Comparison

RailRoster vs Open Railroad Guide

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

Head to head
About

RailRoster

Explore the world of diesel locomotives with this comprehensive catalog. Featuring detailed information, high-quality images, and historical context, it's an essential resource for rail enthusiasts.

Highlights
  • Detailed locomotive information
  • High-quality images
  • Horsepower stats
  • Wheel arrangements
  • Years built
  • Railroad rosters
Read full description

Discover the power, history, and variety of diesel locomotives with RailRoster. Built for railfans and train enthusiasts, RailRoster is your complete guide to the diesel era — from first-generation switchers to today’s high-horsepower giants. Browse beautifully designed cards with high-quality images, horsepower stats, wheel arrangements, and years built. See which railroads rostered each locomotive and explore the technological progress that defined modern railroading.

About

Open Railroad Guide

Explore detailed railroad maps, historical imagery, and live train data. Features include AR track viewing, frequency finding, and community collaboration for rail enthusiasts and historians.

Highlights
  • Live train map
  • AR 3D Track View
  • Frequency Finder
  • Channel Log
  • Transit Map
  • Rail Community
  • Train Watch
  • FRA Records
Features
Read full description

OpenRailroadGuide puts detailed railroad maps and historical aerial imagery in your pocket so you can explore, save, and share the places that matter to railfans, historians, and planners. Enjoy a completely distraction free experience with no ads on any level! -**My Trip:** Manage your Amtrak and VIA Rail trips all in the app -**ORG Postchive:** Post videos and photos to the rail community -**Live train map:** View all Amtrak and VIA Rail trains on a Live Map -**AR 3D Track View:** See tracks in augmented reality to get quick identification. -**Frequency Finder:** Find the exact frequency of any rail line in NA to use on your scanner -**Channel Log:** Use side-by-side with your scanner to tag and organize your channels -**Transit Map:** View all transit lines in your local city, with color coded lines -**Rail Community:** Use the rail community to collaborate with other users to put user-made info on rail lines and train sightings that update in real time -**Train Watch:** Put specific points on the map to get alerts and see upcoming trains to that point - **FRA Records:** Get official records by the FRA on how much trains run through a railroad in the day, night, and weekly. - **Interactive Map:** Fast vector-tile map with smooth zooming and panning built for rail lines and right-of-ways. - **Grade Crossings:** View every railroad crossing in the US with full FRA Inventory records on them. -**Trainspotting Logs & AI Predictions:** Log every train you spot and use AI Overview to predict where & when the next train will be -**Railroad Lookup:** Lookup the selected Railroad directly on the internet within the app to get all the info you need - **Historical Imagery:** Slide through years of aerial imagery to compare past and present alignments. - **Saved Places & Folders:** Save coordinates with notes, organize them into folders, edit details, and quickly fly to any point. - **Local Edits & Annotations:** Draw and persist local edits and annotations right on the map; they render alongside map tiles. - **Seamless Device Sync:** Automatic background sync and backups via iCloud Key-Value Store keep your saved places and edits in sync across your devices. - **Restore & Backup:** One-tap restore and safe merge behavior prevent accidental data loss and detect when data are already up to date. - **Quick Access:** Add bookmarks from the map or the main menu and use a dedicated “View on Map” flow that reliably navigates and centers the map on saved places. - **Power Tools for Enthusiasts:** Street-view toggle, custom map styles and layers, and a compact UI designed for quick field reference. Privacy: Your saved places and edits are stored on-device and synced only via your iCloud account when enabled. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

RailRoster3 screens
Open Railroad Guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RailRoster at none against Open Railroad Guide's 7. Open Railroad Guide's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly) and ratings volume (49 vs 1). On price, rating, ads 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. Open Railroad Guide sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. RailRoster asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for RailRoster against 4.9 for Open Railroad Guide. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Open Railroad Guide has 49 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RailRoster ships an update monthly, Open Railroad Guide every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
RailRoster versus Open Railroad Guide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRailRosterOpen Railroad Guide
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.9 (49 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings149 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS26.018 — better
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB242 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJosh FentonIKworks

Customer experience

RailRoster

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Open Railroad Guide

All ratings47 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

RailRoster

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Open Railroad Guide

Subscriptions3
  • Insider Club$2.991 Month
  • ORG+ Monthly$12.001 Month
  • ORG+ Yearly$84.001 Year
One-time4
  • AI Tools for ORG$6.99
  • Open Railroad Guide Premium$14.99
  • Unlock All$20.00
Show 1 more
  • ORG+ Lifetime$129.99

Questions

Is RailRoster free?
RailRoster is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Open Railroad Guide free?
Open Railroad Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, RailRoster or Open Railroad Guide?
RailRoster is rated higher. RailRoster averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Open Railroad Guide averages 4.9 from 49 ratings.
Do RailRoster or Open Railroad Guide have ads?
Neither RailRoster nor Open Railroad Guide shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RailRoster or Open Railroad Guide?
RailRoster ships an update monthly, and Open Railroad Guide every 5 days. Most recently, RailRoster was updated on October 25, 2026 and Open Railroad Guide on October 28, 2026.

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