How to plan a route with multiple stops on MapQuest.
MapQuest's free route planner takes up to 26 stops and can reorder them for you, which Google Maps and Apple Maps won't. Here's how to use it, what the reorder option keeps fixed, and where it runs out.
- Free for up to 50 addresses
- No credit card
- No app to install
The short answer
Updated
MapQuest's route planner at mapquest.com/routeplanner lets you plan up to 26 stops for free, with ads. Turn on "Let us re-order stops" and it reorders them for the shortest time or distance, keeping your first and last stops where they are; saving a route or importing a spreadsheet needs a MapQuest account. For more than 26 stops, routes you reuse every week, or routes on a driver's phone, Lite Route Planner fits up to 500 stops on a route and is free for up to 50 addresses.
How to add multiple stops on MapQuest
These steps use the route planner on MapQuest's website, which is where the 26-stop limit and the reorder option live.
- 1
Open the route planner
Go to mapquest.com/routeplanner in your browser.
- 2
Enter your starting point
This is your first stop. If you're coming back to it at the end of the day, you'll add it again as the last stop.
- 3
Add your stops
Add each address in turn, up to 26 stops. Put the place you need to finish at in the last spot.
- 4
Turn on Let us re-order stops
Choose shortest time or shortest distance. MapQuest keeps your first and last stops in place and reorders the ones in between.
- 5
Get the route
MapQuest shows the stops in their new order with directions. To save the route or import addresses from a spreadsheet, sign in with a MapQuest account.
How MapQuest's reorder option behaves
First and last stay put
Only the stops in between move. If you type a customer last by accident, the route is planned to end there, so put your shop, home or final drop at the end yourself.
Time or distance
Shortest time leans toward faster roads; shortest distance cuts miles. On a tight local route they often match. With highway stops in the mix, they can differ.
26 is the ceiling
A 34-stop day means two routes, and you decide which stops go in each before MapQuest can help.
An account for anything you keep
Planning is free with ads. Saving routes and importing a spreadsheet need a MapQuest account, and the MapQuest app offers ad-free upgrades from $1.99 to $39.99 a year.
MapQuest and Lite, side by side
Both reorder stops for you. The difference is what happens before and after.
| Feature | Lite | MapQuest |
|---|---|---|
| Stops per route | Up to 500 | Up to 26 |
| Reorders stops for you | Yes | Yes |
| Start and end | Base, round trip or last stop | First and last stay fixed |
| Spreadsheet import | Yes | With an account |
| Saved routes | Unlimited routes | With an account |
| Routes on drivers' phones | Unlimited drivers on Business | No |
| Visit history per stop | Yes | No |
| Price | Free for up to 50 addresses | Free, with ads |
MapQuest details from mapquest.com/routeplanner and its App Store listing, checked October 19, 2026. Lite's free plan holds up to 50 addresses; saved bases start with Personal. See MapQuest compared in full.
When MapQuest is the right call, and when it isn't
For a one-off day of 26 stops or fewer, MapQuest is a good free choice. You can plan without signing up, and the reorder option does the hard part. That beats Google Maps' 10 places and Apple Maps' 15 stops, neither of which reorders anything.
It gets awkward when the list repeats. A house cleaning company with 34 regular clients, or a vending route that hits the same 22 machines every Wednesday, ends up reloading the route each week and splitting anything over 26 by hand. MapQuest also has no driver app or team accounts, and it doesn't record which stops were visited.
Lite Route Planner keeps your customers as saved addresses, so next week's route is a lasso and one click on Optimize. On Business, drivers get their routes on their phones and mark stops Visited or Attempted, and every stop keeps a history of its visits.
MapQuest or Lite?
Choose Lite if
- You have more than 26 stops, up to 500 on one route
- You route the same customers every week and want them saved
- Drivers need the route on their phone, and you want to see what's done
- You want a history of every visit to every customer
- You start and end at your shop or warehouse and want it saved as a base
Choose MapQuest if
- It's a one-off trip of 26 stops or fewer
- You don't want to make an account of any kind
- You want to choose between shortest time and shortest distance
- You won't need the route again