Moda vs RoadReady

An honest look at both apps for families logging permit hours.

RoadReady has been around for years and has partnerships with 26 state DMVs. It's free, backed by AAA, and familiar to driving schools. If your state hands you a pamphlet at the permit counter, it probably mentions RoadReady.

We built Moda because we were using RoadReady and it wasn't working. Sessions wouldn't save. The app hadn't been updated in a long time. We needed something that actually worked, so we built it.

Where RoadReady is better

  • Free. No cost at all. If money is the deciding factor, RoadReady wins.
  • State DMV partnerships. 26 states officially list it. That institutional trust matters.
  • AAA backing. A recognized safety organization behind it.

Where Moda is better

  • It works. Sessions save reliably. The app is actively maintained and updated. We shipped 20 builds in August 2026 alone.
  • Parents get their own dashboard. RoadReady has no parent experience. Moda gives parents a live view of progress, drive history, and the ability to end a drive remotely.
  • Automatic night and weather detection. RoadReady requires manual entry. Moda uses GPS and WeatherKit to detect sunset and weather conditions without you touching anything.
  • Route replay. See your drive on a map colored by speed, with a scrubber to walk through the trip. RoadReady has no route feature.
  • Day/night splitting. A drive that crosses sunset gets both day and night hours credited correctly. RoadReady classifies the whole drive as one or the other.
  • CarPlay. Start, pause, and end drives from your car's screen. RoadReady doesn't support CarPlay.
  • Privacy. GPS coordinates never leave your phone. Only distances sync. RoadReady's privacy practices are less transparent.

The real question

If RoadReady works for you, use it. It's free and your state might recommend it. If it's not saving your sessions, if you want your parents to see your progress without looking over your shoulder, or if you want the map and the automatic detection, Moda costs $4.99 once for the whole family and it does not stop working.

Try Moda

$4.99 once. No subscription. Covers the whole family.