6 Best Mileage Tracker Apps for Small Businesses in 2023
Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and CPA with 25 years of experience. He brings his expertise to Fit Small Business’s accounting content.
Eric is a staff writer at Fit Small Business and CPA focusing on accounting content. He spends most of his time researching and studying to give the best answer to everyone.
This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.
The best mileage tracker app should efficiently log and track business mileage and expenses automatically and categorize trips easily as business-related or personal. It should also strike a balance between affordability and features. With that in mind, we have compiled the six best mileage tracker apps for small businesses:
- TripLog: Best overall mileage tracker
- Hurdlr: Best for self-employed individuals
- Everlance: Best for growing companies
- MileIQ: Best for affordability for simple mileage tracking
- MileageWise: Best for IRS-proof mileage logs
- QuickBooks Online: Best for QuickBooks users
Quick Comparison of the Best Mileage Tracker Apps
Free Plan | Pricing of Personal Plans | Pricing of Business or Team Plans | Users Included | Automatic Tracking | Bank or Credit Card Integration | Route Planning | Capture Receipts | Clock-in -out Timesheets | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 40 free drives per month | $5.99 per user, per month | $10 per user, per month or custom priced | 1 plan per user | Paid plans only | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Add-on |
 | Unlimited manual tracking | $10 per month | $200 per year or custom priced | Unlimited | Paid plans only | ✓ | N/A | ✓ | ✓ |
 | 30 free drives per month | $8 or $12 per user, per month | $12 per month or $398 per year | Unlimited | ✓ | ✓ | N/A | ✓ | ✓ |
 | 40 free drives per month | $5.99 per user, per month | $5 to $10 per user, per month | 1 plan per user | ✓ | N/A | N/A | ✓ | N/A |
 | N/A; 14-day free trial | $9.99 per vehicle, per month | $69.99 per vehicle for one year to $399.99 per vehicle for three years | 1 plan per vehicle | ✓ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
 | N/A | N/A | $30 to $200 per month | 1 to 25 | ✓ | ✓ | N/A | ✓ | N/A |
TripLog: Best Overall Mileage Tracker
Overall Score:
4.10 / 5
Pros
- Offers a free plan for a single user
- Multiple tracking options for different needs
- Includes daily trip viewing and route planning to enable users to see their trips and plan routes for future trips
- Comprehensive app environment as it connects with TripLog’s expense tracking, time tracking, and schedule apps
- Generates IRS-compliant reports for claiming allowable expenses
Cons
- Add-ons like TripLog Drive will yield higher upfront costs since the device is priced separately
- Lower-priced versions don’t include helpful features like accounting software integration, mileage policies, and admin console
Pricing & Plans
Individuals
- Lite: Free—good for one user for up to 40 trips per month—accessible via app only
- Premium: $5.99 per user, per month—all Lite features, plus multiple tracking options and expense tracking
Business
- Teams: $10 per user, per month—includes route planning, bank and credit card integration, Xero and QuickBooks Integration, and mileage policies
- Enterprise: Custom pricing—all Teams features plus multi-level approval hierarchy, custom tags and fields, and over-reported mileage flagging
You can get a free trial of TripLog’s Premium plan for 15 days.
Add-on:
- Time & Scheduling: Additional $4 per user, per month—timesheets, shift scheduling, leave, and paid time off (PTO) management
Editing and Classifying Trips on TripLog (Source: TripLog Support)
- Automatic mileage tracking: TripLog’s built-in automatic mileage tracker, MagicTrip, starts tracking your drive automatically within the first 2 minutes of driving and then stops automatically if it detects that you’ve been idle for a while.
- Multiple tracking options: You can choose from different tracking options, such as (1) MagicTrip, for background tracking via mobile phone; (2) Car Bluetooth, for moderate battery usage; (3) Manual, for custom tracking; (4) Beacon, a USB-powered device for automatic tracking; and (5) TripLog Drive, the official TripLog dongle for mileage tracking with higher upfront costs. Regardless, with or without the add-ons, TripLog has many great features to offer.
- Expense tracking: The app tracks different kinds of expenses related to your drives, such as parking fees, lodging, and meals.
- Route planning: TripLog integrates with Google Maps to help company drivers plan trips using the shortest possible routes.
- Companies that need a single solution for mileage tracking, expense tracking, and scheduling: TripLog offers many complementary features aside from mileage tracking. It has expense tracking for expenses incurred during trips and a time scheduler for managing employee schedules.
- Delivery services: If you’re in the delivery business, TripLog’s route planning feature can help your drivers in delivering goods to customers efficiently. Route planning help you organize destinations to avoid delays and efficiently plan trips.
Hurdlr: Best for Self-employed Individuals
Overall Score:
3.90 / 5
Pros
- Premium plan includes accounting and invoicing features
- Includes an expense tracker with automatic expense tracking for habitual or recurring expenses
- Simple bookkeeping feature best fits freelancers with minimal inventory management needs
- Will calculate your quarterly estimated tax payments
- Hurdlr University—a great learning tool for first-time users
Cons
- GPS tracking isn’t available in the free plan
- Doesn’t offer route planning and daily driving summaries
- Pricing plans can be expensive for self-employed individuals with minimal mileage tracking needs
Pricing & Plans
- Free: Includes manual tracking and basic reports
- Premium: $10 per month—includes unlimited auto-mileage tracking, auto-expense tracking, and real-time tax calculation
- Pro: $200 per year—includes all Premium features, plus annual income tax filing through TaxSlayer, full double-entry bookkeeping, and advanced reports
- Enterprise: Custom quote—designed for larger enterprises that need live training and advanced features, such as mileage tracking with artificial intelligence (AI)-based automation
Automatic Mileage Tracking (Source: Hurdlr Support)
- Automatic tracking: Available in any of the paid plans, this feature allows you to record your mileage automatically using your smartphone’s GPS. It starts automatically when your vehicle starts and stops when it detects that your vehicle has stopped moving.
- Tax tracking and estimation: Hurdlr calculates your taxes automatically based on current IRS guidelines. When you subscribe to the Pro plan, you have the option to invite your accountant to review your tax information. For those that need to file a Form 1040, the Pro plan includes free tax filing (federal plus one state) through Hurdlr’s partner for tax filing, TaxSlayer.
- Income and expense tracking: The free plan allows you to track your income and expenses manually. When you upgrade to any of the paid plans, you have the option to track your income automatically. You can connect your bank and credit card accounts and categorize your income or expenses as Personal or Business. Swipe to the right to tag it as Business and to the left to tag it as Personal.
- Rideshare drivers: Freelance rideshare drivers will benefit from Hurdlr because of its tax features. When it’s time to report self-employed taxes, Hurdlr can generate useful data needed in tax returns.
- Freelancers: Freelancers who travel as part of their work can use Hurdlr to track mileage, file taxes, invoice customers, and perform accounting. Hurdlr’s Pro plan includes all necessary mileage tracking, invoicing, tax filing, and accounting features for a freelancer.
Everlance: Best for Growing Companies
Overall Score:
3.80 / 5
Cons
- Free plan supports unlimited users
- Can set specific mileage rates for different purposes
- In-app customer service assistance for Premium plan accounts
- Contains an expense tracker, reimbursement system, and tax-saving tool
Cons
- Lacks a clock-in/clock-out timesheet for employees
- Can’t connect credit card and bank account in the Free plan
- No route planning feature
Pricing & Plans
Self-employed
- Free: 30 free automatic trips per user, per month, manual start and stop tracking, expense tracking with receipt uploads, and IRS-compliant exports
- Premium: $8 per month billed monthly or $5 per month billed annually—includes unlimited automatic trip tracking for unlimited users, bank and credit card integration for expense tracking, trip classification with work hours and commute, deduction finder, custom Excel and PDF exports, and deduction finder
- Premium Plus: $12 per month billed monthly or $10 per month billed annually—includes all Premium features, plus customized one-on-one training and VIP customer support
Premium and Premium Plus includes a seven-day free trial.
Businesses
- Free: 30 free automatic trips per user month—includes features like unlimited receipt uploads, reimbursement reports, customizable report approval workflows, and a central admin dashboard
- Business: $12 per month or $118 per year with unlimited trips for unlimited users—includes features such as custom Excel and PDF reports, VIP customer support, and live admin and user training
- Fixed and variable rate (FAVR) program: $398 per year—includes all Premium features, plus advanced functionality like enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrations and dedicated account manager
Adding a Trip Manually (Source: Everlance Support)
- Automatic tracking: There are three ways you can track your drives in Everlance: Start Tracker, Auto-detection, or Manual Entry. Set the app to Start Tracker mode to track your drive based on GPS manually. The Auto-detection mode tracks mileage in the background on your mobile device automatically. Meanwhile, you can use Manual Entry if you forget to record a trip. Unlike the other two tracking modes, Manual Entry doesn’t create timestamps, so you might have to add a Trip Note to replace missing stamps.
- Work Hours (categorize trips): The Work Hours feature lets you categorize your trip as personal or business. Trips made during work hours are marked automatically as Business.
- Growing companies: Everlance’s FAVR plan offers a plan system that is suitable for growing companies. With this plan, companies can get advanced features based on the size and needs of the company.
- Companies with a mobile workforce: Everlance provides managers with insight to all driving activities of employees. It reports total driving hours, hours spent in locations, and logs frequently visited sites.
- Multiple reimbursement modes: In Everlance, you can choose cent per mile or FAVR in reimbursing mileage.
MileIQ: Best for Affordability for Simple Mileage Tracking
Overall Score:
3.70 / 5
Pros
- Simple and innovative user interface
- Affordable, especially for occasional or part-time drivers
- Driving classifications to classify trips based on purpose, location, or time
- Ideal for Microsoft 365 Business subscribers
Cons
- No automatic tax deduction computation
- Inefficient power consumption when tracking location in the background
- Lacks an expense tracker
Pricing & Plans
For Personal
- Free trial: Free for up to 40 trips per month
- Unlimited: $5.99 per user, per month, unlimited trips
For Teams
- Lite: $5 per driver, per month—includes free team creation and unlimited plan for all drivers
- Teams: $8 per driver, per month—includes Lite’s features plus detailed reports, custom rates, dedicated onboarding, and premium support
- Teams Pro: $10 per driver, per month—includes Teams’ features plus personalized support, multiple admits, simple invoicing, and custom reimbursement rates
Managing Drives (Source: MileIQ Support)
- Drive classification: From MileIQ’s mobile app, swipe right to categorize your trip as Business and left as Personal. For iOS users, there’s a special widget that lets you classify drives without having to open the mobile app. If you’re using an iPhone 7 or higher, you can classify drives from notifications.
- Stuck in traffic: MileIQ tracks your drives even if you’re stuck in traffic. If you get caught in a traffic jam, the app will continue logging your trip unless it detects that you have been idle for more than 15 minutes. If your vehicle starts to move again, a new trip is recorded.
- Companies looking for a simple mileage tracker: MileIQ is simple to use. It is a straightforward mileage tracking solution best suited for companies with simple mileage tracking needs.
- Occasional drivers: If you don’t drive a lot but still need to get those mileage deductions, MileIQ is affordable. For only $5.99 per seat, per month, you can get unlimited mileage tracking.
- Companies looking for affordable mileage tracking solutions: Unlike other mileage trackers on this list, MileIQ offers three plans for businesses that start at $5 per user, per month. You can opt for MileIQ if you want lower-priced plans but with the opportunity to upgrade.
MileageWise: Best for IRS-proof Mileage Logs
Overall Score:
3.30 / 5
Pros
- Past mileage log recovery and reconstruction
- Built-in IRS auditor for spotting inconsistencies and errors in mileage logs
- IRS-proof mileage logs
- FreshBooks integration
Cons
- No bank or credit card integration
- Cannot integrate with QuickBooks or Xero
- No expense tracking features
Pricing & Plans
- Small Monthly: $9.99 per vehicle, per month
- Small: $69.99 per vehicle for one year
- Bronze: $199.99 per vehicle for one year
- Silver: $319.99 per vehicle for two chosen years
- Gold: $399.99 per vehicle for three chosen years
Recording a Trip Manually (Source: MileageWise)
- Recurring trips: In MileageWise, you can set recurring trips per day in a workweek. Once these trips are set, MileageWise can match recurring trips with actual mileage logs easily.
- Built-in IRS auditor: MileageWise has a system that can detect inconsistencies and errors in your mileage logs. This feature can help prevent IRS fines due to errors in declaring mileage deductions.
- AdWise technology: This feature is an AI-based technology from MileageWise that can spot missing mileage logs. AdWise will auto-populate these missing logs and show them to you as recommendations.
- Declaring IRS-proof mileage deductions: Simple errors and conflicts in mileage logs can lead to IRS fines. With MileageWise, you can save money from IRS fines and keep your mileage logs accurate.
- Companies with a large fleet of vehicles: If your business happens to use a lot of vehicles, MileageWise can help you track mileage per vehicle and claim mileage deductions. MileageWise eliminates the use of spreadsheets because it has a system that makes mileage tracking easy for companies with multiple vehicles.
- FreshBooks users: MileageWise integrates with FreshBooks as an accounting software partner. FreshBooks users should go for MileageWise if they want a mileage tracker with seamless integration.
QuickBooks Online: Best for QuickBooks Users
Overall Score:
3.90 / 5
Pros
- Mileage tracker built into the QuickBooks app—free for existing users
- Comprehensive bookkeeping system—easy to track and account for mileage expenses
- Option to choose between actual expense instead of standard rates for tax deductions
Cons
- Requires subscription to QuickBooks Online, which is expensive especially if you don’t need accounting features
- Not a standalone mileage tracker
- Lacks a tax deduction finder
Pricing & Plans
The mileage tracker is built into the QuickBooks app and is free with any of the following subscriptions:
- Simple Start: $30 per month for one user only
- Essentials: $55 per month for three users only
- Plus: $85 per month for five users only
- Advanced: $200 per month for 25 users only
Adding a Trip on QuickBooks Online
- Automatic tracking: As one of our top mobile accounting apps, QuickBooks Online tracks mileage based on GPS automatically—it records a trip every time you drive.
- Trip categorization: You can categorize trips as personal or business-related (swipe left to mark it as Business or right as Personal). You can also add manual trips, if needed, and you can add mileage expenses to a job invoice for reimbursement from clients.
- Income and expense tracking: The tracker comes in a full-fledged bookkeeping platform, so you can seamlessly connect bank and credit card accounts to track income and expenses. Mileage tracking is a component of QuickBooks Online’s expense tracking features.
- Companies without accounting software yet: If your business still doesn’t have accounting software, you can save money with QuickBooks Online by getting a three-in-one solution for mileage tracking, expense tracking, and small business accounting.
- Existing QuickBooks users: The mileage tracking solution of QuickBooks is enough for simple mileage tracking. Given that it’s already within the QuickBooks system, it can report mileage expenses in the books automatically.
As our best small business accounting software, we believe QuickBooks Online offers decent mileage tracking solutions built into an accounting software.
How We Chose the Best Mileage Tracker Apps
We ranked the best mileage log apps based on their affordability, ease of use, and the availability of the essential mileage tracking features we like to see, including automatic mileage tracking, bank and credit card integration, expense receipt capture, and route planning. Based on our methodology, we evaluated each mileage tracker app across the following criteria:
20%
Pricing
35%
Mileage Tracking Features
10%
Related App Additional Features
20%
Ease of Use
15%
Expert Analysis
20% of Overall Score
All the mileage tracker apps (except QuickBooks) offer a free plan or version, so we evaluated pricing based on the affordability of the paid plans, taking into account the number of users included and the number of trips you can track per month.
35% of Overall Score
The ideal mileage tracking app should have the essential features needed to track business mileage and expenses, such as automatic tracking, route planning, bank and credit card integration, and a clock-in/clock-out timesheet for employees.
20% of Overall Score
The best mileage tracker app should have an intuitive user interface and good customer service.
15% of Overall Score
We conducted a subjective analysis of each mileage tracker app based on features, accessibility, ease of use, available reports, and popularity.
*Percentages of overall score
When To Use a Mileage Tracker
A mileage tracker can be used to project tax deductions, control mileage costs, and plan for future expenses. Not all individuals or businesses need to use a mileage tracker, but the need arises when the:
- User intends to deduct mileage expenses for tax purposes: The IRS has strict requirements for documenting business mileage. Taxpayers must keep a detailed log of trips showing the date, number of miles, and purpose of the trip.
- Company has a high volume of mileage expenses and reimbursements: If your line of business involves delivery, or if you provide gas allowance to employees, a mileage tracker makes reimbursements easier, faster, and more accurate.
- User’s job is driving (like a rideshare or company driver): Individuals registered to drive for Uber or Lyft can use a mileage tracker to track their daily route, maximize earnings, and reduce tax liability.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are there free mileage tracking apps?
All of the mileage tracker apps in our list have free plans, except for QuickBooks Online. The free versions are suitable for occasional drivers needing mileage deductions. But if you want a comprehensive mileage tracker for your business, TripLog offers many features suitable for a small business setup.
Do I need a mileage tracker for my business?
That depends on the nature of your business. If you deliver products to customers or meet with clients, you need a mileage tracker to monitor your mileage and fuel expenses, as well as determine tax deductible amounts.
What’s the best way to track my mileage?
GPS tracking is the most accessible way to track mileage since smartphones have GPS capabilities and cellular service. Through this feature, you can track mileage accurately, regardless of the route you’ve taken, and maximize your mileage tax deductions. However, GPS tracking consumes smartphone batteries, especially if you leave it running in the background. As such, it’s best to always charge your smartphone while using this feature.
Bottom Line
Each mileage tracker app in our guide has its own strengths and weaknesses, so the best option greatly depends on your particular requirements. Overall, TripLog is our best recommendation because of its flexibility and complementary features.
