5 Best Mileage Tracker Apps for Small Businesses in 2022
This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.
The best mileage tracker app should be able to log and track business mileage and expenses automatically and categorize trips easily as business-related or personal. Furthermore, a good mileage tracker should strike a balance between affordability and features. With that in mind, we have compiled the top five best tracker apps for small businesses in 2022:
- TripLog: Best overall mileage tracker
- Hurdlr: Best for self-employed individuals
- QuickBooks: Best for QuickBooks users
- Everlance: Best for growing companies
- MileIQ: Most affordable option for simple mileage tracking
Comparison of Best Mileage Tracker Apps
FSB Rating (Out of 5) | |||||
Monthly Pricing | Free or starts at $5.99 | Free or starts at $10 | $25 to $180 | Free or starts at $12 | Free or starts at $5 |
Users Included | One to Unlimited | Unlimited | Five to 25 | Unlimited | One user per subscription |
Automatic Tracking | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Categorize Trips as Business or Personal | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Bank or Credit Card Integration | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
Route Planning | ✔ | ||||
Snap Receipt Photos | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Note Taking | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Clock-in/Clock-out Timesheet | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
TripLog: Best Overall Mileage Tracker
TripLog earned the spot as the best overall mileage tracker because it includes all the essential features that you expect to see in a mileage tracker, including the ability to track business mileage automatically, connect bank and credit card accounts to track expenses, and categorize expenses as personal or business-related. It also includes a route planning feature, which you won’t see in most mileage tracker apps. TripLog also has separate apps for expense tracking, scheduling, and time tracking for employees.
TripLog
What We Like
- 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 their 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
What's Missing
- 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
- Requires custom pricing for more than 10 users
Pricing & Plans
- Lite: Free—good for one user up to 40 trips per month—accessible via app only
- Premium: $5.99 per user per month, up to 10 users—all Lite features plus multiple tracking options and expense tracking
- Enterprise: Custom pricing, unlimited number of users, adds an admin console and mileage policies, tax and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance, and accounting integration
You can get a free trial of TripLog’s Premium plan for 15 days.
Features
- 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.
- 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 their trips using the shortest possible routes.
Expert Opinion
We like TripLog because of the extended features you get in the paid plans. If you get the Premium + Time plan, you’ll have a scheduler, timesheet, and expense tracker, all from one service provider. We recommend TripLog because it saves you the cost of subscribing to other third-party expense trackers or timesheet apps. Instead, with a fee of less than $10 per user, per month, you can get three trackers.
TripLog’s mileage tracking devices offer a convenient and accurate solution for mileage tracking. You can choose from different tracking options, such as MagicTrip, for background tracking via mobile phone; Car Bluetooth, for moderate battery usage; Manual, for custom tracking; Beacon, a USB-powered device for automatic tracking; and 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.
Hurdlr: Best for Self-employed Individuals
Of all the mileage trackers in this list, we found Hurdlr to be the best tracker for self-employed individuals. It makes tax compliance easier by calculating your quarterly estimated tax payments automatically, and it also offers expense and tax tracking. Using the tax tracker, self-employed individuals can generate tax reports for submission to a certified public accountant (CPA).
Hurdlr
What We Like
- 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
What's Missing
- GPS tracking is not 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: $16.67 per month, billed annually—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, like mileage tracking with artificial intelligence (AI)-based automation
Features
- 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. If you need to file with 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.
Expert Opinion
Hurdlr is a mileage tracking app that has more value for self-employed individuals. It calculates quarterly estimated taxes and includes free income tax filing through TaxSlayer. However, small businesses can use it as well. The Hurdlr Premium plan can also be a great QuickBooks alternative because of its bookkeeping and invoicing features, which are included in the Pro plan. We recommend Hurdlr for freelancers who need a mileage tracker, an expense tracker, and simple accounting features.
QuickBooks Online: Best for QuickBooks Users
QuickBooks started as an accounting software package and grew into a diverse software environment offering a range of features that solve common workplace problems. We chose QuickBooks Online as the overall best small business accounting software.
One of QuickBooks’ greatest features is the tax computation for mileage deductions, wherein users can choose between standard mileage rates and actual expenses. Just like standalone mileage apps, the QuickBooks app includes automated GPS tracking and mileage classification, but there’s no additional cost beyond your subscription to QuickBooks. In addition to mileage tracking, the mobile app performs most general accounting functions, making it our choice for the best mobile accounting app.
QuickBooks Online
What We Like
- 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
What's Missing
- Requires subscription to QuickBooks Online, which is expensive especially if you don’t need accounting features
- No route planning feature
- 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: $25 per month for one user only
- Essentials: $50 per month for three users only
- Plus: $80 per month for five users only
- Advanced: $180 per month for 25 users only
Features
- Automatic GPS tracking: QuickBooks Online tracks mileage based on GPS automatically—it records a trip every time you drive. You can then categorize the trip 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.
Expert Opinion
Overall, QuickBooks is a great choice for a new company looking for accounting software and a mileage tracker. In addition, the QuickBooks environment is diverse in that it can adapt to different business sizes and expansion opportunities. If you’re currently using QuickBooks, there’s no need to look for another mileage tracker. Most likely, the built-in tracker is enough for your needs. However, if you don’t need accounting software, we advise that you look at the other mileage trackers on this list.
Everlance: Best for Growing Companies
We rated Everlance as the best for growing companies because of its range of plans that cover self-employed individuals as well as businesses. Everlance tracks expenses for self-employed individuals but can also be used to implement an approval process as your business grows and you start reimbursing employees. This makes Everlance a practical solution for companies planning to expand in the near future.
Everlance is also a useful office tool for real estate agents who spend a lot of time touring listings with clients, making it one of our choices for the best real estate software office tools.
Everlance
What We Like
- 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
What's Missing
- 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 for Self-Employed
- Free: 30 free automatic trips per user month, manual start and stop tracking, expense tracking with receipt uploads, and IRS-compliant exports
- Premium: $8 per month with billed monthly or $5 per month when 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 when billed monthly or $10 when billed annually—includes all Premium features, plus customized one-on-one training and VIP customer support
Pricing & Plans for 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 $120 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
- Enterprise FAVR: custom quote—includes all Premium features, plus advanced functionality like enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrations and dedicated account manager
Features
- Mileage 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. 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: The Work Hours feature lets you categorize your trip as personal or business. Trips made during work hours are marked automatically as Business.
Expert Opinion
Everlance is a mileage tracker that features expense tracking and tax management. We like its tax-saving tool—this feature allocates money for your taxes automatically whenever new income enters your bank account. We find this feature a great budgeting tool for tax expenses. If you decide to expand from self-employed into a small business, you can upgrade to an Everlance Business account easily.
MileIQ: Best for Simple Mileage Tracking
If you want a simple and affordable way to track your drive, MileIQ is the mileage tracker app for you. MileIQ is a standalone, dedicated mileage tracker that offers basic features. It tracks, classifies, and reports your mileage and driving purpose based on your needs. The app is easy to use as it’s just a plain and simple mileage tracker. MileIQ is now included in Microsoft’s product suite, so Office 365 Business users can enjoy free unlimited tracking.
MileIQ
What We Like
- 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 Office 365 Business subscribers
What's Missing
- No automatic tax deduction computation
- Inefficient power consumption when tracking location in the background
- Lacks an expense tracker
Pricing & Plans
For Personal
Trial: Free for up to 40 trips per month
Unlimited: $5.99 per month, unlimited trips
For Teams
Lite: $5 per driver, per month—includes free team creation and unlimited plan for all drivers
Pro: $10 per driver, per month—includes Lite’s features plus detailed reports, custom rates, dedicated onboarding, and premium support
Features
- 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.
Expert Opinion
MileIQ is an excellent alternative to complex mileage trackers because of its simplicity and its easy-to-use interface. Although having more features in a mileage tracker is good, some users won’t make use of all of them. In that case, a simple app like MileIQ will do the job. While MileIQ lacks automatic tax deduction, we still recommend this app for those that want a simple mileage tracker.
How We Chose the Best Mileage Tracker Apps
We ranked the best mileage tracker 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 scoring 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. However, 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.
- The 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.
- The user’s job is driving (like rideshare driver 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 their tax liability.
Bottom Line
Each mileage tracker app on our list has its own strengths and weaknesses, so the best option greatly depends on your particular requirements. For instance, if you’re managing a team of delivery drivers, you can benefit from TripLog’s route planning feature. If you need a simple and affordable way to track mileage, you should consider MileIQ. If you’re currently using QuickBooks Online, then you can try its built-in mileage tracker and see if it’s enough for you.