Pantograph vs Make the Ferry
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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
Make the Ferry
This app predicts your chances of making a specific ferry sailing based on live traffic, boat capacity, and filling speed. It provides an exact departure time and real-time vessel tracking to eliminate guesswork.
- Will-I-make-it predictions
- Exact leave-by time calculation
- Live vessel map
- Terminal camera views
- Delay detection
- Leave-by reminders
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Will you make the ferry? Make the Ferry answers the one question every Washington State Ferries rider actually has. Not "when's the next boat," but "if I leave now, will I make this sailing before it fills up?" Most ferry apps show you the raw WSDOT numbers and leave you to guess. Make the Ferry does the math. It combines your live drive time, the boat's real vehicle space, how fast that space is filling, and known delays into one clear answer: your odds of making the sailing, and the exact time you need to leave. Built for how you actually ride the ferry: Will-I-make-it predictions. A real probability for a specific sailing, from where you are right now, in current traffic. Not a schedule. An answer. Leave-by time. The app tells you the exact minute to head out, so you're not sprinting to the dock or leaving an hour early. Live vessel map. Watch every WSF boat move across the Sound in real time on a clean nautical chart. Know where your ferry actually is, not where the schedule says it should be. Terminal cameras. Live views of the holding lanes and approaches, so you can see the queue before you commit to the drive. Delay detection. The app reads the fleet's real positions and flags when a boat is running late, often before the official bulletin catches up. Leave-by reminders. Arm a reminder for a sailing and get a push when it's time to go, or when conditions shift and your window changes. Routes covered: Seattle–Bainbridge, Seattle–Bremerton, Edmonds–Kingston, the full Fauntleroy–Vashon–Southworth triangle, and Point Defiance–Tahlequah. Made by a ferry rider. Make the Ferry comes from a Bainbridge Island native who got tired of missing boats and staring at numbers that didn't mean anything. It's free, it's fast, and it gives you back the time you'd otherwise spend guessing. Stop guessing if you'll make it. Know if you will.
Screenshots
Verdict
Pantograph and Make the Ferry both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Make the Ferry's written reviews are positive against 54% of Pantograph's. Make the Ferry also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks). Pantograph's advantage is ratings volume (81 vs 11). On price, rating, ads 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
Both are free to download. Pantograph sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Make the Ferry asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Pantograph against 4.3 for Make the Ferry. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pantograph has 81 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 54% of Pantograph's written reviews are positive against 100% of Make the Ferry's.
Pantograph ships an update every 6 weeks, Make the Ferry weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pantograph | Make the Ferry |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (81 ratings) — better | 4.3 (11 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 53.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 81 — better | 11 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Round Trip Productions, LLC | The Big Board LLC |
Customer experience
Pantograph
Make the Ferry
In-app purchases
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
Make the Ferry
No in-app purchases








