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5 Free Route Planning Tools to Simplify Local Deliveries
Simplify your local deliveries with these 5 free route planning tools. Discover which one fits your small business and when to scale with smarter solutions.
Simplify your local deliveries with these 5 free route planning tools. Discover which one fits your small business and when to scale with smarter solutions.
Running local deliveries without a clear route plan is a recipe for delays, wasted fuel, and frustrated drivers. Whether you’re delivering artisan cakes, crates of leafy greens, or packages of handmade candles, knowing the most efficient route can be the difference between profitability and chaos. For small businesses juggling produce delivery, pizza delivery, or even pet supply delivery, finding an affordable tool that makes delivery smoother is essential—and yes, some of them are completely free.
If you’ve been wrestling with pins on Google Maps or trying to coordinate drivers through a tangled mess of texts and spreadsheets, this article is for you. We’re covering free tools that can simplify your routing process without draining your wallet.
No matter what you're delivering—fresh-cut flowers, piping hot meals, or bags of compost—route planning can’t be left to chance. Manual planning burns time, adds unnecessary mileage, and makes scaling impossible.
In fact, businesses using route optimization software can cut total delivery mileage by up to 20%, directly reducing fuel and labor costs while increasing the number of deliveries completed per route. For businesses offering mobile cleaning services, firewood delivery, or delivery of baked goods, that’s a major win for the bottom line.
For solo drivers or businesses doing fewer than 10 stops per day, Google Maps is a dependable and familiar option. You can plot a route with multiple stops, and it will auto-sequence them based on the most efficient driving path.
But once your routes get more complex, its limitations show. You can’t optimize beyond 10 stops in one route, there's no driver tracking, and you can’t batch routes for multiple vehicles. That makes it less useful for businesses with growing delivery volume, like furniture delivery or garden center delivery.
It’s a helpful starting point, but not a tool for long-term growth.
MapQuest has been around since the dawn of online navigation, and its free route planner still gets the job done. You can plot up to 26 stops per route and get optimized sequencing.
It supports drag-and-drop editing, traffic insights, and printable directions, which can be handy for teams doing bookstore delivery or meal kit delivery with older drivers or limited mobile app access. However, it doesn’t offer real-time tracking, mobile driver tools, or delivery notifications for customers.
It’s a modest upgrade from Google Maps but not a full logistics solution.
RouteXL is a web-based tool that allows you to enter addresses manually or upload them via spreadsheet. It then calculates the fastest route based on real-world distance and time.
Its free version supports up to 20 stops per route, making it a solid fit for smaller operations such as coffee shops or butchers offering local delivery. Tinterface is clean and intuitive, though mobile functionality is limited.
What makes RouteXL stand out is its map-based editing and batch processing capabilities, offering a helpful boost for teams still testing the waters of route optimization.
Circuit Free is a mobile-first route planner designed for simplicity. With the free plan, you can optimize up to 10 stops per route and get driver-friendly turn-by-turn directions on the go.
This makes it perfect for hyperlocal businesses offering clothing delivery, medical supply delivery, or subscription box delivery in a single neighbourhood or town. The app interface is fast and modern, with intuitive stop reordering and completion tracking.
The biggest downside? The free version doesn’t support route sharing or advanced optimization across multiple drivers. It’s a great individual tool—but not built for teams.
Speedy Route is a lightweight, browser-based route planner that quickly calculates the most efficient sequence for your stops. It’s a no-frills tool with limited customization but does the job if you're in a rush.
It’s great for ad-hoc hardware delivery, last-minute seafood delivery, or situations where you need a printable route fast. The free tier includes up to 10 stops and doesn’t require an account.
Speedy Route’s simplicity is both its strength and its weakness—good for emergencies, but not ideal for recurring routes or growing operations.
Free tools are a great starting point—but they often lack key features for businesses managing daily deliveries, teams of drivers, and growing order volumes. That’s when businesses turn to tools like EasyRoutes, which is tailor-made for local delivery operations.
EasyRoutes integrates directly with Shopify, automatically imports orders, builds optimized multi-driver routes, sends tracking and notifications to customers, and provides a driver app for live updates and proof of delivery. It’s ideal for businesses in verticals like auto parts delivery, catering, or produce delivery that need to deliver reliably at scale.
And because it's designed for small businesses, onboarding is quick—and the ROI shows up fast.
Wonky Box, a New Zealand-based produce delivery company, started with a simple goal: get odd-looking but delicious fruits and veggies to customers efficiently. As they grew, their original routing method—based on spreadsheets and basic map tools—couldn’t keep up.
After switching to EasyRoutes, they streamlined their delivery operations, reduced planning time, and gave customers real-time delivery updates. What used to take hours now takes minutes, allowing their team to focus on quality and service instead of logistics chaos.
Free route planning tools can offer meaningful improvements for small-scale local delivery. Whether you're just starting out or testing new delivery areas, platforms like Google Maps, RouteXL, and Circuit Free help eliminate guesswork.
But as your delivery business grows—from bakeries to pet stores offering delivery—so do the challenges. That’s when investing in a tool like EasyRoutes gives you the automation, visibility, and scalability you need to thrive.
Ready to go from free to frictionless? Roundtrip.ai is here to help you deliver more efficiently—without losing your sanity.
Trusted by 5,000+ Businesses
Roundtrip.ai's mission is to equip every business with the software tools they need to deliver products to their customers in a delightful way. Thousands of worldwide choose EasyRoutes to power their local deliveries across dozens of product categories, from meal kits and groceries to coffee, cupcakes, kibble, and so much more. Our easy-to-use route planning and delivery optimization app is certified Built for Shopify, a two-time Shopify staff pick, and the top rated local delivery app on the Shopify App Store.