Best Mileage Tracker App UK 2026: 4 Apps Tested for HMRC

If you drive for business in the UK, a mileage tracker app saves you from the most tedious part of tax season: reconstructing a year of journeys from memory and calendar entries. The right app captures trips as they happen, classifies them correctly, and produces the evidence HMRC expects.

But not every app is built for UK tax rules. Many popular trackers are designed for the US market and bolt on UK support as an afterthought. This guide covers what to look for, compares four leading options, and explains how to run a proper evaluation before committing.

Full disclosure before the comparison: MileTrack is our product. That is why this page also states where it is the wrong choice — no Android, no fleet features, and free access that is current rather than promised.

What to look for in a UK mileage tracker

Before comparing individual apps, define what actually matters for HMRC compliance and day-to-day usability.

Automatic trip detection

Manual logging fails over time. You forget to start tracking, you forget to stop, and eventually you are estimating distances from Google Maps after the fact. Automatic detection — using GPS, motion sensors, or Bluetooth — removes that failure mode.

The best auto-detection works in the background without draining your battery. Test this over a full week before trusting any app’s marketing claims.

HMRC-ready exports

HMRC does not mandate a specific format, but your records need to include: date, start and end addresses, business purpose, miles driven, and the vehicle used. Any app you choose should export reports containing all of these fields, ideally in PDF or CSV.

The GOV.UK guidance on keeping records applies to self-employed drivers. Employees claiming Mileage Allowance Relief need the same level of detail — see GOV.UK: vehicles you use for work.

Business, commute, and private classification

UK tax rules treat these three categories differently. Business travel is claimable. Ordinary commuting is not. Private trips obviously are not. Your app needs a clear three-way classification — not just “business” and “personal.”

AMAP threshold awareness

The Approved Mileage Allowance Payment rates split at 10,000 miles: 45p for the first 10,000, then 25p thereafter. A good UK app tracks your cumulative total and adjusts calculations accordingly, rather than applying a flat rate all year.

Data privacy

Your mileage log contains a complete record of everywhere you drive. Check where the app stores data, whether it shares location data with third parties, and whether you can export and delete your data at any time. GDPR applies — you have the right to a full data export and deletion.

Four mileage tracking tools for UK drivers, compared

Here is a direct comparison of four options available to UK drivers, evaluated against the criteria above. Three are phone apps; Triplogik is an OBD device with desktop software, included because it solves the capture problem a different way.

Feature	MileTrack	MileIQ	Driversnote	Triplogik
Auto-tracking	Yes, GPS + motion sensors	Yes, background GPS	Yes, GPS + Bluetooth	Yes, OBD-II device, no phone involved
Price	Free	Free: 40 drives/month, then $13.99/month ($11.66 billed annually)	Free: 15 reported trips/month, then £8/month	One-off hardware plus CAD 29.95/year map membership
HMRC reports	Yes, built for UK fields	Yes, UK template available	Yes, UK support included	Yes, UK-focused
Platform	iPhone (no Android yet)	iOS and Android	iOS and Android	Windows desktop software, no mobile app
Best for	UK-focused drivers wanting privacy and automation	Users who prefer swipe-to-classify simplicity	Established tracking with fleet options	Windows users wanting phone-free OBD capture

MileTrack

MileTrack is a newer app built specifically around UK and international tax rules. Trip detection runs automatically using GPS and device motion sensors, and every journey is classified as business, commute, or private — matching the distinction HMRC actually cares about.

Reports include all the fields needed for Self Assessment and Mileage Allowance Relief claims: dates, addresses, distances, purposes, vehicle details, and AMAP calculations with threshold splits. The app is currently free to use, so there is no cost barrier to trying it.

MileTrack takes a privacy-first approach — location data stays on-device by default and is not sold or shared with advertisers.

MileIQ

MileIQ is an established swipe-based tracker: swipe right for business, left for personal. The simplicity is appealing, but the two-category model means commute still needs a separate workflow.

The UK template produces reasonable reports, though the product was originally built for a different primary market. Before choosing it, verify the current publisher, pricing, and any free-plan trip caps on the official product page or app-store listing, because those details can change. A dedicated head-to-head with current prices is in the MileIQ alternative guide.

Driversnote

Driversnote has solid UK support. Auto-tracking uses GPS and optional Bluetooth beacons. The app handles HMRC reporting well and includes team management features for small fleets.

Pricing and plan structure vary by current offer, so check the official site before buying. Driversnote has a mature, stable product — the trade-off is that the interface and feature set have not changed dramatically in recent years. For a current-price head-to-head, see the Driversnote alternative guide.

Triplogik

Triplogik is the odd one out here, and worth being precise about: it is a Canadian company (Quebec), and the TL1000 is not a phone app at all. It is an OBD-II logger that plugs into the car’s diagnostic port and records journeys on the device itself, with no phone and no mobile signal involved — which is exactly why it earns a place in this comparison. Phone battery, backgrounding and signal loss, the three failure modes every app in this list has to fight, simply do not apply.

The cost of that is the workflow around it. You read the device with the Manager2 desktop software, which runs on Windows only — no macOS build, no iOS or Android app — and plotting journeys on a map additionally requires an annual TripLogik Map membership at CAD 29.95 per device, on top of the one-off hardware purchase. Hardware and membership prices are listed on triplogik.ca.

For a UK self-assessment filer on a Mac, or anyone who works from a phone, that rules it out. For someone with a Windows PC who wants capture that cannot be lost to a phone problem, it is the only option here that offers it.

HMRC compliance features to check

Beyond the basics, dig into these specifics before choosing:

Edit history and audit trail. If you change a trip classification or distance, does the app keep a record of the original entry? HMRC may want to see that records have not been tampered with after the fact.

Vehicle management. If you use more than one vehicle — say a car and a van — the app should track mileage per vehicle. AMAP rates differ for motorcycles (24p flat) and bicycles (20p flat), so multi-vehicle support matters.

Tax year awareness. The UK tax year runs 6 April to 5 April. Your app should produce reports aligned to this period, not the calendar year. The 10,000-mile AMAP threshold resets each tax year.

Offline recording. Poor mobile signal is common on rural business trips. The app should queue trips locally and sync when connectivity returns, without losing any data.

Auto-detection vs manual logging

Automatic trip detection is the single most important feature for long-term compliance. Here is why.

Manual logging depends on your memory and discipline. In the first week, you will log every trip. By month three, you will forget occasionally. By tax season, you will be estimating a quarter of your journeys. HMRC can reject estimated claims — they want contemporaneous records, meaning logged at or near the time of the journey.

Auto-detection solves this by recording every drive without your input. The trade-off is that you still need to review and classify trips — auto-detection captures movement, not business purpose. The best workflow is automatic capture combined with a weekly review to classify and annotate.

Battery impact varies significantly between apps. Some drain 10-15% of your daily battery; others are barely noticeable. This is another reason to run a real-world trial before committing.

Detection methods compared

Different apps use different mechanisms to detect that you have started driving:

• GPS polling — the app periodically checks your location. Reliable but can drain battery if the polling interval is too short.
• Motion sensors (accelerometer/gyroscope) — the app detects vehicle-like movement before activating GPS, saving battery. MileTrack and some newer apps use this approach.
• Bluetooth beacons — a small device in your car triggers tracking when your phone connects. Driversnote supports this. Reliable, but requires the hardware.
• OBD-II logger — plugs into your car’s diagnostic port and records on the device. Triplogik works this way. Most accurate for vehicle-on/vehicle-off detection, but adds upfront cost, needs a computer to read it out, and does not work in every car.

No single method is perfect. The best apps combine two or more signals to reduce both missed trips and false starts.

How to run a two-week evaluation

Do not pick an app based on screenshots or reviews alone. Run a proper pilot:

1. Install two or three candidates alongside your current process (spreadsheet, paper log, or nothing)
2. Drive normally for two weeks — do not change your routine to suit the app
3. Compare missed-trip rates — how many real business drives did each app fail to capture?
4. Time your weekly review — how long does it take to classify, correct, and annotate all trips in each app?
5. Export a test report — does it contain every field HMRC needs? Can you open and verify it easily?
6. Check battery impact — note your phone battery at the start and end of a typical workday with each app running

The app that captures the most trips with the least manual correction wins. A beautiful dashboard means nothing if you are still reconstructing missing journeys every Friday.

What the free tiers actually allow

“Free” means something different in each of these apps, and the difference is a hard monthly number rather than a matter of features. The competitor rows below come from the vendors’ own pricing pages in September 2026; MileTrack is our own product, so read its row as self-reported rather than verified against a published tariff:

App	Free allowance	What happens at the cap
MileTrack	Unlimited journeys, full PDF, CSV and XLSX exports	No cap to hit
MileIQ	40 drives per month	Further drives need Unlimited, $13.99/month or $11.66 billed annually
Driversnote	15 trips per month can be put into a report; tracking itself keeps running	Reporting beyond 15 needs Pro, £8/month on the UK site
Triplogik	No free tier	One-off hardware, plus CAD 29.95 per device per year for the mapping service

MileIQ prices in US dollars even for UK users; Driversnote runs a UK site and bills in Sterling.

Put that against a real week. A contractor with four site visits a day drives five legs — home out, three hops between sites, home again — so Driversnote’s 15 reportable trips are used up on the third working day, and MileIQ’s 40 drives run out during the second week. The free tiers suit occasional claimants, not anyone whose van is how the work gets done.

That is also the honest boundary of our own “free”: MileTrack is free today with no trip cap, which is a current fact about the product and not a promise about 2027 pricing. Weigh it as such.

Other free-tier restrictions worth checking

A free mileage tracker app can work at low volumes. If you drive fewer than 20 business trips per month, a free tier may cover your needs. But watch for these common restrictions:

• Trip caps: Some free plans cap the number of automatically tracked trips per month. Heavy drivers hit these limits quickly.
• Export limits: Some free plans restrict CSV or PDF exports, forcing you to upgrade at tax time.
• History retention: If the app only keeps six months of history on the free plan, you lose records before you file.
• Delayed features: Free users often get auto-detection with a delay or reduced GPS accuracy.

If mileage claims are a meaningful part of your tax return, the cost of a paid app usually pays for itself many times over in saved time and higher-quality records.

Team and fleet considerations

If you manage a team of drivers — even just two or three field staff — consistency matters more than individual preference. Look for:

• Centralised reporting so you can export one combined report rather than merging individual files
• Shared classification rules so everyone distinguishes business, commute, and private the same way
• Admin dashboards that flag unreviewed trips or missing classifications before month-end
• Per-driver and per-vehicle breakdowns for accurate reimbursement calculations

Driversnote offers team plans, and Triplogik sells multi-device bundles for small fleets. MileTrack is building team features for a future release. Check the current MileIQ product pages if team functionality is part of your decision, because plan packaging can change.

Related UK guides

• HMRC Mileage Rates 2026: 45p and 25p AMAP Rates Explained
• HMRC Mileage Logbook Rules: Recordkeeping Checklist for 2026
• HMRC Mileage Calculator Guide 2026: Split Rates Without Mistakes

MileTrack captures journeys automatically, classifies them as business, commute, or private, and exports claim-ready reports with all the fields HMRC expects. Full details on the UK mileage tracker product page, and the app itself is free on the App Store.

Tax note: educational content only, not tax advice.