There is no single best commute app Ireland can offer you, because they solve different problems. Some are built to show you the official feed for your operator. Some are built to plan a trip across three cities. One is a ticket wallet. And one is built around the question every Irish commuter actually asks: what time do I need to leave? We compared six of them on live departures, cross-mode planning, saved places and price, using each app’s own store listing and official site.
No departure times appear on this page. This site has no live feed — the live departures live in the apps themselves. Every claim below comes from that app’s own Play Store listing or official site, listed in SOURCES.md.
The short version
Six Irish commute apps compared across modes covered, live departures, cross-mode when-to-leave planning, saved places, price and best use.
Prices and features are taken from each app’s Google Play listing on 24 October 2026 and can change. TFI Live and TFI Go details come from transportforireland.ie, Transit from transitapp.com, Moovit and Bus Fuss from their Play listings.
Where each one is genuinely good
Leavenow — for the when-do-I-leave decision
Leavenow compares live train, bus, DART and Luas departures together and ranks every option by when you would arrive rather than when it leaves. Each option is priced door to door: the walk to the stop, the ride, and the walk at the far end. That total is what the ranking uses, which is why a later departure can win. The app shows one answer at the top of the screen — leave in nine minutes — with a Live or Scheduled tag so you know how sure it is. Star Home and Work and it surfaces the two decisions you actually make.
It is free on Google Play and works in your browser, so you can check a board without installing anything. If you want the cross-mode answer rather than one operator’s feed, this is the app built for it.
TFI Live — for the official one, and the deepest feed
TFI Live is the reference point for Irish transport data, and it is genuinely excellent. TFI describes it as a door-to-door journey planner with real-time departures for Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, Luas and Iarnród Éireann, plus timetables, interactive maps and accessibility information. TFI states the app has passed 1.5 million downloads with around 400,000 daily users and more than 1,600 timetables and routes. You can save favourite journeys, stops and timetables, and no account is needed for real-time information or journey planning. If you want the official app with the fullest national live feed and do not need cross-mode decisions, TFI Live is the right choice, and it is free.
TFI Go is not a departures app, and this comparison will not pretend otherwise. It is a ticket wallet: it loads tickets for Bus Éireann, TFI Local Link and selected commercial operators onto your phone, so there is no printing, and you activate the ticket before boarding and show it to the driver. You can buy one, two or ten-journey tickets and zonal tickets for Dublin city and town services, in adult, young adult and student variants. Tickets stay valid for 28 days after purchase, and your payment card can be saved for faster checkout. If your problem is paying for a bus rather than planning a journey, TFI Go does that job and does it well.
Moovit is the broadest of the group. Its Play listing states it covers Dublin and all of the Republic of Ireland, and that the same app runs in more than 3,400 cities across 112 other countries, with over 100 million downloads. That scale is the point: if your commute crosses city boundaries or you travel a lot, a multi-city planner is worth having, because the timetable data comes from the operator in each place. The trade-offs are the advertising and the in-app purchases on the free tier.
Transit — for step-by-step navigation and accessibility
Transit is the one to look at if the hard part of your journey is the walk. Its Ireland page leads on what happens after you get off: instantly seeing nearby transit options, getting step-by-step navigation, planning trips, checking service alerts and browsing schedules. The listing shows more than 10 million downloads and an update on 6 October 2026, so it is actively maintained. It is free with in-app purchases available. For accessible, turn-by-turn navigation to the stop, Transit is the strongest of these apps.
Bus Fuss does one thing and does it plainly: it is a Bus Éireann tracker with real-time passenger information, where you search for your stop by name or ID and it tells you when the bus will arrive. There is no journey planning, no saved places and no cross-mode view, and the listing shows around 10,000 downloads with its last update on 23 September 2024 and adverts in the free version. If you only ever take the Bus Éireann and want a single-purpose tracker, it is worth a look. It is not a general commute app.
You want the official app and the fullest Irish live feed. TFI Live. It covers all five operators, has no ads and no in-app purchases, and you can use it without an account.
You travel across more than one city, or to other countries. Moovit, which covers Dublin and the whole Republic plus more than 3,400 cities abroad.
The walk to the stop is the hard part. Transit, for step-by-step navigation and accessibility.
You want a ticket on your phone and nothing else. TFI Go, for Bus Éireann, TFI Local Link and some commercial operators.
You only ever take the Bus Éireann. Bus Fuss is a single-purpose tracker for that.
You catch more than one mode and want to know when to leave. Leavenow, which ranks train, bus, DART and Luas options by arrival time and prices each one door to door.
YOUR QUESTIONS
A few things you might ask.
What is the best commute app in Ireland?
It depends on the problem you are solving. TFI Live is the official app and has the deepest national live feed, with real-time departures for Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, Luas and Irish Rail. Moovit covers Dublin and the whole Republic plus thousands of cities abroad. Transit is strongest for step-by-step navigation and accessibility. TFI Go is a ticket wallet rather than a departures app. Leavenow is built around the cross-mode question: it puts train, bus, DART and Luas side by side and ranks them by when you would actually arrive, priced door to door.
Is TFI Live free to use?
Yes. TFI Live is free to download and its Play Store listing shows no in-app purchases. You do not need an account to access real-time information or journey planning — you only need one if you want to save favourite journeys, stops and timetables.
Which app is best for Irish train times?
For the raw timetable and live feed, TFI Live, which draws on Irish Rail data and carries more than 1,600 timetables and routes. For a train-and-everything-else decision, Leavenow ranks train, bus, DART and Luas options together by arrival time. If you want train times for a specific station as a first-class page, the station boards on leavenow.app cover DART and commuter rail stop by stop.
Does Leavenow work without an account?
Yes for the core job. You can check departure boards and use the app without signing up. A free account adds one saved place; Premium supports up to ten saved places and journey disruption alerts.
Which app shows bus and train times together?
Three of them do: Leavenow, Moovit and Transit. The difference is what happens next. Leavenow ranks the options by when you would arrive and prices each one door to door, including the walk at both ends, so a later departure can win. Moovit is the broadest multi-city planner. Transit leans on turn-by-turn navigation once you are on foot.
Are there apps for Irish buses that are free?
All six apps in this comparison have a free tier. TFI Live, TFI Go, Leavenow and Bus Fuss are free with no in-app purchases listed; Moovit is free with advertising and optional in-app purchases; Transit is free with optional in-app purchases. Ticket purchases, saved places and disruption alerts are where the paid tiers differ.
Try the cross-mode one
Leavenow is free on Google Play and runs in your browser too, so you can check a board before installing anything.
leavenow