Best Gas Apps

Top Five Gas Apps for Summer Travel

With summer travel in full force, now's the time to check out several smartphone apps that can help you save money on gas. Gas Guru is one new gas app and Waze just expanded its social travel app by adding gas into the mix.

How do these new gas apps stack up against those with established followings? For your convenience, Cheapism compiled a list of the five most popular gas apps and evaluated their pros and cons. Our conclusions should get you speeding along cheaply to your summer destination.

1. GasBuddy

. Unsurpassable in the fast lane of gas apps, GasBuddy helps you locate nearby gas stations and supplies real-time gas prices. How are prices so accurate? The gas app encourages the community of users to update prices by awarding points toward prize giveaways.

Pros and Cons:

This gas app garners nearly all positive reviews. iPhone users who commented on GasBuddy in the iTunes store say the gas app is extremely user friendly, the navigation feature works like a charm, and prices are always accurate. Blackberry users who posted reviews on App World praise the accuracy and say the gas app saves them big time.

Cost:

Free

Availability:

iPhone, Android, Blackberry

Review continues under table.

App	Cost	Smartphone	iTunes rank	Android rank	Blackberry rank	Our iTunes rank	Our Android rank	Final rank
GasBuddy	free	iPhone, Android, Blackberry	5 stars current version, 4.5 all versions	4.5 stars by 331,000	4.5 by 6,221	1	1	1
Waze	free	iPhone, Android	5 stars current version, 4 all versions	4.5 stars by 170, 986 people		2	2	2
YP Mobile	free	iPhone, Android, Blackberry, other	4.5 current version, 2 all versions	4.5 by 54,313 people	3.5 by 74 users	3	3	3
Gas guru	free	iPhone, Android	4.5 current version only (133 reviewers; released in June)	4.5 by 48 - just released in May		4	5	4
TripTik	free	iPhone, Android	2.5 current version, 3 all versions	4 start by 310 people		5	4	5

2. Waze

. Zooming into the fast lane, Waze has already made a big impact on the driving community. As a social media driving app, Waze uses a community approach to report traffic issues, while the navigation system reroutes you when road conditions change. To sweeten the deal, Waze now lets drivers report real-time gas prices. Additionally, Waze users get special discounts at select gas stations.

Pros and Cons:

A review of the gas app on CNET asserts there's much to appreciate about the Waze app: It saves drivers money on gas by routing them around traffic jams and now helps drivers save money at the pumps, too.

Cost:

Free

Availability:

iPhone, Android

3. YP Mobile

. A useful gas app that reports gas prices and also helps drivers locate other businesses, such as bars, restaurants, hotels, and doctors. YP Mobile is designed to help users save money while on the go.

Pros and Cons:

YP Mobile gets mostly positive reviews at the Google Play app store but some say it runs a little slow and occasionally lists businesses that disappeared long ago. Aside from these few gripes, most users report success in finding the lowest gas prices for regular and diesel fuel.

Cost:

Free

Availability:

iPhone, Android, Blackberry, other smartphone devices

4. Gas Guru

. Developed by YellowPages.com, Gas Guru focuses primarily on finding cheap gas prices. Based on your location, the gas app identifies the cheapest gas stations and labels them best, good, or other. "Best" means the prices at that particular station are in the top 20 percent of cheapest gas stations, "good" means they're in the top 40 percent, and "other" means the station's prices fall outside the top 60 percent.

Pros and Cons:

Gas Guru gets a big nod of approval from Appolicious, which cheerily reports the gas app is very useful in scouting out cheap gas stations and can even help you plan an entire outing based on the cheapest gas station. On the other hand, this gas app is very new --- it was released in May for Android users and in June for iPhone users -- and there aren't many reviews. We ranked it fourth but definitely think it's worth a try (it is free, after all) and one to keep your eye on.

Cost:

Free

Availability:

iPhone, Android

5. TripTik

. The official app from AAA, TripTik focuses on travel-related features, including providing users with gas station locations and current fuel prices. TripTik also helps users find accommodations, restaurants, attractions, and more.

Pros and Cons:

The gas app sinks to the bottom of our list because users in both the iTunes and Google Play app stores report that the gas app just doesn't meet AAA's standards. Many cite problems ranging from poor graphics and animations that quickly drain smartphone batteries to prices not ranked in order from high to low or vice versa and the absence of important locations for travelers.

Cost:

Free (even for non-AAA members)

Availability:

iPhone, Android