FuelRadar, Fuel Daddy and PetrolPulse compared: price, ads, apps, forecasts and accuracy, alerts and detour tools.
By the FuelRadar team3 min read
Compare nearby · Three-way comparison · Start with FuelRadar for the Australian fill
All three are free. FuelRadar gives each price its update time, 7-day city estimates with a published accuracy check, free alerts, a detour check and a fuel logbook. Fuel Daddy suits iPhone users who want no ads. PetrolPulse suits drivers who want a second fill or wait call without an app.
Helping Australian drivers since 2020. Search a suburb or postcode, keep your fuel type selected, then compare price, update time and distance before leaving.
Fuel Daddy maps official prices at 8,100+ stations with no ads. Its iPhone app listing says every feature is free, including price-drop alerts, route planning and a home-screen widget. Android is listed as coming soon.
PetrolPulse gives each capital a fill today or wait call and publishes its hit rate. It is a free website with no account, a station map from every state feed, a route planner with outages and alerts.
Fuel Daddy and PetrolPulse websites and app listings checked 28 September 2026. FuelRadar publishes this comparison.
Each fact comes from the service's own website or app-store page, checked 28 September 2026.
| Feature | FuelRadar | Fuel Daddy | PetrolPulse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost and where you use it | |||
| Price | Free. FuelRadar+ is an optional in-app purchase | Free. Its app listing says every feature is free; its website FAQ still lists a $4.99 a month Pro for push alerts | Free, no account needed |
| Ads | Yes. No website ads while signed in with FuelRadar+ | None | Yes, on the website |
| Where you use it | Website, iPhone and Android | Website and iPhone; Android app coming soon | Website you can add to your home screen |
| Prices and coverage | |||
| Australian coverage | Every state and territory | Every state and territory, 8,100+ stations, refreshed every 15 minutes | Station map Australia-wide; fill-up calls for the eight capitals |
| Where prices come from | Official price programs in every state and territory, plus retailer and station reports | Official state and territory feeds | Every state and territory's government feed, read every 30 minutes |
| Fuel types | U91, E10, 95, 98, diesel, premium diesel, LPG and E85 | Every grade the government feeds report | U91, E10, 95, 98, diesel, premium diesel and LPG |
| New Zealand | No | No | No |
| Timing and alerts | |||
| Price-cycle history | Daily city averages with each cycle's recent low | 14-day regional price trends | Best day to fill by city, from 90-day patterns |
| Forecast or fill-up call | 7-day city estimates, with a fill or wait call where testing supports one | A fuel price forecast page | Fill today or wait, for each capital |
| Published forecast accuracy | Yes: a dated replay with average error, sample size and a no-change baseline | Not listed | Yes: 87.3% of 5,325 fill or wait calls, replayed since April 2026 |
| Price alerts | 2 free (target price, 24-hour drop, saved station); more with FuelRadar+ | Price-drop alerts on favourite stations (iPhone) | Price and outage alerts |
| Planning and records | |||
| Route planner | Yes, free | Yes, in the iPhone app | Yes, with outages along the route |
| Detour or trip cost | Detour check, trip cost and fill-up calculators, free | Trip-cost and savings calculators | A trip-cost calculator |
| Fuel logbook | Free for 2 vehicles, with rego and service reminders | Log a fill-up against the area average (iPhone) | Not listed |
| Fleet of vehicles | Free up to 5 vehicles | Not listed | Not listed |
| Also offers | Station compare, a 7-Eleven price lock helper, ATO work-car tools and website widgets | A home-screen widget, loyalty discount overlay, outage tracker and Costco prices | A fuel outage map and market news |
"Not listed" means we did not find it on that service's website or app-store page on 28 September 2026. Features, prices and coverage change, so check each service before you rely on it.
Pages checked: Fuel Daddy website · Fuel Daddy /app · Fuel Daddy /terms · Fuel Daddy on the App Store · PetrolPulse website · PetrolPulse /find · PetrolPulse /route · PetrolPulse /forecast-accuracy · PetrolPulse /about
Real FuelRadar screens. Every card is free; the ones marked "more with FuelRadar+" have higher limits with FuelRadar+.
Screen previews. Prices shown are example captures or sample data, not current reports.
For most Australian fills, start with FuelRadar. It has been helping Australian drivers since 2020: choose your fuel type, compare nearby prices with the time each was updated, check the 7-day city estimate, then run the detour check before a special trip. Fuel Daddy is the pick for iPhone users who want no ads at all. PetrolPulse is the pick for a second fill or wait call on the web. FuelRadar publishes this page and has an obvious interest in the result.
All three read Australia's official state and territory price programs. FuelRadar also uses retailer and station reports, and shows when it last updated each price. Fuel Daddy says it covers 8,100+ stations and refreshes every 15 minutes; PetrolPulse says it reads every feed every 30 minutes and covers more than 8,000 stations. A refresh interval is how often a service checks its sources, not when a station last changed its price, so read the time beside each price.
FuelRadar publishes a 7-day estimate for each capital city and a replay of how far past estimates were from the later city average, beside a "prices stay level" baseline. PetrolPulse gives each capital a fill today or wait call; on 28 September 2026 its accuracy page reported 87.3% of 5,325 calls right since April 2026, from replaying its current model over past prices. Fuel Daddy has a forecast page and 14-day regional price trends. Both published figures replay today's model over past prices, so treat them as evidence of a testing process, not a promise for your next fill.
FuelRadar is free and shows ads; a free account holds 2 price alerts, and FuelRadar+ adds more alerts and no website ads while signed in. Fuel Daddy runs no ads; its App Store listing (version 2.4.0) says every feature is free, including price-drop alerts on favourite stations, though its website FAQ still describes a $4.99 a month Pro for push alerts. Its Android app is listed as coming soon. PetrolPulse is a free website with ads, no account needed, and price and outage alerts.
A 10c/L gap changes a 50-litre fill by $5 before travel costs. PetrolPulse has a trip-cost calculator and Fuel Daddy has trip-cost and savings calculators. FuelRadar's free detour check combines the price gap, litres, full return distance and your car's fuel use, which is the question that decides whether a cheaper price survives the extra kilometres.
Fuel Daddy shows Costco prices and applies a loyalty discount you choose to the map price in its app. FuelRadar has a Costco brand page, a discounts guide and a 7-Eleven price lock helper, so you can compare a member rate with nearby public stations. A member price only wins when the final price, grade and detour still beat the stations you can reach.
Last checked: 28 September 2026. We read the Fuel Daddy home page, app page, terms and App Store listing; the PetrolPulse home, station map, route planner, accuracy and about pages; and FuelRadar's map, forecast, accuracy replay, alert and calculator pages. Features, coverage and pricing change, so check each service for current details.
Start with FuelRadar for exact-grade prices with their update times, 7-day city estimates with a published accuracy check, free alerts and the detour check. Fuel Daddy suits iPhone users who want no ads; PetrolPulse suits a second fill or wait call on the web.
Yes. FuelRadar and PetrolPulse show ads; FuelRadar+ is an optional in-app purchase that removes FuelRadar website ads while signed in. Fuel Daddy runs no ads; its app listing says every feature is free, while its website FAQ still lists a $4.99 a month Pro for push alerts.
FuelRadar and PetrolPulse both publish replays of their current model over past prices. On 28 September 2026 PetrolPulse reported 87.3% of 5,325 fill or wait calls right; FuelRadar reports the average error of its city estimates against prices staying level.
FuelRadar has iPhone and Android apps. Fuel Daddy has an iPhone app and lists Android as coming soon. PetrolPulse is a website you can add to your home screen.
Enter the price gap, litres, full return distance and your car's fuel use in FuelRadar's detour check. Confirm the update time and bowser price before filling.
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Free on iPhone and Android: price alerts, saved stations, the forecast.
