Clipper Card vs BearPool
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
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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).
BearPool
This rideshare app connects UC Berkeley students to share rides and save money. It allows users to post or join ride groups, coordinate plans via chat, and offers gender preference filtering for added comfort. Designed for students, it simplifies carpooling for campus commutes and travel.
- Share rides to save money
- Exclusive to UC Berkeley students
- Post or join ride groups
- Gender preference filtering
- In-app group chat for coordination
- Simple and affordable carpooling
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BearPool is Cal's biggest rideshare board, built exclusively for UC Berkeley students. Split costs. Meet riders you can trust. Get where you're going. Why BearPool? Berkeley students only. .edu email required. Post or join rides in seconds. Built-in group chat to coordinate plans. Gender preference filtering for your comfort. Save money on every trip. Heading to the airport, campus, or out of town? Find a ride with someone already going your way.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: BearPool at 83% against Clipper Card's 3%. BearPool also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.8). Clipper Card's advantage is ratings volume (11K vs 12) and chart position (#145 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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.
BearPool holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Clipper Card has 11K ratings behind it against 12, 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 83% of BearPool's.
Clipper Card ships an update every 3 months, BearPool every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Clipper Card | BearPool |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (11K ratings) | 4.7 (12 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 2.9% of reviews | 83.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11K — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #145 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Metropolitan Transportation Commission | Maaz Dhalech |
Customer experience
Clipper Card
BearPool
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
BearPool
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Clipper Card
No in-app purchases
BearPool
No in-app purchases
