Field sales reps spend an average of 4.5 hours per day driving, according to a 2025 Salesforce benchmark study. A sales rep route planner cuts that by 20-30% by optimizing stop order and reducing backtracking. Most teams either overpay for routing software or waste hours building routes manually in Google Maps.
This post compares the real options available to sales reps who need route planning. We cover pricing, feature trade-offs, and who each tool fits. No fluff, no affiliate links.
If your team runs on Salesforce and Google Workspace, you have a free path that handles 90% of what Badger or Salesforce Maps do. The trade-off is one extra click to export your report.
- →A sales rep route planner turns a list of accounts into an optimized driving route, saving 1-2 hours per day in drive time.
- →Badger Maps charges $49/user/month. Salesforce Maps charges $75. Free options exist if you can work with Google Sheets.
- →InstaMaps is free, runs inside Google Sheets, and plans routes for up to 100 waypoints with AI address detection.
- →RouteXL is free for up to 20 stops but has no CRM integration and a dated interface.
- →RepMove offers a 7-day free trial then costs $29/month per user, with mobile CRM features.
- →If your team uses Salesforce, the cheapest path is export to Sheets and use InstaMaps. No admin setup required.
- →Paid tools win on automatic route sequencing and mobile GPS. Free tools win on cost and simplicity.
What Is a Sales Rep Route Planner?
A sales rep route planner takes a list of addresses and calculates the most efficient driving order. It factors in distance, drive time, and sometimes traffic, appointment windows, and priority accounts.
Most reps start by building routes manually in Google Maps. That works for 5-10 stops. Beyond that, drag-and-drop reordering becomes a time sink. A dedicated planner automates the sequencing.
The core features that matter: multi-stop route optimization, address validation, map visualization, and CRM data import. Mobile GPS navigation is a bonus if your reps need turn-by-turn in the field.
Free Sales Rep Route Planner Options
Free tools fall into two categories: route optimization engines and mapping add-ons. Here are the ones worth considering.
InstaMaps (Google Sheets add-on): Free. Import addresses from any Google Sheet, AI detects columns, plan routes for up to 100 waypoints. Works with Salesforce data exported to Sheets. Dynamic filters by region, account status, or rep.
RouteXL: Free for up to 20 stops. Web-based route optimizer. No CRM integration. Paste addresses in, get optimized route out. Good for simple routing, weak for territory management.
Google Maps (manual): Free, 10-stop limit per route. No optimization. You drag stops into order yourself. Works for very small routes but does not scale.
MapQuest Route Planner: Free, up to 26 stops. Basic optimization. No CRM link. Ads in the interface.
Paid Sales Rep Route Planners: What You Get
Paid tools add CRM sync, mobile apps, automatic scheduling, and analytics. Whether those justify the cost depends on team size.
Badger Maps is the market leader for individual reps. It costs $49/user/month, maps Salesforce accounts, optimizes routes, and includes a mobile app with turn-by-turn navigation. Good for solo reps or small teams with budget.
Salesforce Maps costs $75/user/month and lives inside Salesforce. Deep CRM integration, territory planning, and route optimization. The price is hard to justify for teams under 20 reps, and it requires Salesforce Enterprise edition or higher.
RepMove charges $29/user/month after a 7-day trial. Mobile-first, includes lightweight CRM features. Good for reps who want routing and contact management in one app.
SalesRabbit starts free (Lite plan) with paid tiers for team features. Built for field sales and canvassing. Strong on lead tracking, weaker on route optimization compared to Badger.
How to Plan Routes With InstaMaps (Step by Step)
If you use Salesforce and Google Workspace, here is the fastest free workflow.
Export your Salesforce report to Google Sheets. Two clicks, no CSV file needed.
Rename the tab with a layer_ prefix so InstaMaps recognizes it.
Open InstaMaps from the Extensions menu.
Click Load Map. AI detects your address columns automatically.
Your accounts appear on a filterable map. Filter by region, account type, or any column.
Select up to 100 waypoints and generate an optimized route.
Share the route link with reps or export for navigation.
How to Choose the Right Route Planner
Pick based on team size, budget, and CRM dependency.
Solo rep with no CRM: RouteXL handles basic routing for free. Upgrade if you hit the 20-stop limit regularly.
Team of 2-10 using Salesforce: Start with InstaMaps. Free, handles territory visualization and route planning. The export step takes 10 seconds. If you later need mobile GPS or native sync, evaluate Badger.
Team of 10+ with Salesforce Enterprise: Salesforce Maps or Badger Maps. The per-user cost stings, but native integration and admin controls save hours at scale.
Team doing door-to-door or canvassing: SalesRabbit Lite is free and built for that workflow. InstaMaps also works if your data lives in Sheets.
At a Glance
| Feature | InstaMaps | Badger Maps |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $49/user/mo |
| Route optimization | Up to 100 stops | Unlimited |
| CRM integration | Via Sheets export | Native Salesforce |
| Mobile app | No (web only) | Yes, iOS + Android |
| Setup time | 2 minutes | 15-30 minutes |
| Address detection | AI auto-detect | Manual field mapping |
| Territory filters | Dynamic, any column | Pre-defined territories |
Map your Salesforce accounts in under 5 minutes — no admin setup.
Common Questions
Currently, InstaMaps supports routes up to 100 waypoints. For most field reps doing a day of calls, 50-80 stops is the practical maximum anyway. If you need unlimited stops, Badger Maps or Salesforce Maps handle that.
No. Any route planner that accepts spreadsheet data works with or without Salesforce. InstaMaps reads from Google Sheets directly. RouteXL accepts pasted addresses. The Salesforce connection matters if you want to avoid manual data entry.
Google Maps handles up to 10 stops for free on mobile, but without optimization. SalesRabbit Lite has a mobile app with limited routing for free. InstaMaps is web-based, so you can open it in a mobile browser, but there is no native app yet.
Most field reps report saving 1-2 hours per day on driving after switching from manual route building. The savings come from eliminating backtracking and grouping nearby stops. For a team of 10 reps, that is 10-20 hours of recovered selling time per day.
Export your Salesforce report to Google Sheets, open InstaMaps, and get an optimized route for up to 100 stops. No per-user cost, no admin setup, no credit card.
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