Comparison

CATAGO! vs Defrost Rides

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

Head to head
About

CATAGO!

Book on-demand rides in State College, Pennsylvania. This smart, easy, and reliable ridesharing service matches you with others heading your way for efficient travel. Track your ride in real-time and enjoy wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Highlights
  • On-demand ride booking
  • Shared rides for efficiency
  • Real-time ride tracking
  • Wheelchair accessible vehicles
  • Book for now or later
  • Multiple passengers
Features
Read full description

CATAGO! is a new way to get around State College, Pennsylvania. We’re a ridesharing service that’s smart, easy, and reliable. With a few taps, book a ride in the app for now or later and our technology will pair you with other people headed your way. HOW IT WORKS: - Book a ride by setting your pickup and dropoff addresses and indicating if you’re riding with any additional passengers. - You will be given an estimated time when the vehicle will arrive upon booking your trip. The estimated arrival time of the driver will be automatically updated as your vehicle makes its way to meet you. - When your driver arrives, please promptly board the vehicle. - There may be others on board, or you may make a few additional stops along the way! You can track your ride and share your status in real-time trip from the app. SHARING YOUR TRIP: Our algorithm matches people headed in the same direction. This means you’re getting the convenience of a private ride with the efficiency and reliability of a public one. RELIABLE: Track your ride as the driver is on their way to you, and while you’re on the vehicle too. OUR VEHICLES: CATAGO! is wheelchair accessible! If you require a wheelchair, please call us to make sure your account is set up correctly. If you require a wheelchair, simply toggle on “Wheelchair accessibility” in the “Account” tab of your app! When you request a ride, you’ll be matched with a wheelchair accessible vehicle. Questions? Reach out at cata@catabus.com. Loving your experience so far? Give us a 5-star rating.

About

Defrost Rides

This app connects college students for shared rides to campus. See available rides, offer your empty seats, and coordinate trips with friends or classmates. It simplifies carpooling within your school community.

Highlights
  • Find rides to and from college
  • Offer empty seats on your trips
  • Live feed of available rides
  • Coordinate rides with friends
  • Group creation for clubs/teams
  • Real-time ride tracking on map
  • In-app chat for ride coordination
Features
Read full description

Give a ride. Get a ride. Defrost is the free ride app for college students. See who's driving where at your school, hop in with one tap, or share your empty seats on a trip you're already making. No invite needed: pick your school and you're in. HOW IT WORKS • Pick your school. That's it, you're in • Happening today: a live feed of who's driving where and who needs a ride, friends first • Tap I'm in to grab a seat, or I'll drive to pick someone up • Where are you going: one field, with Now, Tonight, and Friday • I'm driving: share your seats in a few taps, one time or every week • Watch your ride arrive on the map with the time and the car to look for • Chat with the people on your ride and say thanks afterward FRIENDS FIRST Add friends by username. Their rides show up at the top, and you can post rides only your friends can see. Start a circle for your class, club or crew so the people you ride with most are one tap away. YOUR GROUPS Already ride with a group of friends, a club or a team? Keep a private group with its own chat and invite link, and switch between your school and your groups anytime. WITH YOUR FRIENDS You and your friends decide who drives. Defrost helps you find each other. For people 18 and older. Photography credits and licenses: https://wayfound-store-pages.vercel.app/credits.html

Screenshots

CATAGO!4 screens
Defrost Rides4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Defrost Rides at every 2 days against CATAGO!'s every 5 weeks. Defrost Rides also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). CATAGO!'s advantage is ratings volume (75 vs 3). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

Defrost Rides holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CATAGO! has 75 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CATAGO! ships an update every 5 weeks, Defrost Rides every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
CATAGO! versus Defrost Rides: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCATAGO!Defrost Rides
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (75 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings75 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size129 MB67 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperVia Transportation, Inc.BENJAMIN PETER DAVENPORT

Customer experience

CATAGO!

All ratings75 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral2.7%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Defrost Rides

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

CATAGO!

No in-app purchases

None

Defrost Rides

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CATAGO! free?
CATAGO! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Defrost Rides free?
Defrost Rides is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CATAGO! or Defrost Rides?
Defrost Rides is rated higher. CATAGO! averages 4.7 out of 5 from 75 ratings, while Defrost Rides averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do CATAGO! or Defrost Rides have ads?
Neither CATAGO! nor Defrost Rides shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CATAGO! or Defrost Rides?
CATAGO! ships an update every 5 weeks, and Defrost Rides every 2 days. Most recently, CATAGO! was updated on October 25, 2026 and Defrost Rides on October 31, 2026.

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