UK transport API comparison
Three APIs give developers UK bus and rail data from one key: TransCAPI, TransportAPI and Buses & Trains. This page sets out what each one offers and what it costs, from each provider's own published pages on 21 October 2026.
At a glance
| TransCAPI | TransportAPI | Buses & Trains | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 500 requests a day, every endpoint, no card | 30 requests a day | 300 requests a day, all endpoints |
| Paid plans | £5/month for 5,000 a day; £29/month for 50,000 a day; £99/month for 500,000 a day | Paid plans with higher allowances; prices not published on the developer portal | £5 for 1,000 a day; £29 for 10,000; £99 for 100,000; Enterprise on request |
| Coverage | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; also the Netherlands and Belgium | UK (Ireland not listed) | England, Wales and Scotland |
| Live bus departures | Yes, with expected times; predicts buses not yet tracked from their previous journey, and says which way each stop goes | Yes | Yes |
| Live bus positions | Yes, linked to the exact timetabled trip | Yes | Listed as a feature |
| Live rail (National Rail Darwin) | Yes, with platforms, cancellations and delay reasons | Yes | Yes |
| Journey planning | Bus, coach, rail, Underground, metro, tram and ferry, up to two months ahead | Yes | Yes (OpenTripPlanner) |
| Rail fares | Yes, with railcards, and priced in journey results | Not listed (bus fares are a separate managed service) | Yes, with railcards |
| Disruptions | Bus, rail and TfL, filtered to a journey's route | Not listed | Not in the API reference (rail boards carry station messages) |
| Bus punctuality | Measured, by line, stop and hour | Yes (Bus Performance) | Not listed |
| Chance of making a change | Yes, from how those buses ran on recent days | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reachability and travel times | Yes: areas reachable in a time, and one-to-many travel times | Not listed | Not listed |
| Push updates | Webhooks: bus approaching a stop, new disruptions | Not listed | WebSocket streaming on the £99 plan |
| Walking climb and carbon | Yes, on every journey | Not listed | Not listed |
| AI assistants | MCP server and llms.txt | Not listed | Not listed |
"Not listed" means we couldn't find it on the provider's public pages, not that it doesn't exist. If something here is wrong or out of date, email hello@transcapi.com and we'll correct it.
Where each one fits
TransCAPI
The largest free tier of the three, and the only one covering the island of Ireland. It goes beyond departures and journeys: disruptions matched to your route, measured bus punctuality, the chance of making each change, reachability maps, rail fares with railcards, and webhooks so you don't have to poll. Every tier gets every endpoint.
TransportAPI
The long-established managed service behind many UK transport apps and operator networks. Its strengths are depth and history: bus and rail performance data, several journey planning engines, and managed services such as bus fares. The free plan is small (30 requests a day) and paid prices are agreed rather than published.
Buses & Trains
A newer API covering Great Britain with live buses, live rail via Darwin, journey planning with OpenTripPlanner, and rail fares. It has a low-cost £5 plan, and WebSocket streaming on its £99 plan.
Try TransCAPI
Get a free key (500 requests a day, no card), or start with one working request per area.
Sources, checked 21 October 2026: Buses & Trains pricing and API reference; TransportAPI developer portal.