Comparison

Social Bicycles vs TAP LA

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

Head to head
About

Social Bicycles

Locate, reserve, and ride shared bicycles using your smartphone. This app allows you to find available bikes on a map, manage your account, and pay for rides. Return bikes to designated hubs or public racks.

Highlights
  • Find bicycles using map
  • Create account and pay
  • Reserve bicycles wirelessly
  • Manage your account
  • Contact customer support
  • Sync with Health app
Features
Read full description

Social Bicycles (SoBi) provides innovative bike share technology to municipal, university and private programs around the world. Find, reserve, ride, and return bicycles with ease. Our bikes are GPS enabled and can be rented with your smartphone. You can return bicycles to hub locations or lock them to public bike racks for a small fee. Use our mobile app to: - Find bicycles using map - Create an account and pay through the app - Reserve bicycles wirelessly - Manage your account - Contact customer support Public programs powered by Social Bicycles: - SoBi Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, CA - SoBi Long Beach, NY - Coast Bike Share, Tampa, FL - GRID Bike Share, Phoenix, AZ - Juice Bike Share, Orlando, FL - Topeka Metro Bikes, Topeka, KS - Boise GreenBike, Boise, ID - University of Virginia UBike, Charlottesville, VA - Mountain Rides Bike Share, Ketchum, ID - Reddy Bike Share, Buffalo, NY - Breeze Bike Share, Santa Monica, CA - VeloGo, Ottawa, ON, CA - Share-A-Bull Bikes, University of South Florida, FL - Monash University, VIC, AU - Curtin University, VIC, AU - Bay Bike, San Mateo, CA - Long Beach Bike Share, Long Beach CA - Beverly Hills Bike Share, Beverly Hills, CA - WeHo Pedals, West Hollywood - BIKETOWN, Portland, OR - UHBikes, Cleveland, OH - Relay Bike Share, Atlanta, GA - Velonet, Czech Republic - Bruin Bike Share UCLA, CA - Bike Share Connect, Los Angeles, CA Social Bicycles (SoBi) integrates with the Health app to sync your bicycle trips. Enable integration in the Account tab.

About

TAP LA

Pay for transit fares across Los Angeles with your mobile device. This app allows you to purchase passes, manage multiple cards, and use touchless payment on numerous bus and train systems. It also offers trip planning and access to multimodal programs.

Highlights
  • Touchless payment
  • Add TAP card to iPhone/Apple Watch
  • Purchase transit passes
  • Manage multiple TAP cards
  • Add TAP card to Apple Wallet
  • Trip planning tools
  • Reduced fare support
Features
Read full description

Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority ("LACMTA"), a government agency, is the owner and developer of this app. TAP is your ticket to ride transit in greater Los Angeles! It is accepted on 27 systems including LA Metro, providing a vast network of buses and trains. - Make your travel safe and easy with touchless payment and card management. - Add a new TAP card to your iPhone and Apple Watch and use your fare immediately. - Use your iPhone (8 and above) and Apple Watch (Series 3 and above) to tap with Apple Pay when boarding a bus or train. - Enjoy flexible payment options including credit/debit cards, account cash and Apple Pay. - Purchase a transit pass or Stored Value for any agency in Los Angeles County. - Manage multiple cards in your TAP account (iPhone 5 and above). - Add your TAP card to Apple Wallet, enable Express Transit and quickly tap and pay when you board. You don't even have to wake up your phone! - Supports reduced fares for seniors, students, persons with disabilities and low-income riders. - Transfer a TAP card in your account to your Apple Wallet and leave the plastic at home. - Access multimodal programs such as Metro Bike Share. - Use Trip Tools to plan trips, find nearby transit options, view real-time arrivals and save favorite destinations and stops. - Enjoy the benefits of a TAP account, such as Balance Protection, card management, discounts, promotions, transaction history and friendly customer service. - Accepted on 27 transit systems in LA County including: Angels Flight Railway Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA) Baldwin Park Transit Beach Cities Transit Burbank Bus Carson Circuit Compton Renaissance Transit System Culver CityBus Foothill Transit Gardena GTRANS Glendale Beeline Glendora Transportation Division Huntington Park Transit Unlimited LA County Department of Public Works LADOT Transit Lawndale Beat Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Long Beach Transit Metro Montebello Bus Lines Monterey Park Spirit Bus Norwalk Transit Palos Verdes Peninsula Transit Authority Pasadena Transit Santa Clarita Transit Santa Monica Big Blue Bus Torrance Transit

Screenshots

Social Bicycles4 screens
TAP LA4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Social Bicycles at 4.4 against TAP LA's 1.9. Social Bicycles also leads on update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 5 months) and review sentiment (27% vs 12%). 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

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

Social Bicycles holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Social Bicycles has 6.8K ratings behind it against 856, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of Social Bicycles's written reviews are positive against 12% of TAP LA's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Social Bicycles ships an update every 4 weeks, TAP LA every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Social Bicycles versus TAP LA: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSocial BicyclesTAP LA
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (6.8K ratings) — better1.9 (856 ratings)
Positive reviews27.5% of reviews — better11.7% of reviews
Number of ratings6.8K — better856
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13
Further details — not scored
Size49 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMobilityCloud IncLos Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Customer experience

Social Bicycles

All ratings6,755 ratings
Positive86.1%
Neutral3.0%
Negative11.0%
Written reviews193 reviews
Positive27.5%
Neutral5.2%
Negative67.4%

TAP LA

All ratings838 ratings
Positive20.8%
Neutral3.1%
Negative76.1%
Written reviews299 reviews
Positive11.7%
Neutral2.7%
Negative85.6%

User reviews

Social Bicycles

From 6.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Convenient bike access
  • 👍 Easy to use app
  • 💡 Great bike sharing community
  • 🚲 Comfortable bikes

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes and glitches
  • ⚠️ Unreliable bike availability
  • 💳 Confusing payment system
  • 🔑 Difficult bike unlocking process
  • 🏪 Uneven bike distribution

TAP LA

From 856 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • ✨ Convenient digital tap card
  • 💳 Ability to load funds
  • 🗺️ Trip planning functionality

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes and glitches
  • 💰 Charges money without adding funds
  • ⏱️ Slow load times and processing
  • 🤷‍♀️ Confusing user experience
  • 🚫 Doesn't work for tourists/visitors

Bugs and requests

Social Bicycles

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Account login issues
  • Incorrect bike charges
  • Broken bike sensors
  • Unresponsive bike keypads

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved app navigation
  • Better bike status information
  • Streamlined payment options
  • Expanded service area

TAP LA

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Card registration and activation issues
  • Disappearing funds and balances
  • Inconsistent app performance

Requested features

4 requests
  • Allow multiple devices for one account
  • Improve reliability of fund loading
  • Provide more transparent transaction history
  • Integrate with more payment methods

In-app purchases

None

Social Bicycles

No in-app purchases

None

TAP LA

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Social Bicycles free?
Social Bicycles is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is TAP LA free?
TAP LA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Social Bicycles or TAP LA?
Social Bicycles is rated higher. Social Bicycles averages 4.4 out of 5 from 6.8K ratings, while TAP LA averages 1.9 from 856 ratings.
Do Social Bicycles or TAP LA have ads?
Neither Social Bicycles nor TAP LA shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Social Bicycles or TAP LA?
Social Bicycles ships an update every 4 weeks, and TAP LA every 5 months. Most recently, Social Bicycles was updated on November 10, 2026 and TAP LA on November 11, 2026.

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