Trainline vs Amtrak
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Amtrak
Book train tickets, manage your account, and access travel information on the go. Show your eTicket digitally and save payment details for quick purchases. Find station info and check train status easily.
- Digital eTickets
- Ticket purchasing
- Train status checks
- Station information
- Account management
- Apple Wallet integration
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Discover the convenience of traveling with Amtrak. With the Amtrak app you can get simple and intuitive access to all the travel information you need, whenever you need it. • Show your eTicket while onboard, including multi-ride and monthly passes - no need to print • Purchase one-way, roundtrip, multi-ride and monthly tickets with dollars or Amtrak Guest Rewards points • Check train status • Find station information • Edit and manage your account profile • Save credit cards for quick checkout • Send your eTicket to Apple Wallet • And so much more... With the Amtrak app, you can do it all right from your smart device.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Amtrak at none against Trainline's shown. Amtrak also leads on ratings volume (216K vs 10K) and chart position (#21 vs #123). Trainline's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and rating (4.9 vs 4.7). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Trainline holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Amtrak has 216K ratings behind it against 10K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 29% of Trainline's written reviews are positive against 30% of Amtrak's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Trainline ships an update weekly, Amtrak monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Trainline | Amtrak |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (10K ratings) — better | 4.7 (216K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 28.5% of reviews | 30.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10K | 216K — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #123 | #21 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 377 MB | 145 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | thetrainline | Amtrak |
Customer experience
Trainline
Amtrak
User reviews
Trainline
From 10K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Amtrak
From 216K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to navigate
- 👍 Helpful for tracking delays and notifications
- 🚂 Positive travel experience overall
- 💻 Reliable for booking and managing trips
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and errors
- 🕰️ Lack of real-time updates on train status
- 📱 Unintuitive and confusing app interface
- 💳 Issues with booking and payment functionality
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
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- Integrate with Apple Wallet for seamless ticket access
Amtrak
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inability to modify or cancel reservations
- Inconsistent behavior when booking multi-leg trips
- Problems with logging in and accessing account information
Requested features
4 requests- Add more detailed train information (amenities, quiet cars, etc.)
- Improve trip planning and itinerary management features
- Integrate with mobile wallets for easier ticketing
- Provide better communication during service disruptions
In-app purchases
Trainline
No in-app purchases
Amtrak
No in-app purchases









