Best Mileage and Expense Trackers for Freelancers 2021

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Another great mileage, expense, and income tracker, Taxbot, works well and includes lots of support and tutorials. A benefit when dealing with complicated tax questions. 

The app auto-tracks miles, expenses, and income. One noteworthy feature is smart matching for receipts. Snap a picture of a receipt, and Taxbot automatically links it to the associated bank transaction.

However, at $99.99/year, $9.99/month, it is more expensive than our top pick while offering basically the same features. 

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.