Here's the IRS math you probably already know but don't act on: the standard mileage deduction for 2025 is 70 cents per mile for business driving. If you drive 10,000 business miles a year - not unusual for a contractor, consultant, real estate agent, or anyone who visits clients - that's a $7,000 deduction.
Most people lose that money because they don't track.
Smart Miles launched on Product Hunt on May 22nd with one goal: make tracking automatic enough that you'll actually do it. The app hit #1 for the day.
How It Works
You install it, give it location permissions, and it runs in the background. Every time you drive, it logs the trip automatically - GPS-tracked, road-snapped, with the route recorded.
You then swipe to classify: business or personal. Takes two seconds. You can set rules for frequent routes so you don't have to classify the same trip every week - commute to a regular client site, for example, can be auto-tagged as business.
At the end of the quarter or year, you export an IRS-compliant CSV filtered by date, vehicle, or purpose. Hand it to your accountant or drop it into your tax software.
What Stands Out
A few things separate this from the pile of mileage apps that already exist.
It's actually free. Smart Miles gives you 40 trips per month at no cost, no credit card, no subscription. For a lot of freelancers and part-time self-employed people, that's enough. Full tracking costs less than MileIQ or Everlance - worth comparing if you drive more.
No account required. Your data stays on your device. There's no cloud sync and no login. If privacy is a concern, that's meaningful - especially given how much gig economy apps have been criticized for harvesting location data.
Real deduction estimates. The app shows you the dollar value of each trip as you classify it, and projects your end-of-year deduction based on the last 90 days of driving patterns. That number on the screen is motivating in a way that abstract "track your miles" advice isn't.
The Math (Because the Math Is the Point)
At 70 cents per mile:
- 5,000 miles/year - $3,500 deduction
- 10,000 miles/year - $7,000 deduction
- 15,000 miles/year - $10,500 deduction
If you're in the 22% tax bracket, a $7,000 deduction is worth about $1,540 in actual tax savings. That's a few months of software subscriptions, a decent piece of equipment, or just money you keep.
The IRS requires contemporaneous mileage records - meaning you're supposed to log trips as they happen, not reconstruct them from memory at tax time. An auto-tracking app that runs continuously is the only realistic way to actually do that.
Who This Is For
- Freelancers and consultants who drive to clients
- Real estate agents, photographers, event vendors - anyone who drives for work regularly
- Gig workers on platforms like DoorDash, Instacart, or TaskRabbit
- Small business owners who use personal vehicles for business errands
- Anyone who has been meaning to track mileage but hasn't found a system that sticks
Quick Note on Alternatives
MileIQ (from Microsoft) is the market leader. It works well but costs $5.99/month after a trial. Everlance and Stride are also solid, with Stride focused on gig workers and free to use. Smart Miles' main differentiator is the zero-account, privacy-first approach - your data never leaves your phone.
If you're already on MileIQ and happy, there's no urgent reason to switch. But if you've never set up a mileage tracker because it felt like one more account and one more subscription, Smart Miles makes that objection disappear.
Find it: Smart Miles on Product Hunt - App Store - Google Play