Clipper Card vs SWOON
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Clipper Card
Manage your transit card for contactless fare payments across the San Francisco Bay Area. Load value, plan trips with real-time information, and pay fares directly from your iPhone or Apple Watch.
- Pay fares with Clipper in Apple Pay
- Manage transit accounts
- Load cash value and transit passes
- Plan trips with real-time info
- Add/transfer cards to Apple Wallet
- View account activity
Read full descriptionHide full description
The Clipper app is here! - Pay your fares with Clipper in Apple Pay - Manage your account(s) - Load cash value and transit passes - Plan your trips Clipper is the all-in-one transit card used for contactless fare payments throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The new Clipper app lets you manage your Clipper account from your iPhone—add value, view your history, and plan your trip! Download the Clipper app today! Pay with Your iPhone or Apple Watch The Clipper app gives you step-by-step instructions for setting up a new Clipper card or transferring an existing Clipper card to your Apple Wallet. Manage Your Account The Clipper app gives you the same account access as the website, but on your iPhone! You can register a new card, load cash value and transit passes, set up Autoload, view your recent activity, and other features. Sign in and out of multiple Clipper accounts in the Clipper app to manage a card on behalf of someone else. Plan Your Trip The Clipper app has real-time transit information and helpful trip planning tools to make getting around the Bay easy! You can view nearby transit options and routes, get real-time travel and arrival information, and save your favorite locations, stops, and stations. By downloading this app, you agree to and accept the terms of the Clipper Mobile Application License Agreement (https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/mobile-application-agreement.html) and the Clipper Privacy Policy (https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/privacy.html). Clipper serves 24 transit services in the San Francisco Bay Area: AC Transit BART Caltrain City Coach County Connection Dumbarton Express FAST Golden Gate Ferry Golden Gate Transit Marin Transit Muni Petaluma Transit SamTrans San Francisco Bay Ferry Santa Rosa CityBus SMART SolTrans Sonoma County Transit Tri Delta Transit Union City Transit Vine VTA WestCAT Wheels By downloading this app, you agree to and accept the terms of the Clipper Mobile Application License Agreement (https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/mobile-application-agreement.html) and the Clipper Privacy Policy (https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/privacy.html).
SWOON
This app acts as a visual travel diary and map, allowing users to save and share their favorite places and experiences. Discover new destinations through recommendations from friends and create personalized bucket lists for future adventures.
- Save favorite places
- Share travel recommendations
- Discover places on a friend-powered map
- Create bucket lists
- Import saved places from other apps
Read full descriptionHide full description
Collect your best spots and experiences from around the world, and find new destinations through people you know. Part map, part visual travel diary, SWOON makes it easy to save, share, and discover recommendations with friends. SWOON is free. No waitlist. Sign up in seconds — no password required. Profiles can be public, but this is a space designed for friends, not followers. • Save your favorite places — near and far, all in one place • Share your best spots instantly straight from the app, from quick recs to full city guides • Find places on a map powered by friends — search by location, filter by category (restaurants, bars, hotels, outdoor adventures, & more) • See your friends' latest recommendations and get inspired for your next adventure • Create your bucket list and never forget a place you hope to visit • Import places you’ve saved from Apple Maps, Google Maps, TripAdvisor, Yelp and more
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SWOON at 100% against Clipper Card's 3%. SWOON also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.8) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months). Clipper Card's advantage is ratings volume (11K vs 18) and chart position (#163 vs unranked). 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.
SWOON holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Clipper Card has 11K ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 3% of Clipper Card's written reviews are positive against 100% of SWOON's.
Clipper Card ships an update every 3 months, SWOON every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Clipper Card | SWOON |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (11K ratings) | 5.0 (18 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 2.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11K — better | 18 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #163 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 120 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Metropolitan Transportation Commission | Lush Lagoon LLC |
Customer experience
Clipper Card
SWOON
Bugs and requests
Clipper Card
Reported bugs
4 issues- App freezes and crashes frequently
- Card balances not updating properly
- Issues with adding cards to Apple Wallet
- Inconsistent behavior when loading funds
Requested features
5 requests- Improve real-time sync of card balance and transactions
- Streamline process to cancel auto-load and transfer balances
- Provide better customer support and communication
- Enhance security features for lost/stolen cards
- Eliminate unnecessary fees
SWOON
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Clipper Card
No in-app purchases
SWOON
No in-app purchases
