The 8 Best Free Route Planners — That Aren’t Google Maps

Looking for a free route planner that’s a step up from Google Maps? We got you. There are LOTS of apps out there, and it can get really confusing — especially because there are so many different reasons to plan multi-stop routes. 

For example: A solo delivery driver needs different features than someone planning a road trip; and if you're running a small delivery business, you need something more powerful than a basic route planner. 

In this article, we'll look at the best free route planners, both mobile and desktop, for five different needs:

1. Personal errands and occasional routes
2. Solo delivery drivers
3. Delivery businesses
4. Road trips

💡 Important note: You’ll realise quite fast that “free route planners” aren’t really so free. They all have limitations that make them less useful, depending on what you need them for. We've tested every app in this review ourselves, and included notes about the limitations and alternatives in our reviews.

Quick overview

Out of the 31 free route planner apps we reviewed, here are our top recommendations for each use case:

• Personal/occasional use → RouteXL or MapQuest (web only)
• Solo delivery drivers → MyWay or Circuit (mobile)
• Delivery businesses → Routific (web and mobile)‍
• Road trips → Google’s My Maps (web) or Wanderlog (web and mobile)

Read on for more detailed reviews.

1. Free route planners for personal errands and occasional routes

Most people only need multi-stop route planning on rare occasions: Maybe you’re organising a charity drive, planning a day of visiting all the thrift stores in your town, or just have a full day of errands to run and you want to do it in the most efficient way possible.  

The best route planners for these needs are RouteXL and MapQuest, with RAC as another option if you’re based in the UK. None of them are perfect, but they’re free — and if you don’t have to use them often, the inconveniences are worth it. 

A. RouteXL

What you get for free: 20 stops per route, unlimited routes.
Platform: Web only

RouteXL is an excellent free route planner for occasional users. We like the clean map view, without any ad clutter — one of the biggest disadvantages of MapQuest and even Google Maps. 

The major features of RouteXL are:

• You can optimize up to 20 stops per route in the free version, and create more than one route per day.
• Paid packages allow up to 100 or 200 stops per route.
• Add addresses by copying and pasting, or upload from an Excel spreadsheet or CSV file.
• You can add notes to your stops.
• Share your optimized route to a navigation app like TomTom, or send via email or Whatsapp.  

There are some limitations you should consider:

• There’s no mobile app. When you send a RouteXL route to your phone, it will open in a web browser as a list of stops. For navigation, it uses Apple Maps or Google Maps, depending on your phone.

Recommendation: Use RouteXL to pre-plan your route in a web browser, then send the route to your phone to get driving directions. 

Pricing

If you want to plan more than 26 stops with RouteXL, you need to buy credits. There are two pricing tiers:

1. Up to 100 stops per route: €5 per day or €35 per month.
2. Up to 200 stops per route: €10 per day or €70 per month.

B: MapQuest Route Planner

What you get for free: 26 stops per route, unlimited routes.
Platform: Web only (there is a MapQuest mobile app, but doesn’t allow multi-stop route planning).

MapQuest Route Planner is old — it’s been around since 1996 — but they’re the only alternative to RouteXL for basic free route planning. They also allow for up to 26 stops, so if you need a slightly longer route then this is your best option. 

The major features of MapQuest are:

• It allows up to 26 stops in one route. 
• It can do basic route optimization if you check the “let us re-order stops” option.
• You can upload a list of addresses using copy/paste or a spreadsheet.
• It’s easy to print out a map or detailed driving directions.

Read our article on how to use MapQuest for detailed instructions.

Limitations you should know about:

• MapQuest supports its ability to offer free route mapping by showing ads, which can be distracting. 
• Their geocoding — the process of interpreting addresses and placing them on a map — isn’t great, and you may get sent to the wrong place. Be sure to double check your map locations.
• Multi-stop route planning is only available on their web-based platform, and it’s difficult to send a route to your phone or share it with someone else.
• There is no paid upgrade option for MapQuest.

Recommendation: Use MapQuest to get an efficient, optimized route, then print out the driving directions. On the road, use an app like Google Maps or Waze for actual navigation. 

C. RAC Route Planner (UK and Europe only)

What you get for free: 10 stops per route, unlimited routes
Platform: Web only

If you’re an individual driver based in the UK or Europe, the RAC Route Planner app is a good option — even though it won’t optimize your route for you. 

RAC Route Planner’s main features are:

• Plan a route of up to 10 stops free.
• Live information on road conditions.
• Choose to avoid toll roads or motorways.

It allows you to map routes with multiple stops, and includes a lot of information about traffic and weather conditions. 

The limitations to bear in mind are:

• RAC Route Planner doesn’t do route optimization (automatically sorting stops into the most efficient order). To get a more efficient route, you will have to drag and drop stops in the list yourself. 
• You can use it to plan routes in Europe, but you will need to look up and enter the exact address of each destination. Unlike Google Maps and others, the RAC app won’t automatically suggest locations as you type. 
• There is no paid upgrade option for RAC Route Planner.

Recommendation: Use this if you're based in the UK or Europe, don’t need automatic route optimization, and appreciate the emphasis on safety and driving conditions.

What about MyRouteOnline?

We tested MyRouteOnline for this review, but we can’t honestly recommend it as a free route planner for occasional users. Here’s why:

• You have to create an account to make a route with more than 6 stops.
• With an account, you get up to 20 stops — but only once. If you want to add a few stops or plan one more route, you will need to buy credits at a cost of $24 for 50 stops.
• It’s not as easy to use as RouteXL or even MapQuest.

2. Free route planner apps for solo delivery drivers

If you’re planning your own delivery route, you need more on-the-road flexibility than a web-based planning tool can offer. This is where iPhone and Android mobile apps come into their own. Our top recommendations for a free route planner for mobile are MyWay and Circuit.

A: MyWay

What you get for free: 15 stops per route, unlimited routes
Platform: Mobile

MyWay isn’t as popular or full-featured as Circuit Route Planner, our next app — but if your priority is free route planning and you want to get as many stops as possible, MyWay’s 15 free stops are better than Circuit’s 10.

The main features MyWay offers are:

• Add stops one by one, import from a spreadsheet — or upload from a photograph of a printed list.
• Optimize routes right on your phone. 
• Add notes, time windows, high-priority flags and more. 
• Navigate using your choice of Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, HERE WeGo, Maps.Me, Organic Maps, or Yandex.
• Mark stops as done or failed. 

The limitations to bear in mind are:

• You can’t get a signature or take a photo as proof of delivery. 
• If your route includes more than 15 stops, you will hit the paywall barrier and have to sign up for a monthly plan before you can see your route.

Recommendation: If you don’t do a lot of stops every day, MyWay is an excellent free route planner that you can use on your phone. If your volumes increase so that you’re exceeding the 15-stop limit often, you will probably save time and money by switching to a paid plan.

Pricing

MyWay is the only route planner we’ve found that offers different price plans in different countries. If you have a weak currency and paying in US dollars makes most apps too expensive for you, check MyWay’s pricing in your local App Store or Google Play Store.

In the US, there two payment options if you want up to 200 stops per day:

1. Monthly plan: $9.99
2. Annual plan: $84.99

B: Circuit Route Planner

What you get for free: 10 stops per route, unlimited routes
Platform: Mobile 

Circuit Route Planner is massively popular, with over 10 million downloads and excellent reviews. But it’s a full-featured app for professional drivers and they’re constantly refining and introducing new features — which comes at a price. If you need to plan a route with more than 10 stops, you will have to pay.

Circuit’s main features include:

• Add stops from the map, import a spreadsheet, use voice recognition, or scan from your phone’s camera. 
• Stops can also be rolled over or re-added from previous routes.
• A package finder that lets you record where each package is stored in your vehicle, and find it again easily at the right stop.
• Navigate inside the app, or using your choice of Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps, or HERE WeGo.
• Mark stops as delivered or failed, and make notes with photographs as proof of delivery.

The limitations you should know about are:

• You can’t plan more than 10 stops per route on the free plan. 
• Circuit does offer a low-cost Lite plan, but with limited features. You won’t be able to add stops by voice or camera, use the Package Finder, set time windows or use their in-app navigation.

Recommendation: If you can afford it, Circuit Route Planner is the best upgrade option for professional drivers. It will almost certainly save you more money than the monthly fee.

Pricing

Circuit Route Planner has three pricing tiers:

1. Free: All the features, but only 10 stops per route.
2. Lite: $10 a month for unlimited stops, but some features are excluded.
3. Standard: $20 a month for unlimited stops, all features. 

3. Free route planners for delivery businesses

If you’re a delivery business with more than one driver, you’ll need the ability to plan multiple routes at once, easily assign them to drivers, and track progress through the day so your dispatcher or planner can identify and solve any problems that come up.

Our top route planning recommendations for delivery services are Routific (free up to 100 stops per month) and RouteXL (20 free stops a day).

A: Routific

What you get for free: 100 stops per month, unlimited routes
Platform: Web only for planning, with mobile driver app

Routific's delivery management software is designed for businesses that do local deliveries. Route planning happens in the web app, and then routes are dispatched to drivers via a mobile app for navigation and real-time tracking.  The web app is free to use up to 100 stops a month; the mobile app is completely free. 

The main features of Routific are:

• High-quality route optimization — plan multiple routes at once to balance the workload between drivers.
• Track the day’s delivery progress in real time on the map or timeline.
• Drivers can get photo or signature proof of delivery.
• Delivery time windows, with accurate ETA estimates based on machine learning.
• Automated customer notifications can be sent via email or SMS, and there’s a live tracking link included.
• APIs make it easy to import data from your order management system.

Limitations to be aware of: 

• Routific is not a good fit for couriers or other companies that do pickup and delivery. 
• It doesn’t yet offer barcode scanning.

Recommendation: Sign up for a free trial to see if Routific is right for your business. It’s free to try for 7 days, or free forever if you need to plan 100 stops a month or less. 

Pricing

Routific charges per stop, according to a sliding scale based on the number of stops per month.

1. Up to 100 stops a month: Free.
2. 101-1,000 stops a month: $150 a month.

Above 1,500 we charge a few cents per stop. Pricing starts at 15c a stop up to 2,000 orders a month, going down to 3c a stop for more than 20,000 orders a month.

B: Route XL

We’ve recommended RouteXL above for occasional users, but it’s also a decent option for delivery businesses in a pinch. It lacks a lot of delivery management features, but it offers more stops for free than Routific.

From a delivery business point of view, the main features of RouteXL are:

• You can route for more than one driver at a time
• It’s possible to set maximum route duration, as well as a default start time and stop service time.

But there are a lot of limitations, especially when it comes to advanced functionality for delivery services:

• No driver app. 
• No real-time tracking or proof of delivery.
• No customer notifications.

Recommendation: If zero cost is your most important consideration and you only have one driver or vehicle on the road, use RouteXl to plan each day’s route and send it to a driver. You will be able to manage everything else manually.

4. Road trips & offline navigation

Road trips are supposed to be fun — so it helps if the planning process is fun too! A good road trip route planner should help you browse for places you want to visit, create and store lists, and create daily schedules or itineraries. You also want some flexibility for when plans inevitably change. 

Our top recommendations are Google’s My Maps and Wanderlog. Roadtrippers is good, but only in the United States.

A: My Maps from Google

What you get for free: 2,000 pins per map, unlimited maps
Platform: Web only

Google’s My Maps is a highly flexible custom mapping tool that also makes a pretty good route planner — and unlike most of the other route planners we’ve reviewed, it’s actually 100% free.

The main features of My Maps from a road trip planning point of view are:

• Add up to 2000 pins on each custom map you create.
• Change pin colors and icons to get an instant visual summary by theme. For example you could have separately coded pins for bars, hotels, parks, different restaurant styles, shopping destinations, music venues, etc. 
• Create a route with up to 20 waypoints by drawing a line between pins.
• View your custom maps in Google Maps on your phone.
• Share your custom map with friends or make it public.
• Use layers to create themed lists, daily itineraries, and routes.

Some limitations to note:

• There’s a bit of a learning curve involved with My Maps — it’s not always obvious how to do things.
• You can’t edit your custom map on your phone, only view it. 
• There are no added trip planning features like daily itineraries or budgeting.

Check out our comprehensive article on trip planning with Google Maps for detailed instructions.

Recommendation: Use My Maps on the desktop to research and plan your trip. Then open the map in Google Maps on your phone to get directions once you’ve started your travels.

B: Wanderlog

What you get for free: Unlimited places, share with friends, smart recommendations
Platforms: Web and mobile

Where My Maps is built to be flexible, Wanderlog is specifically designed as a trip planner. That means it has a lot of neat features and is really easy to use — but some of the features come at a price.

The main features of Wanderlog are:

• Research and create lists of places you want to visit
• Create daily itineraries
• Collaborate with friends
• Add flight, hotel, and other reservation details
• Add a budget and expenses

The limitations you should know about in the free version:

• No premium features like offline access, live flight updates, and export to Google Maps.

Recommendation: Wanderlog is a great option if you want to keep all your planning in one place, without extra spreadsheets or email folders. The free version has all the features you need to plan your trip. If you want the pro features but know you won’t use the app often, sign up for a monthly plan — and then remember to cancel after your trip!

Pricing

Wanderlog’s pro plan has monthly and annual pricing options:

1. Monthly: $16.99 per month
2. Annual: $39.99 per month

What about Roadtrippers?

We tested Roadtrippers for this review, but can’t recommend it as a free route planner. Here’s why:

• It’s great — but it’s not free. The free version only allows 1 trip with 3 stops. 
• It only works in the United States.

If you’re a serious road tripper or RVer who spends a lot of time on the road in the US, a paid Roadtrippers plan ($35.99–$59.99 a year) might be worth it. They have a great curated selection of attractions and places to stay, and the Premium tier includes member deals.

What about Google Maps as a route planner?

Google Maps used to be at the top of this article — but in 2025, we reckon there can’t be many people left on the planet who haven’t tried it! So if you’re looking for a free route planner, you’re probably looking for something more. But just in case, here’s what we have to say about using Google Maps to plan multi-stop routes:

Stop limit: 10
Platforms: Web and mobile 

Google Maps is probably the world’s favorite free route planner for solo drivers who need to find the optimal route from point A to point B. There are some good reasons for this:

• It’s easy to use on any mobile device, including both Android and iOS.
• Its turn-by-turn directions and real-time traffic updates are accurate most of the time. 
• It has good info about temporary road closures and diversions.
• Features like Street View and Live View make it easy to check out places in advance, or find your way around confusing streets.
• You can download offline maps so that you can still navigate even if you don’t have a signal.
• It’s good if you’re taking public transportation as well, and can offer you a choice of routes with updated information.

Google Maps limitations

Google Maps is great, but it’s not perfect for everything. It has some major limitations:

• It’s not meant to be a multi-stop route planner. You are limited to 10 stops, and Google Maps won’t sort them into an efficient order for you (it doesn’t do route optimization). There are some useful hacks to get around this limitation, like Routific’s free Chrome extension. But if you’re regularly planning multi-stop routes, there are much better options.
• Google Maps is terrible at bike routes, and actually dangerous for hiking.  
• The interface can get very cluttered with ads and irrelevant information. 
• It needs a data connection to work properly — so if you find yourself with a bad signal and you forgot to download offline maps in advance, you’re out of luck.

Recommendation

Google Maps is a great free route planning option for solo drivers in urban areas who want driving, transit, or walking directions from one place to another. But it’s not good for planning multi-stop routes. 

Alternatives to Google Maps

• Waze is great for live traffic updates and can help you find parking close to your destination. 
• Apple Maps is great if you want to stay in the Apple ecosystem, and it has better privacy than Google Maps.
• Bing Maps is good if you want to stay within a Windows-like environment. 

Read more about alternatives to Google Maps here.

Why are free route planners so limited?

Here’s the thing: Google Maps has spoiled us. Driving directions that are constantly updated for live traffic conditions, with voice navigation and pictures of our destination? Not so long ago that was pure science fiction. It’s a brilliant, complex service that’s expensive to provide. It might only take a second to get directions to your nearest coffee shop, but dozens of databases and complex algorithms are involved in the background (you can read all the geeky details here). We only get it for free because Google makes so much money off advertising. 

But multi-stop route planning is even more complex, difficult, and expensive to provide. Finding the quickest route around five or ten stops is much more difficult than planning a simple trip from A to B. It’s called the Travelling Salesman Problem, and creating and maintaining algorithms to solve this route optimization problem takes a lot of work and investment. 

The bottom line is that nobody can afford to provide a multi-stop route planning service with unlimited stops for free. For example, Speedy Route — one of our former top picks — shut down in February 2025. 

Free route planners all have one or more of the following limitations:

• A limit on the number of stops you can add to a route. 
• A limit on the number of times you can create an optimized route. 
• A low-quality route optimization algorithm that isn’t regularly updated. 
• You can only use the planner for a short time before paying.  

So as you’re looking for a free route planner, keep in mind that as always, you get what you pay for. If one of these route planners doesn’t meet your needs, it might be worth signing up for a pro plan.

When to upgrade to a paid route planning app

If you’re planning routes for a business like a delivery service, you should consider getting pro route planning or route optimization software when:

• You want more efficient routes
• You have two or more vehicles on the road
• You’re making more than 20 stops a day
• You’re spending too much time planning routes
• You’d like to cut your fuel costs
• Route planning is stressful
• You’d like to avoid having to hire another driver or buy another vehicle

Well designed software with the right functionality can save hours of route planning each week, as well as helping you to find the most efficient or fastest routes. Ask yourself: “How long can we use a free route planning app before it starts costing us too much?” Then compare that to the pricing of a paid subscription; the ROI should be pretty clear.

💡You can try out Routific for 7 days free! It’s the quickest way to try out user-friendly route planning software.