6 Best Free Mileage Tracker Apps in 2026

"Free" means different things across mileage trackers. Some apps are genuinely free with no premium tier. Some have a free trip cap. Some have a free trial. Here is what each one actually offers.

• Quick answer: TruMile and MileIQ both give you 40 free auto-detected trips a month.
• Stride is free with no cap, but tracking is fully manual: you start and stop every trip yourself.
• Everlance caps its free tier at 30 trips a month, Driversnote at 20, both tighter than TruMile or MileIQ.
• TripLog's free tier works for light use but gates Bluetooth-trigger detection and fleet features behind a paid plan.

Stride: free, manual only

Stride has no premium tier. The catch: no auto-detection. You start and stop tracking by hand for every trip. For light-use drivers willing to manually log, Stride is genuinely free. For high-volume drivers, manual tracking misses too many trips. Stride vs TruMile.

TruMile: free for 40 auto trips per month

Auto-detection runs continuously. The first 40 detected trips per month are free, every month. Most light-use drivers never hit the cap. Heavy gig drivers exceed it but the Pro tier is $7.99/month or $59.99/year.

MileIQ: 40 free drives per month

The same 40-trip monthly allowance as TruMile. Once you hit 40 in a month, MileIQ stops auto-detecting until the next month, where TruMile still accepts unlimited manual entries. MileIQ's individual plan is $13.99/month or $139.99/year.

Everlance: 30 free trips per month

Slightly tighter free cap than TruMile or MileIQ. Free tier excludes some features (CSV export limits, no expense tracking).

Driversnote: 20 free trips per month

The tightest free cap of the major auto-detection apps. Better international tax-jurisdiction support if you are in UK, AU, or CA.

TripLog: free with feature gating

TripLog moved to a free tier in 2024 with paid upgrades. Some features (Bluetooth-trigger detection, fleet support) are paid-only. The free tier is workable for light-use drivers.

What free actually buys you

For drivers under the platform-specific trip cap, free auto-detection trackers produce the same audit-defensible mileage log as paid tiers. The real cost difference is at high mileage volumes where the free cap forces you to either miss trips or upgrade.

How to pick

• Light use, willing to log manually: Stride.
• Light-to-medium use, want auto-detect: TruMile or MileIQ.
• Heavy use, can absorb subscription: any auto-detect app at the paid tier; pricing varies.
• International (UK, AU, CA): Driversnote for jurisdiction-specific features.

FAQ

Is a free mileage tracker good enough for the IRS?

Yes, as long as the log captures date, distance, destination, and business purpose for every trip: the four fields a contemporaneous log needs. Free tiers on TruMile, MileIQ, Everlance, and Driversnote all produce audit-defensible logs within their trip cap; the free/paid split is about how many trips you can log, not the quality of the record.

What happens when I hit my monthly trip cap?

On TruMile, auto-detection pauses for the rest of the month but you can still add trips manually at no cost. Most competitors with a hard cap (MileIQ, Everlance, Driversnote) stop logging new trips entirely until the next billing cycle, so any driving past the cap goes unrecorded unless you upgrade.

Do free plans expire, or is the free tier permanent?

TruMile's 40-free-trips-a-month tier has no time limit and renews every month for as long as you use the app. Some competitors market a "free trial" rather than a permanent free tier. Check whether the free plan is ongoing or converts to paid after a set number of days before you commit your trip history to one app.

Free for 40 auto trips a month, every month. Start free with TruMile →

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