If you're a delivery driver, courier, or field worker in the UK, you know the daily challenge: you've got a list of addresses to visit, and you need to figure out the best order to visit them all. Do it wrong and you waste hours driving back and forth across town. Do it right and you save time, fuel, and finish your round earlier.
That's exactly why we built the MapTools Route Planner - a completely free tool that optimises multi-stop delivery routes in seconds.
Why Use a Route Planner?
Planning delivery routes manually is slow and error-prone. Even experienced drivers struggle to mentally calculate the most efficient order when they've got 20, 30, or 50 stops to make. This is actually a famous problem in mathematics called the "Travelling Salesman Problem" - and it's computationally hard to solve perfectly.
A good route planner uses algorithms to find a near-optimal solution in milliseconds. The result? Less driving, lower fuel costs, more deliveries per day, and an earlier finish time.
What Makes Our Route Planner Different?
There are plenty of route planning tools out there, but most of them require sign-ups, have daily limits, or charge monthly fees. Our tool is different:
It's Completely Free
No premium tier, no daily limits, no credit card required. Just open the tool and start planning. We're supported by advertising, so there's no need to charge for the tool itself.
No Sign-Up Required
Most route planners make you create an account before you can do anything. Ours doesn't. Just paste your postcodes and go. Your data never touches our servers - everything runs in your browser.
It Extracts Postcodes From Any Text
This is the feature our users love most. You don't need to carefully format your postcodes or enter them one by one. Just dump in whatever you've got - messy spreadsheet data, copied emails, address lists with names and phone numbers mixed in - and the tool will automatically find and extract all the UK postcodes.
For example, you could paste something like this:
Deliver to John Smith, 15 High Street, SW1A 1AA, call 07700 900123 before arrival
Mrs Jones - EC1A 1BB (leave with neighbour if out)
URGENT: W1A 0AX needs delivery before 2pm
Customer ref #4521 - E1 6AN
The tool will extract SW1A 1AA, EC1A 1BB, W1A 0AX, and E1 6AN automatically. No manual cleanup required.
It's Incredibly Fast
Paste 50 postcodes and click optimise - you'll have your route in under a second. The tool uses a combination of the Nearest Neighbour algorithm and 2-opt improvement to find an efficient route almost instantly. No waiting around for a server to process your request.
Built for UK Postcodes
Unlike generic international tools, ours is specifically designed for UK postcodes. We have comprehensive coverage across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with local postcode data that means fast, reliable lookups.
How to Use the Route Planner
Using the tool is straightforward:
- Enter your start postcode - This is where you're starting from, typically your depot or home.
- Enter your end postcode (optional) - If you need to finish at a specific location, enter it here. Leave blank to end at your last delivery.
- Paste your delivery postcodes - Copy from any source. The tool extracts UK postcodes automatically.
- Click "Optimise Route" - The tool calculates the best order to visit all stops.
- View and share your route - See your route on the map, share via WhatsApp or email, or open directly in Google Maps for turn-by-turn navigation.
Open Your Route in Google Maps
Once your route is optimised, you can open it directly in Google Maps with one click. Your stops will be pre-loaded in the optimised order, ready for turn-by-turn navigation. This works on both desktop and mobile, so you can plan on your computer and navigate on your phone.
Note: Google Maps supports up to 10 stops via URL, so if your route has more than 10 deliveries, the Google Maps button will load the first 10 stops. You can then continue with the remaining stops from your optimised list.
Who Uses Our Route Planner?
Our tool is used by thousands of people across the UK, including:
- Delivery drivers - Amazon Flex, DPD, Hermes, Yodel, and independent drivers planning their daily rounds
- Couriers - Same-day and next-day delivery services handling urgent multi-drop routes
- Food delivery - Takeaway drivers and grocery delivery services
- Field service engineers - Technicians visiting multiple customer sites per day
- Sales representatives - Planning efficient routes through their territory
- Estate agents - Arranging property viewings in the optimal order
- Healthcare workers - District nurses and carers visiting patients at home
Tips for Best Results
To get the most out of the route planner:
- Use full postcodes - "SW1A 1AA" works better than just "SW1A" for accurate positioning
- Set your start point correctly - This ensures the route begins from where you actually are
- Use the end postcode for round trips - If you need to return to your depot, enter it as both start and end
- Share the link - You can bookmark optimised routes or share them with colleagues
Privacy First
We take privacy seriously. Unlike other route planners that store your delivery addresses on their servers, our tool processes everything in your web browser. Your postcodes and routes are never sent to or stored on our servers. When you close the page, your data is gone.
Try It Now
Ready to save time on your next delivery round? Try our free route planner now - no sign-up required.
Got feedback or suggestions? We'd love to hear from you - get in touch.