Find the Best Mileage Tracking App for iPhone and Android in Canada

Tracking mileage manually is time-consuming and prone to errors. Thankfully, modern mileage tracker apps make it easy to stay CRA-compliant and save hours each month. We recommend you try a few different mileage tracker apps before deciding on the one that works best for you. The good news is that most apps offer either a free version or a free trial so nothing is stopping you from trying out a few.

Read below to find out what you should be looking for to find the best mileage tracker app for Android or iPhone in Canada.

How to choose the best mileage tracking app for Canada

At first, you should look for a few main features that make using a tracker app worthwhile:

• Automatic tracking of your kilometres
• Compliance with the CRA's mileage log requirements
• A degree of customization to fit your specific needs (for example, dividing trips into personal and business)
• Clear documentation of your mileage in reports

The best mileage tracker apps for Canada are CRA-compliant

Firstly, you need an app that is compliant with the CRA requirements. The best mileage tracker apps will be able to log the necessary details, including:

• the date,
• the destination,
• and the total kilometres of trips you take.

You should also be able to determine the purpose of each trip and log odometer readings at the beginning and end of the year.

If you use more than one personal vehicle, the mileage tracker app you choose should be able to keep separate logs for your vehicles.

You should also make sure that the app uses the correct CRA mileage rates. If you are logging trips for a previous year, or your employer provides an allowance at a different than the official rates, the app should have the feature of setting your own reimbursement rates so you get a correct calculation of the mileage reimbursement you can claim. See the current and previous per-kilometre rates.

Mileage tracker apps should record your kilometres automatically

Choose an app that offers automatic tracking. Having to log all your trips by hand at the end of the day defeats the purpose of using an app in the first place. Automatic tracking will save you time, and you won’t risk forgetting to log drives you’ve done throughout the day or week.

Note that apps with automatic tracking might pick up trips in vehicles where you are the passenger, or when you are using public transport. The best mileage tracker apps provide a small Bluetooth device you can have delivered to Canada that you place in your car. These devices connect to the automatic mileage tracker app and will only pick up relevant trips that you take with your vehicle.

The best mileage tracker apps will let you both automatically track and manually log trips.

Mileage tracking apps let you customize according to your needs

The best mileage tracker apps will let you customize your mileage rate, vehicles, and workplaces to ensure the information is specific to you.

Let’s say your employer wants you to record your car’s odometer readings every day. The CRA only requires odometer readings at the start and end of the year. The best mileage tracker apps will make it possible for you to update your odometer readings at any time.

The best mileage tracking apps allow you to create compliant reports of your mileage

Mileage tracker apps should let you create clear reports of your driving with all the necessary details for your CRA deduction at tax time or reimbursement from your place of work. The records should be easy to download or send to an email address. 

Track business driving with ease

Trusted by millions of drivers

Automate your logbook Automate your logbook

Claim your deductions

Reclaim your time

Automatic mileage tracking and CRA-compliant reporting.

Get started for free Get started for free

Who should be using a mileage tracking app?

Mileage tracking apps can generally be useful to everyone, but they are best for individuals and Teams who use personal vehicles for work-related driving and need accurate logs of their trips. Often that applies to:

• Self-employed individuals,
• Employees who drive their car for both business and personal purposes,
• Uber or Lyft drivers
• Delivery service workers
• Consultants
• Anyone else who needs to take trips for business purposes.

​​​​​If you are eligible for mileage reimbursement or deduction, you can use our mileage reimbursement calculator to find out the approximate sum you could get from tax returns, and decide if using a mileage tracker app in Canada is right for you.

Find the best mileage tracker app for your Canadian business

If you own a company and your employees often drive for work-related purposes with their personal vehicles, we cannot recommend a mileage tracker app solution enough. Look for a solution that provides the features we’ve described, plus some management options. These can include easily managing employees in your team and receiving consistent mileage records for your approval in one centralised place.

Are there free mileage tracker apps in Canada?

One of the questions we often get asked is whether there is a free mileage tracker option in Canada. The answer is yes! There are a few apps out there that offer free CRA-compliant mileage tracking. 

The Driversnote mileage tracking app is one example of a free trial option. You can track up to 15 trips per month entirely for free. The app is ad-free and includes automatic motion tracking, which means that you don’t have to always remember to log a trip manually—your phone will do the work for you.

Will a mileage tracker app save you time?

A mileage tracker app also serves as a logbook you can use as proof of your mileage claim. Your trips are safely stored and backed up, so if you lose your phone, your trips will be safe, and you will always have accurate records of your past journeys at hand. Most apps can also generate a PDF or Excel report, so you can easily hand it over to your boss or accountant without having to do any manual work.