TripLog vs TradesTimer
What TripLog is
A mileage-first tracking platform serving both individual tax-deduction needs and corporate team reimbursement workflows.
Best for: Professionals and businesses needing comprehensive mileage logs for reimbursement and those managing fleets or team-based expense reporting.
Pricing at a glance
$4.99 FREEMIUM
Genuinely free single-user tier with unlimited automatic GPS mileage; Premium $4.99/mo billed annually.
Verified 2026-06-08
$0 FREE — FULL APP
Where TripLog is strong
- Large-scale user base of over 1 million users
- Supports team-based reimbursement and expense management
Where TripLog falls short for trades
- Users must navigate a mileage-first interface where time tracking is a secondary feature
- Users must manage expense-focused logs rather than viewing a reconstructed workday of stops and trips
TripLog problems, in users' own words
These aren't our words — they're from public threads written by people using TripLog (or shopping for a way out). Each quote links to the original discussion.
I also tried a few free ones such as TripLog but it seems very finicky and also very USD oriented, so I'm never sure if the amounts will be correct; even if I enter the number in CAD, it summarizes reports in USD for some reason...
A mileage log you don't trust is a log you'll redo by hand. TradesTimer is Canadian-built and hands you plain distances and dates — your accountant applies whichever rate applies.
This year i tracked my mileage using TripLog, also my first year of “manually” tracking miles for work. I’ve been struggling to figure out a simple way to get a “report” to my financial planner/accountant
The whole point of a year of tracking is the report at the end. If getting it out is a support question, the tool has failed at the finish line.
Why I built a TripLog alternative
TripLog is a serious mileage tool — auto-start options, fuel, expense capture — aimed at people whose deduction is the whole game. In the trades, mileage is half the game. The other half is what happened between the drives: the four hours at the reno, the ninety minutes on the service call.
I tracked both halves on paper for years and the stops leaked worse than the drives. One app that logs the full day — drives with distances, stops with durations, all on-device — is the version of this I actually needed on the tools.
What TradesTimer does differently
- Uses background GPS to automatically differentiate between 'stops' and 'trips' without manual timers
- Keeps all location data strictly on-device with no account or cloud sync required
The verdict
TripLog is a robust, mileage-centric solution for users focused on reimbursement and team management. TradesTimer is a specialized, zero-config tool for solo tradespeople that reconstructs workdays and mileage from background GPS.
Page last verified 2026-06-08. If TripLog has changed pricing or features since then and this page is stale, email support@tradestimer.com and we'll fix it.
Free. The whole app.
The whole time-tracking app is free — no trial, no feature gate, no ads, no per-user fees. (Encrypted cloud backup is on the roadmap.)
- Automatic day reconstruction from background GPS
- Unlimited stops, drives, and days
- Review and edit any block
- Rounded billable-hours summary, shareable as plain text
- Automatic mileage log, exportable for taxes
- 7-day summary view
- All location data stays on your device
Your location history stays on your phone.
There is no TradesTimer server storing your location trails. No account. No sign-up. Your GPS history lives on the device that recorded it — for as long as you want it. The only time anything leaves your phone is when you choose to share your billable-hours summary yourself.
The app does not talk to any third-party service with your location. Nothing about where you've been is uploaded anywhere. See the privacy policy for the full detail.