Find The Best Mileage Tracking Apps For iPhone and Android in Canada

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.

Finding the best mileage tracking app for Canada

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

• Compliance with CRA requirements
• Automatic tracking of your kilometres
• A degree of customization to fit your specific needs
• Clear documentation of your mileage

The best mileage tracker apps for Canada are CRA-compliant

Firstly, you need an app that is compliant with CRA requirements. The best mileage tracker apps will be able to log the date, destination and 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 new, 2024 CRA mileage rates, and if you need to claim mileage for previous year, check out article on current and previous per-kilometre rates.

Mileage tracker apps should record your kilometres automatically

Choose an app that can record your driving automatically. Having to log all your trips manually 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 device you can have delivered to Canada that you place in your vehicle. 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, vehicle(s) and workplace(s) details to ensure that 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 record your odometer 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 directly send to an email address. 

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Who should be using a mileage tracker 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 is self-employed individuals, employees who use their car for both business and personal usage, Uber or Lyft drivers, delivery service workers, consultants and anyone else who needs to take trips for business purposes. If you are eligible for mileage reimbursement, you can use our mileage 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 get asked often is whether there is an option for a free mileage tracker in Canada and 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 option where 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 on a cloud so if you lose your phone, your trips will be safe and you will have accurate records of your past journeys. Most apps are also able to generate a PDF report for you so that you can easily hand it over to your boss or accountant without having to do any manual work.

To sum up - mileage tracker apps not only save you time but will also make sure you don't lose your records!