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Best Mileage and Expense Trackers for Freelancers 2023
Freelancers can deduct work-related miles on their taxes, but tracking them can be a headache. These apps help with mileage tracking and more. But will they save you enough to pay for themselves?

Table of Contents
Best Overall Tracker for Freelancers
The best combo of full-featured and low-cost, Hurdlr is a mileage and expense tracker that helps freelancers effortlessly stay prepared for tax time.
Why we chose Hurdlr:
- Free app with a premium upgrade for $60/year or $7.99/month
- Premium features include auto-tracking, real-time tax calculations, the ability to set rules to categorize drives, and more. The upgrade is probably worth it for most users
- Tracks expenses and income automatically or manually
- Shows estimates for annual and quarterly taxes, so you always have a sense of where you stand
- Well-designed app allows quick and easy access to all your information
While the free version lacks features, the Premium upgrade is a great value and will likely pay for itself.
Read Hurdlr's Full ReviewBest for Rideshare Drivers
Rideshare and delivery drivers have different needs than other freelancers. Gridwise helps drivers earn more.
Why we chose Gridwise:
- Free app for rideshare drivers with a premium upgrade for $9.99/month or $95.99/year
- Keeps you updated on events that might people need rides from, so you can go to the area and earn more
- Tells you how many flights are arriving at your nearest airports so you can decide whether or not it's worth going to the area
- Compares earnings between platforms so you can see where you're earning the most
- Generates reports for tax time so you know what you owe
- While the upgrade has some useful features, the free version is probably robust enough for most drivers
Best All-in-one App for Freelancers
This feature-rich app offers multiple tracking, accounting, and tax tools all in one place.
Why we chose QuickBooks:
- $14.99 per month, or $24.99 per month with TurboTax bundle. (Check out our coupon for 50% off first three months)
- While Self-Employed has a higher price tag than some other apps, but the app offers many of the accounting tools freelancers need in one place, so the convenience may be worth it for many users
- A full-featured accounting app for self-employed people. Has invoicing, expense and income tracking, and tax support as well as mileage tracking
- Auto-tracking worked smoothly and accurately during the testing period
For freelancers with smaller businesses, this app may be the only accounting app you need.
Read QuickBooks's Full ReviewBest Simple Mileage Tracker
If you want to track your miles and don't need expense tracking or other services, MileIQ is the tracker for you.
Why we chose MileIQ:
- 40 free drives a month, upgrade to premium for unlimited drives for $59.99 annually or $5.99 monthly
- The premium price is comparable to apps that include more features (expense tracking etc.), but if you are tracking 40 or fewer drives per month, this is a great free option
- Easy to classify drives, just swipe to categorize as business or personal
- Monthly and yearly reports make tax time easy
Everything We Recommend
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Our Pick
Hurdlr: Mileage, Expense & Tax
4.7 Ratings 27K+ Reviews 100K+ DownloadsAre you self-employed, an independent contractor or agent? Do you freelance, have a gig, or drive for Uber or Lyft? Save thousands of dollars on your 2019 taxes with Hurdlr’s business expenses and mileage tracker. Plus, easily capture receipts and create expense reports.
Hurdlr connects with thousands of leading banks as well as Uber, FreshBooks, Square, Stripe, and Paypal to import your income and expenses automatically for easy income tax calculations.
You’re one step away from throwing away your shoebox of receipts and mileage logs.
Hurdlr's free version offers more than mileage-only alternative apps by including expense, income tax, and semi-automatic mileage tracking. Our premium version has more robust automation features and is half the price of alternative self-employed accounting apps.
Hurdlr also has a detailed business tax tracker for 2020 quarterly tax accounting.
HURDLR IS PERFECT FOR 1099:
⇢ Independent Contractors
⇢ Uber & Lyft Drivers
⇢ Freelancers
⇢ Small Business Owners
⇢ Self-Employed Entrepreneurs
⇢ Postmates Couriers
⇢ Airbnb Hosts
⇢ Real Estate Agents
AUTOMATIC MILEAGE TRACKER
Hurdlr’s IRS mileage tracking helps 1099’s claim maximum tax deductions. Let Hurdlr track mileage for work, and deduct 58 cents for every mile you drive. Perfect for Uber drivers, Lyft drivers, and other mobile independent contractors.
AUTO-TRACK EXPENSES & IDENTIFY TAX DEDUCTIONS
Connect with over 9,500 banks to auto-track business expenses and identify valuable 1099 tax deductions for independent contractors and small business owners.
Export detailed expense reports with receipts and send them to any email address or to your tax preparer.
SELF-EMPLOYED TAX ACCOUNTING
See your complete state, federal, and self employed business tax calculator breakdown. Hurdlr provides real-time year end and quarterly tax estimates for independent contractors at the tap of a button. Watch as your business expenses and IRS mileage tax deductions lower your 1099 taxes saving you thousands of dollars.
INCOME TRACKER
Hurdlr connects with Uber, Square, FreshBooks, Stripe, Paypal and thousands of banks to notify you when you get paid as an Uber driver, Lyft driver, freelancer, Realtor, Postmates courier, Airbnb host, or any other independent contractor so you know how much money you’re making. Hurdlr is a receipt tracker, business tax calculator and small business mileage tracker in one simple app.
OPTIMIZED FOR LOW BATTERY USAGE
Because you’re on the road a lot, we’ve designed Hurdlr to work without draining your battery, even with heavy usage.
BUILT BY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS LIKE YOU
Our team of experienced entrepreneurs worked closely with users like you to build the ideal business expense, income tax and IRS mileage log, so you can focus on doing the work you love.
CONTACT US
We strive to provide the best customer support, answering all of your questions 1-on-1. Talk to us live, directly from within Hurdlr.
LOOKING FOR OTHER CONTACT METHODS?
• Email us: hello@hurdlr.com
• Facebook us: http://www.facebook.com/hurdlr
• Website support: https://hurdlr.com
HURDLR PREMIUM
• $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year (Save 16%).
• Premium Features:
• Auto-Mileage Tracking
• Auto-Expense Tracking
• Auto-Income Tracking
• Real-Time Tax Calculations
• Speed Tagging
• Work Hours
• BONUS: Hurdlr Premium can be deducted as a business expense when you file taxes.
MORE INFORMATION
Learn about our privacy policy at https://hurdlr.com/privacy
Understand our terms of use at https://hurdlr.com/termsCostFreeFreeIn-App Purchases$5.99 - $99.99 per item$9.99 - $99.99 per item -
Runner Up
Gridwise: Gig-Driver Assistant
4.8 Ratings 23K+ Reviews 100K+ DownloadsDesigned for drivers, shoppers, and dashers, the Gridwise app will help you boost your driver earnings across all rideshare and delivery services (Uber, Lyft, Via, Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash, Instacart, Grubhub, Gopuff, Getir, Gorillas, JOKR, Amazon Flex, Alto, Spark Driver, HopSkipDrive, Curb, ARRO, and more). Gridwise is the leading business app for helping rideshare and delivery drivers maximize and track earnings, expenses, profitability, and mileage.
INCREASE PROFITABILITY
Are you hitting your driving goals? See how your performance is trending over time and compare against other drivers in your area or nationwide.
Learn insights about your driving activity across multiple services to give you more insight into how you are performing.
Discover what times and places drivers in your city are making the most money so you can adjust your strategy to maximize your earnings.
Save $1,000s on your taxes with mileage and expense tracking. Maximize your tax deductions and stay on top of your rideshare and delivery business by tracking your mileage, earnings, and expenses. Other trackers on the market like MileIQ, Hurdlr, Everlance, Stoovo, Mystro, Rydar, Sherpashare, and Stride don’t track performance metrics such as earnings per hour, trips per hour, and earnings per trip across all gig services.
Save $50/month on gas when you upgrade to Gridwise Plus!
CONVENIENCE
Automatically track all your trips across all gig platforms in one place.
Link your rideshare and delivery accounts to automatically track your earnings and understand which services are making you the most money.
Drive strategically using our event calendar and airport demand graph to plan your upcoming hours and days.
Record and track all of your rideshare and delivery expenses directly in the Gridwise app to understand your net income.
Get insider driving tips and strategy guides to help you drive smarter and earn more.
FEATURES
Mileage and Expense Tracker: Log your rideshare and delivery activities with Gridwise to keep your earnings, expenses, and mileage in one place. Get an estimate of your tax deduction, and export detailed mileage reports.
Driver Insights: See the hotspot areas near you and know the best times to drive to make the most out of your shift.
Compare Rideshare & Delivery Earnings: Find out which services are making you the most money and see how you stack up against other drivers in your city.
Airport Demand: See how many passengers are arriving or departing throughout the day.
Events: See everything that's happening in your city for the next seven days. Save and filter the ones that are important to you and receive alerts when money-making events are letting out.
Discover Earnings Opportunities: Take advantage of exclusive earnings opportunities that the Gridwise team has curated to help drivers earn more.
Gridwise Plus
Get even more out of Gridwise with Gridwise Plus. Gridwise Plus is available for $9.99/month or $95.99/year. Your payment will be charged to your Google Play account at the time of purchase, or at the end of your free trial. Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription period. You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal at any time through the Play Store. Please see our terms of service and privacy policy for more information.
Terms of Service: https://gridwise.io/termsofservice/
Privacy Policy: https://gridwise.io/privacypolicy/
To provide suggestions or feedback, please reach out to us at:
Email Support: support@gridwise.io
Our Website: https://gridwise.io
Gridwise is not a financial advisor. All information provided by the app is for informational purposes only. Please seek advice from qualified tax professionals.CostFreeFreeIn-App Purchases$0.99 - $95.99 per item$9.99 - $95.99 per item -
Also Groovy
QuickBooks Self-Employed
4.4 Ratings 114K+ Reviews 5M+ DownloadsAre you self-employed, a freelancer or an independent contractor? Organize your finances with QuickBooks Self-Employed and let us help you find your tax deductions & maximize tax returns in time for tax season!.Put more money in your pocket with this convenient mile tracker, expense tracker and tax deductions estimator.
QuickBooks Self-Employed users have found billions in potential tax deductions by using the automatic mileage tracker, organizing business expenses by category and attaching receipts to the correct transactions.
Track Mileage Automatically!
• Mileage tracking automatically works using your phone’s GPS, without draining your phone’s battery.
• Trip mileage is saved and categorized to maximize mileage tax deductions.
Scan Receipts
• The receipt scanner extracts important transaction information and automatically matches to a business expense so you're always ready for tax time.
• Store a digital copy of your receipt in the cloud
Expense Tracker to Organize Business Expenses
• Self -employed, freelancer or small business owner – manage business finances easily and keep up to date so you do not miss out on any tax deductions.
• Import business expenses directly from your bank account.
Stay Prepared For Tax Time
• We take care of your bookkeeping so you can avoid year-end surprises
• Easily organize income and business expenses for instant tax filing
• Directly export Schedule C income and expenses.
• Instantly export your financial data to TurboTax Self-Employed by upgrading to the Tax bundle*.
*Users will receive one state and one federal tax return filing.
Purchased TurboTax Self-Employed? Activate QuickBooks Self-Employed today at no extra cost
Already have QuickBooks Self-Employed on the web? The mobile app is FREE with your subscription, and data syncs automatically across devices. Just download, sign in, and go!
Price, availability and features may vary by location. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage your subscriptions in Account Settings after purchase. QuickBooks Self-Employed is from Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Mint.
To learn how Intuit protects your privacy, please visit https://www.intuit.com/privacy/
*Based on QuickBooks Self-Employed users who have identified less than $100k in deductions
*Based on TY15 subscribers that have identified >$0 in business expenses and of those users that have >$0 in tax savings
*Getting paid 2X faster based on U.S. customers using QuickBooks Online invoice tracking & payment features from August 2016 to July 2017CostFreeFreeIn-App Purchases$2.49 - $159.99 per item$4.99 - $24.99 per itemMileage Tracker by MileIQ
4.5 Ratings 118K+ Reviews 1M+ DownloadsDo you drive a personal car for work or need to track the miles you drive? MileIQ automatically tracks your drives and has logged more than 80B+ miles - that’s more than $10B reimbursed from the #1 trusted mileage tracking app.
Features At-a-Glance:
📋 Generate a mileage report for the IRS, your accountant, or for work.
🚗 Record your drives automatically - no more starting and stopping.
👉 Classify your drives with a swipe! Right for business and left for personal drives.
🎯 Smart drive detection groups round-trip drives and auto-classifies frequent trips.
Track Business Miles & Drives:
MileIQ automatically tracks your drives in the background. MileIQ means you won’t have to manually log your miles or even manually start and stop recording. MileIQ creates a compliant mileage log for you.
Replace Your Paper Mileage Log:
Say goodbye to the messy paperwork! The MileIQ business mileage tracker frees you from the pain of manually tracking your miles for taxes or reimbursement. MileIQ is a mileage tracking app that will automatically log and track miles, and calculate the value of your drives for taxes or reimbursements.
Prepare for Taxes:
Our mileage tracker helps you easily organize your drives for your business expenses and tax refunds. MileIQ sorts your drives, keeping business miles separate from personal ones, which makes it simple to have a mileage log that will be accepted by the IRS or your business.
Track miles and quickly get the reports you need to maximize your tax deductions and reimbursements without the administrative struggles. MileIQ is trusted by millions of users for billions of drives!
Start Driving Now:
Track your drives and log miles easily with MileIQ. Test it out for free and download your IRS friendly mileage log as a premium member.CostFreeFreeIn-App Purchases$5.99 - $59.99 per item$5.99 - $59.99 per item
The 411 from our Appventurer
How we tested?
To test the mileage tracking functionality, we turned on the tracking for each app and went about our business, checking after each drive to make sure each app had registered the drive and measured the mileage accurately (most of them send notifications.) We made sure to include drives of various lengths.
We also tested how easy it was to categorize drives and how well the information was to view later. Since mileage tracking's primary purpose is to calculate tax deductions, we looked at the way each app reported drives. Many apps also offer real-time tax calculations, which can provide a helpful estimate of deductions.
Within our week of testing, all apps were highly accurate. However, looking over user reviews on AppGrooves, most contain at least one report of the auto-tracking feature not working properly. We suspect there are enough things that can go wrong (between user error, GPS issues, “Access Location” issues, and problems in the app itself) that 100% accuracy over time is difficult to achieve.
Why get the app?
For more extensive bookkeeping, and perhaps for things like reviewing your mileage reports, you may want to use the desktop versions of these apps. Self-Employed, for instance, has a robust desktop version that may be helpful for some tasks. But on the whole, there’s a lot you can do on these apps.
More About Hurdlr: Our Pick
Mileage tracking and categorizing are quick and seamless. If you adjust smartphone settings to track location at all times, Hurdlr recognizes when you’re driving and automatically tracks miles. When you’re done, it sends you a notification almost instantaneously (faster than the other apps I tested, although all sent notifications within 15 minutes of the end of the drive).
These notifications help remind you to categorize each drive as business or personal. You can still go into the app later and categorize any unreviewed drives with a quick swipe. The speedy notifications can also help alert you to issues with the app. If you don’t get a notification, it may cue you that tracking didn’t work properly, so you can address the issue and enter your drive manually before you forget.
Additional features make mileage tracking even easier. You can set work hours so that drives in those hours are automatically categorized as business. You can also create your own rules to always categorize specific drives as business or personal.
Hurdlr Premium costs $60 for an annual subscription or $7.99 per month. The company claims that people find an average of $5600 in tax deductions using Hurdlr, and if that's the case, the subscription is clearly an excellent value. With its expansive suite of features, Hurdlr Premium is likely to save you time and money, and the fairly low cost of the upgrade (especially the annual rate) is well worth it for most users. It was among the cheapest subscriptions of all the apps tested and one of the most richly featured.
Snags but not drags:
The free version of this app is likely to be insufficient for most users. Manual tracking is doable and it’s probably better to do it in the app than on a spreadsheet, but it’s fairly time consuming, and the free version frequently asks you if you want to upgrade. If you want a free app for mileage tracking, you may want to look elsewhere. The good news is that the premium version is affordable, tax deductible, and definitely worth the money.
Aesthetically, Hurdlr falls a little short as well. The black, green and orange color palette wasn't the most attractive. However, it's laid out well and easy to use, so the design on the whole works well. This is a small complaint about an excellent app.
More About Gridwise: Runner Up
Unlike other apps on the list, which track all mileage and then have you categorize it afterward, Gridwise only tracks working hours. When the app registers you’ve started to drive, it will ask you whether you’re driving for work. If you say yes, it will track your miles from that point until you turn it off.
Gridwise generates reports of your mileage so you can see how much you’ve driven and how much you can deduct. You can also link your rideshare or delivery account(s) to track your earnings as well.
Though it hasn’t been as useful this past year, hopefully, Gridwise’s event tracker will benefit rideshare drivers more in the future. This feature alerts drivers to large events in their area so they can be where people are likely to need rides home.
As part of its focus on helping drivers earn more, Gridwise includes tools to help users evaluate their earnings. People who drive for multiple platforms can compare earnings and recalibrate their time to focus on platforms they’ve had more success on. Users can also compare their earnings with other similar drivers.
The free version of Gridwise is robust, but they do have an upgrade called Gridwise Plus. The service is $9.99 per month, or $95.99 per year (a savings of 20%). With Gridwise Plus, you can set up custom airport alerts to stay on top of delays and get real-time passenger data to see how many people are likely to be at the airport. You can also set up alerts and reminders about events and get notified about traffic and weather conditions. A 7-day free trial can help you figure out if Plus is right for you, but these features seem pretty slim for the price.
More About QuickBooks: Also Groovy
Self-Employed has a well-organized and approachable dashboard that puts essential information right at your fingertips. From the dashboard, you can view your potential mileage deductions, access trips to review, see the status of your invoices, and see the quarterly tax deadline and how much you’re estimated to owe. You can also customize the dashboard, so you only see what’s relevant to you.
Self-Employed has a full set of accounting features, but it’s also no slouch as a mileage tracker. The auto-tracking was accurate in my testing, and it automatically calculates potential deductions. Like most of these apps, you swipe to categorize personal or business, so classifying is quick and easy. And you can customize the app to make it even more effortless. You can name frequently visited locations and set rules to classify certain trips automatically (always categorize trip X as business, for example). You can also manually add miles.
More About MileIQ: Also Groovy
MileIQ is a simple app for simple needs. If you have a side hustle that involves fewer than 40 drives per month and need a record of your miles for your taxes, this is the app for you. While that sounds highly specific, in the gig economy age, a fairly large number of people meet that description.
MileIQ auto-tracks your trips and you classify them as business or personal with a quick swipe. It’s easy and seamless and you don’t have to think about it — your trips are automatically compiled into a report so you know what miles can be deducted from your taxes.
In our tests, MileIQ’s auto-tracking worked smoothly. It recognized all trips and sent a notification to classify a drive within 5 minutes of ending the drive. However, some reviewers report difficulties with the app missing trips.
Other Apps Considered
Stride is a mileage and expense tracker for freelancers. It's free but omits auto-tracking for mileage. The deeper problem with Stride is that it seems to mainly exist to upsell other products for freelancers — much of the app is offers for insurance, accounting, and other services.
It might be worth checking this out if you're looking for these services, but we found it distracting while trying to use the app just for tracking. If you don't mind the ads, this is a good free tool.
Everlance is a free app with two upgrade options: Premium for $8/month and Premium +for $12/month. The Premium package includes automatic trip detection, reports, and the ability to connect your bank accounts. The Premium Plus option adds extra support and training.
One interesting feature is the Tax Vault, which automatically saves 10% of your income (or whatever you set) into an account to be ready for tax time.
SherpaShare is another good app to help rideshare drivers earn more. Features include a heatmap that tells you where other drivers and passengers are so you can select your location strategically. The app auto tracks mileage and allows you to track expenses like car maintenance as well.
This free option is a great way for gig drivers to boost their earnings. It is similar to our runner-up, Gridwise, and while we prefer that app, SherpaShare is a worthy competitor.
Driversnote is a simple mileage tracker without other accounting features. The free version includes 20 trips per month. The premium version includes unlimited trips and a device called iBeacon, which helps with accurate tracking.
Our pick for a simple tracker, MileIQ, offered twice as many drives in the free version. However, we did not test the iBeacon for this article, which may be a game-changer for some users.
TripLog is another excellent mileage and expense tracker. It features highly accurate auto-tracking, connects with bank accounts, and generates reports for tax time.
At $60/year, the premium upgrade is comparable to other apps, but TripLog is a bit clunkier. An additional premium bundle, Premium + Time, includes hour tracking as well, which may be useful for some users.
Caroline Rothnie
Hard as I try to keep a minimalist phone, I can't stop downloading more apps. In addition to my can't-live-without apps for organization, music and podcasts, fitness, and meditation, I'm constantly trying out new ones. So I love apps, but it's a complicated relationship -- some of my favorites are for keeping me off my phone/internet.
In second grade, I attempted to do a book report on a story I had written myself, so you could say I've always thought of myself as a writer. These days, I write a wide variety of web content with a focus on mental health and productivity. I also write personal essays. I live in Kansas with my husband and two dogs.
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With the rise of rideshare and delivery apps, more and more people have freelance gigs that involve driving. Even freelancers whose primary job isn't as drivers often have work-related miles to deduct from their taxes. But tracking miles can be complicated. We tested 10 popular apps that track miles and offer additional accounting support for freelancers.
Our favorite was Hurdlr, a low-cost and richly featured mileage and expense tracker for freelancers. Gridwise offered the best support for rideshare drivers. For a simple option, we liked MileIQ and found that Self-Employed had the most features.