ParkDSM vs Ames Ride
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ParkDSM
Pay for parking in Des Moines, Iowa, using your mobile phone. This app eliminates the need for coins or dealing with broken meters. Start and extend parking sessions quickly, and receive expiration alerts.
- Mobile parking payment
- Extend parking remotely
- Expiration alerts
- Find available parking
- Save favorite locations
- Find my car feature
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The ParkDSM app, powered by ParkMobile, provides a convenient way to pay for parking in Des Moines, Iowa, using your mobile phone. Registering is free and takes less than two minutes to join. The ParkDSM app takes the stress out of parking. No more searching for coins. No worries about an out-of-service parking meter. With the ParkDSM app, starting your parking session takes just a few seconds. You can use the app in over 500 other cities across the country, including Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and more. Why Use ParkDSM? • Skip the meter and easily pay for parking from your mobile device • Extend your parking duration remotely from the app • Get alerts so you know when your parking session is going to expire • Use ParkMobile in over 3000 locations coast-to-coast including venues, airports, and universities •. Find areas of the city where there is available parking and avoid areas where there’s no parking How to Set Up Your Account • Download the ParkDSM app and create an account with your email address and password • Enter your license plate number and the state where your vehicle is registered • Add your method of payment and start using the ParkDSM app How It Works On-Street and Off-Street Parking: • Enter the zone number on the posted signs around the meter • Select the amount of time you want to park and confirm your information • Touch the “Start Parking” button to begin your parking session • Extend time in the app if you are running late App Features • Customizable notifications delivered via email, text, and/or app • Save your favorite parking locations for next time • Store up to five cars in your account • “Find my car” feature directs you back to the location where you parked • Multiple payment methods available About ParkMobile ParkMobile, LLC is the leading provider of parking payment solutions in the United States, helping over 40 million people easily find, reserve, and pay for parking from their mobile devices. Looking for Help? At ParkMobile, we’re serious about customer service. We process nearly 500,000 parking transactions every day and we know that every now and then, something might go wrong. If you have an issue, we will do everything we can to make it right. Our customer service is 24/7/365. If you need help, here’s how to get in touch with us: Web: https://ParkMobile.io/ Online Help Center: https://support.ParkMobile.io/hc/en-us/requests/new Video Tutorials: https://ParkMobile.io/tips-demos/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParkMobile Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParkMobile/
Ames Ride
This app provides real-time bus locations and arrival times for public transportation in Ames, IA. Users can mark favorite stops and routes for quick access to relevant information, minimizing wait times.
- Real-time bus locations
- Favorite stop marking
- Favorite route prioritization
- Filtered arrival views
- Modern interface
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When using public transportation, it is important to know where your bus is and when it will arrive. Ames Ride is a reliable, modern application that informs riders of current bus locations and arrival times in Ames, IA. Core Features: - View realtime bus locations - minimize waiting time by viewing exact bus locations in realtime. - Mark favorite stops - by marking your favorite bus stops, you can quickly access them and view upcoming arrivals. - Mark favorite stops - when viewing the list of routes, your favorite routes are displayed first, allowing for fast access. - View arrivals from favorite routes only - when looking at upcoming arrivals, you likely only care about the routes you frequently use. Ames Ride can show only arrivals from your favorite routes.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Ames Ride at 73% against ParkDSM's 8%. Ames Ride also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.6) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). ParkDSM's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (156 vs 27). On price, ads, in-app purchases and chart position 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.
Ames Ride holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ParkDSM has 156 ratings behind it against 27, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 8% of ParkDSM's written reviews are positive against 73% of Ames Ride's.
ParkDSM ships an update fortnightly, Ames Ride every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and August 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ParkDSM | Ames Ride |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.6 (156 ratings) | 4.3 (27 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 7.8% of reviews | 72.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 156 — better | 27 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #194 — better | #202 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 171 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Parkmobile USA, Inc. | Patrick Demers |
Customer experience
ParkDSM
Ames Ride
In-app purchases
ParkDSM
No in-app purchases
Ames Ride
No in-app purchases




