Comparison

Trainline vs Thistle Cabs Group

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

Head to head
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.

About

Thistle Cabs Group

Book a taxi quickly and easily with real-time car tracking and driver communication. Schedule rides in advance, manage favorite locations, and receive dispatch notifications. Enjoy priority service with this convenient travel app.

Highlights
  • Instant taxi booking
  • Real-time car tracking
  • Advance ride scheduling
  • Driver communication
  • Favorite location management
  • Push notification alerts
Features
Read full description

Book a taxi in under 10 seconds and experience exclusive priority service from Thistle Cabs Group. You can place the booking directly on our map, and see how many available cars there are. No standing in the rain. Track your car as it arrives on a map, or call the driver when they are nearby. No more guessing where your cab might be. Place bookings hours, days or weeks in advance. Whenever it's convenient for you. If necessary, cancel your booking at any time. It takes seconds to place a new booking directly from the handy favourites list. Having integrated SMS booking, we've now launched this intelligent IOS App so you can book a taxi within 3 screen taps. Thistle Cabs is FREE to download and it costs you nothing to register. ---------------------------------------- It's so easy and quick to use. Download the App and register just once. Our intelligent software will suggest your favourite Pick Up locations, and you're ready to book your a car. When you make a bookings, we'll notify you by Push Notification as your car is dispatched. We'll also inform you when your car is 2 minutes away, giving you additional details such as registration number, make, model and vehicle colour. ---------------------------------------- We value feedback and take all reviews very seriously. So please leave us feedback about your journey using the App. This helps us continually improve our service.

Screenshots

Trainline4 screens
Thistle Cabs Group3 screens

Verdict

The call

Trainline and Thistle Cabs Group both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Thistle Cabs Group's written reviews are positive against 29% of Trainline's. Thistle Cabs Group also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Trainline's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (11K vs 5). On price, rating, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Trainline against 5.0 for Thistle Cabs Group. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Trainline has 11K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 29% of Trainline's written reviews are positive against 100% of Thistle Cabs Group's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Trainline ships an update weekly, Thistle Cabs Group every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Trainline versus Thistle Cabs Group: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrainlineThistle Cabs Group
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (11K ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews28.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings11K — better5
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#210 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size378 MB91 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperthetrainlineB & G CONTRACTS LIMITED

Customer experience

Trainline

All ratings10,498 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral0.4%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews1,366 reviews
Positive28.8%
Neutral8.0%
Negative63.3%

Thistle Cabs Group

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

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

Thistle Cabs Group

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Trainline

No in-app purchases

None

Thistle Cabs Group

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Trainline free?
Trainline is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Thistle Cabs Group free?
Thistle Cabs Group is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Trainline or Thistle Cabs Group?
Thistle Cabs Group is rated higher. Trainline averages 4.9 out of 5 from 11K ratings, while Thistle Cabs Group averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Trainline or Thistle Cabs Group have ads?
Trainline shows ads; Thistle Cabs Group does not.
Which is updated more often, Trainline or Thistle Cabs Group?
Trainline ships an update weekly, and Thistle Cabs Group every 3 months. Most recently, Trainline was updated on October 30, 2026 and Thistle Cabs Group on October 24, 2026.

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