Comparison

Subway Surfers vs True Surf

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

Head to head
About

Subway Surfers

Embark on an exhilarating endless running adventure. Dash through vibrant environments, dodge obstacles, and outrun pursuers. Utilize power-ups like jetpacks and hoverboards to enhance your escape and achieve high scores.

Highlights
  • Endless running gameplay
  • Dodge oncoming trains
  • Grind trains
  • Colorful HD graphics
  • Hoverboard surfing
  • Paint powered jetpack
Read full description

DASH as fast as you can! DODGE the oncoming trains! Help Jake, Tricky & Fresh escape from the grumpy Guard and his dog. - Grind trains with your cool crew! - Colorful and vivid HD graphics! - Hoverboard Surfing! - Paint powered jetpack! - Lightning fast swipe acrobatics! - Challenge and help your friends! Join the App Store's most daring chase! A Universal App with HD optimized graphics for retina resolution. Originally co-developed by SYBO and Kiloo.

About

True Surf

Experience the most authentic surfing simulation with realistic physics and live weather forecasts from Surfline. Master real-time controls, travel to world-famous breaks, and compete in WSL events. Evolve your surfer, build your gear, and chase the perfect wave.

Highlights
  • Realistic physics simulation
  • Live Surfline weather forecasts
  • World-famous surf breaks
  • Real-time touch controls
  • Character progression and customization
  • Board quiver management
  • Live WSL competitions
Features
Currently charting
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Conquer legendary past swells by crushing feat-based missions across a quiver of boards, from the world’s leading shapers, and unlock 34 of the planet's most iconic surf spots. Experience mind blowing realistic wave graphics, driven by True Axis' cutting-edge, real-world physics simulation engine, featuring real-time surf conditions powered by Surfline! True Surf is the Official Game of World Surf League (WSL). REAL TIME CONTROLS Realistic touch based physics enable complete control of your surfer in real time. Use one finger, your thumb or mind surf with two fingers like the Pros. NEW GAMEPLAY: FIRST PERSON BARREL MODE Automatically switch to first person mode when in the barrel. NEW MISSION MODE: Smash feat-based missions across the world’s most iconic breaks to unlock new surf spots! Every victory earns you essential rewards to fuel your career, including Clams, Travel Tickets, and Perfect Storms to boost live conditions. IMPROVED REPLAY GRAPHICS Edit and share POV drainers, pig dog shots in the barrel, and spine-twisting laybacks in the pocket! THE WORLD'S BEST WAVES A huge part of surfing is about chasing the perfect wave and True Surf comes jam-packed with the world's best. Travel the world chasing classic reef breaks with hollow barrels at Pipe in Hawaii, Cloudbreak, Fiji to rolling 'power-curve' breaks at Bells Beach, Australia. Or try to beat the sections at some of the world's fastest point breaks like Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. If BIG waves are your thing then head to Nazare, Portugal and Jaws (Pe-ahi), Hawaii. True Surf has it all including Surf Ranch, the epic man made wave located between farm fields in California’s Central Valley. REAL-TIME CONDITIONS POWERED BY SURFLINE True Surf is powered by real time surf forecasting data from Surfline (experts in marine weather forecasting). Data is updated throughout the day and includes Swell Height, Swell Direction, Wind, Tide and Water Temperature. PERFECT STORM Play god of thunder and boost LIVE swells. WILDLIFE Surf with dolphins, look out for the sharks! COMPETE IN WSL CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR EVENTS Are you ready for the CT? Test your skills in WSL Events and compete against other players from around the world to see if you have what it takes to become a CT champ! CHARACTER & QUIVER Experience apparel and boards from legendary brands including Billabong, Catch Surf, Firewire Surfboards, Pyzel Surfboards, Quiksilver, Roxy, Rusty, Shane, SharpEye Surfboards, Simon Anderson Surfboards, Slater Designs, Stretch Boards, and Vissla. Note: An internet connection is required to access some features. Frequent Flyer (monthly) is a monthly subscription service that enables you unlimited travel to all surf spots in True Surf. Frequent Flyer Monthly cost 2.99 USD/month (or local equivalent) and will be charged on your iTunes Account after purchase and when the subscription renews monthly. Perfect Storm (monthly) is a monthly subscription service that enables you unlimited activations of Perfect Storms at all surf spots in True Surf. Perfect Storms provide a boost to live surf conditions and each activation lasts for 5 minutes. Perfect Storm Monthly cost 2.99 USD/month (or local equivalent) and will be charged on your iTunes Account after purchase and when the subscription renews monthly. Subscriptions will renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to users iTunes account settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. Terms of service can be found at https://trueaxis.com/tsfua.html

Screenshots

Subway Surfers4 screens
True Surf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Subway Surfers at 4.6 against True Surf's 3.9. Subway Surfers also leads on review sentiment (87% vs 61%) and ratings volume (3.9M vs 3.5K). True Surf's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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. Subway Surfers sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and True Surf sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Subway Surfers holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Subway Surfers has 3.9M ratings behind it against 3.5K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Subway Surfers's written reviews are positive against 61% of True Surf's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Subway Surfers ships an update weekly, True Surf fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Subway Surfers versus True Surf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSubway SurfersTrue Surf
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (3.9M ratings) — better3.9 (3.5K ratings)
Positive reviews86.5% of reviews — better60.8% of reviews
Number of ratings3.9M — better3.5K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#4 — better#82
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size392 MB211 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperSybo Games ApSTrue Axis

Customer experience

Subway Surfers

All ratings3,851,849 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral3.5%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews10,872 reviews
Positive86.5%
Neutral4.9%
Negative8.6%

True Surf

All ratings3,441 ratings
Positive68.2%
Neutral10.6%
Negative21.2%
Written reviews1,137 reviews
Positive60.8%
Neutral16.9%
Negative22.3%

User reviews

Subway Surfers

From 3.9M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Addictive and fun gameplay
  • 📱 Works well offline
  • 🎨 Diverse characters and themes
  • 🎢 Challenging and fast-paced
  • 🎁 Rewarding progression system

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
  • 🕰️ Frequent updates can be disruptive
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🕹️ Difficulty controlling character at times
  • 🔍 Lack of save/sync across devices

True Surf

From 3.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌊 Realistic wave physics and graphics
  • 🤙 Fun and addictive gameplay
  • 🔥 Best surfing game on mobile
  • 👍 Intuitive controls once learned
  • 🌍 Variety of real-world surf spots

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases for boards and upgrades
  • 🐢 Extremely slow progression and leveling up
  • 🤯 Inconsistent and unreliable scoring system
  • 🌊 Lack of consistently good waves at many locations
  • 🔋 Battery draining issues

Bugs and requests

Subway Surfers

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game crashes after updates
  • Disappearing high scores and progress
  • Unresponsive controls during gameplay
  • Ads that redirect to App Store unexpectedly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to save progress across devices
  • More customization options for characters
  • Difficulty settings or modes
  • Multiplayer/competitive features
  • Reduced ad frequency or ad-free option

True Surf

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Waves not generating properly at Surf Ranch
  • Progression resets and lost progress
  • Inability to travel to desired surf spots

Requested features

5 requests
  • First-person camera mode
  • Customizable boards and characters
  • Competitive multiplayer mode
  • Career mode with challenges and sponsorships
  • Ability to create and share custom surf spots

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Subway Surfers

One-time10
  • 7,500 Coins$0.99
  • 12 500 Coins$0.99
  • Starter Pack$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Coin Pack 1$0.99
  • 45,000 Coins$4.99
  • Double Coins$4.99
  • 65 000 Coins$4.99
  • 25 Keys$4.99
  • 40 Keys$4.99
  • Key Pack 1$4.99
7 purchases

True Surf

Subscriptions2
  • Perfect Storm (monthly)$2.991 Month
  • Frequent Flyer (monthly)$2.991 Month
One-time5
  • Handful of Clams$0.99
  • Bag of Clams$7.99
  • Chest of Clams$28.99
Show 2 more
  • Boatload of Clams$49.99
  • Sea of Clams$99.99

Questions

Is Subway Surfers free?
Subway Surfers is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is True Surf free?
True Surf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Subway Surfers or True Surf?
Subway Surfers is rated higher. Subway Surfers averages 4.6 out of 5 from 3.9M ratings, while True Surf averages 3.9 from 3.5K ratings.
Do Subway Surfers or True Surf have ads?
Subway Surfers shows ads; True Surf does not.
Which is updated more often, Subway Surfers or True Surf?
Subway Surfers ships an update weekly, and True Surf fortnightly. Most recently, Subway Surfers was updated on October 26, 2026 and True Surf on October 27, 2026.
Which is more popular, Subway Surfers or True Surf?
Subway Surfers currently peaks at #4 in the App Store charts, and True Surf at #82. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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