i. compare
Laura vs MileIQ.
MileIQ is a long-standing mileage-tracking app. It runs in the background on your phone, detects drives automatically using GPS, and lets you swipe each one as business or personal. It's built for people who drive a lot for work and want the logging to happen without thinking about it.
Laura is a UK-focused expense and mileage tracker. Mileage is one of two things it does; the other is receipts. Journeys are entered by hand or imported, costed at HMRC rates by default, and live alongside your expenses in a single ledger you can export. It's for self-employed people who'd rather log a trip in fifteen seconds than carry a battery-draining tracker.
| Feature | MileIQ | Laura |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing (at time of writing) | Around £6 / month for unlimited; check their site | £4.99 / month (20 AI cleanups) or £85 / year all-in |
| Free tier | Limited free drives per month | 14-day free trial, no card |
| Auto mileage tracking | Yes, GPS background detection | No — manual or imported entries |
| Manual mileage logging | Yes | Yes — from, to, distance, rate, total |
| Receipt capture | No | Yes — photo or forwarded email; vendor, total, VAT, date extracted |
| HMRC rates built in | Configurable | Yes — UK tiers by default |
| Export formats | CSV, PDF | CSV, Excel, PDF |
| Platform | Native iOS and Android apps | Web app and PWA — installs from the browser on iOS and Android |
| UK focus | International, with UK rates as an option | UK-first |
| Data ownership | Cloud account; export available | Cloud account; export to CSV/Excel/PDF on demand |
Pricing changes — confirm current rates on each provider's website.
When MileIQ is the better choice.
If you drive every day, do hundreds of business miles a week, and don't want to think about logging at all, MileIQ earns its monthly fee. Background GPS tracking with a swipe-to-classify gesture is genuinely faster than typing a journey, and the audit trail is solid. If mileage is the whole problem and receipts are handled elsewhere — by an accountant, by a different app, or not at all — MileIQ does that one job well. Field engineers, sales reps and delivery drivers tend to land here.
When Laura is the better choice.
If you want mileage and receipts in one place, costed in £, exportable to your accountant, and you'd rather not pay £6 a month or run a battery-draining tracker, Laura is a better fit. A typical Laura user is a self-employed UK sole trader doing a handful of business journeys a week, capturing receipts as they go, and wanting a clean Self Assessment-ready export at year-end. Plans start at £4.99 a month and there's a 14-day trial without a card.
Switching from MileIQ to Laura.
Export your MileIQ drives to CSV from their web dashboard. Start a Laura trial, set the HMRC rates (45p / 25p for cars and vans by default, or change them from settings), and add journeys as you go. There's no bulk-import wizard — keep the MileIQ export as your historical record for the current tax year, then run Laura forward from your switch date. At year-end you'll have one MileIQ export for the months before and one Laura export for the months after.
ii.
Questions.
Does Laura track drives automatically with GPS?
No. Laura is built around quick manual entry — from, to, distance, rate, total — rather than continuous background tracking. If you need automatic detection, MileIQ is the better fit.
Can I import my MileIQ history into Laura?
There's no automatic importer. Most people keep their MileIQ CSV as the record for the months they were on MileIQ and run Laura forward from the switch date.
Does Laura handle the 10,000-mile threshold?
Yes. Cars and vans default to 45p for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year and 25p after that. The rates are editable.
Can I export to my accountant?
Yes. CSV, Excel and PDF. Mileage and receipts come out as one tidy export or filtered however you need.
See the mileage calculator or start a 14-day trial. No card needed.