TransPennine Express vs Starling Bikes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TransPennine Express
Plan your UK train journeys and purchase tickets without booking or card fees. Save money with advance tickets, store eTickets and digital railcards, and access live departure and arrival times for all UK rail services.
- Book advance tickets for savings
- Store eTickets and digital railcards
- View live departure/arrival times
- Save common journeys
- Manage bookings in 'My account'
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No booking or card fees – download the TransPennine Express app to plan your next journey and buy train tickets to any UK railway station. Key Features: - Book in advance and you could save over 50%* with Advance tickets - Store eTickets in our app or save them to your Apple wallet - Buy Digital Railcards, conveniently stored in our app for easy access - Enjoy discounts and promotions on TransPennine Express fares, subject to availability - View live departure and arrival times for all UK Rail services - Make searching quick and easy by saving common journeys - Easily manage your bookings on the go in My account Together, we’re going places. Download now and book your journey. Information to note: Got a question? See our FAQs: https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/help/contact-us/faqs Need to get in touch? Find the best way to here: https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/help/contact-us Follow us on Social Media @TPExpressTrains on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook Learn more about us at https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/ * Full T&Cs for Advance tickets available at https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-offers/advance-bookings
Starling Bikes
Easily find and rent bikes or e-bikes for a faster, more convenient, and sustainable way to travel. Unlock a ride from numerous stations across Greater Manchester and enjoy a fun, efficient journey. The app guides you through starting and ending your rental.
- Find bike and e-bike stations
- Unlock bikes via the app
- Safe and easy-to-use bikes
- Pay As You Ride options
- Minute Bundles and passes
- View promotions and rates
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Cities are better when more people are on two wheels! Travel in a faster, more convenient, and sustainable way by bike or e-bike. We can guarantee it's more fun than sitting in traffic. Use the Starling Bank Bikes app to find and unlock a bike or e-bike from one of the many bike hire stations across Greater Manchester! We've designed our bikes to be safe and easy to use for an enjoyable ride. It's as easy as app, tap, and roll. Getting started ------------------------------- Download the Starling Bank Bikes App Create an account and add a payment method Enjoy your ride! Ending your ride ------------------------------- Find a convenient bike hire station in the app. Head there and park up your ride. Follow the instructions in the app to finish your journey How much does it cost? ------------------------------- Get rolling right away with our Pay As You Ride options. We also have a range of Minute Bundles and passes to suit more regular riders. Open the app to see the latest promotions and rates for your scheme. Download the Starling Bank Bikes App and start riding with us today.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: TransPennine Express at 4.5 against Starling Bikes's 3.7. TransPennine Express also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (205 vs 3). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
TransPennine Express holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TransPennine Express has 205 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of TransPennine Express's written reviews are positive against 5% of Starling Bikes's.
TransPennine Express ships an update every 2 weeks, Starling Bikes every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TransPennine Express | Starling Bikes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (205 ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 27.9% of reviews — better | 5.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 205 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 169 MB | 141 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TransPennine Express | Beryl |
Customer experience
TransPennine Express
Starling Bikes
User reviews
TransPennine Express
From 205 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy and quick to use
- 👍 Straightforward app
- ⭐️ Great savings and easy to navigate
- ⭐️ Efficient and quick to book and pay for tickets
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes and technical issues
- 🔒 Frequent log-outs and login problems
- 🔍 Difficult to find and access tickets
- 🤔 Unintuitive user experience and poor design
- 🔍 Lack of useful features like Apple Wallet integration
Starling Bikes
From 3 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Bikes are great when they work
- 👍 Electric bikes are good
- 👍 Customer service is excellent (mentioned by one user)
- 👍 Amazing customer service (mentioned by one user)
- 👍 Nice assistants (mentioned by one user)
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bikes rarely unlock
- 🐛 Many bikes are faulty/broken
- 🐛 App is unreliable
- 🐛 Lock system is problematic
- 🐛 Frequent charging errors/fines
Bugs and requests
TransPennine Express
Reported bugs
3 issues- Tickets disappearing from the app
- Issues with adding tickets to Apple Wallet
- App not working outside the UK
Requested features
5 requests- Add tickets to Apple Wallet
- Remember login details and payment info
- Improve user interface and flow
- Provide better information on tickets and journeys
- Allow booking of open return tickets
Starling Bikes
Reported bugs
28 issues- Bikes do not unlock
- Bikes do not lock properly
- App charges incorrect fees/fines
- App shows bikes as available when they are not
- Locking system jams or fails
Show 23 moreShow fewer
- Contactless scanners are damaged
- Bike seats slide down
- Brakes are non-existent or faulty
- Chains are broken
- App glitches or freezes
- Stations are broken or do not work for returning bikes
- App does not geolocate automatically
- App requires downloading multiple applications
- App requires a strong signal to function
- App bans users for minor issues
- App does not recognize when a bike is locked
- App glitches when trying to dispute fines
- App allows submission of only one picture at a time
- App does not have a bike stand search function
- App incorrectly charges for parking outside bays
- App shows bikes in a rack as 'not available' when they are present
- App fails to unlock bikes after pausing a ride
- App crashes or becomes unresponsive
- Rear lock mechanism issues
- Front lock mechanism issues
- App does not update bike status accurately
- Electric bikes have limited functionality (e.g., only 3 levels)
- App bans users for trying to fix unlock issues (e.g., wiggling handle)
Requested features
19 requests- Improve bike unlocking reliability
- Improve bike maintenance
- Improve app reliability and performance
- Fix the lock system
- Provide clearer instructions for locking bikes
Show 14 moreShow fewer
- Implement proper docking stations like in London
- Add a bike stand search function to the app
- Improve customer service response and helpfulness
- Ensure accurate charging and refund processes
- Increase the number of electric bikes
- Address bike availability in underserved areas
- Make the app require less signal strength
- Improve the user interface and onboarding process
- Reduce the number of required apps
- Add more levels to electric bikes
- Provide a better solution for phone mounting
- Clarify out-of-zone charges with warnings
- Investigate and resolve account blocking issues
- Improve the overall design and user experience
In-app purchases
TransPennine Express
No in-app purchases
Starling Bikes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is TransPennine Express free?
Is Starling Bikes free?
Which has better reviews, TransPennine Express or Starling Bikes?
Do TransPennine Express or Starling Bikes have ads?
Which is updated more often, TransPennine Express or Starling Bikes?
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