Comparison

SimCity BuildIt vs Bit City

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

Head to head
About

SimCity BuildIt

Design and build a bustling city metropolis, managing resources, citizen happiness, and urban challenges like traffic and pollution. Trade with other players, compete in city wars, and unlock unique landmarks and regional styles to create your dream city.

Highlights
  • Design and build city metropolis
  • Manage citizen happiness and services
  • Solve urban challenges like traffic
  • Trade with other players
  • Compete in Club Wars and contests
  • Unlock landmarks and regional styles
  • Build and customize train networks
Read full description

Includes optional in-game purchases of virtual currency that can be used to acquire virtual in-game items, including a random selection of virtual in-game items. Welcome, Mayor, to the city builder and simulator! Be the hero of your very own city metropolis. This is the city-building game to design and create a beautiful, bustling town or metropolis. Every decision is yours as your city simulation grows larger and more intricate. You need to make smart building choices as a city builder to keep your citizens happy and your skyline growing. Then build, trade, chat, compete, and join clubs with fellow city-building Mayors. The city game that lets you build your city, your way! BRING YOUR CITY METROPOLIS TO LIFE Build your metropolis with skyscrapers, parks, bridges, and much more! Place buildings strategically to keep your taxes flowing and your city growing. Solve real-life city-building challenges like traffic and pollution. Provide your town and city services like power plants and police departments. Strategize, build and keep traffic moving with grand avenues and streetcars in this fun city builder and simulator. PUT YOUR IMAGINATION AND CITY ON THE MAP The possibilities are endless in this town and city-building simulator! A worldwide city game, build Tokyo-, London-, or Paris-style neighborhoods, and unlock exclusive city landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty. Make building rewarding and discover new technologies with the Future Cities while getting athletic with sports stadiums to become a pro city builder. Build and decorate your town or city with rivers, lakes, forests, and expand along the beach or mountain slopes. Unlock your city-builder strategies with new geographic regions for your metropolis, such as the Sunny Isles or Frosty Fjords, each with a unique architectural style. The city-building game where there’s always something new and different to make your city simulation unique. BUILD AND BATTLE YOUR WAY TO VICTORY The city-building game that lets you defend your city metropolis against monsters or compete against other mayors in Club Wars. Plot winning city-builder strategies with your Club mates and declare war on other cities. Once the battle simulation is on, unleash crazy disasters like the Disco Twister and Plant Monster on your opponents. Earn valuable rewards to use in battle, in building or to improve your city. In addition, take on other players in the Contest of Mayors, where you can complete weekly challenges and climb the League ranks toward the top of this city game. BUILD A BETTER CITY WITH TRAINS The city-building game to improve as a city builder with unlockable and upgradeable trains. Discover new trains and train stations for your dream metropolis! Build, expand and customize your rail network to fit your unique city simulation. BUILD, CONNECT AND TEAM UP Join a Mayor’s Club to trade city supplies with other members who love and chat about city-building strategies and available resources. Collaborate with other town and city builders to help someone complete their personal vision as well as get support to complete yours. Build big, work together, lead other Mayors, and watch your city simulation come to life in this city-building game and simulator! ___ Important Consumer Information. This app: Requires a persistent Internet connection (network fees may apply). Requires acceptance of EA’s Privacy & Cookie Policy and User Agreement. Includes in-game advertising. Contains direct links to the Internet and social networking sites intended for an audience over 13. The app uses Game Center. Log out of Game Center before installation if you don’t want to share your game play with friends. User Agreement: http://terms.ea.com Privacy and Cookie Policy: http://privacy.ea.com Visit https://help.ea.com/en/ for assistance or inquiries. EA may retire online features after 30 days’ notice posted on www.ea.com/service-updates.

About

Bit City

Develop a small town into a bustling metropolis in this idle city-building simulation. Earn profits, invest in upgrades, and unlock new buildings and vehicles to expand your urban landscape. Customize your city with famous landmarks.

Highlights
  • City building simulation
  • Idle gameplay
  • Profit collection
  • Upgrade investments
  • Unlock new buildings
  • Vehicle collection
  • Landmark customization
Features
Read full description

Build your own Bit City! Start from a tiny town and grow to a thriving metropolis in this city building idle game from the creators of Tiny Tower. Collect profits and invest in upgrades that keep your city growing. Fill your city with new types of cars, planes and ships. Unlock cool new buildings, including famous landmarks to customize the look of your city. What are you waiting for? Start building YOUR own Bit City now!

Screenshots

SimCity BuildIt4 screens
Bit City4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Bit City at 4.6 against SimCity BuildIt's 4.1. Bit City also leads on review sentiment (79% vs 49%). SimCity BuildIt's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (86K vs 8.5K). 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. SimCity BuildIt sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Bit City sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bit City holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SimCity BuildIt has 86K ratings behind it against 8.5K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of SimCity BuildIt's written reviews are positive against 79% of Bit City's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SimCity BuildIt ships an update every 3 weeks, Bit City every 2 months. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
SimCity BuildIt versus Bit City: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimCity BuildItBit City
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (86K ratings)4.6 (8.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.2% of reviews78.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings86K — better8.5K
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#62 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size345 MB288 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperElectronic ArtsNimbleBit LLC

Customer experience

SimCity BuildIt

All ratings85,884 ratings
Positive77.1%
Neutral7.0%
Negative16.0%
Written reviews10,476 reviews
Positive49.2%
Neutral9.9%
Negative40.9%

Bit City

All ratings8,469 ratings
Positive90.8%
Neutral4.2%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews931 reviews
Positive78.8%
Neutral8.9%
Negative12.2%

User reviews

SimCity BuildIt

From 86K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Great game
  • 🌇 Beautiful graphics
  • 🕹️ Enjoyable gameplay
  • 🤝 Supportive club community
  • 🕰️ Relaxing and not too demanding

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
  • 🕰️ Slow progression without paying
  • 🔍 Difficult to find needed items
  • 🤖 Aggressive monetization tactics
  • 🤯 Frustrating club war mechanics

Bit City

From 8.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to play
  • 🚀 Addictive gameplay
  • 💎 Great for casual time-wasting
  • 🎨 Charming pixel art style

Room to improve

  • 🕰️ Slow progression and repetitive gameplay
  • 🔀 Inability to rotate buildings
  • 🤑 Expensive special buildings
  • 🤔 Prestige feature not as beneficial as expected

Bugs and requests

SimCity BuildIt

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Cars phasing through trains
  • Inconsistent traffic patterns
  • Disappearing delivery trucks
  • Frequent crashes and connection issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add city layout editor
  • Allow raising/lowering train tracks
  • Improve free-to-play experience
  • Introduce search function for trade depot
  • Add option to disable construction bubbles

Bit City

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Prestige feature not working as intended
  • Occasional crashes and progress loss
  • Ads sometimes freeze the app

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to rotate buildings
  • Option to choose building types
  • Ability to visit and upgrade past cities
  • More city themes and building variety
  • Collect all vehicle earnings at once

In-app purchases

10 purchases

SimCity BuildIt

One-time10
  • Small Daily SimCash$0.99
  • Pocketful of SimCash 3$1.99
  • Premium Vu Pass Level I$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Pocketful of SimCash$4.99
  • Premium Vu Pass Level II$5.99
  • Premium Mayor's Pass +$8.99
  • Little Stack of SimCash$9.99
  • Nice Pile of SimCash$19.99
  • Briefcase of SimCash$34.99
  • Big Sack of SimCash$49.99
5 purchases

Bit City

One-time5
  • Pension Pig$2.99
  • Stack of Bux$4.99
  • Infinite Double Time$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Bag of Bux$9.99
  • Vault of Bux$19.99

Questions

Is SimCity BuildIt free?
SimCity BuildIt is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bit City free?
Bit City is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SimCity BuildIt or Bit City?
Bit City is rated higher. SimCity BuildIt averages 4.1 out of 5 from 86K ratings, while Bit City averages 4.6 from 8.5K ratings.
Do SimCity BuildIt or Bit City have ads?
Both SimCity BuildIt and Bit City show ads.
Which is updated more often, SimCity BuildIt or Bit City?
SimCity BuildIt ships an update every 3 weeks, and Bit City every 2 months. Most recently, SimCity BuildIt was updated on September 24, 2026 and Bit City on September 24, 2026.

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