MBTA mTicket vs RIPTA Wave
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MBTA mTicket
Purchase Commuter Rail and Ferry tickets instantly from your smartphone. This app acts as a mobile ticket office, allowing you to buy single, round-trip, and 10-ride tickets securely. Your phone becomes your ticket, and purchased tickets are stored within the app for easy access and transfer.
- Secure ticket purchasing
- Smartphone as ticket
- Ticket transferability
- View schedules and alerts
- Purchase 10-ride tickets
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Buy a ticket anywhere, anytime - in seconds. The Official MBTA mTicket App is like a ticket office in your pocket. Your smartphone is your ticket! With the new MBTA mTicket App for Commuter Rail and Ferry, you can securely purchase MBTA Commuter Rail and Ferry Single Ride, Round-Trip, and 10 Ride tickets in seconds. Purchasing a ticket is easy: select your trip & ticket type, enter your payment card information and your smartphone is your ticket! Never lose your ticket again! Once you purchase your ticket, it will always stick in My Tickets. Need to replace your phone? No problem -- we can easily transfer any purchased ticket. Want to check your schedule or service updates? You can check schedules and T-Alerts right from inside the app! We are making the app better everyday! Let us know what you think at www.mbta.com/mticket Features: ● Secure ticket purchasing with your credit or debit card ● Your smartphone is your ticket ● Never worry about zones again -- just select your origin and destination to purchase ● Never lose your ticket -- tickets can be easily transferred if your phone is lost or stolen ● Check Commuter Rail schedules, maps, and service alerts ● Brand new offers from JustRide and the MBTA
RIPTA Wave
Purchase and manage public transit fares directly from your smartphone. Load money onto your account and use your phone as your ticket to ride, with options for one-way, day, and monthly passes. Your fare balance is always accessible and transferable.
- Secure fare purchasing
- Smartphone as ticket
- Earn As You Go fare system
- Transferable fare balance
- One-way, Day, and Monthly passes
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With the new RIPTA Wave App, you can securely purchase RIPTA fares in seconds. Purchasing fares is easy: enter your payment card information, load money onto your Wave account, and your smartphone is your ticket to ride! RIPTA also offers one-way, Day and Monthly passes for use on all services. When ready to board the bus, open the app, and scan it under the validator. Never lose your fare product again! Once you load money into your Wave account, it will always be available to use. Need to replace your phone? No problem -- we can easily transfer your balance. Features: • Earn As You Go – You no longer have to purchase a Day Pass or Monthly Pass upfront. Each time you ride, gets you closer to earning a Day or Monthly Pass. • Secure ticket purchasing with your credit or debit card • Your smartphone is your ticket to ride • Never lose your fare – account balance and passes can be easily transferred if your phone is lost or stolen
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: MBTA mTicket at 2.6 against RIPTA Wave's 1.5. MBTA mTicket also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (27% vs 5%). RIPTA Wave's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.6). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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.
MBTA mTicket holds the better App Store score, 2.6 against 1.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 644 and 217 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of MBTA mTicket's written reviews are positive against 5% of RIPTA Wave's.
MBTA mTicket ships an update every 3 months, RIPTA Wave every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MBTA mTicket | RIPTA Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.6 (644 ratings) — better | 1.5 (217 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 27.4% of reviews — better | 5.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 644 — better | 217 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #134 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 79 MB | 91 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MBTA | Bytemark, Inc. |
Customer experience
MBTA mTicket
RIPTA Wave
User reviews
MBTA mTicket
From 644 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great app and reliable
- 👍 Clean and simple, easy to use
- 👍 Functional and works as needed
- 🚀 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Works fine, no issues experienced
Room to improve
- 🐛 Glitchy at best, frequently crashes
- 🐛 Buggy, payment processing issues
- 🐛 Unreliable, app often doesn't work
- 🐛 Broken features, poor UX
- 🐛 Payments not working, app unusable
RIPTA Wave
From 217 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✅ Convenient contactless payment option
- 🎯 Ride-to-earn feature allows flexible payment
- 📱 No need to carry physical cards
- 🎨 Aesthetically pleasing interface design
- ⚙️ Auto-purchase functionality available
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
- 💸 Minimum $5-$6 charge requirement (fare is only $2)
- 🔐 Constant login and authentication issues
- 💰 Money disappears or fails to load on virtual cards
- ❌ QR code scanner doesn't work reliably
Bugs and requests
MBTA mTicket
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login issues, unable to create account
- Tickets disappearing, money stolen
- Brightness settings not resetting
- Incompatible with older devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for Apple Wallet
- Integrate with mobile wallets
- Improve navigation and ticket management
- Add real-time train schedule updates
- Allow changing account details
RIPTA Wave
Reported bugs
16 issues- App crashes on startup and during payment
- QR code scanner fails to read barcodes
- Random logout without user action
- Payment verification fails despite successful charge
- Virtual cards created unexpectedly
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- Funds load to wrong virtual card
- Balance shows as zero despite loaded funds
- Day passes and transfers fail to register
- App freezes when attempting to sign in
- Card information cannot be edited
- API errors throughout application
- App doesn't open after updates
- Scanning issues on newer iPhone models
- Inaccessible funds after reinstalling app
- Monthly pass unlinks after app downtime
- Slow performance and connection issues
Requested features
11 requests- Integration with Apple Wallet and Apple Pay
- Support for Samsung devices
- One-way ticket option instead of only day/monthly passes
- Transfer pass availability in app (currently bus-only)
- Credit card payment option
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Ability to remove or consolidate virtual cards
- Web-based payment alternative when app fails
- Better scanning with brightness adjustment assistance
- Automatic physical card fallback for app failures
- Integration with existing Transit app instead of separate app
- Reduced minimum charge amount
In-app purchases
MBTA mTicket
No in-app purchases
RIPTA Wave
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is MBTA mTicket free?
Is RIPTA Wave free?
Which has better reviews, MBTA mTicket or RIPTA Wave?
Do MBTA mTicket or RIPTA Wave have ads?
Which is updated more often, MBTA mTicket or RIPTA Wave?
Other comparisons
