Best Car Maintenance Apps for iPhone (2026)

Seven apps, compared on what counts once you have used one for a year: what it costs, if you need an account, where your data lives, and if you can get it back out. We built one of these apps. So read the table and judge for yourself. Each claim below has a date and a source, even the ones that don't favor us.

Updated 15 September 2026 · SteerLog: free for one car, Pro is a one-time purchase (price shown in the App Store for your country)

How we compared

We checked each fact against the app's live App Store page and its recent reviews on 14–15 September 2026. Where a page didn't say, the table says so. We did not fill gaps with guesses. We looked at nine things:

• Price model — free, a plan you pay for each year or month, a one-time buy, or a mix.
• Account required — do you have to sign up and log in to use it at all.
• Where data lives — on your phone, in your own iCloud, or on a firm's server.
• Export — can you get your history out in a file you can use in another app.
• Import — can you bring your history in from another app or a spreadsheet.
• EV / charging — does it log each charge, not just gas fill-ups.
• Documents — can you add photos, receipts, or PDFs to a service.
• Reminders — by date, by miles, or both.
• Languages — how many it comes in, for homes that don't speak English.

We make SteerLog, one of the seven apps here. We tried to hold it to the same bar as the rest. That includes the fact that its App Store rating is new and thin. Check the sources yourself. App Store pages and reviews change.

The comparison

"Not stated in listing" means the App Store page didn't say. It does not mean the app lacks it. If you know an app does more than its page says, check its own help page, not this table.

What recent reviews say

Star ratings move. A clear, dated complaint tells you more than a number. Here is what shows up in each app's recent App Store reviews:

• SteerLog — rated 5.0 on the App Store, but from only 2 ratings as we write this. That's a new app, not a long track record. Weigh it that way.
• MyAutoLog — most reviews like the design. A one-star review dated 20 August 2026 says the app is no use for homes where more than one person drives the car. The reason: it has no Family Sharing.
• CARFAX Car Care — reviews from June through September 2026 say people got logged out out of the blue, and their garages (saved cars) were wiped.
• Vehicle Maintenance Tracker — close to 95 one- and two-star reviews from May to September 2026 say service dates reset to 01/01/1900 after an app update. (We wrote a separate guide on how to get that history back.)
• Simply Auto — iOS updates have been rare. Many 2025–2026 reviews complain about cloud backup.
• Drivvo — reviewers keep saying the fuel and cost tracker is strong. It handles many kinds of vehicle (cars, motorcycles, and more) in one account. But reviews say export and sync sit behind the Pro paywall.
• Fuelly — people who pay for Premium in 2026 say reminders don't go off. Fuelly was a one-time buy (as GasCubby) before it moved to a subscription in 2017–2018.

If you want X, pick Y

No one app wins at everything. Here is when each one is the right pick, even when it isn't SteerLog:

• Free recall alerts tied to your VIN, and you don't mind an account: CARFAX Car Care. It is truly free. Just know that 2026 reviews report logouts and wiped garages. So keep your own notes as a backup. CARFAX has no way to export your data.
• Android too, or a motorcycle or boat as well as the car: Drivvo. People rate its tracking of many vehicles, fuel, and costs. Expect export and sync to need the Pro subscription.
• The most polished screens, and a subscription is fine: MyAutoLog. Reviews like the design. Skip it if more than one person in your home drives the same car. Per the August 2026 review above, it has no Family Sharing yet.
• One car free with every feature, then a single one-time buy, no account, no subscription: SteerLog.
• Getting a log back after Vehicle Maintenance Tracker reset your dates: SteerLog's CSV import estimates wiped dates from your odometer readings. See the switching guide.
• Logging an EV's charges next to fuel and service: SteerLog logs EV charging out of the box. The other six App Store pages don't list it.
• Bringing years of history from Fuelly, Simply Auto, or Drivvo: SteerLog's CSV import is free and matches columns by name. See the guides for Fuelly, Simply Auto, and Drivvo.

Once you've picked an app, two more free tools help. A cost per mile calculator shows what driving really costs you. A maintenance schedule checklist by mileage shows what's due next.

Questions, answered

Is there a free car maintenance app for iPhone?

Yes, a few. CARFAX Car Care is fully free. CARFAX car history reports and dealer ads pay for it, not you. SteerLog is free for one car with every feature: reminders, EV charging, documents, and all your history. More cars take a single one-time buy, not a subscription. MyAutoLog, Vehicle Maintenance Tracker, Simply Auto, Drivvo, and Fuelly are all free to start too. Each has a subscription or one-time upgrade for extra features — see the comparison table above for what's behind which paywall.

What's the best car maintenance app for iPhone specifically?

The two built most for iPhone are SteerLog and MyAutoLog. Both are built around iCloud, not their own account system. SteerLog keeps it all on your phone and in your own iCloud, with no account at all. MyAutoLog syncs through iCloud too. You pay for it with a subscription or a $149.99 lifetime buy. CARFAX Car Care, Vehicle Maintenance Tracker, Simply Auto, Drivvo, and Fuelly all run on iPhone. But they were built for many platforms first, and use an account or a web sign-in.

What does Reddit recommend for a car maintenance tracker?

Threads asking for a "car maintenance tracker app reddit" pick tend to split three ways. Some say a plain spreadsheet. Some say Fuelly, a long-known name here. Some say paid trackers like Drivvo or Simply Auto, for people who also want to log fuel use. Those threads don't test 2026 versions side by side, feature by feature. This page tries to, with a date on each claim so you can check it yourself.

Does a car maintenance app work offline?

It depends on the app. SteerLog works fully offline. Your log is on your iPhone and syncs through your own iCloud. It never needs a server to add an entry or show your history. CARFAX Car Care needs an account and is built around looking up recalls and reports online. So it isn't made to work offline. Check the "Account" and "Where data lives" columns in the table above for the rest.

Can I import my data from another car maintenance app?

Yes, if the app you're leaving can export a CSV file. SteerLog's import reads files from Vehicle Maintenance Tracker, Fuelly, Simply Auto, and Drivvo. That includes Vehicle Maintenance Tracker rows whose dates a 2026 update wiped. It matches columns by name, so you don't fix the file by hand. See the switching guides linked below for the exact steps.