Mileage is the biggest deduction most gig drivers have, and also the easiest to lose. At the 76¢-per-mile rate that took effect on July 1, 2026, every business mile is worth about three-quarters of a dollar of deductions. Miss a few thousand of them and you hand the IRS money you did not owe. This guide explains why manual logbooks tend to fail, what the IRS actually requires, and how the main tracking options compare, using what each company says on its own website.
Why manual logbooks fail, and what the IRS requires
The IRS does not require an app. It requires adequate records for the standard mileage deduction: for each business trip, the date, where you went or the business purpose, and the number of miles, recorded close to the time you drove. See IRS Publication 463 for the details. A paper log that meets that standard is fine, but in practice manual logging breaks down for gig work:
- Volume. A delivery driver can make 20 or more short trips in a day, and writing each one down while driving is unrealistic.
- Forgotten trips. Miles between orders, trips to a repair shop or supply run and short hops are easy to skip.
- Weak reconstruction. A log rebuilt from memory or from the platform's summary at tax time is much harder to defend if you are ever asked to support the deduction.
- Platform summaries are partial. App mileage summaries often cover only the time on a trip, not every business mile, so they should not be your only record.
Automatic GPS tracking solves the capture problem: the app records every drive and you only have to swipe each one as business or personal. That is why most full-time drivers end up using one, even though the IRS does not demand it. Compare it with the basics in our 2026 gig worker tax guide.
1. The Top Mileage Tracking Options Compared
| App | Best for | Free option | Paid pricing (as checked) | Automatic trips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everlance | Drivers who want a free starting point | Yes: 30 automatically tracked trips a month | Roughly $70 to $120 a year, depending on plan and billing | Yes |
| Hurdlr | Mileage, expenses and tax estimates in one app | Try-it-free offer; terms not shown on the front page | Not published on the front page | Yes |
| Keeper | Finding write-offs and filing taxes | 14-day free trial | From $199 a year for filing (Standard plan) | Mileage tracking listed as "coming soon" |
Everlance
Everlance (sponsored link) is one of the best-known mileage trackers for gig drivers. Its free Basic plan includes 30 automatically tracked trips a month plus unlimited manual trips, and paid plans are listed as Starter and Professional with more features, such as bank and credit card integration and automatic expense tracking. Pricing pages we saw listed Starter at roughly $70 to $90 a year (about $9 to $11 a month) and Professional at roughly $100 to $120 a year, with a 7-day free trial on Starter that requires a credit card, but the page showed more than one set of prices, so confirm the current numbers before you subscribe. Trip detection: automatic. Battery: not stated on the pricing page. Watch for: the 30-trip free cap can run out quickly for a delivery driver with many short trips, so the free plan may be better for rideshare than delivery.
Hurdlr
Hurdlr (sponsored link) describes itself as an expense and mileage tracker for freelancers and small business owners. It says it automatically tracks all of your mileage in real time, and also captures expenses and receipts, shows tax estimates with reminders, and offers invoicing and accounting features at a higher tier. Pricing: the front page offers a free try but does not list plan prices, so check the app and the current terms before committing. Trip detection: automatic. Battery: not stated. Watch for: because pricing is not displayed up front, compare the real monthly or annual cost against Everlance before you pay.
Keeper
Keeper (sponsored link) is a tax-filing and write-off finder rather than a pure mileage tracker. It connects to your bank accounts to find deductible transactions, and its Standard plan, aimed at contractors and sole proprietors, was listed at $199 a year with federal and state filing included and a 14-day free trial. When we checked, mileage tracking appeared on Keeper's site as "coming soon," so for now it works best paired with a dedicated mileage app. Trip detection: not available yet. Watch for: if you want one product for write-offs and filing, Keeper is worth a look, but do not rely on it for your mileage log until the feature launches.
A note about Stride
Stride's mileage and tax tracker has app-store listings, but we could not verify its current pricing or support: its former tax website redirected to a domain-for-sale page when we checked, and reviewers describe tracking problems. We left it out of our comparison.
Battery drain and automatic trip detection: what to expect
Automatic detection works by using your phone's location and motion in the background, which uses some battery on every app. None of the companies above publish battery figures on their main pages, and we have not lab-tested them, so treat any claim as unverified until you see it on your own phone. A sensible way to compare is to run one app for a week of normal shifts, check which apps used the most battery in your phone settings, and see how many trips it missed or split in two. Review and classify trips at the end of each shift or at least weekly, because unclassified trips are not a log you can use.
How to choose
- Start with a free plan if your trip count is modest, and upgrade only if you hit the cap.
- Pick the app whose log export you can read and keep, because you will need it at tax time.
- If you also want help finding other deductions or filing, compare Keeper or a tax software option such as TurboTax Premium (formerly Self-Employed) (sponsored link).
2. The Math: What Missing 1,500 Miles Costs
Suppose your tracker or logbook misses 1,500 business miles over the year, roughly a month of part-time driving.
- Deduction lost: 1,500 × $0.76 = $1,140.
- Tax effect: a single driver with $30,000 in earnings, $800 in other expenses and 19,500 real miles owes $2,032 in total tax. If only 18,000 of those miles are recorded, the bill rises to $2,193, which is $161 more (self-employment tax plus any income tax).
- Scale: missing just 10% of a 30,000-mile year is 3,000 miles, or $2,280 of deductions.
The lost deduction is not the same as the extra tax, because a deduction only saves the tax you would have paid on it. But the extra tax is real money, and the deduction also protects against underpaying estimated taxes. Compare $161 a year in avoidable tax with the cost of a paid tracking plan of roughly $70 to $120, and the case for a tracker is clear for any driver with meaningful miles. Work out your exact deduction with the Mileage Deduction Calculator, or run your own numbers in the 1099 Gig Tax Calculator, the DoorDash Tax Calculator or the Uber Driver Tax Calculator.
3. Recommended Tools for Gig Workers
These are the partner pages we link to across QuickCalcMoney. They are sponsored placements, and you should compare pricing and features before choosing.