Comparison

MBTA mTicket vs Salem Skipper

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Secure ticket purchasing
  • Smartphone as ticket
  • Ticket transferability
  • View schedules and alerts
  • Purchase 10-ride tickets
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

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

About

Salem Skipper

Book on-demand rides around Salem, MA, and share your journey with others heading in the same direction. This app offers a convenient, efficient, and affordable way to travel, reducing congestion and emissions.

Highlights
  • On-demand ride booking
  • Shared rides for efficiency
  • Real-time ETA estimates
  • In-app ride tracking
  • Affordable transit pricing
  • Sustainable travel option
Features
Read full description

Salem Skipper makes it easier than ever to move around the city of Salem, MA — with a few taps, book a ride using the app and we’ll pair you with others headed your way. No detours, no delays. What we’re about: SHARED. Our tech matches people headed in the same direction. This means you’re getting the convenience and comfort of a private ride with the efficiency, speed, and affordability of a public one. SUSTAINABLE. Sharing rides reduces the number of vehicles on the roads, bringing down congestion and CO2 emissions. With a couple of taps, you get to do your part to make your city a little bit greener and cleaner, every time you ride. AFFORDABLE Rides are priced comparable to public transport and there are additional discounts for passengers who qualify. Head to salemskipper.com for more information.
 How does Salem Skipper work? - Salem Skipper is an on-demand travel concept that takes multiple passengers heading in the same direction and books them into a shared vehicle. Using the Salem Skipper app, input your address and we’ll match you with a vehicle going your way. We’ll pick you up on a nearby corner and drop you off within a short walk of your chosen destination. Now for the clever bit; our algorithms provide journey times that are comparable to a taxi and much more convenient than other modes of travel, making public transportation easier than ever before! 
How long will I wait - You'll always get an accurate estimate of your pick-up ETA before booking.
- You can also track your bus in real time using the app. Questions? Head to salemskipper.com or reach out at support- salem@ridewithvia.com. Loving your experience so far? Give us a 5-star rating.

Screenshots

MBTA mTicket4 screens
Salem Skipper4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Salem Skipper at 4.8 against MBTA mTicket's 2.6. Salem Skipper also leads on review sentiment (45% vs 27%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). MBTA mTicket's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and chart position (#80 vs unranked). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Salem Skipper holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 657 and 1.3K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of MBTA mTicket's written reviews are positive against 45% of Salem Skipper's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MBTA mTicket ships an update every 3 months, Salem Skipper monthly. Both last shipped on October 23, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
MBTA mTicket versus Salem Skipper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMBTA mTicketSalem Skipper
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.6 (657 ratings)4.8 (1.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews27.4% of reviews45.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6571.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#80 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size79 MB129 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMassachusetts Bay Transportation AuthorityVia Transportation, Inc.

Customer experience

MBTA mTicket

All ratings644 ratings
Positive36.0%
Neutral8.4%
Negative55.6%
Written reviews124 reviews
Positive27.4%
Neutral10.5%
Negative62.1%

Salem Skipper

All ratings1,264 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.2%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews40 reviews
Positive45.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative45.0%

User reviews

MBTA mTicket

From 657 App Store ratings

What 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

Salem Skipper

From 1.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Excellent trip
  • 👍 Great affordable service with friendly, helpful drivers
  • 👍 Great company, good for the community
  • 👍 Fairly easy to use, got some free rides

Room to improve

  • 🚫 Drivers are never available, have ridiculous wait times, or do not arrive to the correct location
  • 🚫 Vehicles are often not clean, and is generally a bad experience
  • 🚫 Drivers tend to make stops at random locations, wait for 10-20 minutes before resuming driving, highly unprofessional and extremely frustrating
  • 🚫 Drivers go to the wrong pickup spot and leave without waiting the full 5 minutes, leaving young girls stranded
  • 🚫 Notifications are undeletable, drivers are distracted from actual driving

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

Salem Skipper

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • No login button, can't sign in on new device
  • Rides are fully booked and unavailable for over a month

Requested features

2 requests
  • Allow drop-offs a little out of bounds, not just within Salem
  • Improve pickup accuracy and communication with drivers

In-app purchases

None

MBTA mTicket

No in-app purchases

None

Salem Skipper

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MBTA mTicket free?
MBTA mTicket is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Salem Skipper free?
Salem Skipper is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MBTA mTicket or Salem Skipper?
Salem Skipper is rated higher. MBTA mTicket averages 2.6 out of 5 from 657 ratings, while Salem Skipper averages 4.8 from 1.3K ratings.
Do MBTA mTicket or Salem Skipper have ads?
Neither MBTA mTicket nor Salem Skipper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MBTA mTicket or Salem Skipper?
MBTA mTicket ships an update every 3 months, and Salem Skipper monthly. Most recently, MBTA mTicket was updated on October 23, 2026 and Salem Skipper on October 23, 2026.

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