5 Best Route Planner Apps For iPhone

If you’re a delivery driver, sales rep, service technician, or just have a lot of places to visit every day, you know how hard it can be to work out the most efficient route for getting around all your stops. But what if you could create optimized routes for multi-stop trips with the tap of a button? 

With a route planning app, you can do just that — and for iOS users, there’s no shortage of mobile apps that can help you plan the best route. That means less time on the road, less distance traveled, a lower gas bill and lower maintenance costs. 

But which apps are worth your time? Some apps are easier to use, others are better at optimizing routes. Finding the right solution can be a challenge. At Routific route planning is what we do for a living, so we’ve tried them all — and in this article we’ll review our favorite route planner apps on the App Store.  

First, it’s worth reviewing the difference between route planners and navigation apps.

Route planners vs navigation apps

Route planners, GPS navigation apps — what’s the difference? They’re all the same, right? Not necessarily.

• Navigation apps offer driving directions for the fastest route from point A to point B, often taking real-time traffic data into account.
• Route planner apps create the most efficient route between multiple stops.

Google Maps, Waze, and Apple Maps are all examples of popular navigation apps. They can act as route planners, too, but only in the most basic way. They won’t help you find the most efficient route. 

If your goal is to get directions to a new restaurant or a friend’s house, navigation apps like Google Maps are ideal. But if you need to plan the most cost-effective, efficient routes for 10 stops or more, a dedicated route planning app is a better option.

Route planners can be used for so much more than just planning delivery routes. You can find dedicated planner apps for:

• Outdoor activities: In our running route review, we share some excellent apps for planning your runs, including Map My Run, Footpath, and Strava.
• Travel: With road trip planners like Wanderlog, Roadtrippers, MapQuest, and ViaMichelin, you can plan your trip with multiple stops and find points of interest along the way.

But for this guide, we’re going to focus on route planner apps that you can use to create more efficient driving routes and delivery routes right from your iPhone.

The top 5 best route planner apps for iPhone

We tested each route planner using the same five locations in Vancouver, Canada. We looked for ease of use, speed, quality of routes, and value-added features like proof of delivery. 

Here’s what we found:

1. Circuit Route Planner

Circuit Route Planner was designed specifically for delivery drivers. You can easily:

• Add stops
• Delete stops
• Re-optimize stops

Signing up for an account takes just a few seconds. Use your email address, or sign in with an Apple or Google account.

To help you get started, Circuit has a quick and useful tutorial. The interface is user-friendly, so you can start creating routes right away. Route optimization takes seconds — just enter your stops and tap the optimize button. 

Adding stops is easy enough, but Android users do have an advantage — they can import spreadsheets. Circuit does make it quick and easy to find addresses with its search, and there’s a hands-free voice entry option as well. 

While Circuit doesn’t have a built-in navigation system, it does give you the option to use your preferred navigation app you prefer: Apple Maps, Google Maps, HEREWeGo, or Waze. 

The app provides real-time ETAs, so you know when you’ll arrive.

Circuit’s free trial option allows you to add up to 10 stops. A $20 per month Premium subscription gets you unlimited stops.

Cost: Free up to 10 stops; $19.99/month for Premium.

App Store Rating: 4.7

Additional Features: Set delivery time windows. Package finder feature to quickly locate packages in your van. 

Caption: Route4Me allows you to add stops using voice navigation and optimize routes based on unique aspects of your business.

2. Route4Me

Route4Me is a route planning tool that’s used by thousands of delivery drivers, including those working for Canada Post, UPS, FedEx, DHL, and more. Advanced route planning allows you to make real-time adjustments on the fly.

Creating an account takes just a few seconds, and adding stops is just as easy. Upload addresses from a spreadsheet, or use the voice feature to search for your destinations. 

I like that they offer a variety of optimization options based on different aspects of your business, including:

• Labor laws
• Driver skill
• Service time
• Vehicle capacity
• Curbside delivery
• Recurring routes
• And more

To start creating a route, just tap the “+ Add New Route” button. Give your route a name, choose a schedule and select your optimization preference — shortest time or shortest time with traffic.

To save time, you can import stops from an Excel file.

After you’ve added your stops, use the “Hold to Plan Route” button to start generating your route.

Once you’ve planned and optimized your route, you can use your favorite navigation app to get turn-by-turn directions to each destination. Route4Me is compatible with Google Maps, Waze, and other apps.

Overall, I found Route4Me to be a speedy, user-friendly app that will save you time.

Cost: Free up to 10 stops; then $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year.

App Store Rating: 4.5

Additional Features: Pickup and dropoff planning, curbside delivery locations, recurring routing, voice navigation, proof of delivery, and barcode scanning.

3. RoadWarrior

RoadWarrior makes it easy to optimize routes, with option to choose either the fastest route or the shortest route.  

I found the app’s interface a bit dated, but navigating around was easy enough. The app is reliable, speedy and user-friendly overall. There’s no way to sign up using your Google or Apple account, so you’ll need to create a username and password.

To add stops, just enter the address to search for your destination or enter the coordinates. Tap the pin icon to add the stop to your route.

Under the free plan, you can add up to eight stops. 

Optimization can be a little tricky and clunky. You’ll need to order your stops first, and then, you can tap the Optimize button. 

When I optimized our route, it took just a few seconds. RoadWarrior does say that optimization can take a few minutes, so if you have a lot of stops, it may take a little longer for you.

I found RoadWarrior to be reliable and easy to use. The design could use an update, but delivery drivers and route managers should have no problem using this app to optimize their routes.

Cost: Free up to eight stops, then $14.99 per month or $99 per year. There is a limit of 120 stops.

App Store Rating: 4.6

Additional Features: Stop check-in

4. Upper

Upper is designed for multi-stop route optimization, with 6a free trial and multiple payment tiers. Users can add up to 250 stops at once, with an easy import option for CSV and Excel files. You can:

• Select vehicle type
• Add driver notes
• Attach proof of delivery
• Export to Garmin
• Notify customers of your ETA

Adding and editing stops is easy.

You can select your preferred navigation map, including Google and Apple Maps, Waze, Maps.me, and Yandex. 

The free route planner app trial does not allow you to edit routes, which limits functionality.

Advanced features allow you to add a travel time and window and log proof of delivery. You can even set stop priority. Built-in algorithms allow for fast route optimization, even on the free version of the app.

Route planning summaries are available on the higher tier, which allows you to see how much time you’ve saved using the app.

Upper doesn’t work offline, but as users on the App Store note, the developer is quick to provide bug fixes to keep the app running well.

Cost: Free trial for three days. Pro plans are $19.99 per month or $189.99 per year. There’s also a weekly option at $4.99.

App Store Rating: 4.5

Additional Features: One-click dispatch options, proof of delivery, customer notification options, API integration, GPS tracking, and easy report generation.

5. Zeo

Zeo’s power comes with the ability to create routes, auto-assign new route stops, and track entire fleets in the maps app. You can save up to two hours per trip, and it takes less than 15 minutes to create routes.

Ease of use is a strength for Zeo, which supports multiple languages and makes it easy to:

• Register using Google, Apple, or email
• Import routes from Excel or add them manually
• End-to-end management for small business fleets

Thousands of businesses use Zeo to manage 300,000 drivers in 150 countries. FedEx, DHL, UPS, and 10,000+ other businesses trust the platform’s no-hassle navigation and real-time updates to customers.

You can even share your live location with customers.

Zeo Route planner makes it easy to add stops using addresses and even QR codes. Ideal for multiple deliveries and stops, you can optimize hundreds of stops in minutes with Zeo.

Navigation is customizable, allowing you to use Here We Go, Baidu, Waze, Apple Maps, Google Maps, Tom Tom, and Sygic.

Free plans are limited to 12 stops for each route, but you can add an unlimited number of routes.

Cost: Free plan up to 12 stops. A monthly pass is $14.99. There’s a weekly option at $4.99, and an annual option at $149.99.

App Store Rating: 4.5

Additional Features: Live track for all drivers in a fleet, auto assign stops, real-time ETA, voice search, and more.

Are route planner apps worth the cost?

Route planners are worth it! Think about how time you spend planning and driving — and how much you spend in gas costs every month. Route planners can save an average 20% on distance and fuel. If you’re driving over 100 miles a month, a $20 per month route planner will pay for itself quickly. 

Why isn’t Routific on this list?

We didn’t include our own driver app app in this list because we don’t offer a standalone route planner for mobile yet. To use Routific, you need to sign up fpr the desktop version. 

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