Caltrain Live vs Tracks
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Caltrain Live
Access real-time Caltrain information, including train status, service disruptions, and timetables with offline access. Plan trips with live data and receive instant alerts for your commute.
- Real-time train status and alerts
- Offline timetable access
- Trip planner with live data
- Service disruption monitoring
- Pinned train status
- Station announcements
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Caltrain Live lets you quickly access all the latest information you need for your Caltrain commute. You can pin a train to quickly access its status and alerts, monitor construction and service disruptions along the corridor, and get the latest timetable with offline access all in one place. - Includes a fast, simple UI with no ads, popups or tracking. - Get a copy of the latest timetable with automatic updates and offline access. - The built-in trip planner includes live data, special event trains, and holiday timetable support. - Monitor trains in realtime and get easy access to trains you care about. - See single tracking events across the corridor and for each station. - Read station announcements. - Train data includes per-stop delays, calculated stop bypass times, and relevant alerts. - Realtime data is fast, uses minimal mobile data, refreshes every 30 seconds, includes departure times to-the-second, alerts from 511, and more.
Tracks
This app provides real-time tracking of train locations and upcoming stops. It helps users plan journeys by showing trains that pass through specific stations, and offers live delay information and alerts powered by the official API.
- Live train tracking
- Next stop information
- Trip planning by station
- Real-time delays
- Alerts and notifications
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Tracks is an iOS app for live Caltrain tracking and trip planning. See the locations of trains and their next stops through station and train views. Plan trips in advance by finding trains that stop at selected stations. Tracks shows live train delays and alerts, sourced directly from Caltrain's real-time data.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Tracks at 5.0 against Caltrain Live's 4.4. Tracks also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 63%) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). Caltrain Live's advantage is ratings volume (16 vs 3) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). 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.
Tracks holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Caltrain Live has 16 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Caltrain Live's written reviews are positive against 100% of Tracks's.
Caltrain Live ships an update every 3 months, Tracks every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Caltrain Live | Tracks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (16 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.5% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jackson Loeffler | Octalwise |
Customer experience
Caltrain Live
Tracks
In-app purchases
Caltrain Live
No in-app purchases
Tracks
No in-app purchases
