First Bus vs Train Hugger
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Journey planning
- Live bus tracking
- Digital ticket purchasing
- Save favorite stops
- Departure board
- Gifting tickets
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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.
Train Hugger
Book UK train tickets with this app and help reforest the British countryside. For every ticket booked, a tree is planted in partnership with the Royal Forestry Society. Find the best fares, manage your tickets, and track your tree planting impact.
- Book UK train tickets
- Plant trees in the UK
- Find best fares
- Save e-tickets
- Manage bookings
- Track tree planting
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Welcome to Train Hugger, the UK’s leading green train ticketing app. Whenever you book with Train Hugger, we plant a tree in the UK in partnership with the Royal Forestry Society. We’re planting trees you recognise in places that you’ve been to, in our bid to restore the British countryside. The price is the same, the seat is the same, the journey is the same. You can easily find the best fares, use Apple Pay or PayPal, save e-tickets to your phone, make amends or ask for refunds, all within the app. You can even keep track of how many trees you planted. Our customer service is on hand 7 days a week if you do need to talk to someone.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Train Hugger at 90% against First Bus's 23%. Train Hugger also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). First Bus's advantage is ratings volume (2.2K vs 2) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 5 weeks). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Train Hugger 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 2, 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 90% of Train Hugger's.
First Bus ships an update every 9 days, Train Hugger every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | First Bus | Train Hugger |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (2.2K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 22.8% of reviews | 90.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.2K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 149 MB | 56 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FirstGroup Plc | Migaloo Ltd |
Customer experience
First Bus
Train Hugger
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
Train Hugger
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
First Bus
No in-app purchases
Train Hugger
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is First Bus free?
Is Train Hugger free?
Which has better reviews, First Bus or Train Hugger?
Do First Bus or Train Hugger have ads?
Which is updated more often, First Bus or Train Hugger?
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