Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

School Bus Simulator Drive 3D vs Driving Academy

School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 4.5★ · Free + IAP 65
Winner Driving Academy
Driving Academy 4.6★ · Free + IAP 70

Driving Academy offers better graphics and more diverse gameplay modes, making it the slightly better choice despite both apps suffering from excessive ads.

Full reviews: School Bus Simulator Drive 3D · Driving Academy

Both School Bus Simulator Drive 3D and Driving Academy are free-to-play driving simulators with in-app purchases, but both are heavily criticized for an overwhelming number of ads. Driving Academy has a slight edge due to its more realistic graphics and varied gameplay, including driving school elements and passenger missions, while School Bus Simulator Drive 3D focuses more on bus driving and stunts.

Head to head

Gameplay & Features edge: Driving AcademyR60R58R3R23
School Bus Simulator Drive 3D School Bus Simulator Drive 3D allows users to drive buses, cars, and limos in various modes, including city driving, savanna challenges, stunts, and picking up kids R60R58. Some users find it entertaining and addictive, appreciating the variety of vehicles and environments R3R23R60. However, some recent updates have removed favorite cars and content, leading to user dissatisfaction R27R53.
Driving Academy Driving Academy offers a driving school experience, police chases, and passenger missions, with users appreciating the variety of options and modes . It is praised for its realistic road safety information and graphics . However, some users find the police chase mode difficult and the steering controls challenging R64. There are also complaints about removed car options after updates .
Ease of Use & Controls tieR1R12R18R49
School Bus Simulator Drive 3D Users of School Bus Simulator Drive 3D frequently report that vehicles are hard to control, especially on iPhones, making driving frustrating R1R12R18R49. Some also experience glitches where the bus goes in the wrong direction or hits invisible walls .
Driving Academy Driving Academy also faces criticism for its controls, with users finding the steering wheel hard to use and cars going too fast or being difficult to stop R64R69. The game's detection of driving errors is sometimes perceived as unfair, penalizing users for minor touches or incorrect GPS directions .
Reliability & Performance edge: Driving AcademyR19R59R53R30
School Bus Simulator Drive 3D School Bus Simulator Drive 3D users report issues such as the game not appearing on the home page after download, crashing, and cars disappearing after updates R19R59R53. Some also mention glitches and bugs R30. A significant concern is the app attempting to access contacts without permission, leading to immediate uninstallation for some .
Driving Academy Driving Academy users also experience reliability issues, including glitches, freezing, and the game no longer working offline after updates R73R76R109. Some users report cars they previously owned becoming unavailable .
Price & Value (Free vs. Paid) tieR1R4R6R7
School Bus Simulator Drive 3D School Bus Simulator Drive 3D is free with in-app purchases, but users are overwhelmingly frustrated by the excessive number of ads, which appear after every loss, level, or even for repairs R1R4R6R7. Some users note that paying $5 can remove ads and provide bonuses .
Driving Academy Driving Academy is also free with in-app purchases, and like App A, it is heavily criticized for an abundance of ads, often appearing after every level or action R61. Some users have paid to remove ads, which improved their experience .
Graphics & Realism edge: Driving AcademyR43R37R23R27
School Bus Simulator Drive 3D Some users find the graphics of School Bus Simulator Drive 3D to be horrible and criticize the AI humans as creepy R43R37. While some praise it for being realistic and offering real skill R23R27, others desire more realistic elements like moving people R37.
Driving Academy Driving Academy is generally praised for its good graphics and world layout . Many users find it realistic and helpful for learning road safety . However, some wish for more realistic elements like moving traffic lights and people .
Pick School Bus Simulator Drive 3D if

You are specifically interested in a bus driving simulator with various vehicle types and stunt modes, and you are willing to tolerate frequent ads or pay to remove them R60.

Pick Driving Academy if

You prefer a driving game with a focus on learning road safety, realistic graphics, and diverse modes like driving school and passenger missions, and you are prepared for frequent ads .

Evidence note: Both apps have a significant number of recent negative reviews, primarily due to the overwhelming presence of ads and issues with updates removing content or causing glitches. The lifetime ratings are high, but recent sentiment is much lower. The free-to-play model with IAP for ad removal is a major point of friction for non-paying users in both cases.

Frequently asked

Do these driving games have a lot of ads?
Yes, both School Bus Simulator Drive 3D and Driving Academy are heavily criticized for having an excessive number of ads, often appearing after every level, crash, or action R4R7R24R61.
Can I play these games offline?
School Bus Simulator Drive 3D can be played offline, though some fun features might require internet R52. However, Driving Academy users report that recent updates have made it impossible to play offline, requiring an internet connection to continue playing R73R76R109.
Are the controls easy to use in these games?
Many users find the controls in both games challenging; School Bus Simulator Drive 3D vehicles are described as hard to control, especially on smaller screens R1R18, and Driving Academy's steering and braking are often criticized for being difficult and unresponsive R64R69.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R60] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 5/5 · US 😃😃😃😃😃😃😀😀😀😀😀🚘🚖🚍🚌🚕🚗🚙🚎🚐🚒🚑🚓🏎️🛻🚚🚛🚜: This app is exactly what it says, that’s why I love it. You collect and drive buses and even cars and even limos. They have a city and even a savanna with animals and branches and trees in the road if you want a challenge. You can ride around where ever you want with nothing to do, do flips and stunts on fun levels, and drive around kids and get them to their stops.
  2. [R58] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 5/5 · US Fun and interesting: You get to learn traffic signs and drive a school bus and get many different vehicles
  3. [R3] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 3/5 · US Not the best: Not the best game I ever played but it is the most entertaining game I’ve ever played in my life so buy the game
  4. [R23] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 5/5 · US On my way!: I love this game so much because it gives real skill and it is addictive just to warn you
  5. [R1] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 2/5 · US Too hard: The vehicles are too hard to control in the game and it is not fair that every time you lose, you have to watch an add
  6. [R12] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 3/5 · US Read before buying: Is too hard to drive the bus and you have like one minute to get to your destination
  7. [R18] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 3/5 · US Kinda hard: This is a wonderful game, but it has a lot of adds, and if you have an iPad then it is not as hard, but if you have a iPhone like me, the IT is kinda hard to control the speed and driving, but otherwise, it is a good game
  8. [R49] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 1/5 · GB The worst game ever: You can barely drive
  9. [R19] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 1/5 · US DONOT get this game: It started to download and will not show up on my home page and it will not let me delete it
  10. [R59] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 1/5 · GB Review: I got on the game then it kicked me off I have been trying a couple of times but it is just kicking me off I have un installed my games just for some space when I didn’t need to what a waste of time !
  11. [R53] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 1/5 · GB its gone: some of the cars are gone. idiots taking cars out of this game. 1 star.
  12. [R30] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 3/5 · US Cool: Nice but a lot of ads. There were way too much ads and bugs and glitches are happening
  13. [R4] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 2/5 · US Good not great: I hate it. I thought that you could just drive around and have fun but now I realized that you have to watch an add when you crash and there are wayyyyy too many adds.
  14. [R6] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 3/5 · US Mid: This game is fun but a lot of ads
  15. [R7] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 1/5 · US Lots of ads: Too many ads.
  16. [R43] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 2/5 · US 𝒰𝓂: At first glance, I don’t know what I was thinking because this graphics look horrible and it was horrible. I’m glad they’re being true to themselves. But now they need to fix the graphics and their AI humans because real or not, they are creeping me out so please remove them. And sometimes when they were checking my driving skills they’re off, like sometimes they think I did something wrong wh
  17. [R37] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 2/5 · US A fun game: It a cool game but the I don’t that they use ai as the people just make it realistic bro
  18. [R27] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 3/5 · US Games was great until: This games was one of my favorite games. It had so many car options and it was realistic. But then for like 2 months I didn’t play because I could and I just opened the app after a while and got 50000 and lost half of my cars. I have not lost interest in this game. Please add the classic car back and make me own them again because this game is no longer the same.
  19. [R24] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 3/5 · US Adds: There are so many ads. I hate they are just there’s so many ads in every game just like a little but Some don’t have any at all but I don’t like how there are so many ads the ads or just you know like they make you feel like that you’re not playing in the game is still like there’s an ad forever you got you got a step up for yourself stop playing the game find another game without ads. This
  20. [R61] Driving Academy 2/5 · US needs to be fixed: wayyyyy to many ads literally after ever single level or something theres an ad, that needs to be fixed asap in order for more plays
  21. [R52] School Bus Simulator Drive 3D 4/5 · US So much fun but a little bad: So it is a lot of fun when you have Internet, but when you don’t have Internet, you can’t get on it and and. The fun thing about it is it doesn’t have ads every single second it has it like every like like every time like you crash or die in the game like your you’re going to get ads but like to fix the car but it’s a really fun game other than the ads and the Interne
  22. [R73] Driving Academy 1/5 · US Trin: I used to be able to play this game off-line but now you have to have Wi-Fi to play it, which is stupid
  23. [R76] Driving Academy 1/5 · US doesnt play offline: btw
  24. [R109] Driving Academy 1/5 · GB Doesn’t play offline game: It say please switch on your network to continue playing
  25. [R64] Driving Academy 1/5 · US This game is a shame..: This game is the worst game to ever be made with the adds and just the game in general it’s a shame. When I was playing police chase it was so stupid and hard because you barely know where the car is turning and the button that controls the steering wheel is hard to use because you literally have to full on twist your whole finger just to turn. This game is a shame…. 1 STAR
  26. [R69] Driving Academy 3/5 · US Driving academy: The car go’s to fast and it is hard to stop and to stir the wheel you should really make some changes but overall the game is okay

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store