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Comparison
The best mileage tracker apps in 2026, compared honestly
Every mileage app promises the same thing: drive, and it logs your trips for taxes. The real differences are three you have to dig for. What it costs, whether it makes you hand your location to a company server, and how little you have to think about it. Here is a straight look at the popular ones, including ours, so you can pick the one that fits how you actually drive.
Full disclosure: PocketMile is our app, so we have a horse in this race. We have tried to keep the facts about the others accurate and fair, and to be honest about where they beat us. Prices and privacy labels are as of July 2026 and can change, so check the current numbers on each app's page before you decide.
The short version
If you want the cheapest possible option and do not mind an account, Stride is free and TripLog has a generous free tier. If you want the polished market leader and price is no object, MileIQ and Everlance are the big names. If what bothers you is that all of them require an account and upload everywhere you drive to their servers, and you would rather pay a little and keep your driving on your own phone, that is the gap PocketMile was built to fill: automatic tracking and tax-ready exports, no account, nothing sent to us, for $2.99 a month.
What actually matters in a mileage app
Before the table, here is what the columns mean and why each one is worth caring about.
- Does it need an account? Most trackers make you sign up with an email and password. That is the moment your trips stop being just yours and start living in someone's database.
- Where do your trips live? Cloud trackers upload your drives to their servers so they can sync and back them up. Convenient, but it means a company holds a map of everywhere you go, which can be analyzed, sold, subpoenaed, or leaked in a breach.
- Is tracking automatic? The whole point is not having to press start. Some apps gate automatic tracking behind the paid tier, so the free version still makes you remember.
- What does it cost? The paid mileage apps cluster around $9 to $14 a month. A few are free, and pay for themselves by other means.
- Can it export a tax-ready log? A clean report for the IRS or CRA, with the details a logbook needs, is the reason you are doing any of this.
The comparison at a glance
| App | Account needed | Where trips live | Auto-tracking | Price (2026) | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PocketMile | No | Your iPhone + your iCloud | Yes | $2.99/mo | 7-day trial |
| MileIQ | Yes | Company servers | Yes | $13.99/mo | 40 drives/mo |
| Everlance | Yes | Company servers | Yes | $8.99/mo | 30 trips/mo |
| Driversnote | Yes | Company servers | Yes | $11/mo | 15 trips/mo |
| Hurdlr | Yes | Company servers | Paid only | ~$10/mo | Manual only |
| TripLog | Yes | Company servers | Yes | $4.99/mo* | Unlimited auto |
| Stride | Yes | Company servers | Yes | Free | Fully free |
* TripLog's $4.99 is the annual-billing price. All prices are the personal or self-employed tier in USD, as listed in July 2026.
A fair word on each one
MileIQ
The app that made automatic mileage tracking mainstream, and still one of the most polished. Swipe left for personal, right for business, and it learns your routine. The catch is price: it moved to $13.99 a month in 2026, the most expensive on this list, and its App Store privacy label lists precise location as data linked to you.
Everlance
A strong all-rounder that also tracks expenses and revenue, popular with gig workers. The free tier gives you 30 automatic trips a month before it asks you to upgrade to around $9 a month. Cloud-based by design, with location linked to you on its privacy label.
Driversnote
Clean, well-liked, and especially good on the reports side for both IRS and CRA. The free tier is on the tight side at 15 trips a month, and the paid plan runs about $11 a month. Like the others here, it syncs your trips to its servers and requires an account.
Hurdlr
Really an income-and-tax app for the self-employed, with mileage as one piece. Good if you want everything in one place. Worth knowing that automatic mileage tracking sits behind the paid tier (roughly $10 a month), so the free version leans on manual logging. On the plus side, its privacy label does not list your location as linked to you.
TripLog
The best free deal on this list if a free account works for you: unlimited automatic GPS tracking at no cost, with paid plans starting around $5 a month billed annually for the extras. It is feature-dense and fleet-oriented, which is powerful but more than a solo driver usually needs. Still an account-and-cloud product.
Stride
Genuinely free, aimed at gig workers, and it also surfaces deductions and health-insurance options. Free is free, and that is a real advantage. The way it stays free is worth understanding: it is a cloud service that requires an email, links to your bank for expenses, and its privacy label lists precise location as data linked to you. You are not paying with dollars.
Where PocketMile fits
We built PocketMile for the person who looked at that table and stopped on two columns: account needed and where trips live. Every other app is a cloud service with a tracking app attached. You sign up, and from then on the record of everywhere you drive sits on a company's servers under your name.
PocketMile does the same core job, the opposite way. There is no sign-up because there is no account. Your trips stay on your iPhone and sync only through your own private iCloud, where only you can see them. The App Store lists the app as Data Not Collected, which is Apple's label, not our slogan. It still auto-logs every drive using GPS and motion, sorts business miles from personal ones once you pair your work car, and exports a clean log for the IRS or CRA in miles or kilometres. All of that for $2.99 a month, about a third of what the big paid names charge.
Where the others beat us, honestly: PocketMile is iPhone and iPad only, so Android drivers are out for now. It focuses on mileage rather than being a full income-and-expense suite like Hurdlr or Everlance. And if free is your only requirement, Stride and TripLog's free tier will cost you less than $2.99, as long as you are comfortable with the account and the cloud.
So which should you pick?
- You want it free and do not mind an account: Stride, or TripLog's free tier.
- You want the most polished big-name app and price is not the issue: MileIQ or Everlance.
- You want one app for mileage, income, and expenses together: Hurdlr or Everlance.
- You want automatic tracking and tax-ready exports without an account, without your driving on someone's server, for a couple of dollars a month: PocketMile.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Which app is right, and what you can deduct, depends on your situation. When in doubt, ask your accountant and check the current rules with the IRS or CRA.
Track your miles without handing over your location
Automatic logging, tax-ready IRS and CRA exports, no account, nothing sent to us. $2.99/month after a 7-day free trial.
Download on the App Store