Comparison

RailARA vs Rushline

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

Head to head
About

RailARA

Features
Read full description

RailARA gives you real-time NYC subway arrival times — fast, clean, and reliable. REAL-TIME ARRIVALS See live train times for any NYC subway station, updated automatically. RailARA shows you exactly how many minutes until the next train, which direction it's heading, and whether it's running on time. SMART ROUTE PLANNING Save your frequent destinations and let RailARA alert you when it's time to leave. Set departure windows, preferred days, and polling frequency so the app works around your schedule. NEARBY STATIONS RailARA automatically detects your nearest subway station the moment you open the app — no searching required. OFFLINE SUPPORT Stuck underground with no signal? RailARA caches recent arrival data so you always have something to work with. PREMIUM FEATURES Upgrade to RailARA Premium for express route optimization, backtrack suggestions, extended departure windows, faster polling, and more saved routes and favorites. Move Smarter. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Rushline

Get live NYC subway and bus arrival times directly on your iPhone home screen without opening an app. It automatically detects your location and displays the next train or bus, even as you move. Includes service alerts and offline maps.

Highlights
  • Live home screen widgets
  • Automatic location detection
  • Trunk line grouping
  • Smart Stack support
  • Live Activities for Lock Screen
  • Service disruption alerts
  • Offline subway and bus maps
Features
Read full description

Rushline shows every way across NYC, live, before you leave your door: subway, bus, bike, PATH and commuter rail. Widgets on your Home Screen, a Live Activity on your Lock Screen, one app behind it all. WIDGETS, ALL FREE - 9 line color widgets, one per trunk. Each follows you to the closest station on that trunk. - Nearest Stop, any line - 4 PATH widgets - Bikes Nearby: the two closest stations, classic and e-bike counts, walking distance - A caution dot on a line's bullet when that line has a service alert right now (medium and large subway widgets) - Tap refresh once and every widget you have placed reloads. Outside the city, or no station nearby? Tap Retry and it checks your location again. HOW LIVE IS LIVE iOS reloads widgets about every 15 minutes. Between reloads, the minutes count down on their own. Tap to refresh for fresh data at once. A small pill shows how old the times are: amber after 15 minutes, and the times fade after 30. Screens inside the app refresh every 30 seconds. The Live Activity ticks by the second. LOCK SCREEN AND DYNAMIC ISLAND Pin a train and watch it count down by the second, with the Rush Streak moving along. A Control Center and Lock Screen control opens Rushline in one tap. ONE LIST FOR HOME Starred stops as live cards, Nearby stops, a grid of every line (with PATH and SIR), and service alerts in one place. Collapse Starred or Nearby to keep it short. SERVICE ALERTS Each alert is a card: the lines it affects, what is happening, when it runs and why. Long ones fold under Show details. The same card shows on line and station screens. BUS 386 routes and 13,477 stops, stored on your phone. Live arrivals at any stop. RAIL Metro-North and LIRR departures with track numbers. PATH Live boards for all 13 stations. If PATH data cannot load, you see the last known times and when they were updated. OFFLINE MAPS Subway map and Manhattan bus map, bundled in the app. They work when the tunnel eats your signal. WALKING TIMES See if you can make the next one. THEMES, LOOKS ONLY All transit data is free, always. Themes change how widgets look and nothing else. System and Line Color are free. 13 more themes are $1.29 each, or by pack: City Pack: Bodega, Curbside, Meadow NYC Icons Pack: Digital, Mosaic Tile, Manhattan Skyline Arts & Culture Pack: Modernist, Marquee, In Bloom Sports Pack: Pinstripe, Outfield, Hardwood, Rink Each pack is $2.99. The All Themes Pass is $9.99 and includes every theme now and later. One-time purchases, no subscriptions, Family Sharing supported. Restore Purchases is in Settings. No ads. No analytics. No accounts. Crash reports are anonymous and carry no name, location or ID. Rushline uses real-time MTA data. Built by 25C LLC, an independent studio. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Port Authority, or any other transit agency. Requires iOS 18 or later.

Screenshots

RailARA4 screens
Rushline4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Rushline at none against RailARA's shown. RailARA's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, 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. RailARA sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days and Rushline sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RailARA ships an update weekly, Rushline every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
RailARA versus Rushline: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRailARARushline
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—9 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size40 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMichael Zmuda25C LLC

In-app purchases

3 purchases

RailARA

Subscriptions3
  • railara_premium_weekly$0.997 Days
  • railara_premium_monthly$2.991 Month
  • RailARA Premium$29.991 Year
10 purchases

Rushline

One-time10
  • In Bloom Theme$1.29
  • Hardwood Theme$1.29
  • Bodega$1.29
Show 7 more
  • Curbside Theme$1.29
  • Meadow Theme$1.29
  • Sports Pack$2.99
  • Arts & Culture Pack$2.99
  • City Pack$2.99
  • NYC Icons Pack$2.99
  • All Themes Pass$9.99

Questions

Is RailARA free?
RailARA is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Rushline free?
Rushline is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do RailARA or Rushline have ads?
RailARA shows ads; Rushline does not.
Which is updated more often, RailARA or Rushline?
RailARA ships an update weekly, and Rushline every 2 months. Most recently, RailARA was updated on October 25, 2026 and Rushline on October 31, 2026.

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