Comparison

ELRs vs OnRail

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

Head to head
About

ELRs

Features
Read full description

An app to show the route of railway lines in England Scotland and Wales using Network Rail geospatial data, overlaying ELR line routes onto Apple Maps. Shows stations with station departure and arrival boards, as well as train service information from National Rail Enquiries

About

OnRail

Features
Read full description

Your train, live on your Lock Screen. OnRail is the live train companion built for UK commuters. Track your train, platform, delays and connections directly from your iPhone, Apple Watch and CarPlay — powered by live National Rail data. LIVE ACTIVITIES ACROSS DEVICES See your platform, countdown and delay alerts without opening the app. Live on your iPhone Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, CarPlay display, and Apple Watch. JOURNEY PLANNING Plan journeys between any two UK stations. Compare departures and see every leg, connection, calling point, platform and operator before you travel. LIVE STATION DEPARTURES See what's actually happening at your station — scheduled vs. expected times, delays, carriage details, and cancellation reasons for all UK operators. SIRI & APP INTENTS Ask Siri for live train status or trigger saved routes with custom Shortcuts and the Action Button. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Monitor live departures and jump straight to your favourite or nearby stations from your Home Screen. STATION & DISRUPTION INFO Look up any station by name — check facilities, accessibility, parking, weather, onward travel, and active disruptions or planned engineering works. BUILT FOR YOUR APPLE DEVICES iCloud keeps your favourite stations and saved journeys in sync across every device you own. ONRAIL PRO Journey planning and live tracking are free. Upgrade to Pro for connection-aware Live Activities across multi-leg journeys and multi-station widgets. PRIVACY FIRST OnRail collects zero personally identifiable user data. Your saved journeys and locations stay entirely private. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.onrailapp.com/terms

Screenshots

ELRs4 screens
OnRail4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ELRs at none against OnRail's 3. ELRs also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.6). On price, update cadence, ads 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. OnRail sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. ELRs asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ELRs ships an update every 5 days, OnRail every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
ELRs versus OnRail: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterELRsOnRail
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMike FintaShalini Kashyap

In-app purchases

None

ELRs

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

OnRail

Subscriptions2
  • OnRail Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • OnRail Pro annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • OnRail Pro Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is ELRs free?
ELRs is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is OnRail free?
OnRail is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ELRs or OnRail have ads?
Neither ELRs nor OnRail shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ELRs or OnRail?
ELRs ships an update every 5 days, and OnRail every 9 days. Most recently, ELRs was updated on September 18, 2026 and OnRail on September 11, 2026.

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