First Bus vs Cardiff Bus
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.
Cardiff Bus
Plan your travel around Cardiff with real-time bus information. View live departures, plan journeys, and access timetables. Track contactless payments and save your favorite routes for easy access.
- Live departures
- Journey planning
- Timetables
- Contactless journey tracking
- Favorite stops and routes
- Disruption alerts
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Our app has everything you need to get around Cardiff. It’s packed full of everything you’ll need to get mobile on the bus. Live Departures: Browse and view bus stops on the map, explore upcoming departures, or check out the routes from a stop to see where you could travel next. Journey Planning: Plan your commute, trip to the shops or night out with friends. It’s now even easier to plan ahead with Cardiff Buses. Timetables: We’ve squeezed all of our routes and timetables into the palm of your hand. Contactless Journeys: View the journeys you have made using your contactless cards and a breakdown of charges and savings. Favourites: You can quickly save your favourite stops, Timetables and Journeys, with quick access from one convenient menu. Disruptions: You’ll be able to keep up to date with service changes directly from our disruption feeds inside the app. As always, we welcome your feedback. You can send it to us via the app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Cardiff Bus at none against First Bus's shown. Cardiff Bus also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (45% vs 23%). First Bus's advantage is ratings volume (2.2K vs 67). On price, rating, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for First Bus against 4.8 for Cardiff Bus. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: First Bus has 2.2K ratings behind it against 67, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 23% of First Bus's written reviews are positive against 45% of Cardiff Bus's.
First Bus ships an update every 9 days, Cardiff Bus fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | First Bus | Cardiff Bus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (2.2K ratings) | 4.8 (67 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 22.8% of reviews | 45.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.2K — better | 67 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 149 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FirstGroup Plc | Cardiff City Transport Services Ltd |
Customer experience
First Bus
Cardiff Bus
User reviews
First Bus
From 2.2K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Cardiff Bus
From 67 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use and understand
- 📍 Real-time bus tracking
- ✅ Accurate arrival/departure times
- ❤️ Useful for planning trips
- 💯 Great for disabled travelers
Room to improve
- ❌ Unreliable service
- 🐛 App crashes frequently
- ⏳ Inaccurate bus times
- 🚫 Buses not showing up
- 💸 Overcharging/double charging
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
Cardiff Bus
Reported bugs
11 issues- App crashes on iOS 16.2 when zooming
- App freezes or shuts down automatically
- App not working, unable to buy tickets
- Error 504, monthly ticket not showing
- Bus tracking not working
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- App not synchronised with bus stop information
- App freezes when opening favourites
- Reset password email not sent
- Crashing when opening mobile tickets
- Journey planner is garbage, cannot input address
- Hamburger menu embedded in search box
Requested features
6 requests- Offline version of the app
- Show timetable for tomorrow morning
- Ability to refund or gift unused tickets
- Use phone's GPS for nearest stops
- Input destination address for journey planner
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Show buses moving on map
In-app purchases
First Bus
No in-app purchases
Cardiff Bus
No in-app purchases









