Routesy vs Busly
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Routesy
Get real-time transit predictions for major California transit systems. Find the closest stops and make sure you arrive on time with live data. Bookmark your favorite stops for quick access.
- Real-time transit predictions
- Supports SF Muni, BART, Caltrain, AC Transit, LA Metro
- Find closest stops/stations
- Bookmark favorite stops
- Dark mode (Pro feature)
- Ad-free experience (Pro feature)
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Routesy will help you find your way around some of California's top transit systems -- San Francisco Muni, BART, Caltrain & AC Transit, Los Angeles Metro, and West Hollywood -- in real time! Simply choose the line you want to ride, and Routesy will show you the closest stop or station, along with real-time prediction data to make sure you make it on time. You can also bookmark your favorite stops to quickly get predictions immediately upon opening the app. * * * * * Routesy is free to use, but for additional features, you can subscribe to Routesy Pro, which removes advertisements, and adds a dark mode. Automatically renews once per year, cancel anytime If you purchase Routesy Pro, payment will be charged to your iTunes account, and your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Auto-renewal can be disabled by going to your settings in the iTunes Store after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable. Privacy Policy: http://routesy.com/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://app.termly.io/document/terms-of-use-for-website/6b82436d-9903-4aff-a3e5-ac86686b0680
Busly
This app provides real-time transit information for buses and trains in major U.S. cities. View live vehicle locations, arrival times, and detailed route information on an interactive map. Save favorite routes and stops for quick access.
- Live map with vehicle locations
- Real-time arrival times
- Detailed vehicle information
- Favorite routes and stops
- Nearby stops
- Fare information
- Light and dark themes
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Now with support for iOS 27 & iPhone Duo! Busly lets you view live locations & arrival times for buses & trains across major U.S. cities. LIVE MAP • Get real-time bus & train position updates on a live updating map (which can also show route lines & stops!) ARRIVAL TIMES • View up-to-date arrival times for both stops & vehicles DETAILED BUS/TRAIN INFO • Get detailed vehicle information including: heading, speed, occupancy, wheelchair accessibility, bikes allowed FAVORITES • Add route lines & stops to your Favorites for quick access NEARBY STOPS • View stops nearby to your current location SEARCH • Optimized for near-instant search results to help you quickly find what you're looking for FARE INFORMATION • View detailed fare/ticketing options for the agencies in your region LIGHT & DARK THEMES • Choose between fully supported light & dark themes or automatically switch using the system setting ACCESSIBILITY • First-class accessibility support, including VoiceOver & Dynamic Type SUPPORTED REGIONS • Atlanta (MARTA) • Austin (CapMetro) • Boston (MBTA) • Chicago (Metra) • Cincinnati (Go Metro) • Cleveland (GCRTA) • Denver (RTD) • Edmonton (ETS) • Hartford (CTTransit) • Las Vegas (RTC) • Los Angeles (LA Metro) • Minneapolis (Metro Transit) • Nashville (WeGo) • Phoenix (Valley Metro) • Raleigh (GoRaleigh) • Sacramento (SacRT) • San Francisco (SF Muni, BART, Caltrain) • Seattle (King County Metro) • Washington, D.C. (WMATA) ...And many more coming soon! NO ADS, NO TRACKERS • Busly is 100% free of ads & trackers and always will be — For questions/comments/support, email support@busly.app or navigate in-app to Settings > Support > Contact App Support.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Busly at none against Routesy's shown. Busly also leads on monetization model (free vs freemium). Routesy's advantage is ratings volume (15K vs 558) and review sentiment (51% vs 43%). On price, rating, update cadence 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. Routesy sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year and Busly sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Routesy holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Routesy has 15K ratings behind it against 558, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 51% of Routesy's written reviews are positive against 43% of Busly's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Routesy | Busly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (15K ratings) — better | 4.5 (558 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 51.3% of reviews — better | 42.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 15K — better | 558 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Routesy, LLC | Alex Perez |
Customer experience
Routesy
Busly
User reviews
Routesy
From 15K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Accurate real-time predictions
- 👍 Convenient bookmarking of favorite routes
- 🚇 Integrates multiple transit systems (Muni, BART, AC Transit)
- 💡 Helpful for commuters and tourists
- 🤖 Responsive developer support
Room to improve
- 🐛 Unreliable predictions or 'no current prediction' errors
- 🔄 Frequent need to update bookmarks due to route changes
- 🔍 Limited search and navigation features compared to competitors
- 💰 Paid subscription model can be frustrating for long-time users
Busly
From 558 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Accurate GPS
- 👍 Real-time arrival accuracy
- 👍 Efficient and simple GUI
- 👍 Valuable for MUNI supervisors
- 👍 Good for Atlanta transit
Room to improve
- 🐛 Inaccurate arrival times
- 🐛 App crashes frequently
- 🐛 Routes not showing up
- 🐛 App cuts off unexpectedly
- 🐛 App is unstable
Bugs and requests
Routesy
Reported bugs
2 issues- App freezing or crashing on some devices
- Inconsistent data sync across multiple devices
Requested features
3 requests- Live transit map with vehicle locations
- Destination-based trip planning
- Customizable alerts and notifications
Busly
Reported bugs
9 issues- App crashes
- Routes do not show up
- App cuts off
- App is unstable
- Long calibration times
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Buses appear ahead of reported location
- Missing key spots on routes
- Stops are out of order
- Atlanta map missing stations
Requested features
9 requests- Show bus numbers
- Show run numbers
- Color-code different bus lines on map
- Display bus number instead of line name when clicking a stop
- Improve refresh rate (currently 5 minutes)
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Add tutorial or explanation of symbols
- Allow selection of favorite stops
- Add vehicle ID and Block ID
- Revert to previous app's functionality for route lists and stop order
In-app purchases
Routesy
- Routesy Pro$4.991 Year
- Routesy Pro (Prior Purchase)Free
Busly
- Busly Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Busly Pro Annual$9.991 Year






