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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to I built a simple, fast transit app for the Bay Area

Hey HN, I built Commuter because I was tired of switching between different apps to check arrival times for BART, Caltrain, Muni, ferries, and more. This app pulls directly from the official 511 API and aims to provide a fast, clean experience focused on real-time departures. There’s no account creation, it’s free to use, and it supports every major transit provider in the Bay Area—from Napa down to San Jose. You can search, favorite lines/stops, and see live countdowns with minimal friction. It’s built entirely in SwiftUI using native Apple frameworks. Happy to answer questions about…

Commuter is a transit app for the San Francisco Bay Area that consolidates real-time arrival information from BART, Caltrain, Muni, ferries, and other regional providers into one interface. It pulls data directly from… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.

  1. 1

    Carpooling at the press of a button

    2015 · uber.com · its alternatives →

  2. 2

    Where to? See upfront fares & estimated arrival times

    2016 · uber.com · its alternatives →

  3. 3

    News that reads like a tweet

    Feb 2026 · commuter.news · its alternatives →

  4. 4
    SoMo▲295

    One stop transportation shop

    2019 · its alternatives →

  5. 5

    A free mac menubar application for bus stop departures!

    2017 · devonbradley.com · its alternatives →

  6. 6MF

    Hi all! I'm a 17-year old self-taught developer just starting to tap into the mobile world! :3 This summer, I've worked on a minimalist distance-based alarm clock app that wakes you up before you miss your stop! Check it out here! http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/commuter-buddy/cb9b5107-41e0-4d2b-b0d6-110fe555fc3b Feedback and comments are welcome, thanks :)

    2014 · its alternatives →

  7. 7
    Loop▲86

    Chicago's best transit app for commuters, students, tourists

    2021 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  8. 8
    Pigeon▲171

    The NYC subway app by Google's incubator 🚉🗽

    2018 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  9. 9
    Chariot▲119

    Subscription Commuter Bus Service in SF

    2014 · its alternatives →

  10. 10

    Get around big cities

    2019 · citymapper.com · its alternatives →

  11. 11
    Hitch▲124

    An affordable way to get around SF by sharing your ride.

    2014 · andalusianworld.com · its alternatives →

  12. 12

    Uber now offers real time data for public transportation

    2019 · uber.com · its alternatives →

  13. 13

    This was something I built while trying to look for housing in Toronto that was decently transit-accessible to my office while still cheap. The backend is written in Rust. It parses public GTFS data from transit agencies and performs a simple heuristics-based BFS on the bus lines to calculate how long to reach all points in a city. The frontend uses React and Mapbox GL to render each individual road segment based on how long it takes to reach. This project was a great excuse to learn Rust, deployments, and mapping. The source code is here if you are interested:…

    2023 · map.henryn.xyz · its alternatives →

  14. 14

    Real time subway map for NYC

    2024 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  15. 15
    Transit▲123

    Real-time transit data and a bot to help you commute

    2016 · transitapp.com · its alternatives →

  16. 16SE

    Hello HN, I built www.sftransit.us to make it easier to get live transit arrival/departure times on your cellphone. Right now, it does Muni and BART. You don't have to download anything, and it takes one click to find times for nearby stops. I don't live in San Francisco right now (but am moving out there in a few months). I'm really keen to know if this is a useful service, and to know if there's anything that would make it more useful to you. I'm aware there are a few existing tools for this (like Routesy, and the official site [of course]), but I don't think any are as hassle free...…

    2012 · sftransit.us · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    I previously made a web version of The Weekendest, but when I was laid off from my last job, I decided to take the free time I had to pick up Swift UI, and made a native iOS version of it. The main draw of the app is that the map is dynamically generated based on the current subway routing, so when you open the app on weekends or overnight, you'll see lines correspond to where the trains are actually running, which is a very unique NYC problem. Let me know what you think!

    2024 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  18. 18
    MyTrain▲60

    Never wait on the NYC Subway platform again

    2023 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  19. 19NS

    Hello HN! As a long term NYC resident, I have read countless articles on ideas tweaking subway services, but always found them hard to follow without visual aid. So over the long weekend I decided to build one. It has all the basic features: trains would spawn at their origin, stop at stations, and slow down if it gets too close to another. You can also design custom routes by piecing tracks together. Have fun, and let me know what you think!

    2025 · buildmytransit.nyc · its alternatives →

  20. 20WI

    I was frustrated with the existing caltrain websites / apps, so I made a super minimalist one to answer the actual question I have: how long until the next train? If you're in SF it grabs the next southbound trains, otherwise, the next northbound.

    2025 · erikschluntz.com · its alternatives →

  21. 21
    Ride▲74

    The multi city bike share app

    2017 · ride-app.com · its alternatives →

  22. 22

    Take a nap on commute without missing your stop!

    2017 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  23. 23

    Live map of every Muni, BART & Caltrain in SF, with a from→to planner - UtpalJayNadiger/wheres-my-muni

    Aug 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24
    Zify▲74

    The carpooling app for your daily commutes

    2017 · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →