Comparison

First Bus vs Raildar

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

Head to head
About

First Bus

Plan your bus journeys, track buses in real-time, and purchase digital tickets. Save favorite routes and stops for quick access. Manage your account and payments securely for a convenient travel experience.

Highlights
  • Journey planning
  • Live bus tracking
  • Digital ticket purchasing
  • Save favorite stops
  • Departure board
  • Gifting tickets
Features
Read full description

Plan your journey, track your bus, and travel with confidence using the First Bus app. With real-time updates, mobile tickets, and personalised tools, getting around by bus has never been easier. Bus travellers can buy, gift, and activate digital bus tickets, manage secure payments, and save favourite locations, stops, and services for quicker access. The app also supports account management, consent management, while providing access to help and support features. Whether you’re commuting, exploring, or travelling occasionally, the app helps you stay in control from door to door. Planning your journey Find the best routes using locations, stops, or service numbers. View routes, timings, and stop information to plan trips that suit you. Live Bus tracking See your bus in real time on an interactive map and get more accurate arrival estimates. This feature helps reduce waiting uncertainty, improves journey planning, and enables users to make informed travel decisions by knowing exactly where their bus is at any moment. Departure Board Check upcoming services for either your stop or route, with clear timings and filtering (such as First Bus only) options. The time and dates can also be easily adjusted for future travel plans. Favourites Save your most-used stops, locations, and bus services for quick access every time you travel. Buying Buy, gift, and activate digital tickets directly in the app with a variety of filters. Secure payments and instant access mean no paper tickets needed. Tickets appear instantly ready to use in your account. Gifting Send tickets to friends or family quickly and easily. During the ticket buying flow, users can choose to gift a ticket instead of using it themselves, enter recipient details, and complete the purchase securely. Activating Tickets Activate your ticket in the First Bus app when you’re ready to travel. Once activated, it clearly shows its status and validity, making it quick and easy to present when boarding the bus. Account and Payments The First Bus app lets users securely manage their account and payment details in one place. Users can sign up, sign in, and reset their password if needed, as well as view and update their personal information and account settings. They can also choose to delete their account if required. Within the app, users can manage saved payment cards, set a default payment method, and remove cards at any time. All payment information is handled securely, helping ensure a smooth, safe, and convenient ticket purchasing experience. Preferences Choose your region, set walking distance preferences, and manage consent and notifications. Help and support Access FAQs , contacts and support resources in our dedicated help centre.

About

Raildar

This app provides real-time tracking of trains across the entire UK rail network. It allows users to see the live location of their train, search for specific services, and explore rail activity nationwide. An optional subscription offers an enhanced experience with extended tracking and no ads.

Highlights
  • Live train positions across the UK
  • Search and follow specific train services
  • View historical train routes
  • Explore nationwide rail activity
  • Extended live tracking (subscription)
  • Ad-free experience (subscription)
Features
Read full description

Raildar – Live UK Train Tracking See the UK rail network come alive in real time. Raildar accurately plots the live location of trains across the entire UK rail network, giving you a clear picture of where your train is right now - not just when it was scheduled. Whether you’re commuting, waiting for a connection, or just a rail enthusiast, Raildar lets you: - View live positions of trains across the UK - Search for a specific service and follow it on the map - Check where your train has been earlier today - Pan around the map to explore rail activity nationwide Simple, fast, and built for anyone who wants to know what’s really happening on the rails. Raildar Subscription (Optional) Keeping live train locations up to date for the entire UK network is data-intensive and keeps our servers busy. To keep the app free for everyone, Raildar uses a short live-update timeout in the standard version. With Raildar Subscription, you unlock a smoother, more powerful experience: - Extended live tracking without frequent timeouts - No adverts - Extra train details, including headcodes - A more seamless, uninterrupted map experience Subscriptions are available monthly, or for 6 months at a discounted monthly rate. You can try Raildar Subscription free for 7 days before committing. Subscription Details Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at the end of the free trial Subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours of the subscription ending You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time via your Account Settings (using the “Manage” button on the Upgrade page) Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited once a subscription is purchased Subscription fees are non-refundable; no refunds are given for unused time if cancelled Full terms and conditions can be found at https://raildar.co.uk/appterms.html

Screenshots

First Bus4 screens
Raildar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: First Bus at none against Raildar's 2. Raildar's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly). On price, review sentiment, ads and monetization model 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. Raildar sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. First Bus asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

First Bus ships an update weekly, Raildar every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
First Bus versus Raildar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFirst BusRaildar
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.2K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews22.8% of reviews — better16.9% of reviews
Number of ratings2.2K — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 2 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size154 MB47 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperFirstGroup PlcArc Internet Ltd

Customer experience

First Bus

All ratings2,180 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral3.6%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews864 reviews
Positive22.8%
Neutral11.5%
Negative65.7%

Raildar

Written reviews59 reviews
Positive16.9%
Neutral6.8%
Negative76.3%

User reviews

First Bus

From 2.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for planning journeys
  • 🚀 Accurate live bus tracking
  • 💡 Ability to save favorite stops
  • 👍 Convenient ticket purchasing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Unreliable bus arrival times
  • 🐛 Buses disappearing from the app
  • 🐛 Technical issues and app crashes
  • 🤔 Confusing and unintuitive interface
  • 🤔 Lack of service updates and notifications

Raildar

From App Store reviews

What we love

  • 👍 Great idea for tracking trains
  • 👍 Useful for train enthusiasts
  • 👍 Good for occasional hobby use
  • 👍 App has been updated and works well
  • 👍 Shows trains in real time

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Map is buggy and unusable
  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Zooming issues
  • 🐛 No internet connection reported
  • 🐛 Map jumps to random locations

Bugs and requests

First Bus

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App pausing music playback
  • Inconsistent bus tracking and location data
  • Inability to purchase certain ticket types

Requested features

4 requests
  • Offline ticket access
  • Improved journey planning with timetables
  • Service change notifications
  • Simpler and more user-friendly interface

Raildar

Reported bugs

40 issues
  • Map covered in black rectangles
  • Zoom takes you to random locations
  • Stopped working, no service
  • Map is entirely broken, says no internet
  • Map jumps when zooming
Show 35 more
  • Map jumps when zooming in
  • Map not showing any trains
  • Map does not work
  • Shows phantom trains, wrong platforms
  • White screen with openstreetmap logo
  • No connection reported
  • Map jumps around when moving or zooming
  • Crashing when zooming in
  • Map jumps to different places
  • Search from map shows nothing, just blank
  • Moving around map is like a mystery tour
  • Map keeps bugging and moving back to London
  • Says no internet connection
  • Pinch to zoom doesn't work, moves to random location
  • Map crashes on every zoom
  • App repeatedly crashes
  • Navigation within the app is poor
  • Zooming in on map using finger gestures is bad
  • Train tracking is sporadic with freezes
  • Map keeps relocating itself
  • Map drag causes app crash
  • Map doesn't zoom in
  • Map is unusable
  • Zooming into map ends up on south coast
  • Map relocating you away from area
  • Train markers are odd
  • App asks for permission to track all the time
  • Searching for trains says 'no train found'
  • Stuff pops out of top corner
  • Map doesn't focus or update
  • Map jumps to different locations all over the country when trying to zoom in
  • App crashes when trying to identify an individual service
  • Cannot enable 'Display Current Location on Map'
  • Map zooms off to the east coast of the UK
  • App crashes on iPhone 6

Requested features

10 requests
  • Track heritage type trains like steam trains
  • See where heritage trains are operating
  • Fix issue with 4G connection
  • Make freight trains and other trains easily accessible
  • Improve Avanti West Coast tracking
Show 5 more
  • Show all train types including Avanti West Coast
  • Make rail lines and stations more prominent
  • Add Lea Bridge station
  • Show full names for new stations
  • Display all services from a station, not just specific routes

In-app purchases

None

First Bus

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Raildar

Subscriptions2
  • Raildar Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Raildar 6 Month Subscription7 Days trial$7.996 Months

Questions

Is First Bus free?
First Bus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Raildar free?
Raildar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do First Bus or Raildar have ads?
Both First Bus and Raildar show ads.
Which is updated more often, First Bus or Raildar?
First Bus ships an update weekly, and Raildar every 2 days. Most recently, First Bus was updated on September 24, 2026 and Raildar on September 21, 2026.

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