Car Expense & Mileage Tracker App: What Covr Logs and the Alternatives
A mileage tracker app records the miles you drive for work or taxes, and most leading apps cap their free plans: MileIQ's App Store listing allows 40 free drives a month and Everlance's allows 30 automatic trips. The Covr app does a different job: it logs fuel, repair and other car expenses.
Covr does not record trips by GPS or create IRS mileage reports. The Covr app keeps your car costs, a maintenance history with mileage and reminders, and your vehicle documents in one Android app. This page explains where Covr fits and which car mileage tracker apps do the trip logging.
Last reviewed: October 9, 2026 · Covr editorial team
At a glance
- What a mileage app does: logs each drive by GPS or manual entry and sorts trips into business and personal.
- Free plans: Driversnote allows 15 trips a month, Everlance 30 automatic trips and MileIQ 40 drives; Stride is free with unlimited trips.
- What a tax log needs: date, miles driven, destination and the business purpose of each trip.
- IRS rate: IRS.gov lists 76 cents per business mile for July 1 to December 31, 2026, up from 72.5 cents in the first half of the year, so date every trip in your log.
- What the Covr app logs: fuel, repair and other car expenses, plus a maintenance history with mileage and reminders.
- What Covr does not do: automatic trip detection, IRS mileage reports or receipt scanning.
What a Mileage Tracker App Does
A mileage tracker app tracks your mileage automatically: the app logs every drive with your phone's GPS, records the miles, and lets you mark each trip as business or personal for tax deductions or reimbursement.
Automatic Mileage Tracker Apps
An automatic mileage tracker detects drives on its own: the app runs in the background, uses your phone's GPS and motion sensors to start and stop each trip, and logs the miles without a tap. MileIQ, Everlance, Stride, Driversnote and TripLog all offer automatic tracking.
Manual Logging and Beacon Devices
A manual mileage log is the fallback when automatic detection is off or missing; The Rideshare Guy reports that MileIQ's drive detection starts only after about 0.5 miles. Manual apps need you to tap start and stop or type the distance, so a missed tap means missed miles. Driversnote and TripLog also sell a small beacon that sits in the car and starts each log only when your phone is near it, which Forbes Advisor says reduces battery drain. Beacons help here. If you want the best mileage tracking device rather than a phone-only setup, Forbes Advisor points to the TripLog Drive, which stores trips offline. Many states regulate handheld phone use while driving, so set the app up before you leave rather than tapping it on the road.
What a Mileage Log Must Include
A mileage log that holds up for taxes records 4 items for every business trip: the date, the miles driven, the destination and the business purpose, as Google's AI summary of IRS rules lists them. Dedicated mileage apps export these logs as PDF or CSV files. IRS Publication 463 explains the federal recordkeeping regulations for car expenses, and a licensed tax professional can confirm what your situation needs. A mileage app only records trips; it cannot decide which miles you may deduct.
Can Your Phone Log Mileage Without an App?
A phone can measure distance with its built-in GPS, but a phone without an app does not keep a business mileage log. Drivers who skip apps keep a spreadsheet with start and end odometer readings, a Google Form that feeds a Google Sheet, or a paper logbook in the glove box, Google's People Also Ask answers note. An electronic mileage log in an app replaces all 3 and adds the totals for you.
Covr Car Expense Tracker: What It Logs
Unlike a mileage tracker app, the Covr app logs 3 kinds of car expenses (fuel, repairs and other costs) and keeps a maintenance history with mileage and reminders, according to its Google Play description.
What You Can Do in the Covr App
The Covr app handles 4 jobs for car owners:
- Log fuel, repair and other vehicle expenses.
- Keep a maintenance history with mileage and reminders.
- Save your insurance card, registration and other vehicle documents on your phone.
- Request car insurance quotes from partner insurance companies.
Covr does not issue policies or set prices: quotes come from partner insurance companies licensed by state insurance regulators, and those partners may contact you by phone, as explained on how Covr works.
What Covr Does Not Do
Covr is not a business mileage log. Be clear on that. Vehicle mileage tracking for business trips needs a dedicated app. The Covr app does not detect trips by GPS, classify drives as business or personal, scan receipts or produce IRS-ready mileage reports. If you need those features, use a dedicated mileage app from the comparison below and keep Covr for your car costs.
Using Covr Alongside a Mileage App
A Covr expense log and a dedicated mileage app work well together. The vehicle mileage tracker records trips and the business share of your driving; the Covr app records what the car cost you in fuel, repairs and maintenance, with mileage noted in the maintenance history. Together the 2 logs give you both halves of the picture when you or your tax professional compare the standard mileage rate with actual expenses.
Fuel Tracking App: Logging Fill-Ups
Fuel tracking app: the Covr app logs fuel expenses for your car, along with repair costs and other vehicle expenses, on your Android phone. Used as a fuel tracker, Covr keeps each fill-up next to your repair bills.
Gas Mileage Tracker: Working Out MPG
Gas mileage tracker: record the odometer and the gallons at each fill-up, then divide miles driven by gallons to get your car's fuel economy in miles per gallon. Covr's Google Play description does not list a miles-per-gallon calculator, so keep the odometer readings with your fuel entries. Write both numbers down.
How to Start Logging Car Expenses in Covr
Covr costs $0 to download on Google Play. Install the Covr car app for quotes and records, log your next fuel purchase or repair bill, and add your last service and its mileage to the maintenance history.
Best Mileage Tracking Apps Compared
The best mileage tracking app for most drivers is one that tracks mileage automatically and fits their trip count: MileIQ for simple swipe classification, Everlance for mileage plus expenses, Stride for a free app with unlimited trips.
Comparison of 6 Mileage Apps and Covr
According to Covr's October 9, 2026 review of 2 App Store listings, Stride's website and 3 published reviews (Forbes Advisor, Bench and The Rideshare Guy), free plans among the 6 apps below range from 15 trips a month to unlimited trips. That table is a compilation of what each source states, not a hands-on test. Prices change often.
| App | Free option | How it records miles | Expense records | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MileIQ | 40 drives a month | Automatic GPS detection, swipe to classify | Mileage only | App Store listing; Bench. |
| Everlance | 30 automatic trips a month plus manual recording | Automatic background recording | Manual receipts on Starter; card linking on Professional | App Store listing. |
| Stride | Free, unlimited trips | Automatic logging with log reminders | Income and expenses | Stride website; The Rideshare Guy. |
| Driversnote | 15 trips a month | Automatic GPS or iBeacon device | Limited; export-focused | Forbes Advisor; Bench. |
| TripLog | Free version with automatic logging | Automatic, Bluetooth or plug-in start; beacon device | Fuel, parking and tolls | The Rideshare Guy; Forbes Advisor. |
| Zoho Expense | Free plan for up to 3 users | GPS, distance, map points or odometer readings | Receipt scans and expense reports | Bench; The Rideshare Guy. |
| Covr | Free to download on Google Play | Does not record trips; notes mileage in the maintenance history | Fuel, repair and other car expenses | Google Play description. |
MileIQ
MileIQ is the app most reviews start with: its App Store listing reports 114K ratings at 4.8 stars, automatic GPS logging and IRS-compliant reports. Classifying is quick. You swipe right to mark a drive as business and left for personal. The free plan covers 40 drives a month; The Rideshare Guy lists the paid plan at $8.99 a month or $90 a year. Bench notes MileIQ only counts miles and offers no expense calculation. Expenses live elsewhere.
Everlance
Everlance combines a mileage log with expense records. Its App Store listing describes a free Basic plan with manual mileage recording, 30 automatic trips a month and reports, while the Starter and Professional plans add unlimited automatic recording and come with a free 7-day trial. The Rideshare Guy lists Starter at $69.99 a year or $8.99 a month and Professional at $99.99 a year. Automatic recording needs location and motion permissions on your phone. Allow both.
Stride
Stride is the free mileage app most often named for unlimited use: The Rideshare Guy describes it as free with unlimited, automated trip recording. Stride's own site describes automatic mileage logging, reminders to log trips and IRS-ready expense reports you can hand to an accountant, but notes you cannot file taxes directly through the app.
Driversnote, TripLog and Zoho Expense
Driversnote's app includes 15 free trips a month, per Forbes Advisor, and its optional iBeacon starts logs only when your phone is near the car. TripLog's free version includes automatic logging and basic expense records, The Rideshare Guy reports, and Forbes Advisor notes it also covers fuel, parking and tolls. Zoho Expense, per Bench, has a free plan for up to 3 users. Bench rates it best for teams.
Mileage Tracking Software for Teams
Mileage tracking software for teams, such as Zoho Expense, QuickBooks Online and TripLog, adds admin dashboards, approvals and accounting integrations to the mileage tracking app drivers use on their phones. Forbes Advisor lists QuickBooks Online at $19 a month for 3 months, then $38 a month. A mileage tracking system for a company is often priced per user: Bench lists Zoho Expense's Standard plan at $4 per user per month with a 3-user minimum, a per-user mileage tracking program for small offices.
Free Mileage Tracker Options: What Free Means
Free mileage tracker plans come in 3 forms: fully free apps, free tiers with a monthly trip cap, and free trials of paid plans.
Free mileage tracker tiers and the paid plans above them compare as follows, with each price from the source in the last column, as reviewed by Covr on October 9, 2026.
| App | Free tier | Paid plan or trial | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| MileIQ | 40 drives/month | $8.99/month or $90/year | App Store listing; The Rideshare Guy |
| Everlance | 30 automatic trips/month | Starter $69.99/year or $8.99/month; Professional $99.99/year; 7-day trial | App Store listing; The Rideshare Guy |
| Driversnote | 15 trips/month | Not listed | Forbes Advisor |
| Zoho Expense | Up to 3 users | Standard $4/user/month, 3-user minimum | Bench |
| QuickBooks Online | None listed | $19/month for 3 months, then $38/month | Forbes Advisor |
| MileageWise | None listed | 14-day free trial | Search listing |
Completely Free Options
Among the apps in our snapshot, only Stride gets described by reviewers as completely free with unlimited trips. Spreadsheets, Google Forms and a paper logbook cost nothing too, but you have to write down every odometer reading yourself. That is slow work.
Free Tiers With Trip Caps
Free tier apps cap trips per month: 15 on Driversnote, 30 automatic trips on Everlance and 40 drives on MileIQ, according to the sources in the comparison table. A full-time rideshare or delivery driver will pass those limits quickly, The Rideshare Guy notes, while a driver with a few client visits a week may never need to pay. Count your trips first.
Best Free Mileage App for iPhone
The best free mileage app for iPhone depends on your trip count: Stride is free with unlimited trips on iPhone and Android, MileIQ's free iPhone plan covers 40 drives a month, and Everlance's covers 30 automatic trips.
Free Trials of Paid Plans
Paid apps often start with a trial instead of a free tier. Read the terms. MileageWise offers a 14-day free trial, per its search listing, and Everlance's paid plans include a 7-day trial. Cancel before that trial ends if you do not want to be charged.
Mileage Tracker for Taxes and Work
A mileage tracker for taxes matters because the IRS standard mileage rate turns each business mile you record into a deduction.
The IRS Standard Mileage Rate
The IRS standard mileage rate, which mileage apps use to estimate deductions, changes every tax year. Check it yearly. Everlance's App Store listing, captured October 9, 2026, quotes the current rate as 76 cents per mile, so 1,000 business miles equal a $760 deduction at that rate. Bench lists 65.5 cents for tax year 2023 and 67 cents for 2024. Confirm the rate for your tax year on IRS.gov before you file. Never rely on an app's built-in rate alone.
The IRS standard mileage rate changed in the middle of 2026, so the date of each trip matters: IRS.gov lists 72.5 cents per business mile for January 1 to June 30, 2026 and 76 cents from July 1 to December 31, 2026 (checked October 10, 2026).
| Period (IRS.gov) | Business | Medical or military moving | Charity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 70 cents | 21 cents | 14 cents |
| Jan. 1 – June 30, 2026 | 72.5 cents | 20.5 cents | 14 cents |
| July 1 – Dec. 31, 2026 | 76 cents | 23.5 cents | 14 cents |
By Covr's arithmetic on the IRS rates, 1,000 business miles driven before July 1, 2026 are worth $725 and the same 1,000 miles driven after July 1 are worth $760, a $35 difference that only a dated mileage log captures.
Commuting Miles Are Not Deductible
A tax mileage log should leave out commuting: miles from home to your first work stop and from your last stop back home are generally personal, Google's AI summary of the rules notes, because IRS regulations treat commuting as personal driving. Drives between 2 work locations, to clients or for work errands are the miles to mark as business. Those count.
Standard Mileage Rate vs Actual Expenses
The actual expense method deducts the business share of real car costs, such as fuel, repairs and insurance, so it needs an expense log rather than only a trip log. Forbes Advisor notes that Hurdlr compares the 2 methods, and The Rideshare Guy says QuickBooks Self-Employed recommends whichever deduction is larger. Either way, you need a record of what the car cost, and that is where an expense log such as Covr helps. Ask a licensed tax professional which method fits your situation.
Work Mileage Tracker
A work mileage tracker logs the miles you drive for your job: the app records each work trip, separates it from personal driving, and sends approved work miles to your manager for reimbursement or into a log for taxes.
Employer Reimbursement Rules
Employer reimbursement rules that apply to a work mileage log come from your employer's policy and, in some states, from state law. California Labor Code section 2802, for example, is a state law that requires employers to reimburse necessary work expenses. Ask HR first.
How to Choose a Mileage Tracker App
Choosing a mileage tracker app comes down to 5 checks, made in this order before you subscribe.
- Recording method: pick an app with automatic background detection if you drive daily, or manual entry if you log a few trips a month.
- Free limit: count your trips in a typical month and compare them with each plan's cap; trials run 14 days on MileageWise and 7 days on Everlance's paid plans.
- Reports: make sure the export shows date, miles, destination and purpose as a PDF or CSV.
- Battery and permissions: automatic recording needs location and motion permissions and can drain the battery; a beacon device helps, Forbes Advisor notes.
- Expenses: decide whether you want fuel, repair and other car costs in the same place or in a separate expense log.
iPhone Mileage Tracker Apps
iPhone mileage tracker apps include MileIQ, Everlance and Stride, all on the App Store; MileIQ's listing says it tracks drives automatically with GPS running in the background on iPhone.
Android Mileage Apps and Ratings
Android and iPhone versions exist for most mileage apps: The Rideshare Guy lists App Store and Google Play ratings for every pick in its review, such as MileIQ at 4.7 on iOS and 4.4 on Google Play. Check the rating and the latest reviews on your own platform, because one product can work differently on each. For a free Android mileage tracker, Stride and Everlance both have Google Play listings, and Stride is free with unlimited trips.
Privacy and Location Data
Privacy matters with any mileage app that follows your location, because such apps record where you go. Everlance states that automatic recording needs location and motion permissions you can switch off. The company also says your data is never shared or sold. Read each developer's privacy policy and the App Store privacy label before you allow background location. California's privacy regulations also let residents ask a company to delete the personal data it holds.
Car Expenses Worth Recording
Car expenses in a good expense log fall into 2 groups: variable costs that grow with every mile and fixed costs you pay whether you drive or not.
Variable Vehicle Expenses
Variable vehicle expenses worth a log entry include fuel, oil changes, tires, repairs and routine maintenance, plus parking and tolls on work drives. A maintenance schedule shows when each service is due, so you can budget for it. Writing down each fill-up with the odometer reading shows what fuel costs you and how far the car goes between fill-ups. Keep every receipt.
Fixed Auto Expenses
Fixed auto expenses that belong in the same log include insurance, registration, loan or lease payments and depreciation. Registration fees and minimum insurance limits are set by state law, so those costs differ from state to state. Insurance is often the biggest of these costs: full coverage averaged $2,508 a year in a September 2026 U.S. News analysis. Keeping fixed and variable costs in one record shows your own average monthly car expenses, which a national average cannot.
Sources and Methodology
Our methodology: every figure on this page was last reviewed by Covr on October 9, 2026 against the source named next to it. Those sources are the IRS standard mileage rates page (checked October 10, 2026), the MileIQ and Everlance App Store listings, Stride's website, Forbes Advisor's mileage review (audited March 2, 2026), Bench's mileage guide, The Rideshare Guy's mileage review (updated June 15, 2026), Google's AI summary and People Also Ask answers for the query, the U.S. News September 2026 auto insurance cost analysis, and the Covr listing on Google Play. Covr is not a tax adviser and is not licensed to give tax advice. The comparison table is our compilation of what those sources state, not a hands-on test; prices and free limits change, so check each store listing before you subscribe. Written and fact-checked by the Covr Editorial Team under our editorial policy. This page is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice; deductions depend on your tax situation and the rules for your tax year. Read our editorial policy, our privacy policy or contact us with a correction.
Questions About Mileage and Expense Records
Is there a completely free mileage tracker?
Yes, one app qualifies: The Rideshare Guy and Stride's own site describe Stride as completely free with unlimited trips. Most other options offer a capped free tier, such as 40 drives a month on MileIQ.
Does Covr record mileage automatically?
No, the Covr app does not detect trips by GPS. You note mileage in the maintenance history and enter fuel, repair and other expenses yourself.
What does a mileage log need for taxes?
A tax mileage log needs the date, miles driven, destination and business purpose of each trip. Check IRS Publication 463 or a licensed tax professional for the full rules.
Can I use Covr for my tax deduction?
Covr's expense records can help you see real car costs, but Covr does not create IRS mileage reports. Use a dedicated mileage app for the trip log, and ask a licensed tax professional which records you need.
Which option is best for gig drivers?
Gig and delivery drivers usually need an app with automatic recording with no low monthly cap, because free tiers of 15 to 40 trips run out fast. Compare Stride, Everlance and MileIQ on your own platform. Test two apps.