Bee Network vs Starling Bikes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bee Network
Plan your public transport journeys, track buses in real-time, and purchase tram and bus tickets. Find nearby stops, get live departure times, and save your favorite locations for quick access. Rate your travel experience to help shape future services.
- Live bus tracking
- Nearest stop finder
- Live departure times
- Journey planning
- Buy tram and bus tickets
- View active tickets
- Rate your journey
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Say yellow to the Bee Network app, brought to you by Transport for Greater Manchester. You can find your nearest stop, get live departure times, track your bus, plan a journey and buy and use tram tickets. Use the Bee Network app to: • Track bus live locations • Find your nearest stops and departure times, save your favourites for quick access • Plan your journey on public transport or by active travel • Buy and display tram, bus and multi modal tickets • View active, purchased and expired tickets • Rate your journey BUS TRACKING View the live locations of buses on a map and track them along the route to your stop. You can also see the locations of subsequent buses and where they are currently are on the route. LIVE TRAVEL UPDATES Get live departure times for bus, tram and train. Find your nearest stop, select it as a ‘favourite’ and stay updated. JOURNEY PLANNING You can plan public transport journeys on buses, trams and trains as well as active travel via cycling, cycle hire and walking. Filter results by travel mode or step-free access. Park and ride options are provided when available. We will let you know the right ticket for your journey and either give you the option to buy it in the app or provide you with pricing information and instructions for other retail channels. BUY, SAVE AND DISPLAY TICKETS FROM THE APP You can buy selected bus and tram tickets on the Bee Network app, including our new Bee AnyBus+Tram tickets and use the app to display or scan your ticket when boarding or for inspection. You can now pay easily with Apple Pay and Google Pay as well as the option to save your payment details, to make it quicker and easier when you’re buying your tickets. RATE YOUR JOURNEY Let us know about your bus and tram journeys in Greater Manchester. We will use your feedback to shape the Bee Network. For further information go to beenetwork.com Please note that you must have a valid ticket to travel on public transport otherwise you are liable for a Penalty Fare. If you are using the app to buy and display tickets for travel, make sure your phone has enough battery to display your ticket for the duration of your journey. Bee Network: Powered by Transport for Greater Manchester. Every journey. Every day.
Starling Bikes
Easily find and rent electric or standard bikes for convenient travel around Greater Manchester. Unlock a ride with a simple app process and enjoy a faster, more sustainable way to navigate the city. Various rental plans are available to suit your needs.
- Find and unlock bikes/e-bikes
- Multiple hire stations
- Pay As You Ride options
- Minute Bundles and passes
- Sustainable urban travel
- Easy app-based unlocking
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Cities are better when more people are on two wheels! Travel in a faster, more convenient, and sustainable way by bike or e-bike. We can guarantee it's more fun than sitting in traffic. Use the Starling Bank Bikes app to find and unlock a bike or e-bike from one of the many bike hire stations across Greater Manchester! We've designed our bikes to be safe and easy to use for an enjoyable ride. It's as easy as app, tap, and roll. Getting started ------------------------------- Download the Starling Bank Bikes App Create an account and add a payment method Enjoy your ride! Ending your ride ------------------------------- Find a convenient bike hire station in the app. Head there and park up your ride. Follow the instructions in the app to finish your journey How much does it cost? ------------------------------- Get rolling right away with our Pay As You Ride options. We also have a range of Minute Bundles and passes to suit more regular riders. Open the app to see the latest promotions and rates for your scheme. Download the Starling Bank Bikes App and start riding with us today.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bee Network at 4.7 against Starling Bikes's 3.7. Bee Network also leads on ratings volume (2.2K vs 3) and review sentiment (19% vs 5%). Starling Bikes's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (every 11 days vs monthly). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Bee Network holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bee Network has 2.2K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of Bee Network's written reviews are positive against 5% of Starling Bikes's.
Bee Network ships an update monthly, Starling Bikes every 11 days. Both last shipped on November 14, 2026.
| Parameter | Bee Network | Starling Bikes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (2.2K ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 19.1% of reviews — better | 5.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.2K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 141 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Transport for Greater Manchester | Beryl |
Customer experience
Bee Network
Starling Bikes
User reviews
Bee Network
From 2.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Convenient information in one place
- 🚀 Great journey planning
- 👍 Improved over time
Room to improve
- 🐛 Inaccurate bus/tram times
- 🐛 Unreliable live tracking
- 🐛 Frequent glitches and crashes
- 🐛 Logging out issues
- 🐛 Missing key features like timetables and route search
Starling Bikes
From 3 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Bikes are great when they work
- 👍 Electric bikes are good
- 👍 Customer service is excellent (mentioned by one user)
- 👍 Amazing customer service (mentioned by one user)
- 👍 Nice assistants (mentioned by one user)
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bikes rarely unlock
- 🐛 Many bikes are faulty/broken
- 🐛 App is unreliable
- 🐛 Lock system is problematic
- 🐛 Frequent charging errors/fines
Bugs and requests
Bee Network
Reported bugs
3 issues- Buses disappearing from the app
- Incorrect ticket validation leading to fines
- App unable to load tickets or log in at times
Requested features
4 requests- Add offline mode for tickets
- Integrate with Apple Wallet
- Improve journey planning and route search
- Provide more detailed service disruption information
Starling Bikes
Reported bugs
28 issues- Bikes do not unlock
- Bikes do not lock properly
- App charges incorrect fees/fines
- App shows bikes as available when they are not
- Locking system jams or fails
Show 23 moreShow fewer
- Contactless scanners are damaged
- Bike seats slide down
- Brakes are non-existent or faulty
- Chains are broken
- App glitches or freezes
- Stations are broken or do not work for returning bikes
- App does not geolocate automatically
- App requires downloading multiple applications
- App requires a strong signal to function
- App bans users for minor issues
- App does not recognize when a bike is locked
- App glitches when trying to dispute fines
- App allows submission of only one picture at a time
- App does not have a bike stand search function
- App incorrectly charges for parking outside bays
- App shows bikes in a rack as 'not available' when they are present
- App fails to unlock bikes after pausing a ride
- App crashes or becomes unresponsive
- Rear lock mechanism issues
- Front lock mechanism issues
- App does not update bike status accurately
- Electric bikes have limited functionality (e.g., only 3 levels)
- App bans users for trying to fix unlock issues (e.g., wiggling handle)
Requested features
19 requests- Improve bike unlocking reliability
- Improve bike maintenance
- Improve app reliability and performance
- Fix the lock system
- Provide clearer instructions for locking bikes
Show 14 moreShow fewer
- Implement proper docking stations like in London
- Add a bike stand search function to the app
- Improve customer service response and helpfulness
- Ensure accurate charging and refund processes
- Increase the number of electric bikes
- Address bike availability in underserved areas
- Make the app require less signal strength
- Improve the user interface and onboarding process
- Reduce the number of required apps
- Add more levels to electric bikes
- Provide a better solution for phone mounting
- Clarify out-of-zone charges with warnings
- Investigate and resolve account blocking issues
- Improve the overall design and user experience
In-app purchases
Bee Network
No in-app purchases
Starling Bikes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Bee Network free?
Is Starling Bikes free?
Which has better reviews, Bee Network or Starling Bikes?
Do Bee Network or Starling Bikes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Bee Network or Starling Bikes?
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