6 Reasons to Love Gasbuddy, Your Friend for Lower Gas Prices!

The estimated reading time for this post is 3 minutes

Rising gas prices getting you down? Tech can help! If you’ve ever driven around trying to find the lowest gas prices, then you’re going to love Gasbuddy. Gasbuddy is a fantastic source for comparing gas prices and is available both in the US and Canada.

Why Should You Love Gasbuddy?

• You can access Gasbuddy from the Internet, mobile phone or a smartphone app.
• Gasbuddy has accurate gas prices and shows you how recently the gas prices were reported.
• Gasbuddy lets you search prices on a map or on a list.
• Gasbuddy allows you to search for prices based on different grades of gas: regular, midgrade, premium and diesel.
• You can search Gasbuddy by zip code.
• You can seach Gasbuddy by distance or price.

You can search Gasbuddy from your computer on the Internet at gasbuddy.com or from your smartphone with the Gasbuddy app. Gasbuddy makes apps for iPhones, Android phones and Windows Mobile phones. If you have a Palm, Blackberry or other smartphone, you can still access Gasbuddy by going to their mobile website: m.gasbuddy.com. (They even have a QR code on their website you can scan to download the app directly to your smartphone.)

Gasbuddy gets its information from Gasbuddy members who report gas prices at stations in their area. Members get points for reporting gas prices and each week Gasbuddy gives away a $250 gasoline gift card to a member as a reward for reporting gas prices. Whether it’s due to the satisfaction of helping others or the incentive of the gift card, Gasbuddy has lots of very active members. This means the information Gasbuddy provides is thorough and timely. Most reports on my Gasbuddy iPhone app were merely hours old.

How much does this amazing service cost? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. It’s absolutely free. The apps are free, the website is free. It’s all free. You don’t even have to register to get the information. If you want to report gas prices and have a chance of winning the gift card, then you do have to register as a member. But if you just want to get the gas prices from Gasbuddy, there is no need to register.

I compared Gasbuddy to the Sirius Travel Link that also provides local gas prices. (Travel Link is free for a trial period, on certain vehicles with a Sirius satellite radio subscription, and $1.99 a month after that.) Gasbuddy listed many more gas stations than Travel Link did and Gasbuddy’s prices were more accurate. The search features of Gasbuddy were better than Travel Link’s as well, because Travel Link only shows prices on a list, not on a map. The map feature is very helpful to see where the lowest prices are and to compare prices on your route so you don’t have to drive out of your way.

Tech Follow Up – Google Maps

Last week I discussed in Killer Apps how you can access the Show Traffic feature on the Google Maps app. Yesterday, Google Maps Navigation (a free GPS app with voice directions available on Android phones) has been updated so that you can get directions based on real-time traffic data. Google Maps Navigation now recommends routes based on the shortest distance or the fastest time with current traffic conditions factored in. You can also get this information on the web at maps.google.com.

* Image by James Gentry