Fuel price apps to help save you money

With petrol hitting the two-dollar mark across the country, people are looking for ways to save their hard-earned bucks at the bowser. Sadly, we can't all afford an EV, and while we can drive more efficiently, that's easier said than done on a stinking hot and humid day.

This is why many people are turning to phone apps that provide intel on the cheapest fuel prices in their area.

Drivers in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Northern Territory benefit from rules that compel service operators to log changes to their fuel prices to real-time databases on apps such as NSW Fuel Check and Fair Fuel (RACQ).

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Another way for fuel prices to be recorded is through crowdsourcing, where people share any prices they've seen.

The state-run databases tend to be more accurate as they show data from across their respective states, while the crowdsourcing apps tend to work best in bigger population centres, where there are more people to report prices.

But crowdsourcing apps are useful in that they provide pricing across the country, including Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania or the ACT.

Here are four of the best free Australia-wide fuel-price monitoring apps available on both iOS and Android devices.

Petrol Spy Australia

Petrol Spy is a free service that uses crowdsourcing to let you know petrol, diesel and AdBlue prices around Australia.

It also shows historical prices of RON 91 Unleaded and E10 petrol from each station, and can direct you to a most petrol stations.

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Users are encouraged to submit fuel data by the chance to win a $25 fuel voucher.

A Choice comparison of fuel price apps in 2019 found this to generally be the most accurate app when used in the ACT, NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

If you don't want to download the app it's easily viewed on a web browser.

Fuel Map

The Fuel Map is a crowd-sourced database of service stations and fuel prices from all across Australia. Most station information and petrol and diesel prices are crowdsourced, though in Western Australia prices are updated automatically using the state's FuelWatch system.

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The app also comes with a handy fuel log so you can keep track of your fuel purchases, as well as your vehicle's fuel economy.

Motor Mouth

MotorMouth uses colour-coded dots on its maps to let you quickly see where cheaper fuel is at from more than 4500 service stations around Australia.

Tapping on any dot reveals the site details and price.

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You can also set up a dashboard with your favourite locations to quickly find cheaper prices, which you can easily pass on to others using the heads up for your mates' function.

Like Petrol Spy, you can view Motor Mouth on the website.

Simples

Run by Compare the Market, Simples displays participating service stations in your area, along with the types of fuel available and price.

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You can customise search results to filter everything from fuel type and brand to make finding cheaper petrol - for example you may want to find petrol stations that take supermarket discount dockets or have RON95.

And if you’re in an unfamiliar area, the fuel app can also help with directions.