Comparison

SBB Mobile vs Trainline

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

Head to head
About

SBB Mobile

This app serves as a comprehensive travel companion for public transport. It allows users to plan journeys, purchase tickets, and receive real-time updates on delays and disruptions. It also offers features for managing travelcards and finding station information.

Highlights
  • Journey planning with timetable search
  • Ticket purchasing for all of Switzerland
  • Real-time trip information and service disruptions
  • Digital display of travelcards
  • EasyRide ticket calculation based on travel
  • Station navigation and map information
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

SBB Mobile: your personal travel companion for public transport. Want to know ahead of time if your train will arrive on time? Want to have quicker access to your ticket during ticket inspection? Want to be able to find your way better at the station and have reliable map information? We have good news for you! SBB Mobile can do it all. And much more. The heart of the app is the new navigation bar with the following menu points and content. Plan • Plan your journey with a simple timetable search via the touch timetable or use your current position as the origin or destination, locating it on the map. • Buy your ticket for the whole of Switzerland in just two clicks. Your travelcards on the SwissPass are applied. • Travel particularly affordably with supersaver tickets or Saver Day Passes. Trips • Save your trip and we will provide you with all the information you need during your journey under ‘Single Trips’: everything from departure and arrival times, platform information and service disruptions to train formations and walking routes. • Set up your personal commuter route under ‘Commuting’ and receive push notifications about rail service disruptions. • The app accompanies you from door to door as you travel and you will receive information about delays, disruption and interchange times via push notification. EasyRide • Check in, hop on and head off – across the entire GA Travelcard network. • EasyRide calculates the right ticket for your journey on the basis of the routes you travelled and charges you the relevant amount subsequently. Tickets & Travelcards • Show your public transport travelcards digitally with SwissPass Mobile. • It also gives you an overview of your valid and expired tickets and travelcards on the SwissPass. Shop & Services • Buy regional transport tickets and Day Passes for the GA Travelcard area of validity quickly and easily without searching the timetable. • In the ‘Services’ section, you can find lots of useful links about travel. Profile •  Straightforward access to your personal settings and our customer support. Contact us. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch: https://www.sbb.ch/en/timetable/mobile-apps/sbb-mobile/contact.html Data security and authorisations. What permissions does SBB Mobile need and why? Location For connections from your current location, the GPS function must be activated so that SBB Mobile can find the nearest stop. This also applies if you want to have the nearest stop displayed in the timetable. Calendar and e-mail You can save connections in your own calendar and send them by e-mail (to friends, an external calendar). SBB Mobile requires read and write permissions to be able to import your desired connection into the calendar. Access to the camera SBB Mobile requires access to your camera to take pictures directly in the app for your personalised touch timetable. Internet access SBB Mobile requires internet access to search the timetable as well as for ticket purchases. Memory To support offline functions, e.g. station/stop list, connections (history) and purchased tickets, SBB Mobile requires access to your device’s memory (saving app-specific settings).

About

Trainline

Book train and bus tickets across Europe with ease. Compare prices from hundreds of operators, find the best deals, and manage your digital tickets all in one place. Get real-time updates and travel notifications for a smoother journey.

Highlights
  • Book train and bus tickets
  • Compare prices from 260+ companies
  • Best Price Guarantee
  • Real-time notifications
  • Live timetable tracking
  • Digital tickets
  • Travel blogs and popular journeys
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Welcome, future Trainliner. Get on board with millions of world-wide users, today, to travel confidently with us – Europe’s leading train and bus app. Why? Whether heading to an international city or from an international terminal, in a matter of clicks you’ll be booking the best seats in advance or saving money on-the-day with our Best Price Guarantee. And for those who like to stay looped, you can turn on real-time notifications and keep an eye on live timetable tracking – you can even use Crowd Alerts to find out how busy your train is. Plus, forgetting, misplacing, or totally destroying your paper tickets becomes a thing of the past when you purchase digital versions through our app! With so much to see and do, getting there should be the easy part – and when you book through our app, it is! Find cheap tickets for Eurostar, Avanti West Coast, GWR, LNER, National Express, Renfe, Iryo, Trenitalia, Italo, and many other European rail lines. Or if you want to buy bus tickets, simply search and book directly in the app. Need some travel inspo first? We got that covered, too, with travel blogs and suggested “popular journeys”. So, whether you want to book bus seats, get cheap train tickets, or stay updated during your journey, you can always rely on our app to deliver the goods. Why use Trainline to book train and bus tickets? - Buy all your tickets in one place – plan your dream country-hopping journey on our app. - Compare train and bus options from 260 train and bus companies. - Compare prices and get cheap tickets in your preferred currency (USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD, CHF, and SEK). - Buy tickets with Amex, Apple Pay, PayPal, and all major credit cards and debit cards. - Add loyalty and discount cards to get benefits on cheap tickets on UK rail services, Eurostar, SNCF, Thalys, and Renfe. - Book tickets in advance or buy same-day train tickets up to 15 minutes before departure. - Buy tickets on your phone to skip station queues for selected routes. - Add Cancel for Any Reason to your booking for cover up to 15 minutes before departure. - Save plans for later and lock in tickets for up to 7 days. - Find the best value train tickets using our price calendar. Our partners: Across Europe and the UK, you can browse routes with Eurostar (UK, France and the Netherlands) Heathrow Express (UK) Avanti West Coast (UK) GWR (UK) National Express (UK) London Overground (UK) SNCF (France) TGV Lyria (France) Thalys (France) Trenitalia (Italy) Italo (Italy) Renfe (Spain) Alsa (Spain) Deutsche Bahn (Germany) ÖBB (Austria) SBB (Switzerland) NS (the Netherlands) SNCB (Belgium) Flixbus and many, many more… No matter who you choose to rail with, we make buying European tickets a smooth experience while bringing you the best fares available for every fuss-free journey. But should you need it, our dedicated customer support team is on-hand (and on the phone) to help you navigate the railways of Europe. Just give us a call! So, download our FREE Trainline app and get access to everything you need to train across the UK and Europe like a pro. Visit our FAQs page to find out more: https://www.thetrainline.com/en/help/ Or, follow us on social: FB: thetrainlinecom TW: /thetrainline IG: @trainline *Promo Code offering 10% off (up to $20) available exclusively on the Trainline app for the purchase of train tickets to travel in Europe or between the UK and Europe (excluding booking fees). Offer valid for US customers based in the US, for their first in-app purchase, limited to 1091 discount codes and can be used once per customer. This offer is subject to availability and bookings must be made before 23:59 EST on 31 May 2026 paid in US Dollars (USD). Promo Codes cannot be used with any other Trainline offer and can only be applied once. This offer is subject to availability and will end on 8 March 2026. To see all conditions that apply to this Promo Code Offer, please refer to https://www.thetrainline.com/terms.

Screenshots

SBB Mobile4 screens
Trainline4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Trainline at 4.9 against SBB Mobile's 3.8. Trainline also leads on ratings volume (10K vs 67) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). SBB Mobile's advantage is review sentiment (61% vs 29%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Trainline holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Trainline has 10K ratings behind it against 67, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 61% of SBB Mobile's written reviews are positive against 29% of Trainline's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SBB Mobile ships an update every 3 weeks, Trainline weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
SBB Mobile versus Trainline: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSBB MobileTrainline
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (67 ratings)4.9 (10K ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.3% of reviews — better28.5% of reviews
Number of ratings6710K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#168#127 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size365 MB377 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSBB AGthetrainline

Customer experience

SBB Mobile

All ratings67 ratings
Positive70.1%
Neutral3.0%
Negative26.9%
Written reviews560 reviews
Positive61.3%
Neutral9.6%
Negative29.1%

Trainline

All ratings10,178 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral0.4%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews1,307 reviews
Positive28.5%
Neutral8.1%
Negative63.4%

User reviews

SBB Mobile

From 67 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent navigation and trip planning
  • 🔒 Secure and reliable ticket purchasing
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 🚆 Comprehensive coverage of transportation options
  • 🔍 Detailed real-time information

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🤔 Confusing ticket purchasing process
  • 🔑 Login and registration issues
  • 🗺️ Inaccurate or missing location data
  • 🕰️ Unreliable schedule updates

Trainline

From 10K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Convenient for train travel
  • 🚀 Helpful for planning trips
  • 🚀 Reliable app
  • 🚀 Great for booking tickets

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy app with glitches
  • 🐛 Unreliable payment processing
  • 🐛 Inaccurate train information
  • 🐛 Poor customer service
  • 💰 Expensive booking fees

Bugs and requests

SBB Mobile

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Unexpected error messages when purchasing tickets
  • Location tracking issues causing invalid ticket activations
  • Syncing problems between app and online account
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Integrate with Apple Wallet for digital tickets
  • Add support for night trains and sleeper cars
  • Improve search and booking for multi-passenger trips
  • Provide more detailed station and platform information
  • Allow users to save and manage their travel passes

Trainline

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • Inability to book tickets or complete transactions
  • Incorrect train details and platform information
  • Tickets not showing up in the app
  • Railcard not recognized or applied correctly

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add ability to link existing railcards
  • Improve search and filtering options
  • Provide better notifications for train delays/cancellations
  • Allow easy ticket refunds and exchanges
  • Add map feature to locate train stations
Show 1 more
  • Integrate with Apple Wallet for seamless ticket access

In-app purchases

None

SBB Mobile

No in-app purchases

None

Trainline

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SBB Mobile free?
SBB Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Trainline free?
Trainline is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SBB Mobile or Trainline?
Trainline is rated higher. SBB Mobile averages 3.8 out of 5 from 67 ratings, while Trainline averages 4.9 from 10K ratings.
Do SBB Mobile or Trainline have ads?
Both SBB Mobile and Trainline show ads.
Which is updated more often, SBB Mobile or Trainline?
SBB Mobile ships an update every 3 weeks, and Trainline weekly. Most recently, SBB Mobile was updated on September 23, 2026 and Trainline on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, SBB Mobile or Trainline?
SBB Mobile currently peaks at #168 in the App Store charts, and Trainline at #127. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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