Money
The best fuel apps to help you save at the pump
Whether you’re still a daily driver or mostly retired from the freeway of life, a fuel price app is one of the easiest ways to reduce your fuel costs.
By Bron Maxabella
Let’s be honest: keeping a car on the road these days feels like a luxury. Between rego, servicing, insurance and gulp fuel, it's no wonder many of us are rethinking even the short trips. And very few things sting quite like filling up, driving 100 metres, and spotting the exact same fuel cheaper down the road.
If that sounds familiar, it might be time to get a fuel app in your pocket. These clever little tools show you the cheapest fuel near you in real time, so you can dodge the pricier pumps and save a few dollars every time you fill up.
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We’re not suggesting you drive 15km out of your way to save 5 cents per litre, but if you’re already on the road, knowing where to turn can make a real difference. With prices hovering where they are now, the savings from one of these fuel apps can add up faster than you’d think.
The apps are all free and easy to use. Most work with live data and some are powered by crowd-sourcing. Whichever one you choose, just make sure you’re comfortable with how it uses your location and data (always check the settings).
Here are our top picks for fuel-finding apps that help you fill up without the financial ouch.
Gaspy
Best for: Fuel and convenience deals
Gaspy is New Zealand's original fuel price app, relying on a community of users to report and share the best fuel prices across the country. It provides real-time data on fuel prices at thousands of stations nationwide. The app also gamifies the experience, allowing users to earn badges and rewards for contributing price updates.
Roadtrip
Best for: planning smarter journeys
Planning a road trip? Roadtrip calculates the fuel cost for your journey based on your specific car model and current fuel prices.
It helps you estimate expenses and plan refueling stops along the way, ensuring you're always prepared for the next leg of your trip.
Z App
Best for: family sharing and loyalty rewards
Z Energy’s app goes beyond loyalty cards. With their Sharetank feature, you can pre-purchase fuel at today’s prices and redeem it at any Z station - perfect when prices are rising. You can also share your tank balance with up to five people, making it a great deal for households or small businesses.
Petrol Spy
Best for: Accuracy with a little reward
Covering every capital city, Petrol Spy uses crowd-sourced data and is rated by CHOICE as one of the most accurate fuel apps around. It also offers a fun little incentive: upload 5 fuel prices, earn 5 points, and go into a daily draw to win a $25 fuel card.
It’s not quite retirement funding, but hey, free money is free money.
Speaking of which: 100 clever ways to save money and live a richer life
Fuelio
Best for: Detailed vehicle expense tracking
For those who live for the details, Fuelio goes beyond simply finding cheap petrol. It acts as a complete logbook for your car, allowing you to track fill-ups, mileage, fuel costs, and gas consumption. You can even manage all your other vehicle expenses, organising them into categories to give you an idea of exactly where your money is going. This can be quite surprising!
While it does have a fuel price feature, it relies on crowdsourcing. This means its accuracy depends on active users reporting prices in the area, so some stations may not be listed, or prices could be out of date. Think of it less as a real-time price hunter and more as the ultimate tool for managing your total car budget.
PriceWatch
Best for: Reliable daily data from the big players
PriceWatch offers a slightly different, business-backed approach. It’s a website run by CardLink, a fuel card company that manages fuel for large vehicle fleets. This gives it access to a huge number of daily fuel transactions, which it uses to provide a snapshot of prices across New Zealand. For this reason, it is often more up to date than apps that rely on crowd sourcing.
In fact, the information is updated daily, and you can even drill down by region and suburb to get exact pricing from a wide range of service stations. While it doesn’t list every single retailer in the country, it covers all the major brands you’d expect, including BP, Caltex, Mobil, Z, Challenge, Gull, g.a.s, and Waitomo.
Feature image: iStock/bee32
Other practical ways to reduce transport costs: