SwitzerlandMobility vs SBB FreeSurf
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SwitzerlandMobility
Discover and plan outdoor adventures across Switzerland with detailed route information. Navigate with GPS tracking, offline maps, and real-time updates on closures. Share your journeys and explore over 1,500 curated routes for various activities.
- Discover 1,500+ curated routes
- Detailed route descriptions and photos
- Tour planning with automatic calculations
- Offline map downloads
- GPS location tracking and compass
- Record and share tours
- Real-time route closure updates
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The SwitzerlandMobility app is the perfect companion for anyone who likes to be outdoors. Discover the right routes for you, plan your own adventures and share them with friends. DISCOVER THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ROUTES IN SWITZERLAND Be inspired: Here, you’ll find 1,500 selected routes throughout Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. Whether hiking, cycling, mountain biking, skating, canoeing or winter sports –our route network is available in the highest swisstopo map quality. EASY TOUR PLANNING WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Always be well prepared: You will find thorough descriptions and photo reports for every SwitzerlandMobility route. This gives you a good idea of what to expect at the site. Public transport stops including the next departure times and additional information on accommodation, places of interest, the local area, bicycle rental and bicycle service stations make it easy to prepare your trip. EASY TO FIND YOUR WAY ON THE GO THANKS TO OUR SIGNAGE Always on the right track: The SwitzerlandMobility routes are official and are marked on site. You can also find all route closures and diversions in the app to keep you informed of the latest changes. LOCATION TRACKING AND COMPASS Never on the wrong track again: You can easily see where you are on the map thanks to location tracking. The integrated compass aligns the map in the direction you are looking so that you can follow your planned tour. Have even more fun outdoors! SwitzerlandMobility Plus gives you practical extra features (charges apply): PLAN YOUR OWN TOURS Make it right for you: Draw your own tours on the swisstopo map. The distance, ascents and descents, height profile and time required are calculated automatically. DOWNLOAD MAPS OFFLINE Go offline: You can download any map sections before your tour. The relevant maps and route information are then available offline – ideal for alpine terrain where there is no network reception. RECORD TOURS ALONG THE WAY Track your route: You can record your tour automatically in the app (tracking function). This gives you an overview of all important information such as distance, altitude covered and time required. SHARE AND EXPORT TOURS Share your experiences: You can share self-drawn tours and recorded tracks with other people via a link. Anyone registered with SwitzerlandMobility Plus can import your tour into their own tour list. You can also export tours as GPX files and transfer them to your GPS device or smartwatch. HEIGHT PROFILE WITH LIVE LOCATION Keep track of your tour: On self-drawn tours, you can now see your current location directly in the height profile – marked by a red dot. So you can see right away how far it is to your destination, when you’ll arrive and how many metres of elevation lie ahead. Find out more about the advantages and additional features of SwitzerlandMobility Plus: https://schweizmobil.ch/en/switzerlandmobility-plus
SBB FreeSurf
Access free internet on SBB long-distance trains. This app leverages strong mobile coverage for a faster connection than traditional train Wi-Fi. It's available for customers with specific Swiss mobile contracts and international travelers with participating SIM cards.
- Free internet access on SBB trains
- Faster and smoother connection
- Utilizes mobile phone coverage
- Automatic recognition via beacon
- SMS confirmation for registration
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Internet access free of charge from the app. SBB FreeSurf is available on all SBB long-distance trains (IC and IR). SBB FreeSurf is based on the excellent mobile phone coverage along the Swiss rail routes – passengers can benefit from a faster and smoother internet connection with more bandwidth than you get with conventional train Wi-Fi. Customers with a digitec, Quickline, Salt (Das Abo, GoMo, Lidl Connect are included), Sunrise or Swisscom mobile phone contract can surf the internet for free with die SBB FreeSurf app. Passengers from abroad will be able to surf the internet for free with a SIM card (also eSIM) from a mobile phone provider participating in SBB FreeSurf. Trains with a free internet connection are marked with ‘FS’ (for FreeSurf) in the online timetable. When boarding the train, the customers can open the SBB FreeSurf app. Automatic recognition takes place using a beacon. After registering successfully, the customers will receive an SMS text confirming that they can surf for free via their mobile phone provider. When alighting from the train or switching off the connection, you will receive a message stating that free internet access is no longer active. We only need customers to provide the mobile number to be used for registration.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SwitzerlandMobility at 47% against SBB FreeSurf's 4%. SwitzerlandMobility also leads on rating (4.4 vs 1.2) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months). SBB FreeSurf's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (36 vs 12). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. SwitzerlandMobility sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. SBB FreeSurf asks for nothing beyond the download.
SwitzerlandMobility holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 12 and 36 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of SwitzerlandMobility's written reviews are positive against 4% of SBB FreeSurf's.
SwitzerlandMobility ships an update every 6 weeks, SBB FreeSurf every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SwitzerlandMobility | SBB FreeSurf |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (12 ratings) — better | 1.2 (36 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 47.1% of reviews — better | 3.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 12 | 36 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 74 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stiftung SchweizMobil | SBB AG |
Customer experience
SwitzerlandMobility
SBB FreeSurf
In-app purchases
SwitzerlandMobility
- Gönner-Abo SchweizMobil Plus$39.99
SBB FreeSurf
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SwitzerlandMobility free?
Is SBB FreeSurf free?
Which has better reviews, SwitzerlandMobility or SBB FreeSurf?
Do SwitzerlandMobility or SBB FreeSurf have ads?
Which is updated more often, SwitzerlandMobility or SBB FreeSurf?
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