you're in the park and one tap to find each on the map - Restaurants with mobile ordering are marked with a small bag: see whether ordering is open, the next pickup time and the full menu with prices, then order in the official Europa-Park app with one tap – or reserve a table where offered - A complete opening hours calendar, including hotel guest early access, with the weather and a picture to share - Virtual Line status, so you can see whether return times are still available - Interactive park maps with turn-by-turn navigation to find your favourite attractions fast – works when you're in the park - An "Open now" filter on the map that hides closed rides, restaurants and shows - Watch the EP-Express trains move along their track live, and tap a station to see when the next trains arrive (to the second as they get close), how long the ride takes to every stop and roughly when you'll get there - The Panorama Train and the Monorail on the map, with typical travel times from every station, including a full loop - A satellite map view, plus a small map with walking time and a Navigate button in every ride's details when you're in the park - Point your camera at any attraction for AR overlays showing live wait times right in front of you, now with the trains and stations too – works when you're in the park - Get a notification when a ride's wait drops to your target or it reopens, and when park hours change - Weather for your park day: hourly rain and temperature, a rain radar, the next ten days and orange warnings for thunderstorms, gusts, snow and frost that can stop rides - Glance at wait times and see which restaurants are open right on your Apple Watch, with automatic updates and complications for your watch face - Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets with today's opening hours and the wait times of your favourite rides - Made for iPad and iPhone Duo: see the list and the details side by side, with keyboard shortcuts on iPad - Available in English, German, French and Dutch Whether you're visiting for the first time or you're a park veteran, EPbuddy lets you make every moment count at Europa-Park and Rulantica!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: EPbuddy at 100% against KVB's 21%. EPbuddy also leads on rating (4.0 vs 2.3) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). KVB's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.5 vs 18.6). 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.
EPbuddy holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 21% of KVB's written reviews are positive against 100% of EPbuddy's.
KVB ships an update every 2 months, EPbuddy every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | KVB | EPbuddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.3 (4 ratings) | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 20.6% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 58 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe AG | Wout van Os |
Customer experience
KVB
EPbuddy
In-app purchases
KVB
No in-app purchases
EPbuddy
No in-app purchases









