Comparison

First Bus vs McGill’s Buses

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

McGill’s Buses

Purchase and use mobile tickets directly from your device, eliminating the need for paper tickets. Track your bus in real-time, plan your journeys, and find nearby stops. Access timetables and save favorite routes for convenient travel.

Highlights
  • Mobile ticketing
  • Real-time bus tracking
  • Journey planning
  • Find nearest stops
  • User-friendly timetables
  • Save favorite services
Features
Read full description

McGill’s new and improved m-ticket and real-time app allows you to buy your tickets within the app and use your mobile device as your ticket as well as view real-time information, meaning you can check exactly where your bus is, at any given time – all in the once place! With other added features including- planning my journey, find my nearest stop, user friendly timetable information and saving your favourite services, this will make McGill’s bus travel even easier, with everything you need fitting into your pocket. With M-Ticketing you can buy and load your tickets to your phone and use them whenever suits you; including saving your tickets for later! No more searching for change and for use on any McGill’s bus across our extensive network of services, with payment accepted via PayPal, credit or debit card. There are over half a million journeys on a McGill’s bus every week. Our app makes it even easier to get on-board and track your bus right to your stop! McGill’s operates over 120 routes across Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire and Glasgow city. Once you have downloaded the app, create an account and you’re ready! With adult, student, child and family offers available, we have a ticket to suit you. We look forward to welcoming you on board!

Screenshots

First Bus4 screens
McGill’s Buses4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: McGill’s Buses at none against First Bus's shown. McGill’s Buses also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and review sentiment (42% vs 23%). First Bus's advantage is ratings volume (2.2K vs 11). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

McGill’s Buses holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: First Bus has 2.2K ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 23% of First Bus's written reviews are positive against 42% of McGill’s Buses's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

First Bus ships an update every 9 days, McGill’s Buses fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
First Bus versus McGill’s Buses: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFirst BusMcGill’s Buses
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.2K ratings)5.0 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews22.8% of reviews42.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.2K — better11
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size149 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFirstGroup PlcMcGill's Buses

Customer experience

First Bus

All ratings2,215 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral3.6%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews879 reviews
Positive22.8%
Neutral11.6%
Negative65.6%

McGill’s Buses

All ratings11 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive42.2%
Neutral4.7%
Negative53.1%

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

McGill’s Buses

From 11 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Handy for checking bus times
  • 👍 Useful for planning journeys
  • 👍 Good for knowing bus location
  • 👍 Drivers are often nice
  • 👍 App is easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buses are often late
  • 🐛 Timetables are inaccurate
  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • 🐛 App is unreliable
  • 🐛 Live tracking is inaccurate

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

McGill’s Buses

Reported bugs

22 issues
  • App signs users out
  • Account termination threats
  • App causes iPhone to overheat
  • App crashes when tracking transport
  • App doesn't show any bus times
Show 17 more
  • App doesn't update in real-time
  • App is slow to load
  • Live bus locations cause app to crash
  • App turns brightness down on phone
  • App doesn't show bus times anymore
  • App removed ability to know bus capacity
  • Website doesn't update in real-time
  • App is more expensive than cash
  • Tickets expire in 15 minutes
  • No live tracking available
  • Ticket activation expires after 10 minutes
  • App freezes when trying to buy tickets
  • Discount codes cannot be applied
  • Tickets not transferring from old app
  • Payment system flags as fraud
  • Real-time tracking is inaccurate
  • App doesn't work on quick page on new iPhone update

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add screen for next stop
  • Fix the 66 bus route
  • More 66 buses
  • Add ability to know when bus is full/moderate/empty
  • Add ticket gifting speed
Show 1 more
  • Improve real-time tracking accuracy

In-app purchases

None

First Bus

No in-app purchases

None

McGill’s Buses

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is First Bus free?
First Bus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is McGill’s Buses free?
McGill’s Buses is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, First Bus or McGill’s Buses?
McGill’s Buses is rated higher. First Bus averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2.2K ratings, while McGill’s Buses averages 5.0 from 11 ratings.
Do First Bus or McGill’s Buses have ads?
First Bus shows ads; McGill’s Buses does not.
Which is updated more often, First Bus or McGill’s Buses?
First Bus ships an update every 9 days, and McGill’s Buses fortnightly. Most recently, First Bus was updated on October 15, 2026 and McGill’s Buses on October 6, 2026.

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