SF Next Bus vs Busly
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SF Next Bus
Get real-time arrival predictions for San Francisco buses and BART trains. Navigate using location services or manual map input. Save favorite stops and view system-wide notifications.
- Real-time arrival predictions
- Location-based stop identification
- Map navigation integration
- Bus and BART route viewing
- Favorite stop saving
- System-wide notifications
Read full descriptionHide full description
SF Next Bus shows real-time arrival predictions for Bay Area transit — Muni buses and Muni Metro in San Francisco, plus BART, Caltrain, and AC Transit. Find nearby stops on the map, tap one for the next arrivals, and save your regular stops as favorites. Service alerts keep you posted on delays and disruptions. Rebuilt from the ground up for the latest iOS, SF Next Bus now includes a companion Apple Watch app and watch-face complication. Data provided by 511 SF Bay (511.org), a service of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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 rating: Busly at 4.5 against SF Next Bus's 2.1. Busly also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. SF Next Bus sells 1 one-off in-app purchase 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.
Busly holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Busly has 561 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of SF Next Bus's written reviews are positive against 43% of Busly's.
SF Next Bus ships an update every 2 months, Busly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SF Next Bus | Busly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.1 (14 ratings) | 4.5 (561 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews | 42.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 561 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 38 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Junebot, LLC | Alex Perez |
Customer experience
SF Next Bus
Busly
Bugs and requests
SF Next Bus
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
SF Next Bus
- SF Next Bus - No Ads$2.99
Busly
- Busly Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Busly Pro Annual$9.991 Year
