Wemlin vs SBB FreeSurf
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Wemlin
Plan your public transport journeys across Switzerland and Liechtenstein with real-time departure information. Easily find nearby stops, view entire routes, and discover connections. The app works offline and allows ticket purchases where available.
- Real-time departure information
- Offline schedule management
- Locate nearby stops
- View entire route and connections
- Ticket purchasing (where enabled)
- Nighttime service maps
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Traveling without haste in Switzerland’s public transport, with schedules from OSTWIND, BLT, Liechtenstein mobil and ZVV. With a single tap Wemlin displays the departures of any public means of transport for: - Zurich's Transport Network (Zürcher Verkehrsverbund - ZVV) incl. Winterthur and Schaffhausen - in the OSTWIND area - for BLT (Baselland Transport) - in Liechtenstein (LIEmobil) - TPF Transports publics Fribourgeois Stops can easily be selected from a list or can be found by using „Locate Me“. Times of departure are automatically updated. After selection of transport line, its entire route with departure times is displayed along with possible connections. Functions: - Scheduled departures incl. nighttime schedules of trains, trams, buses and ships - Realtime support for transport units with a connection to the control center - Service alerts for transport units with special support from the control center - "Locate Me" shows any nearby stops - Buy a ticket for your local transport company (where enabled) - Display of possible connections and their departure times - Management of schedules within the application - Network and nighttime service maps - Works offline too - List of recently used stops - Easy toggling between waiting time and departure time
SBB FreeSurf
Access free internet on SBB long-distance trains. This app leverages strong mobile coverage for a faster connection than traditional train Wi-Fi. It's available for customers with specific Swiss mobile contracts and international travelers with participating SIM cards.
- Free internet access on SBB trains
- Faster and smoother connection
- Utilizes mobile phone coverage
- Automatic recognition via beacon
- SMS confirmation for registration
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Internet access free of charge from the app. SBB FreeSurf is available on all SBB long-distance trains (IC and IR). SBB FreeSurf is based on the excellent mobile phone coverage along the Swiss rail routes – passengers can benefit from a faster and smoother internet connection with more bandwidth than you get with conventional train Wi-Fi. Customers with a digitec, Quickline, Salt (Das Abo, GoMo, Lidl Connect are included), Sunrise or Swisscom mobile phone contract can surf the internet for free with die SBB FreeSurf app. Passengers from abroad will be able to surf the internet for free with a SIM card (also eSIM) from a mobile phone provider participating in SBB FreeSurf. Trains with a free internet connection are marked with ‘FS’ (for FreeSurf) in the online timetable. When boarding the train, the customers can open the SBB FreeSurf app. Automatic recognition takes place using a beacon. After registering successfully, the customers will receive an SMS text confirming that they can surf for free via their mobile phone provider. When alighting from the train or switching off the connection, you will receive a message stating that free internet access is no longer active. We only need customers to provide the mobile number to be used for registration.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Wemlin at 79% against SBB FreeSurf's 3%. Wemlin also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.2) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 14.0). SBB FreeSurf's advantage is ratings volume (41 vs 3). 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.
Wemlin holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SBB FreeSurf has 41 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Wemlin's written reviews are positive against 3% of SBB FreeSurf's.
Wemlin ships an update every 4 months, SBB FreeSurf every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Wemlin | SBB FreeSurf |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (3 ratings) — better | 1.2 (41 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews — better | 3.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 41 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 21 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Netcetera AG | SBB |
Customer experience
Wemlin
SBB FreeSurf
In-app purchases
Wemlin
No in-app purchases
SBB FreeSurf
No in-app purchases








