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

McDonald's vs Subway®

McDonald's 4.8★ · Free to download 40
Winner Subway®
Subway® 4.8★ · Free to download 55

Subway's app has a slight edge over McDonald's, primarily due to McDonald's pervasive and severe performance issues, despite Subway also facing significant problems with recent updates.

Full reviews: McDonald's · Subway®

McDonald's app is plagued by widespread complaints of extreme slowness, frequent crashes, and login issues, making it frustrating for many users to place orders or redeem rewards. Subway's app, while also experiencing significant bugs and login problems after recent updates, particularly with gift cards and coupon redemption, is generally perceived as more functional when it works.

Head to head

App Performance & Reliability edge: Subway®R1R5R9R10
McDonald's McDonald's app is consistently criticized for being extremely slow to load, frequently freezing, and often crashing R1R5R9R10. Users report waiting minutes for the app to open or register taps, making mobile ordering impractical R10.
Subway® Subway's app also suffers from significant performance issues, with many users reporting crashes, especially after recent updates . Some users find it generally buggy and unreliable, sometimes failing to process orders or connect to servers .
Login & Account Management edge: McDonald'sR2R4R12R31
McDonald's McDonald's users frequently complain about being logged out automatically and having to re-login, sometimes facing difficulties with the process R2R12R31. Some also report issues with registration R4.
Subway® Subway's app has severe login and account recovery problems, especially after recent updates. Users are often unable to log in, being forced to sign up for new accounts which then fail because their email/phone is already in use . This often leads to users being locked out of accounts with existing balances .
Deals, Rewards & Payment tieR11R15R18R20
McDonald's McDonald's app offers deals and rewards that help users save money R11. However, users report issues with codes being invalid R18, points disappearing R20, and some deals becoming less valuable over time or not being available in their area . There are also complaints about not being able to redeem points and deals simultaneously R15.
Subway® Subway's app is praised for its deals . However, recent updates have broken coupon functionality, preventing users from applying deals even when eligible . A major complaint is the inability to combine gift cards or use partial gift card balances, leading to forfeited money R72R84R88. Payment processing can also be buggy .
Ordering Experience & Features tieR2R3R6R7
McDonald's McDonald's app is generally considered easy to use for placing orders when it functions R2. However, users report long waits even after pre-ordering R6. There are requests for features like saving favorite orders to send when near a location and better integration for delivery issues R3. The app also has issues with showing store closures, leading to wasted trips and unrefundable orders .
Subway® Subway's app is generally easy to use for ordering . However, users complain about the app incorrectly selecting locations , the re-order feature not remembering customizations , and limited customization options for sandwiches . The ability to favorite stores or items is also reported as broken or unintuitive . Some users also report orders not arriving or being incorrect .
Pick McDonald's if

you prioritize a wide selection of deals and rewards, and are willing to tolerate significant app performance issues and occasional login frustrations R11R15.

Pick Subway® if

you value a generally straightforward ordering process when the app is working, and are less reliant on gift cards or frequently changing account details .

Evidence note: Both apps have a high volume of recent negative reviews, particularly concerning performance and post-update bugs. McDonald's negative reviews are overwhelmingly focused on app speed and reliability, while Subway's recent issues are more concentrated on login problems, gift card functionality, and coupon redemption after updates.

Frequently asked

Which app is faster to use for ordering?
Neither app is consistently fast, but McDonald's app is more frequently criticized for being painfully slow, taking minutes to load or register taps, making ordering a frustrating experience R1R5R9R10. Subway's app also has performance issues and crashes, but the slowness is not as universally highlighted as a primary complaint .
Can I use gift cards easily with these apps?
Using gift cards with the Subway app is currently problematic, as recent updates have removed the ability to combine gift cards or use partial balances, leading to users forfeiting small amounts R72R84R88. McDonald's reviews do not specifically highlight widespread issues with gift card usage, though payment issues in general can occur R7.
Are there issues with logging in or account access?
Subway's app has severe and frequent login and account access issues, with users often unable to log in after updates, being forced into creating new accounts that then fail, and losing access to existing balances . McDonald's app users also report being logged out frequently and occasional login difficulties, but not to the same extent of being completely locked out of accounts R2R12R31R38.

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. [R1] McDonald's 1/5 · US App sucks: Takes WAYYYY too long to load anything at all I’ll miss out on certain things
  2. [R5] McDonald's 5/5 · US The app is way too slow.: This a multi million dollar company and tell me why it’s a genuine PAIN to place a mobile order through this app. With all the money this corporation makes they should be able to improve the quality of their app, LET ALONE the quality of their food and raising prices. McDonald’s used to be a convenient fast food restaurant where you can get meals for cheap. Cheap quality
  3. [R9] McDonald's 3/5 · US SLOW: Painfully slow
  4. [R10] McDonald's 1/5 · US More sluggish than dial up: The app takes a very long time to load anything. Tapping an option takes another 30 seconds before it registers the hit box and then another minute to load. The app is more sluggish than a dial up connection from the 90s.
  5. [R2] McDonald's 4/5 · US Simple and Quick: Love how easy it is to place an order accurately, just wish it didn’t log me out every time I exit the app.
  6. [R4] McDonald's 1/5 · US Registro: No permite registrar de ninguna forma.
  7. [R12] McDonald's 3/5 · US What’s Happening??: This app has always been top notch up until about 2 weeks ago. Now it won’t happen half the time and I can’t Sign in with Apple when it does open?!?
  8. [R31] McDonald's 1/5 · US On God might be the worst fast food app ever: Never loads, always signs you out, freezes randomly, loading screens can last anywhere from 2 seconds to 2 whole minutes, the deals are buggy, and they just raised the point system by like 500pts for everything. If this wasn’t the BUGGIEST fast food app on the App Store I could look past the other things but for a multi BILLION dollar company and argua
  9. [R11] McDonald's 5/5 · US McDonald’s app: I use this app everyday and I love it I’m on a limited budget and this help me save everyday I eat there and makes it very affordable
  10. [R15] McDonald's 3/5 · US Points and rewards: I feel as if though points and rewards should be able to be redeemed at the same time, the POINTS are my MONEY and the deals are what you offer. Sonic has this figured out, why haven’t you?
  11. [R18] McDonald's 3/5 · US Not working: I’ve used this app for a couple of years and within the last 2-3 months McDonald’s Restaurants have not been accepting the codes given to me by the app. I’ve updated the app and still the same issue.
  12. [R20] McDonald's 5/5 · US McD’s App Drops Reward Points for no Reason: I’ve had this app for a couple of years now and every 6 months or so, out of nowhere, my earned Rewards Points just stop off and disappear. The first time the McD’s help team wasn’t too helpful with their so-called fixes after much back and forth. I finally found a fix myself by deleting the app, downloading a new app and registering for a new account.
  13. [R3] McDonald's 3/5 · US Not for delivery: If you want delivery it’s much safer to order through one of those apps (Uber Eats, DoorDash, etc.) directly so if anything is wrong with your order you can have it quickly fixed. McDonald’s app just gives you the 1-800 number for the delivery app.
  14. [R6] McDonald's 3/5 · US Always a wait: I use the app to order ahead of time, but I still have to wait for 20 minutes when I’m at the store. I don’t understand what the point of pre-ordering my food is if I’m still just gonna have to sit here. And there’s literally no one in the store or in line. I am the only customer and it’s taking 20+ minutes.
  15. [R7] McDonald's 2/5 · US Limited Capability: If you log and order in with kiosk and the machine is out of paper you are out of luck proving your order other than showing the funds were taken out of your account. This app should store your order.
  16. [R72] Subway® 3/5 · US Do not use Gift Cards: You cannot use a partial gift card, so you wind up forfeiting any balance below the price of a sandwich.
  17. [R84] Subway® 3/5 · US Worse update: No gift card balance transfer function, accumulated many gift cards with small amounts that could not be used. Sucks!
  18. [R88] Subway® 1/5 · US Can’t transfer gift card balance anymore: I have several gift cards in my account but can’t use them because they all have 2 or 3 dollars. Why the transfer balance option is gone?????
  19. [R38] McDonald's 4/5 · US Slow to open and logging out: I would give this a 5 star rating but every time I use the app, it takes me like 5 mins to even get to the main page and order and it always logs me out and then I have to go thru my email and re log in again… its little annoying I hope they can fix this.

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