Comparison

San Jose Transit vs Caltrain Live

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

Head to head
About

San Jose Transit

Access VTA bus and light rail schedules and stop timings offline. Browse routes, view stops on a map, and save favorites for quick access. Get real-time trip information and enjoy automatic schedule updates.

Highlights
  • Offline VTA schedules
  • Route and stop browsing
  • Map view of stops and routes
  • Favorite stops and routes
  • Stop time interpolation
  • Automatic schedule updates
Features
Read full description

San Jose Transit provides easy access to VTA(Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority) bus as well as light rail services. It lets you browse through stop timings and trips offline without any active internet connection. San Jose Transit 3 is here! Completed redone from ground up. This new version makes it intuitive to browse through the routes and their schedules. Features: - Easy navigation through the UI. - Consolidated directional routes. Sub routes won't show up as separate routes if they are all in the same direction. - View stops and routes on map. - See all the VTA stops around you on a Map. - Search by zip code, address or city name. - Add stops and routes as favorites. - View all trips of a specific route (inbound or outbound) passing through a specific stop at any time. - Easy schedule updates with automatic daily update checks. - Stop time interpolation. The app shows timings for stops which don't show up on vta.org. All the schedules are still fully offline. The maps do require internet connection though ;-) Please report any mis timings to sanjosetransit@gmail.com or at https://github.com/jvashishtha/San-Jose-Transit/issues. As always feedback is much appreciated. So write me up at sanjosetransit@gmail.com Enjoy! :) Note: This application or its developer are in no way related to VTA or any such organizations. This application is developed for the convenience of VTA riders. NOTE: I would sugggest you email to sanjosetransit@gmail.com if you face any crashes. Writing bad reviews does not help solve the problem. Thank you.

About

Caltrain Live

Access real-time Caltrain information, including train status, service disruptions, and timetables with offline access. Plan trips with live data and receive instant alerts for your commute.

Highlights
  • Real-time train status and alerts
  • Offline timetable access
  • Trip planner with live data
  • Service disruption monitoring
  • Pinned train status
  • Station announcements
Read full description

Caltrain Live lets you quickly access all the latest information you need for your Caltrain commute. You can pin a train to quickly access its status and alerts, monitor construction and service disruptions along the corridor, and get the latest timetable with offline access all in one place. - Includes a fast, simple UI with no ads, popups or tracking. - Get a copy of the latest timetable with automatic updates and offline access. - The built-in trip planner includes live data, special event trains, and holiday timetable support. - Monitor trains in realtime and get easy access to trains you care about. - See single tracking events across the corridor and for each station. - Read station announcements. - Train data includes per-stop delays, calculated stop bypass times, and relevant alerts. - Realtime data is fast, uses minimal mobile data, refreshes every 30 seconds, includes departure times to-the-second, alerts from 511, and more.

Screenshots

San Jose Transit4 screens
Caltrain Live4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Caltrain Live at 4.6 against San Jose Transit's 2.9. Caltrain Live also leads on review sentiment (63% vs 50%). San Jose Transit's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Caltrain Live holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 17 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of San Jose Transit's written reviews are positive against 63% of Caltrain Live's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

San Jose Transit ships an update every 2 months, Caltrain Live every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
San Jose Transit versus Caltrain Live: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSan Jose TransitCaltrain Live
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (7 ratings)4.6 (17 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews62.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings717 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVashishtha JogiJackson Loeffler

Customer experience

San Jose Transit

All ratings7 ratings
Positive42.9%
Neutral14.3%
Negative42.9%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral11.1%
Negative38.9%

Caltrain Live

All ratings16 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative37.5%

In-app purchases

None

San Jose Transit

No in-app purchases

None

Caltrain Live

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is San Jose Transit free?
San Jose Transit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Caltrain Live free?
Caltrain Live is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, San Jose Transit or Caltrain Live?
Caltrain Live is rated higher. San Jose Transit averages 2.9 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Caltrain Live averages 4.6 from 17 ratings.
Do San Jose Transit or Caltrain Live have ads?
Neither San Jose Transit nor Caltrain Live shows ads.
Which is updated more often, San Jose Transit or Caltrain Live?
San Jose Transit ships an update every 2 months, and Caltrain Live every 3 months. Most recently, San Jose Transit was updated on October 22, 2026 and Caltrain Live on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons