Ruter vs Thon Hotels
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ruter
Plan your journeys and purchase tickets for public transport in Oslo and Akershus. This app provides real-time departure information, route planning, and allows you to see vehicle locations and crowding levels. It also offers options for renting e-scooters, e-bikes, and city bikes.
- Plan journeys from A to B
- Buy tickets for public transport
- Real-time departure times
- Live vehicle tracking
- See crowding information
- Rent e-scooters and bikes
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The Ruter app gives you full mobility in Oslo and Akershus. Find all departures and get around with public transport such as trams, metro, buses and ferries. Select your preferred modes of transport, find the best routes and buy your tickets – all in one app. Top features in the Ruter app: • Buy tickets for public transport – for yourself and others • Plan journeys from A to B • See all departure times, and use the map to see where your mode of transportation is in real time • See how crowded the bus or tram is • Get relevant service disruption information • Add favourites to save places you visit often • See accessibility information for stops • Pay by card, Vipps or Apple Pay Unlock more features by creating a personal profile: • Find, ride and pay for e-scooters, e-bikes and city bikes • Save your journeys for later • Store tickets, history and favourites – even if you change phones • Get access to new concepts and products With a Ruter profile you’ll also get quicker and more convenient customer service. We’re always happy to hear from you if you need help, have feedback or suggestions for improvement. Tips to get even more out of the Ruter app: • If you share your location, the app will show you nearby stops and give you more accurate and relevant travel suggestions. • Use smart widgets to buy tickets or see departures from your favourite stops. Keep an eye out for more features in the future – and thank you for travelling with us!
Thon Hotels
Book hotel stays quickly and easily, with exclusive discounts and a best price guarantee. Features include mobile check-in/out, room key access, and convenient payment options. Stay informed with notifications about your trip.
- Exclusive THON+ membership discounts
- Best price guarantee on direct bookings
- In-app mobile check-in and check-out
- Phone as room and elevator key
- Multiple payment options including Vipps and Apple Pay
- Overview of past and upcoming stays
- Notifications for pre-stay and during-stay updates
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Our app helps you book your hotel stay in a quick and easy way. Save money – up to 12% off with THON+ membership Best price guarantee – always the lowest price when booking direct Skip the queue – check in and out in the app Your phone is your key – unlock your room and access elevators Easy payments – Vipps, Apple Pay, cards or bonus points Full overview – see all your past and upcoming stays Stay updated – get notifications before and during your stay Exclusive deals – special rates via work or organizations Search & compare – hotels in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Thon Hotels at free against Ruter's free with in-app purchases. Ruter's advantage is ratings volume (3.8K vs 22) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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.
Ruter holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ruter has 3.8K ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 51% of Ruter's written reviews are positive against 57% of Thon Hotels's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Ruter ships an update weekly, Thon Hotels monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ruter | Thon Hotels |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (3.8K ratings) — better | 4.6 (22 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.9% of reviews | 57.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.8K — better | 22 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 89 MB | 121 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ruter As | Thon Gruppen As |
Customer experience
Ruter
Thon Hotels
Bugs and requests
Ruter
Reported bugs
3 issues- Tickets disappearing after phone restart
- Verification codes not being received
- App crashing or freezing on older devices
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to manually reorder shortcut stations
- Offline support for proof of fare
- Improved walking directions between connections
- Support for international credit cards and Apple Pay
Thon Hotels
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Ruter
No in-app purchases
Thon Hotels
No in-app purchases
