6 Best Mileage Tracker Apps for Small Businesses in 2023
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 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 with multiple tracking modes
- Hurdlr: Best for self-employed individuals
- Everlance: Best for remote companies
- MileIQ: Best for simple mileage tracking
- MileageWise: Best for IRS-proof mileage logs
- QuickBooks Online: Best for mileage tracking within accounting software
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 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
40 free drives per month | $4.99 per user, per month | $10 or $15 per user, per month | 1 plan per user | Paid plans only | ✓ | ✓ | |
Unlimited mileage tracking in free plan | $10 per month (Premium) | $200 per year (Pro) or custom-priced (Enterprise) | 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; 14-day free trial | $9.99 per vehicle, per month | Starts at $69.99 per vehicle for one year | 1 plan per vehicle | ✓ | N/A | N/A | |
30 days | N/A | $30 to $200 per month | 1 to 25 | ✓ | ✓ | N/A | |
TripLog: Best Overall Mileage Tracker With Multiple Tracking Modes
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 exclude helpful features like accounting software integration, mileage policies, and admin console
Pricing & Plans
Single Users
- Lite: Free; good for one user for up to 40 trips per month; accessible only via app
- Premium: $4.99 per user, per month; all Lite features, plus multiple tracking options and expense tracking
You can get a free trial of TripLog’s Premium plan for 15 days.
Multiple Users
- Teams: $10 per user, per month; includes route planning, bank and credit card integration, Xero and QuickBooks integration, and mileage policies
- Enterprise: $15 per user, per month; all Teams’ features plus multi-level approval hierarchy, custom tags and fields, and over-reported mileage flagging
Add-ons:
- Time & Scheduling: Additional $4 per user, per month; timesheets, shift scheduling, leave, and paid time off (PTO) management
- Card and automated clearing house (ACH): Additional $1 per user, per month; reimburse expenses through cards and direct deposits
Why We Chose TripLog
TripLog offers a diverse set of features beyond its standard mileage tracker. That’s why we named it as our overall best mileage tracking software. What makes it stand out is its multiple tracking capabilities. By default, you can track mileage using phone GPS, but you can also opt for a USB dongle or GPS device as alternatives.
Since phone GPS consumes data and battery, having other tracking options enhances accessibility and ease of use. As an alternative, MileIQ is a much simpler mileage tracker if your goal is only to track mileage without added functionality, like card and ACH integration, mileage policies, and route planning.
Hurdlr: Best for Self-employed Individuals
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 is unavailable 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 unlimited mileage 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
Why We Chose Hurdlr
Hurdlr’s features focus mainly on providing estimated income tax payments based on income and expense information logged in the software. Users can also file within Hurdlr to make tax filing more convenient and accessible. We believe it is useful for rideshare drivers since it provides useful tax information and helps users comply with tax guidelines at ease.
Since it works best for freelancers and rideshare drivers, businesses might want to check TripLog or Everlance for company-wide mileage tracking solutions. TripLog offers more features outside mileage tracking such as time and scheduling while Everlance has a variable rate program that sets unique mileage rates depending on the employee’s state.
Everlance: Best for Remote Companies
Pros
- Free plan supports unlimited users
- Can set specific mileage rates for employees under the Fixed and Variable Rate (FAVR) program
- In-app customer service assistance with Premium plan
- Contains an expense tracker, reimbursement system, and tax-saving tool
Cons
- Lacks a clock-in and -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; has manual start and stop tracking, expense tracking with receipt uploads, and IRS-compliant exports
- Premium: $8 per user, 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 user, 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 include a seven-day free trial.
Businesses
- Free: 30 free automatic trips per user, per month; includes features like unlimited receipt uploads, reimbursement reports, customizable report approval workflows, and a central admin dashboard
- CPM Program: $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
- FAVR program: $398 per year; includes all Premium features, plus advanced functionality like enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrations and dedicated account manager
Why We Chose Everlance
Everlance is one of our picks in this guide because of its FAVR solutions, a sophisticated reimbursement program that sets mileage reimbursements based on your employee’s geographic location. It considers local fixed costs of vehicle ownership and variable costs of operation and is perfect for remote companies needing mileage reimbursements.
MileIQ: Best for Simple Mileage Tracking
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
Personal
- Free trial: Free for up to 40 trips per month
- Unlimited: $5.99 per user, per month, unlimited trips
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
Why We Chose MileIQ
MileIQ highlights an easy-to-use mileage tracker at an affordable price. It’s perfect for drivers who only need to track mileage for deductions, nothing more and nothing less. Unlike other trackers in this guide, MileIQ focuses on simplicity. It is a perfect solution for individuals and teams looking for standalone mileage tracking software.
If you find MileIQ too simple for your needs, we recommend checking TripLog. We find it useful for companies needing different tools that enhance mileage tracking, such as card integrations, time and scheduling functions, and multilevel approval hierarchy.
MileageWise: Best for IRS-proof Mileage Logs
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
- Built-in expense tracker
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
Why We Chose MileageWise
MileageWise offers IRS-proof mileage logs with its built-in IRS auditor feature, which spots errors and discrepancies in logs. This software is perfect for land-based shipping companies because plans are long-term. So, if your business uses vehicles as a crucial component of your products, we highly recommend it. If you think MileageWise’s tax features are too much for your needs, Hurdlr is a good alternative for mileage tracking with tax features.
QuickBooks Online: Best for Mileage Tracking Within Accounting Software
Pros
- Mileage tracker built into the QuickBooks Online 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 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 Online app and is free with any of the following subscriptions:
- Simple Start: $30 per month for one user only
- Essentials: $60 per month for three users only
- Plus: $90 per month for five users only
- Advanced: $200 per month for 25 users only
You can try QuickBooks Online for 30 days. Otherwise, subscribing right away will give you 50% off the regular price for three months plus a free guided setup.
Why We Chose QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online is our best small business accounting software, and it has built-in mileage tracking. We recommend choosing it if your business still doesn’t have accounting software.
With its mileage tracking, you can easily create expense entries from within the app for mileage-related expenses and reimbursements. Since QuickBooks Online is mainly accounting software, you only get basic mileage tracking. You might want to check TripLog for a complete mileage tracking solution and other add-ons, like time and scheduling features.
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% 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.
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)
All of the mileage tracker apps in our list have free plans, except for QuickBooks Online and MileageWise. The free versions are suitable for occasional drivers needing mileage deductions.
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 and determine tax deductible amounts.
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.
Bottom Line
Each mileage tracker app in our guide has its strengths and weaknesses, so the best mileage log app greatly depends on your particular requirements. Our list includes five dedicated mileage trackers and one mileage tracker integrated into accounting software.
Overall, TripLog is our best recommendation because of its flexibility and complementary features. If your business still doesn’t have accounting software but needs mileage tracking, QuickBooks Online is a good pick. Otherwise, try MileIQ as a simple mileage tracking solution if you’re not yet familiar with mileage tracking apps.