These Apps Can Help Track Your Mileage On Waze - Here's How

Launched in 2009, Waze is a free, crowd-sourced driving navigation app owned by Google that relies on real-time data provided by drivers for information on road hazards, traffic conditions, and other useful updates.

But while Waze is considered by experts to be one of the best navigation apps around, and better than Google Maps for many reasons, some users dislike Waze due to factors such as its limited offline functionality, distracting alerts, background data collection, and inability to automatically track mileage.

While Waze can track your driving mileage, it requires users to have the Waze app open, and doesn't allow you to distinguish between personal and business miles — which is important for those who need to track business miles for IRS mileage expense records. However, there are several free apps that work — or integrate directly with — Waze, allowing you to automatically track the mileage of your work and personal journeys.

Waze can track your mileage in the background, but you need to have the app open and running for it to do so. In addition, to actually see your mileage, you need to open your Waze account's dashboard, which allows you to view your personal information and statistics, including how many Waze Points you've earned.

On the dashboard, you'll find your mileage statistics under the 'My Driving Stats' section. This section features a 'Driven Miles' figure, which tells you the number of miles you've driven with the app open. It also tells you your 'Paved Miles,' the distance you've driven using the app's 'Pave road' function, and 'Munched Feet,' which is the distance you've driven on unconfirmed roads.

However, this 'Driven Miles' figure is all-encompassing, showing you the overall miles or kilometers you've driven with the Waze app open, and therefore doesn't distinguish between individual journeys or whether a trip was personal or business. As such, it can't store or generate the supporting mileage expense records required by the IRS for deductions and reimbursements. Fortunately, there are free apps that work with Waze that can help track your mileage, and even allow you to create separate reports for business mileage.

AutoMiles is a completely free mileage tracking app that lets you log and categorize every drive (business, commute or personal), without limiting your number of trips or requiring a subscription fee. You can also export your mileage log and GPS routes for your own records or IRS purposes.

Everlance is another option that's particularly useful for freelancers and small business owners, as it automatically tracks your mileage and categorizes your trips, with users able to download IRS-compliant mileage logs. This app also works as a general expense tracker, allowing you to upload receipts and input expenses for inclusion in your IRS-ready report. While Everlance's free plan lets you automatically track 30 trips a month, a paid subscription is needed to access reports, and unlimited automatic tracking, with prices starting at $10.99 a month.

Neither of these apps integrate directly with Waze, but can run alongside it in the background. If you want an app that integrates with Waze, MileageWise may be a better alternative, as it allows you to navigate with Waze while simultaneously recording your mileage. To do this, open MileageWise and select 'Add new trip,' then select 'Pre-save & Navigate with Waze' from the options menu. When you arrive at your destination, Waze notifies MileageWise, and the latter records the mileage for that journey — which you can then categorize. MileageWise isn't entirely free, but offers a 14-day free trial before users require a subscription — with a yearly subscription starting from $222.22.