Comparison

Transit.Tracker vs Chicago CTA Bus Tracker

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

Head to head
About

Transit.Tracker

Plan your journeys and track public transit in real-time. Find nearby stations, view departure times, and get turn-by-turn navigation. Supports numerous transit agencies across multiple metro areas.

Highlights
  • Real-time vehicle tracking
  • Scheduled departure times
  • Nearest station finder
  • Built-in trip planner
  • Multi-metro area support
  • Today Widget and Watch App integration
Features
Read full description

Transit Tracker puts public transit schedules, nearby departures, route stops, and trip plans on your device. Download the schedules for the cities you ride in, and Transit Tracker stores them on your iPhone. Once a city is downloaded, nearby stops, scheduled departures, route and stop search, and trip planning all work from the data on your device. Real-time predictions are added when the transit agency publishes them and you are online. Use Transit Tracker to: - Download the transit schedules you need from the Downloads screen, and update or delete them at any time - Download more than one city and see stops near you across all of them in one view - Find nearby bus, subway, light rail, commuter rail, ferry, and other transit stops - View scheduled departures, with real-time estimates where the agency provides them - Search routes and stops and see a route's stops and path on the map - Plan trips with the built-in trip planner, then tap any stop to see its departures - Save stops, and save trip plans exactly as they were planned - Use Apple Watch and widget support where available - Choose light, dark, or custom app themes Schedules come from the transit agencies and are stored on your device. Each download is a one-time transfer of the agency's published schedule; Wi-Fi is recommended for larger cities. Schedule data is replaced when you update a city, and the app tells you when a downloaded schedule is about to end. Coverage and feature availability vary by region. Schedules, routes, and real-time predictions depend on the data each transit agency publishes. Optional in-app purchases remove ads. You can also watch a short video to remove ads for an hour.

About

Chicago CTA Bus Tracker

Track Chicago CTA buses in real-time. Select your route, direction, and stop to view upcoming bus arrivals. Save favorite stops for quick access to arrival times.

Highlights
  • Live bus tracking
  • Route and direction selection
  • Stop arrival predictions
  • Save favorite stops
  • Fast and easy to use
Features
Read full description

Live bus tracker for Chicago CTA buses. Simply select a route, direction and stop to see the next bus arrivals. Save your favorite stops to see upcoming arrivals with a single touch. - CTA buses - Save unlimited number of favorites - Easy to use - Fast This is not an official app.

Screenshots

Transit.Tracker4 screens
Chicago CTA Bus Tracker3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Chicago CTA Bus Tracker at 60% against Transit.Tracker's 20%. Chicago CTA Bus Tracker also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). Transit.Tracker's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 37 months) and rating (4.5 vs 4.2). On price, 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. Transit.Tracker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Chicago CTA Bus Tracker asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Transit.Tracker holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Transit.Tracker has 3.4K ratings behind it against 204, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 20% of Transit.Tracker's written reviews are positive against 60% of Chicago CTA Bus Tracker's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Transit.Tracker ships an update monthly, Chicago CTA Bus Tracker every 37 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Transit.Tracker versus Chicago CTA Bus Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTransit.TrackerChicago CTA Bus Tracker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (3.4K ratings) — better4.2 (204 ratings)
Positive reviews20.3% of reviews59.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.4K — better204
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 37 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRaging CodersNaiara Albaina

Customer experience

Transit.Tracker

All ratings3,376 ratings
Positive87.1%
Neutral4.2%
Negative8.7%
Written reviews79 reviews
Positive20.3%
Neutral7.6%
Negative72.2%

Chicago CTA Bus Tracker

All ratings184 ratings
Positive78.3%
Neutral12.0%
Negative9.8%
Written reviews47 reviews
Positive59.6%
Neutral27.7%
Negative12.8%

User reviews

Transit.Tracker

From 3.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Helpful for trip planning
  • 💡 Useful for commuters

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate route and schedule information
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate
  • 💰 Mandatory ads and paid features
  • 🕰️ Unreliable real-time tracking

Chicago CTA Bus Tracker

From 204 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use and navigate
  • 🚀 Fast and efficient
  • ✅ Accurate time estimations
  • 👍 Helpful for planning trips
  • 👍 User-friendly for seniors

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App doesn't update or refresh
  • 🐛 Home page sometimes doesn't load
  • 🐛 Inconsistent loading
  • 🐛 No train tracking available
  • 🐛 Ads are intrusive and annoying

Bugs and requests

Transit.Tracker

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App freezes or crashes frequently
  • Incorrect route and schedule data
  • Issues with restoring paid upgrades
  • Location services not working properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improve real-time bus/train tracking
  • Expand coverage to more cities
  • Add more customization options
  • Fix bugs and crashes

Chicago CTA Bus Tracker

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • App doesn't update
  • App doesn't refresh
  • Home page doesn't load
  • No information available when searching
  • App freezes sometimes
Show 3 more
  • No real-time info refresh
  • Doesn't load consistently
  • Takes a while to upload

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to rearrange favorites
  • Add a refresh button
  • Improve user-friendliness on the go
  • Add train tracking
  • Fix discrepancy between app and website
Show 1 more
  • Allow users to refresh current input

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Transit.Tracker

One-time1
  • Ad Free$4.99
None

Chicago CTA Bus Tracker

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Transit.Tracker free?
Transit.Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chicago CTA Bus Tracker free?
Chicago CTA Bus Tracker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Transit.Tracker or Chicago CTA Bus Tracker?
Transit.Tracker is rated higher. Transit.Tracker averages 4.5 out of 5 from 3.4K ratings, while Chicago CTA Bus Tracker averages 4.2 from 204 ratings.
Do Transit.Tracker or Chicago CTA Bus Tracker have ads?
Both Transit.Tracker and Chicago CTA Bus Tracker show ads.
Which is updated more often, Transit.Tracker or Chicago CTA Bus Tracker?
Transit.Tracker ships an update monthly, and Chicago CTA Bus Tracker every 37 months. Most recently, Transit.Tracker was updated on November 6, 2026 and Chicago CTA Bus Tracker on November 2, 2026.

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