Comparison

NCP vs Dart Charge

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

NCP

Manage all your parking needs in one place. Purchase digital season tickets, pay-as-you-go for parking, and extend your sessions remotely. Features include favorite sites, AutoPay, and in-app customer support.

Highlights
  • Digital season tickets
  • Ticketless pay-as-you-go parking
  • Extend parking sessions remotely
  • Favorite car park sites
  • AutoPay with VRN
  • In-app chat support
Features
Read full description

The NCP app brings all your parking needs together in one convenient and easy-to-use place, offering the ability to: • Purchase and access a digital Season Ticket, giving you the ability to manage your account with ease • Ticketless pay-as-you-go parking at 370+ car parks across the UK Make sure you download the NCP app before entering one of our car parks to guarantee the best experience. Downloading the NCP app means you can purchase digital monthly, quarterly, and annual season tickets, depending on your needs. Your season ticket will then be stored in the app, meaning you’ll never forget or lose a physical season ticket again! Features of the NCP app include: • The ability to pay as you go and access your season ticket, if you have one, in one place • Extend your parking session in-app to save you having to go back to your car, you’ll be notified by push notifications from the app, so please ensure you have enabled notifications in your device settings to stay up to date • One QR code for all your products • Ability to favourite sites that you regularly visit in your favourites list • AutoPay provides fully automatic recognition and payment at selected sites via your vehicle registration number (VRN) • Map and list view of car parks with additional features • Buy and pay for a season ticket within the app, allowing unlimited parking within your chosen site for the length of your ticket • In-app chat function, giving you a direct line to customer service • Pay with Apple Pay

About

Dart Charge

Easily manage and pay for crossings on the Dartford and Thurrock bridges. This app allows both account holders and non-account holders to track journeys, receive payment reminders, and make secure payments.

Highlights
  • Pay for recent and upcoming crossings
  • Receive payment reminders
  • Secure payments with Apple Pay/Google Pay
  • Biometric login for account holders
  • Manage account details and vehicles
  • Contact support
Read full description

The Dart Charge app makes it easy to manage and pay for crossings across the Dartford and Thurrock Crossing. Whether you have an account or not, you can quickly stay on top of your journeys and payments wherever you are. With the app, you can manage and pay for Dart Charge crossings in just a few taps, helping you avoid missed payments and stay in control. Key features • Pay for recent and upcoming crossings quickly and easily • Receive payment reminders after a crossing so you never miss a payment • Secure payments using Apple Pay and Google Pay • Fast and secure biometric login for account holders, using fingerprint or face recognition For non-account holders • Pay for crossings without creating an account • View recent and upcoming crossings • Check which crossings have been paid for • Receive notifications after crossings to help ensure payments are not missed • Contact Dart Charge support For account holders Create and manage a Dart Charge account: • Personal accounts (Pre-Pay or Pay As You Go) • Business accounts Log in to manage your account and: • Add or remove vehicles • View and update personal details • Manage payment methods • View and manage notifications • Manage communication preferences • View crossing history and payment transactions • Contact Dart Charge support

Screenshots

NCP4 screens
Dart Charge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Dart Charge at 5.0 against NCP's 4.3. Dart Charge also leads on review sentiment (47% vs 12%) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). NCP's advantage is ratings volume (100 vs 3). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Dart Charge holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NCP has 100 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 12% of NCP's written reviews are positive against 47% of Dart Charge's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NCP ships an update every 2 months, Dart Charge monthly. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
NCP versus Dart Charge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNCPDart Charge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (100 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews11.8% of reviews46.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings100 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB29 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperNational Car Parks LimitedConduent Inc.

Customer experience

NCP

All ratings95 ratings
Positive82.1%
Neutral2.1%
Negative15.8%
Written reviews451 reviews
Positive11.8%
Neutral5.5%
Negative82.7%

Dart Charge

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive46.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative53.3%

Bugs and requests

NCP

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App not recognizing account
  • Inability to pay in app after getting ticket
  • Duplicate parking sessions
  • Inconsistent pricing between app and machines

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add biometric login options
  • Allow saving multiple vehicles
  • Improve session management and reminders
  • Integrate with car park barriers

Dart Charge

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

NCP

No in-app purchases

None

Dart Charge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is NCP free?
NCP is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dart Charge free?
Dart Charge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, NCP or Dart Charge?
Dart Charge is rated higher. NCP averages 4.3 out of 5 from 100 ratings, while Dart Charge averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do NCP or Dart Charge have ads?
Neither NCP nor Dart Charge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NCP or Dart Charge?
NCP ships an update every 2 months, and Dart Charge monthly. Most recently, NCP was updated on October 30, 2026 and Dart Charge on October 30, 2026.

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