7 Best Free Mileage Tracker Apps for Gig Drivers in 2026

Q: Do I really need a mileage tracking app for Uber?

Yes, if you want to maximize your tax deduction. Uber's mileage figure is Uber's own, and it may not include all your business driving, such as heading to surge zones or repositioning between rides. Your own log is what supports the deduction. Your drive from home to your first ride and back home at the end is usually commuting, not business mileage.

Published August 17, 2026 · Updated October 3, 2026 · 12 min read

If you drive for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, or any other gig platform, a mileage tracker app can save you thousands of dollars at tax time. The IRS standard mileage rate for 2026 is $0.725 per mile (January–June) and $0.76 per mile (July–December), which means every untracked mile is money left on the table.

The good news: you don't need to pay for mileage tracking. Several apps offer genuinely useful free tiers, and some are entirely free. We compared seven popular options on what matters most to gig drivers: what the free plan actually includes, whether tracking starts on its own, what the paid plan costs, and where your data goes. Plan details come from each vendor's own pages, linked in the sources at the end; we haven't run side-by-side accuracy or battery tests, so we don't rate those.

Looking for a broader comparison including paid-first apps? See best mileage tracker apps for gig drivers.

Disclosure: TripTally is included in this list. We've aimed for a fair, factual comparison — we'll note where other apps outperform ours, and where they don't. Competitor plans and prices were checked against each vendor's own pages on 3 October 2026 and can change; where a vendor's pages disagree, we say so rather than pick a number.

Quick Comparison Table

App	Free plan	Tracking on the free plan	Paid plan (as listed)
Stride ^[1]	Free; no paid mileage tier found	GPS after you tap start	None for mileage
TripTally ^[2]	Free tier: unlimited trips, full history, CSV export	GPS after you tap start, auto-stop	Optional Pro: $4.99/mo or $29.99/yr (US Play price)
Gridwise ^[3]	Basic: start/stop or manual mileage	Start/stop (automatic is Plus)	Plus: $9/mo billed annually, $14.99 billed monthly
Everlance ^[4]	Basic: 30 auto-detected trips/month + unlimited manual	Automatic (30/month), then tap to start	Starter / Professional; prices conflicting on vendor page
TripLog ^[5]	Basic: unlimited automatic tracking; reports cover last 7 days	Automatic	Premium: $59.99/yr ($4.99/mo billed annually)
Hurdlr ^[6]	Free: semi-automatic mileage, real-time tax estimates	Semi-automatic (you start and stop)	Premium: $9.99/mo or $100/yr (help article, Nov 2023)
MileIQ ^[7]	40 drives/month	Automatic	Unlimited: $13.99/mo, or $11.66/mo billed annually

Checked against each vendor's own pages on 3 October 2026. Numbers in brackets link to the source for each row. Prices are US list prices and may change.

The Apps, In Detail

1. Stride

Best for: Drivers who want mileage tracking free, with no paid tier

Free

Stride offers GPS mileage tracking, expense logging, a deduction finder and IRS-ready reports at no cost. It says the app will stay free; the company makes money through its health insurance marketplace, which appears inside the app.

You start each drive yourself. Stride describes reminders to help you remember, but we couldn’t confirm from Stride’s own pages whether those work the same on Android, so plan on tapping start every shift.

Strengths

Free, with no paid mileage tier found
Deduction finder
IRS-ready reports

Limitations

You start each drive yourself
Insurance marketplace inside the app

2. TripTally

Best for: Privacy-conscious drivers who want a usable free tier

Free tier Optional Pro

TripTally is a mileage, earnings and tax tracker for gig work. There is no TripTally account, because there are no TripTally servers holding your trips — your earnings, expenses and mileage live in storage on your own device. It tracks across multiple gig platforms (Uber, DoorDash, Lyft, Instacart and others).

Installing gives you 14 days of Pro with no credit card. After that you keep a free tier with no trip cap: GPS tracking you start yourself, with auto-stop, plus earnings, expenses, the tax estimate, your full history, CSV export and import, and receipt photos on expenses. Pro adds Bluetooth and Android Auto auto-start, the receipt scanner that reads receipts for you, recurring expenses, PDF reports and Trends.

Because records live on the phone, they do not sync across devices — back up to Google Drive if you do not want to depend on one handset.

Strengths

No account, and no servers holding your trips
Tax estimate prices each trip at the IRS rate for its date
Bluetooth and Android Auto auto-start (Pro)
Multi-platform earnings tracking

Limitations

PDF reports, auto-start and receipt scanning are Pro
You start trips yourself on the free plan
No cross-device sync
Android only

Try TripTally on Android. Free: unlimited trips, full history, CSV export and import, and receipt photos. Optional Pro adds auto-start, receipt scanning and PDF reports.

3. Gridwise

Best for: Multi-app drivers who want earnings + mileage in one place

Free tier Plus from $9/mo billed annually

Gridwise combines mileage tracking with earnings analytics. It links to gig platforms to pull in earnings, and adds demand and airport information in some cities.

On the free Basic plan, Gridwise’s Plus page lists a start/stop tracker or manual entry for mileage and PDF-only tax reports; automatic mileage tracking, receipt photos and CSV reports are Plus features. Plus is listed at $9/month billed annually, or $14.99 billed monthly. Some of Gridwise’s own blog posts describe the free plan and prices differently, so check the Plus page before you decide.

Strengths

Earnings sync from gig platforms
Demand and airport information in some cities
Free tax reports (PDF)

Limitations

Automatic tracking needs Plus
Gridwise’s own pages describe the free plan inconsistently
Earnings sync is once per service on Basic

4. Everlance

Best for: Drivers who want some automatic tracking for free

Free tier Paid: see Everlance’s page

Everlance’s free Basic plan includes 30 automatically detected trips per month, unlimited trips you start and stop yourself, expense tracking with receipt uploads, and Excel/CSV exports. Paid Starter and Professional plans make automatic detection unlimited, and Professional adds bank and card integration.

On 3 October 2026 Everlance’s pricing page carried two different sets of prices, so we are not quoting one. Check the current price on everlance.com before subscribing.

Strengths

30 automatic trips a month on the free plan
Receipt uploads on every plan
Web dashboard

Limitations

Unlimited automatic detection is paid
Bank integration is Professional only
Conflicting prices on the vendor’s own page

5. TripLog

Best for: Drivers who want automatic tracking free and can live with short reports

Free tier Premium $59.99/yr

TripLog’s free Basic plan advertises unlimited automatic GPS mileage tracking with basic expense, parking, toll and fuel tracking. The catch is reporting: free reports cover the last 7 days and are emailed from the app, with no web app.

Premium is listed at $59.99 a year ($4.99/month billed annually) and adds unlimited reporting, receipt OCR, the web app, cloud backup and bank/card integration. Optional hardware triggers include a Bluetooth beacon and a plug-in device. TripLog also serves fleets and teams.

Strengths

Unlimited automatic tracking on the free plan
Several tracking triggers, including hardware
Scales to teams/fleets

Limitations

Free reports only cover the last 7 days
Cloud backup and web app are Premium
Monthly price not shown on the pricing page

6. Hurdlr

Best for: Freelancers and gig workers who want full financial tracking

Free tier Premium $9.99/mo

Hurdlr goes beyond mileage into self-employment bookkeeping: income, expenses, mileage and tax estimates in one app. The free plan includes semi-automatic mileage tracking (you start and stop the trip and the app records it), manual income and expense tracking, report exports and real-time tax estimates.

Premium adds automatic trip detection, bank-feed tracking and more detailed tax estimates. Hurdlr’s help article lists Premium at $9.99/month or $100/year; that article was last updated in November 2023 and the pricing page shows no prices, so confirm before buying.

Strengths

Real-time tax estimates on the free plan
Income + expense tracking
Good for multi-gig freelancers

Limitations

Automatic trip detection is Premium
Bank-feed tracking is Premium
Published prices are from 2023

7. MileIQ

Best for: Automatic tracking if you don’t mind paying

40 free drives/mo $13.99/mo or $11.66/mo yearly

MileIQ pioneered the swipe-to-classify model: it detects drives automatically and you swipe each one as business or personal. Founded in 2012, it was part of Microsoft from 2015 and has been independent again since 2021.

The free plan covers 40 drives a month, which an active gig driver can use up quickly. The Unlimited plan is $13.99 a month billed monthly, or $11.66 a month billed annually (about $140 a year). MileIQ’s individual pricing page focuses on mileage; it doesn’t list earnings tracking.

Strengths

Automatic detection on every plan
Simple swipe-to-classify
Annual billing cuts the monthly price

Limitations

40 drives a month on the free plan
Highest price on this list
Mileage-focused; no earnings data

What to Look For in a Mileage Tracker

Choosing the right app comes down to how you drive and what you value. Here are the key factors:

Automatic vs. manual tracking. Apps with auto-detection start recording when they sense you're driving: MileIQ (40 drives a month free), Everlance (30 a month free), TripLog (free), and Gridwise and Hurdlr on their paid plans. That's convenient but may record personal trips you'll need to reclassify. Manual-start apps like Stride give you more control but require the habit of tapping "start" each shift. TripTally starts when you tap on the free plan; with Pro it can also start and stop automatically when your car's Bluetooth or Android Auto connects.

Free tier limits. The limits differ in kind, not just size. MileIQ and Everlance cap automatic trips per month; TripLog limits reports to the last 7 days; TripTally keeps auto-start and PDF reports for Pro; Gridwise and Hurdlr hold back automatic tracking. Stride has no paid tier at all. Match the limit to how you work.

Privacy and data storage. Most mileage apps upload your location data to cloud servers. If that's a concern, look for apps that store data locally on your device. TripTally has no servers holding your trips, so there is no account to create. A few things can reach the network and each one is your choice: backup to Google Drive when you start it, subscription billing through Google Play, real map tiles only if you turn them on, and any feedback you choose to send. Check each app's privacy policy to understand what data is collected and how it's used.

IRS records. The IRS expects a timely-kept log with the date, destination, business purpose, and miles driven. An app can capture dates, miles and routes for you, but no app makes a log adequate on its own: you still need to record the business purpose, keep personal trips out, and be able to export the year. Run a test export early.

Battery drain. GPS-based tracking uses battery, and the amount varies by phone, app and settings. If you're already running Uber or DoorDash, adding another GPS app can matter on long shifts. Test the impact on your own phone, and keep a car charger handy.

Our Recommendations by Driver Type

Part-time driver, budget-conscious

Go with Stride or TripTally. Neither caps how many trips you can log for free. Stride is fully free; TripTally's free tier includes your full history and CSV export, with optional Pro for auto-start and PDF reports. Stride has a deduction finder; TripTally keeps your records on your phone and tracks gig earnings by platform. If you want automatic tracking at no cost, look at TripLog's free plan, keeping its 7-day report limit in mind.

Full-time multi-app driver

Consider Gridwise. The earnings integration across platforms saves manual entry, and the analytics are built for comparing platforms and hours. Automatic mileage tracking needs Plus.

Driver who wants set-and-forget tracking

Consider MileIQ, Everlance or TripLog. Automatic detection means you don't have to remember to start a trip. MileIQ and Everlance cap automatic trips on their free plans (40 and 30 a month); TripLog's free plan doesn't, but limits reports. For unlimited automatic tracking with full reports, expect to pay.

Privacy-first driver

Go with TripTally. Records stay on your device and there's no account. The app only goes online when you ask it to: buying or restoring Pro, backing up to your own Google Drive, or turning on the detailed trip map. The trade-off is no cross-device sync, so keep your phone backed up.

How Much Can a Mileage App Save You?

Let's do the math. Say you drive 15,000 business miles per year but you're sloppy about tracking and only report 10,000 of them. At the 2026 IRS rates, those 5,000 missed miles are worth $3,625–$3,800 in deductions. Self-employment tax alone on that amount is about $510–$540 (15.3% of 92.35%); add income tax at your bracket and, assuming a combined 25% rate, that's roughly $900–$950 in taxes you paid unnecessarily.

Even a free app pays for itself immediately. The question isn't whether to use one — it's which one fits your workflow.

The mid-year rate change makes app tracking even more important. In 2026, you need to know not just how many miles you drove, but when you drove them. Apps that timestamp trips make splitting your mileage between the $0.725 and $0.76 rates easy. A paper log can do this too, but it's more work.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best free mileage tracker for gig drivers in 2026?

It depends on your priorities. Stride is free with no paid tier and includes a deduction finder, but you start each drive yourself. TripTally's free tier keeps tracking, earnings, expenses, the tax estimate, your full history and CSV export and import, and stores your records on your own device. TripLog's free plan includes unlimited automatic tracking but limits reports to the last 7 days. MileIQ and Everlance offer automatic detection with monthly caps on their free plans (40 drives and 30 trips).

Do I really need a mileage tracking app for Uber or Lyft?

Yes, if you want to maximize your tax deduction. Uber and Lyft's mileage figures are their own, and they may not include all your business driving, such as heading to surge zones or repositioning between rides. Your own log is what supports the deduction, and on a busy shift those extra miles can add up. One caveat: the drive from home to your first ride and from your last ride back home is usually commuting, not business mileage, even with the app on.

Is the Stride mileage tracker really completely free?

As of 3 October 2026, yes: Stride says the app will stay free, and we found no paid mileage tier. It makes money through its health insurance marketplace rather than subscriptions. You get mileage tracking you start yourself, expense logging and a deduction finder at no cost.

Do mileage tracking apps drain my phone battery?

GPS-based tracking does use additional battery, and the impact varies by phone, app and settings. We haven't measured it ourselves, so test on your own phone during a normal shift, and keep a car charger handy either way.

Can I use one app to track miles for Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash?

Yes. All the apps listed here track your driving regardless of which gig platform you're working for. Just don't double-count miles. If you're active on multiple apps at once (multi-apping), you're still only driving one set of miles — track them once and deduct them once.

What mileage records does the IRS require?

The IRS expects a log that shows the date of each trip, the destination, the business purpose and the miles driven, plus your total miles for the year. It should be kept at or near the time you drive; a log kept up weekly counts as timely. The apps in this list can record dates, miles and routes, but you still need to add the business purpose and keep personal trips out.

Is MileIQ worth the price for gig drivers?

MileIQ's Unlimited plan is $13.99 a month billed monthly, or $11.66 a month billed annually (about $140 a year), the highest on this list. You get automatic detection and swipe-to-classify; its pricing page doesn't list earnings tracking. If you only need a few dozen drives a month, the free plan's 40 drives may do. Otherwise, TripLog's free plan has unlimited automatic tracking with short reports, and Stride and TripTally are free if you're happy to start trips yourself.

Try TripTally on Android.

Free: unlimited trips, full history, CSV export and import, and receipt photos. Optional Pro: auto-start, receipt scanning, recurring expenses, PDF reports and Trends. No account required; records stay on your phone. Android only.

Sources

Stride: Stride blog: Is Stride really free? · Stride Help: Can Stride start tracking automatically? · Stride on the App Store
TripTally: TripTally on Google Play
Gridwise: Gridwise Plus
Everlance: Everlance pricing
TripLog: TripLog pricing · TripLog Help: TripLog Basic
Hurdlr: Hurdlr: Premium features and pricing · Hurdlr: Mileage tracking options
MileIQ: MileIQ pricing · MileIQ: About us
IRS Publication 463: commuting and the standard mileage rate (ch. 4), recordkeeping (ch. 5)

Vendor pages checked 3 October 2026. Where a vendor's own pages disagreed, the article says so rather than quoting one figure. Some vendor help pages could not be loaded on that date; the Stride help article is listed as the vendor's own description of how recording starts.

App features and pricing were checked against each vendor's pages on 3 October 2026 and may change. We recommend checking each app's website for the latest information. This article is for informational purposes and is not tax advice.