Comparison

SEPTA vs Nearly Departed

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

Head to head
About

SEPTA

Plan your entire journey with this transit app. Find nearby stops, get real-time updates, and manage your transit card. It offers a streamlined experience with trip planning and station details.

Highlights
  • End-to-end trip planning
  • Real-time transit information
  • SEPTA Key Card management
  • Nearby stop and station finder
  • Station-specific alerts and schedules
  • Metro line integration
Features
Read full description

SEPTA’s mobile app empowers riders to plan their trip end to end. Find stops and stations nearby, plan a trip, access real-time information, manage your SEPTA Key Card, and more! Improved performance and user experience - A more intuitive experience, now at faster speeds. Think ahead with the new Trip Planner - Plan your next ride without leaving the app. Get all of the Station Details - View station-specific alerts and schedules. Easily load up your SEPTA Key - Add funds and manage your SEPTA Key from the app. Get to know SEPTA Metro! - New letters and colors for our Metro lines fully integrated into the app. Stay in the know with Real-time Info - Get to-the-minute updates about upcoming routes. Find the closest stop with Nearby - Easily view (and favorite) nearby stations and routes. Get assistance from your pocket with Help - Report a concern or contact SEPTA straight rom the app. Improved features for riders with accessibility needs - Including full screen reader compatibility.

About

Nearly Departed

Discover notable individuals buried near your current location or any searched area. Explore their life stories, portraits, and death locations, with directions to cemeteries. Learn respectful grave visiting etiquette.

Highlights
  • Discovery map of notable burials
  • Searchable by location
  • Detailed life stories and portraits
  • Directions to cemeteries
  • Grave visiting etiquette guide
  • No account required for exploration
Features
Read full description

Nearly Departed maps the notable dead buried near you — writers, outlaws, inventors, musicians, the famous and the forgotten — each with the story of a life, a block from yours. Tap "Continue" and the map fills with the remarkable people resting nearby. Or search anywhere: a city you're visiting, a cemetery you've wondered about, the town you grew up in. Every soul comes with a biography drawn from public records, so you don't just find a grave — you meet a neighbor. WHAT YOU GET • A discovery map of notable burials, near you or anywhere you search • Died here: flip the map to where notable people died — the hospital, the hotel, the battlefield — when Wikidata records the spot • Life stories, portraits, and dates pulled from Wikidata and Wikipedia • Save the souls you want to remember. Visit their graves in person to earn your standing in the archive • Directions to the cemetery via Apple Maps • Cemetourists: our field guide to visiting gravesites with respect BUILT DIFFERENTLY • No account required — explore everything as a guest • No ads, no analytics, no tracking. Public records, not surveillance • Location is used only while the app is open, only to find burials near you • Optional sign-in syncs your saves across devices — and you can delete your account in the app anytime Burial records come from community-maintained public sources (Wikidata, Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap). Pins mark cemeteries, not exact plots — verify before you travel, obey posted hours, and treat every site with care. The dead are patient. They've been waiting for you.

Screenshots

SEPTA4 screens
Nearly Departed4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Nearly Departed at 5.0 against SEPTA's 4.4. Nearly Departed also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks). SEPTA's advantage is ratings volume (29K vs 1). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nearly Departed holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SEPTA has 29K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SEPTA ships an update every 3 weeks, Nearly Departed every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
SEPTA versus Nearly Departed: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSEPTANearly Departed
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (29K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews13.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings29K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSoutheastern Pennsylvania Transportation AuthoritySmall Parts Studio LLC

Customer experience

SEPTA

All ratings28,894 ratings
Positive84.3%
Neutral5.0%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews305 reviews
Positive13.1%
Neutral10.5%
Negative76.4%

Nearly Departed

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

Bugs and requests

SEPTA

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login and password reset issues
  • Inconsistent real-time data and schedule information
  • Inability to add payment methods or reload transit cards
  • Geolocation and mapping features not working properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to view full schedule instead of just point-to-point
  • Notifications for service changes and delays
  • Integration with mobile wallet for digital tickets
  • More customization options for saved routes and favorites

Nearly Departed

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

SEPTA

No in-app purchases

None

Nearly Departed

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SEPTA free?
SEPTA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nearly Departed free?
Nearly Departed is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SEPTA or Nearly Departed?
Nearly Departed is rated higher. SEPTA averages 4.4 out of 5 from 29K ratings, while Nearly Departed averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do SEPTA or Nearly Departed have ads?
Neither SEPTA nor Nearly Departed shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SEPTA or Nearly Departed?
SEPTA ships an update every 3 weeks, and Nearly Departed every 4 days. Most recently, SEPTA was updated on November 3, 2026 and Nearly Departed on October 31, 2026.

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