Opal Travel vs SkyBus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Opal Travel
Plan and manage your journeys across New South Wales, Australia. This official app allows you to plan trips, check fares, and manage your transport card. Get real-time updates and track your travel history all in one convenient place.
- Manage and top up Opal card
- Track payment activities and fares
- Plan public transport, cycling, walking, driving trips
- Check real-time departure times
- Receive live trip updates and alerts
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The Opal Travel app is the official Transport for NSW app to help you get around in NSW Australia. You can plan and save your trip, check travel activities and fares, top up Opal card and more, all in one place. Download the FREE Opal Travel app now. Key features: - Manage and top up Opal card on the go: Register your Opal card to check your balance, top up or set up auto top-up. - Track Opal and Contactless payment activities: Review your Opal and contactless payment travel history and fares. - Simple trip planning: Plan your trip via public transport, cycling, walking, or driving, set your favourite trips and locations, and check public transport fares. - Check departure times at a glance: Check public transport departure times for train, metro, bus, light rail and ferry services. - Get live trip update: Receive service update, disruption and on-the-go hop off alerts for your trip. For more info, visit https://transportnsw.info/apps/opal-travel By installing Opal Travel you acknowledge and accept the Opal Travel app Terms of Use and agree to receive those Terms of Use and any amendments electronically via the Apple App Store. You acknowledge that Transport for NSW will not send you a paper copy. This application is not optimised for iPad's larger screen, which may cause visual or layout issues. For the best experience, please use an iPhone device.
SkyBus
This app simplifies airport bus transfers with easy ticket purchasing, journey planning, and digital ticket access. It offers user accounts for faster checkouts and exclusive deals, along with real-time departure information and notifications for service updates.
- User accounts for faster purchasing
- Easy ticket buying
- Journey planning and stop finder
- Digital ticket wallet
- Departure timetables and journey times
- Push notifications for updates and offers
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SkyBus has been providing fast, convenient and affordable Airport bus transfers for over 40 years, servicing Airports in Australia. Travelling on SkyBus just got easier with the official SkyBus App. The SkyBus App is the perfect travel companion for your next SkyBus journey, with everything you need right at your fingertips. Features include: USER ACCOUNTS - Create an account and enjoy faster purchasing, exclusive offers and access to your tickets from any device. BUY TICKETS - With the SkyBus App we're excited to provide the fastest and easiest way to buy a SkyBus ticket. PLAN YOUR JOURNEY - Find your nearest SkyBus stop using your location, landmark or address. View your journey in the app or open directions to each stop in your preferred maps app. - View upcoming departures as well as timetables for your chosen day and time of travel. See estimated journey times for your trip. TICKET WALLET - Fast access to tickets with your e-ticket sent instantly to the SkyBus ticket wallet. No more searching for ticket emails or holding onto paper tickets. Access your tickets when offline. - View the status of your ticket including the number of trips remaining for multi-use tickets. Used and expired tickets will automatically move to the archive tab of the wallet to help keep it tidy. - 'Buy again' with a single tap directly from your wallet. - Manage bookings from your e-ticket. NOTIFICATIONS - Stay up to date with SkyBus news, service announcements and offers with our app notifications. Select which notifications you want to receive directly within the app. -------------------- Location and notification services are required for some SkyBus app features. Internet connectivity required for purchases. We would love to hear your feedback, email app@skybus.com.au
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Opal Travel at 4.5 against SkyBus's 1.0. Opal Travel also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (480 vs 1). SkyBus's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Opal Travel holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Opal Travel has 480 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 21% of Opal Travel's written reviews are positive against 12% of SkyBus's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Opal Travel | SkyBus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (480 ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 20.9% of reviews — better | 12.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 480 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 93 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Transport for NSW | SkyBus |
Customer experience
Opal Travel
SkyBus
In-app purchases
Opal Travel
No in-app purchases
SkyBus
No in-app purchases









