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Google Maps, Waze or OptimÚt? What each one is good for (and what mine is not)

Hi, I'm Fábián, and I built OptimÚt. First things first: you do not have to delete Google Maps or Waze. I drive with them too. They see live traffic, reroute around an accident and tell me off when I miss my exit. Do not look for any of that here — I cannot do it.

One thing, though, is worth settling at home, in your slippers: does this trip need a vignette, which one, and is it worth buying? I built OptimÚt for that one question. Not instead of your navigation — before it.

Where it came from

I work in finance; I am not a developer by trade. I was planning our family holiday when I caught myself simply guessing which vignette we would need: either I overpay, or the one we actually need is missing halfway there. For a finance person that kind of uncertainty is almost physically painful, so I built the thing for myself. Then I put it online, in case it hurts others too.

Who does what

There are two separate jobs. One is the decision: which way to go, what it costs, how long it takes. The other is navigation: someone shows you the way while you drive and keeps an eye on the traffic. The three apps are good at different things.

Google Maps

Navigates, with live traffic and alternative routes. I do not even try to compete with that.
Tells you when a route has tolls; avoiding toll roads and motorways can be switched on or off.

Waze

Navigates, backed by reports from other drivers.
You can tell it which vignettes you own, and from then on it plans with them.

OptimÚt (that one is mine)

Helps you decide before you leave: vignette, fuel and travel time in one place.
Tells you which vignette the trip needs and what it costs, and takes the ones you already own into account.
Puts the motorway route, the toll-free route and (when there is one) an economical route side by side, in minutes and in forints.
It cannot navigate, it does not see live traffic, and its travel time is an estimate. So it hands the route you picked over to Google Maps with one tap — from there, Google is the boss.

A Friday-afternoon example: Budapest–Siófok

On the motorway (M7) the trip takes 1h 5min. That needs a vignette: for a single trip the national daily one is the cheapest at 5 550 Ft (it also covers the way back if you return the same day). With the estimated fuel, the trip costs 10 993 Ft.

On toll-free roads it takes 1h 56min, with no vignette, and about 4 057 Ft in fuel.

The difference is 51 min and 6 936 Ft. Is it worth it? Not my call. If the back seat is already asking “are we there yet?” before you have left the suburbs, probably yes. If it is a lazy Saturday and you would stop for a snack anyway, probably not. The point is that you decide from numbers, not from a hunch.

The examples are OptimÚt calculations from 7 October 2026: a D1 passenger car, 6.5 l/100 km average consumption, 643 Ft/l fuel price, one way, 2026 vignette prices, starting from central Budapest. Travel times and fuel costs are estimates, not live traffic data.

How to use them together

Before you leave: OptimÚt. Enter where you are going from and to. You get which vignette you need, what the trip costs on the motorway and toll-free, and the difference in time.
You decide. That part is yours — I just bring the numbers, like a proper finance person. If you already own a vignette, or you tell me how much extra time you accept, I recalculate with that.
You set off: Google Maps or Waze. One tap opens the route you picked in Google Maps. If you use Waze, add your vignettes there (or switch on avoiding toll roads) and Waze plans accordingly.

On the road it is their show: they see live traffic, I do not.

What NOT to use OptimÚt for

Navigation. I will not tell you to turn right in three hundred metres.
Watching for jams. My travel time is a calculated estimate, without live traffic. On the M7 on a Friday afternoon, reality will happily prove me wrong.
Tolls abroad. I only calculate the Hungarian part of the trip, up to the border.
Buying the vignette. I tell you which one you need — you buy it from the official online shop or an authorised reseller.

I build this on my own. If you spot something odd, there is a Feedback button at the bottom of the homepage — I do read it.

Try it on your next trip

You get 30 searches without registering. If you like it, stay. If you do not, at least you will know whether you need a vignette.

Calculate your route

More detail: Google Maps says there are tolls — how much, and is it worth it? · Waze will not take you onto the motorway? · How OptimÚt calculates

Sources

Last checked: 7 October 2026. Google Maps and Waze are trademarks of their owner; OptimÚt is an independent service and is not affiliated with them. What we say about them is based on the official help pages linked above and on our own dated measurements — their features may have changed since.