Frequently asked questions

Short answers to the questions we hear most, each linking to the full article for more detail.

Do I need a paid plan to use Routerra?

No. Every account can create, optimize, and drive routes, add stops one at a time or paste a list, and use a stop's note and Color on map, without a paid plan. Two independent limits govern how much you can do — a per-route stops ceiling, and a daily optimization allowance — and a paid plan raises both limits and unlocks extra features like file and photo import, the four detailed stop fields, and Live road data. See Plans and limits for the full comparison.

Which features need a paid plan?

Four things need a paid plan: the four stop-detail fields beyond note and color — service time, arrival window, priority, and curbside parking; importing stops from a file or a photo; Live road data for a Car or Van; and saving more than 10 addresses in your saved stops. Pasting a list of addresses stays free on every plan. See Plans and limits for what's included on every plan versus what a paid plan adds.

I paid but the app still says Free.

On the phone, open Profile → Subscription and tap Restore Purchases at the bottom. It re-reads your purchase from your App Store or Google Play account, so you need to be signed in with the same store account you bought with. On the web there's nothing to restore — a web subscription is tied to your Routerra account, not a store identity, so it's already active the moment you sign in. See Restore purchases for what to check next if restoring doesn't fix it.

How do I cancel?

It depends where you subscribed. On the web, click your avatar, open the Subscription tab, then press Manage under Manage Billing and Subscriptions to reach your billing portal. In the app, open Profile → Subscription and tap Cancel Subscription — you'll be redirected to the App Store or Google Play to finish, since that's where the charge actually happens. See Upgrade or cancel your plan for the full walkthrough.

Does Routerra track my location?

No. The phone app only ever requests foreground location, never background, so it doesn't track your position once you switch away from the app or lock your phone. There's no breadcrumb trail kept, and nobody else can see where you are — the app isn't built to report a live location to anyone. This is the same on iOS and Android.

Why can't I edit service time or arrival times?

Service time, arrival window, arrival priority, and curbside parking are the four stop fields that need a paid plan — a stop's address, position, note, and Color on map stay free on every plan. Without a paid plan you can still see that these fields exist; tapping one opens an upgrade prompt instead of the editor, and they unlock the moment you're on a paid plan. See Stop settings for what each field actually does.

Why is Optimize greyed out?

A few different things can grey out the button itself, separate from running out of your daily optimizations, which doesn't disable it — that just opens an upgrade or limit dialog when you tap it. The usual causes are an optimize request already running, a route with zero stops, being over your plan's per-route stop limit, or a stop with an unresolved problem such as an address that couldn't be geocoded. See Why is Optimize greyed out? for the full, platform-specific list.

I ran out of optimizations — when do they come back?

Your daily optimizations refill on a rolling countdown, not at a fixed time each day. Once you've used any, a Resets in timer shows how long until you get more — web shows it in Settings, and the app shows it on the Profile tab's plan card. A paid plan raises how many optimizations you get per day. See Plans and limits for where to check your current count.

Can the person I shared a route with drive it?

No. Shared routes are view-only on both the web and the app. Whoever opens your link sees a notice that the route is view-only and can press Copy to my account to save their own editable copy, but they can't enter drive mode on the route you shared — they'd need to copy it to their own account first.

Why did navigation open my browser instead of a map app?

That's expected on a desktop or laptop browser — there's no map app for it to hand off to, so pressing Navigate there always opens the Google Maps website, regardless of your Default navigator setting. On a phone, whether in the app or in your phone's browser, Navigate hands off to an actual app — Google Maps, Apple Maps, or Waze — based on that setting. See Navigate to a stop for how each app behaves once it opens.

Can I use Routerra with no signal?

Yes, to a point, and it depends on the platform. In the phone app you can keep viewing a route you already opened and your saved stops while offline, but anything that changes something — signing in, editing a route or stop, importing, sharing, or buying — is blocked behind an offline banner until you're back online. On the web, only your saved stops are available offline; every other action fails with a network error until your connection returns.

Does the phone app do everything the web app does?

No, and neither does the web app do everything the phone app does. A handful of things are web-only: splitting a route, refining the route path on the map, viewing several routes on one map, dragging to reorder stops, and Undo in drive mode. A handful are phone-only: voice input, Restore Purchases, dark mode, the 12/24-hour clock setting, and a predicted arrival time when you're running late. Everything in the core loop — building, importing, optimizing, driving, and recording outcomes — works the same on both.

I need to assign routes to drivers — is that this product?

No. Routerra is built for driving your own routes yourself. If you need to plan routes and hand them off to a team of drivers, that's a different product — Routerra Teams — built for dispatching a fleet, with per-driver seats, live delivery status, and a driver app your drivers sign into. See the Routerra Teams help collection if that's what you need.