Free mileage tracker app limits: 15, 30 or 40 trips a month, and a log that now needs two rates

A free mileage tracker app limits trips, not miles: MileIQ's free plan covers 40 drives a month, Everlance's 30 automatically detected trips, and Driversnote's reporting 15 trips. Since the IRS raised the business rate to 76 cents on July 1, 2026, the app you pick must also keep two rates straight in one year. The caps are in the table below, read on October 25, 2026.

A free mileage tracker app caps trips, and each vendor counts a trip differently

The caps below are from each vendor's own pricing page, read on October 25, 2026. They are not the same unit, so do not compare the numbers as if they were.

Here is why the unit matters. Arithmetic only: a driver who makes two business drives on each of 22 working days makes 44 drives in a month. That is over MileIQ's 40 and Everlance's 30 automatic trips, and well over Driversnote's 15 reported trips. Everlance's page says manual trips are unlimited, so the cap there stops automatic detection, not logging.

Two cautions on the table. Everlance's pricing page showed two different sets of paid prices when we read it, so we cite none of them. And Driversnote's page did not make clear which exports the free plan includes, so check that before you rely on it at tax time.

The IRS rate changed on July 1, and some vendor pages still show 72.5 cents

For a self-employed driver, the 2026 year now has two business rates. The IRS standard mileage rates page lists 72.5 cents per mile for January 1 through June 30 and 76 cents for July 1 through December 31. The change came in Announcement 2026-11, published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29 on July 13, 2026, which says: "This modification results from recent increases in the price of fuel."

The revised rates apply to expenses "paid or incurred" on or after July 1, 2026, and the announcement says the Notice 2026-10 rates continue to apply before that date. It gives no formula for splitting a trip or a year, so the date on each trip is what decides the rate.

Arithmetic only: 5,000 miles before July 1 at 72.5 cents is $3,625, and 4,000 miles after at 76 cents is $3,040, for $6,665. Applying 76 cents to the first 5,000 miles would overstate the figure by $175, which is 3.5 cents times 5,000.

What the apps say about the change differs.

• MileIQ: its support article says the default US rate for the second half of 2026 is $0.76 and that MileIQ "updates automatically to reflect the new rate for your drives unless you have a custom rate already set." Its separate rates guide still listed 72.5 cents for 2026 and did not mention July 1 when we read it.
• Everlance: a post updated September 4, 2026 says it "updates rates automatically" and tells users to check the app applies 76 cents to trips from July 1 onward.
• Driversnote: a post last updated July 27, 2026 says it "automatically applies the current IRS rate to every business trip you log," and lets you set a custom rate instead.
• QuickBooks: its mileage page listed 72.5 cents for 2026 and did not mention the July change. That page is marketing copy, so it does not tell us how the app calculates, but it is a reason to test.

Who has to act on the 76-cent rate, and who does not

In our view the split is simple, and only one group needs to do anything.

• Default-rate app users: per MileIQ, Everlance and Driversnote, the update is automatic. Spot-check one drive from June and one from July in your report.
• Anyone with a custom rate set: MileIQ says its automatic update skips a custom rate. If you typed a number in once, you are the one who has to change it, and you would do well to check other apps for the same setting.
• Spreadsheet and paper loggers: you apply both rates yourself, by trip date.
• Employers with a fixed reimbursement rate: Everlance's post says to review whether a fixed rate is still adequate. That is a business decision, not a tax rule, and it is outside what we checked.

What an IRS-proof mileage log has to hold

An app is only as good as the record it exports. In Publication 463, the IRS says: "You should keep the proof you need in an account book, diary, log, statement of expense, trip sheets, or similar record." For car expenses, its Table 5-1 lists "the mileage for each business use, and the total miles for the year," plus your business destination and the business purpose. Its sample daily log, Table 5-2, has start and stop odometer columns.

So does a mileage log need odometer readings? The sample log has them. The passages we read do not say whether GPS-recorded distance can stand in for odometer readings, so ask your preparer. We would keep the odometer reading for January 1 and for July 1 regardless, because it ties your trips to a total.

Four more points from the same publication:

• Sampling: it says "You can keep an adequate record for parts of a tax year" if those periods are "representative of the use throughout the tax year." That is a narrow exception, and we would not build a log around it.
• Commuting: "You can't deduct commuting expenses no matter how far your home is from your regular place of work," so an app that auto-labels every drive as business needs your review.
• Parking and tolls: "In addition to using the standard mileage rate, you can deduct any business-related parking fees and tolls."
• Who cannot use the rate: it lists people who use five or more cars at once, among others.

The Publication 463 text we read was the 2025 edition, which still quotes 70 cents, so use it for the record rules, not the rate. The Schedule C instructions add: "Specific recordkeeping rules apply to car or truck expenses," and "You may maintain written evidence by using an electronic storage system that meets certain requirements." In our view, an app export you can reproduce, with dates, is a safer record than a screenshot.

Can you use a spreadsheet for a mileage log?

Publication 463 does not name spreadsheets. It names an "account book, diary, log, statement of expense, trip sheets, or similar record." Our reading is that a dated spreadsheet is a log, but that is our reading, not the IRS's wording, and the electronic storage requirement above applies to it too. If a preparer has accepted your spreadsheet before, ask them whether it still works.

Skip the spreadsheet if you are already near a free cap. In our view, entering 44 drives a month by hand is more work than most people will keep up. Use it if you drive a handful of fixed routes.

Do accounting tools you already pay for log miles?

Several accounting products carry a mileage log, and in our view that is the route with the least extra spend when you already use one. Upfynd lists 155 products in Accounting & Invoicing, 383 in Operations and 67 in Maps & Location as of October 25, 2026. We have checked only the three below for mileage.

• QuickBooks: the help article, updated 8/3/2026, says the feature "is limited for QuickBooks Online Free and QuickBooks Online Lite" and that only admin users can track mileage in QuickBooks Online. The mileage page says "With QuickBooks Free, you can track your business miles." The two pages do not agree on what free includes, so test it on your plan before you commit. If you are weighing QuickBooks on price, see our post on what US small businesses pay now vs QuickBooks.
• FreshBooks: its mileage page says the tracker "is a free feature that is included in all our plans." It is available to users in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, and the in-app report is a CSV file. You need a FreshBooks account, and we did not check its plan prices.
• Keeper: on its homepage we read on October 25, 2026, "Track mileage" carried a "Coming soon" label. We found no mileage feature to evaluate.

If you make a mileage or route-logging app, you can submit it to Upfynd for free.

How to pick in five steps

1. Count last month's business drives. Compare the number to MileIQ's 40, Everlance's 30 automatic trips or Driversnote's 15.
2. If you already use QuickBooks or FreshBooks, test its tracker for one week before adding a second app.
3. Open Settings and look for a custom rate. Clear it unless your employer set it.
4. Export a report that spans June 30 and July 1. Confirm the first half shows 72.5 cents and the second 76.
5. Save the January 1 and July 1 odometer readings in a place you can find in April.

Read this before you rely on it

This post describes US federal tax guidance, read on October 25, 2026. Rates, notices and vendor pricing change, and the IRS pages cited here may have been updated since. It is not legal or tax advice. Read the current IRS pages, and take advice from a tax professional where real money rests on your deduction. Product details come from each vendor's own pages on that date and can change without notice.