Comparison

Citymapper vs MTA TrainTime

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

Head to head
About

Citymapper

Plan and navigate your journeys using real-time public transit, ride-sharing, and micro-mobility options. Get turn-by-turn directions, live updates, and compare travel times and costs across various modes of transport.

Highlights
  • Real-time trip planning
  • Turn-by-turn navigation
  • Live wait times and ETAs
  • Integration with ride-sharing and bike-sharing
  • Personalized alerts for favorite lines
  • Offline map access
Features
Read full description

Instantly compare your travel options in real-time across all transport modes globally! Easily navigate your city with turn-by-turn directions for all your public transportation, walking, cycling and scooter trips. THOUSANDS OF 5 STAR REVIEWS * "This is my favorite transit app. Full-featured and a breeze to use. I really appreciate the Uber integration." * "Only way to get around NYC and Chicago. Easy and accurate. Download this one NOW" * "I love it. It’s the best thing since zippers, peanut and jelly and 1 TB thumb drives" * "Support for the SF Bay Area is particularly impressive because it aggregates all transit systems imaginable (BART, Caltrain, MUNI, VTA, etc.) into one seamless app" FIND THE BEST ROUTE ► Simple trip planning combining all transport modes: bus, subway, train, ferry, cabs, ride share, car share, bike share, e-scooters and walking. Discover routes you never knew existed HIT THE GO BUTTON FOR STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS ► Turn-by-turn navigation for all your transit, walking, personal cycling, bike shares and scooter trips. Choose between 3 different map views, see the charge levels of e-scooters and e-bikes around you, we even help you avoid no-parking zones. We take care of the logistical thinking so you are free to enjoy the ride EXPERIENCE ONE-STOP-SHOP MOBILITY ► Compare cab fares, hail a ride, hop on a shared bike or find the nearest e-scooter all from within the app. Our partners include: Uber, Lyft, JUMP, Lime, Bird, Spin, Skip, Scoot, Citi Bike, JerseryBike, Bluebikes, Indego, CaBi, Divvy, Metro Bike, Breeze, Bay Wheels, Healthy Ride, Relay, BCycle, SA Bike Share, GREENbike, Grid, RTC Bike, BIKETOWN, Biki BEAT THE RUSH HOUR CROWD ► Live wait times and ETA so you'll never miss a bus, train or ferry again. Follow your bus / train as it's approaching on a real-time map, see the best train car to board, get alerted when it's time to get off, and get in and out from the best exit at any subway / train station PERSONALIZE YOUR CITY ► Save Home, Work and your go-to stops or stations for lightning fast trip planning. Subscribe to your favorite subway, train, bus or ferry line for automatic disruption, delay, and status alerts GET SOCIAL ► Share your live trip: let friends follow your live trip to know when you'll arrive. Share any location or address: one tap for others to get directions TRAVEL OFFLINE ► Access offline the official NYC subway map, Manhattan bus map, Brooklyn bus map, Queens bus map, DC metro map, Muni Metro map, and more CITY COVERAGE ► New York City | Chicago | Los Angeles | San Francisco | Washington DC | Boston | Philadelphia | Seattle | Miami | Atlanta | Portland | Denver | Baltimore | San Diego | Minneapolis | Houston | Phoenix | Dallas | Las Vegas | Pittsburgh | Honolulu | Salt Lake City | San Antonio | St. Louis | Cleveland | Austin + Many more worldwide! See the full list and vote for the next one in the app or at https://citymapper.com/cities TRANSIT AGENCIES ► We use open data from transit agencies in the cities we cover, including: MTA | CTA | LA Metro | MBTA | WMATA | SEPTA | NJ Transit | Muni | BART | King Bus | MARTA | LIRR | RTD | TriMet | Metro-North Railroad | PATH | Houston METRO | San Diego MTS | Miami-Dade Transit | Metro Transit | METRA | RTC Bus | TheBus | Port Authority | DART | AC Transit | Sound Transit | UTA | OCTA | VIA | PTD | Metro Transit | RTA | Capital Metro | Broward County Transit Division | NY Waterway Ferries | Washington State Ferries | LBT | Nassau Inter County Express (NICE)| Valley Metro | Metrolink | Santa Monica Big Blue Bus (BBB) KEEP IN TOUCH ► If you have questions or feedback or something we may have missed in your city email us at support@citymapper.com Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Citymapper Privacy Policy: https://citymapper.com/privacy Terms of Service: https://citymapper.com/terms

About

MTA TrainTime

This app allows railroad customers to buy and use tickets, plan journeys, and track trains in real-time. It offers features like split payments, multi-station trip planning, and real-time GPS tracking for a seamless travel experience.

Highlights
  • Buy and use railroad tickets
  • Plan trips with departure times
  • Real-time GPS train tracking
  • View train car layouts and crowding
  • Split ticket payments
  • Share trip details
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

The TrainTime app provides a one-stop shop for Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad customers, where riders can buy and use tickets, plan their trips, track their trains, and more. • Buy tickets with Apple Pay or credit/debit card. Split payment between two cards. • Plan trips with departure times and transfer details before you travel. You can also search for two origin and/or two destination stations at once. • Save your frequent trains for easy access • Share trips with family and friends so they know when to expect you • Follow your trip with real-time GPS tracking, updated every few seconds • See the layout of your train and how crowded each car is • Chat with a customer service representative for either LIRR or Metro-North within the app

Screenshots

Citymapper4 screens
MTA TrainTime4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MTA TrainTime at none against Citymapper's 3. MTA TrainTime also leads on ads (none vs shown). Citymapper's advantage is review sentiment (76% vs 53%). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Citymapper sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. MTA TrainTime asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Citymapper against 4.9 for MTA TrainTime. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 108K and 211K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Citymapper's written reviews are positive against 53% of MTA TrainTime's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Citymapper ships an update every 10 days, MTA TrainTime weekly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Citymapper versus MTA TrainTime: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCitymapperMTA TrainTime
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (108K ratings)4.9 (211K ratings)
Positive reviews75.9% of reviews — better52.7% of reviews
Number of ratings108K211K — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysWeekly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#18#15 — better
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size292 MB129 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperCitymapper LimitedMetropolitan Transportation Authority

Customer experience

Citymapper

All ratings108,342 ratings
Positive97.2%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews1,754 reviews
Positive75.9%
Neutral6.0%
Negative18.1%

MTA TrainTime

All ratings211,084 ratings
Positive97.6%
Neutral1.0%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews438 reviews
Positive52.7%
Neutral3.7%
Negative43.6%

User reviews

Citymapper

From 108K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent navigation
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 🚇 Comprehensive public transport information
  • 🗺️ Accurate route planning
  • ⏱️ Real-time updates

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate schedule information
  • 🔧 Unreliable live updates
  • 🚧 Limited coverage in some cities
  • 💰 Paywall for basic features
  • 🔋 High battery consumption

MTA TrainTime

From 211K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient and easy to use
  • 👍 Consolidated app with all features
  • 🚅 Accurate real-time train tracking
  • 💳 Seamless ticket purchasing
  • 📆 Helpful calendar integration

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🕰️ Inconsistent train arrival/departure times
  • 🔍 Difficult to find older tickets
  • 🔀 Confusing ticket type selection

Bugs and requests

Citymapper

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Delayed transit arrival notifications
  • Incorrect route suggestions
  • Glitches when switching between cities

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline mode support
  • Customizable route preferences
  • Integration with other transit apps
  • Improved accessibility features
  • Better multimodal transportation options

MTA TrainTime

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Ticket purchase failures
  • Device blocked from purchasing tickets
  • Incorrect track information displayed

Requested features

4 requests
  • Apple Watch support
  • Ability to plan trips for future dates
  • More detailed crowding/capacity information
  • Improved search and filtering options

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Citymapper

Subscriptions3
  • Citymapper CLUB7 Days trial$1.491 Month
  • Citymapper CLUB7 Days trial$9.991 Year
  • Citymapper CLUB+$99.991 Year
None

MTA TrainTime

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Citymapper free?
Citymapper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MTA TrainTime free?
MTA TrainTime is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Citymapper or MTA TrainTime?
Citymapper and MTA TrainTime are both rated 4.9 out of 5 on the App Store, from 108K and 211K ratings respectively.
Do Citymapper or MTA TrainTime have ads?
Citymapper shows ads; MTA TrainTime does not.
Which is updated more often, Citymapper or MTA TrainTime?
Citymapper ships an update every 10 days, and MTA TrainTime weekly. Most recently, Citymapper was updated on September 24, 2026 and MTA TrainTime on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Citymapper or MTA TrainTime?
Citymapper currently peaks at #18 in the App Store charts, and MTA TrainTime at #15. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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