If you tow, you have probably gone looking for an app to help you stay under your weight limits and get your tyre pressures right. CaravanMate is one of the names that comes up in that search, and it does a real job — but it is not the only option, and depending on how you travel it may not be the best fit. This is an honest look at what to look for in a towing app in 2026, where the common options stand, and why we think an integrated approach beats stitching together several single-purpose tools.
Full disclosure up front: we build Ready2Tow, so we have a horse in this race. We have tried to keep the descriptions of other apps fair and factual — and where we are talking about our own, we have kept the claims to what the app actually does.
What CaravanMate Does
CaravanMate offers a set of caravan-focused mobile tools, delivered as separate apps. Its Caravan Towing Weight app checks your towing weights against manufacturer specifications and alerts you if you are over, and includes a checklist and a place to store caravan park information. A separate Tyre Pressure app calculates pressures for the vehicle and caravan and stores them for reference, supporting psi, bar, and kPa. Both are available on iOS and Android.
That covers the two core safety calculations, and for a lot of people it is enough. The main friction is structural: weight and tyre pressure live in two different apps, and the toolset stops at those calculations. If you want your weights, your pressures, your pre-trip checks, and your maintenance history in one place — and connected to the rest of your trip — you end up running several apps that do not talk to each other.
What to Look For in a Towing App
Before picking any app, it is worth being clear about what actually matters for towing safety over the long term.
It should calculate from your numbers, not generic averages. A weight check is only meaningful if it works from your actual plate ratings and the load you actually carry. Look for an app that captures your GVM, ATM, GCM, GTM, and ball weight and checks each against its limit — not one that gives a single vague "you should be fine" verdict.
Tyre pressure by real load, not the sidewall maximum. The number stamped on your tyre is the maximum pressure for the maximum load. The correct pressure is lower and depends on what each tyre is actually carrying. A good app uses load-inflation data and your real weights, not a one-size-fits-all figure. (Our tyre pressure guide explains why this matters.)
Region-correct terminology. Towing terms differ by country — ATM and GTM in Australia, GVWR and GAWR in the US, MTPLM in the UK. An app that knows which numbers to ask for in your market saves you translating between systems.
Honest about its limits. The most important quality in a safety tool is that it tells you what it cannot do. No app can measure your real weight — that is what a weighbridge is for. Be wary of anything that implies a calculation is a certification.
One place, not five. Weight, tyre pressure, pre-trip checklists, and maintenance reminders are all part of the same job. An app that keeps them together — and remembers your rig between trips — beats a drawer full of single-purpose apps.
The Options in 2026
CaravanMate — solid, simple, and Australian, covering weight checks and tyre pressures across two separate apps. Good if all you need is those two calculations and you do not mind switching between apps.
Single-purpose weight calculators — a number of standalone apps and web calculators (LoadMate and various "towing weight calculator" tools among them) do the weight arithmetic well. They tend to stop at weight, with no tyre pressure, checklist, or maintenance side.
Spreadsheets and web calculators — plenty of people run their weights through a homemade spreadsheet or a free web tool. It works, but there is nothing to carry your rig's details between trips, no tyre pressure logic, and nothing that walks you through a pre-departure check.
Ready2Tow — our own app, built to be the integrated option. It checks all your weight ratings against their limits, calculates per-wheel tyre pressures from your actual load, includes a built-in pre-trip safety checklist, tracks maintenance, and maps public weighbridges near you — with region-correct terminology for nine countries. Scan a compliance plate or tyre sidewall and it reads the figures automatically. Colour-coded results show green for safe, amber for attention, and red for over the line.
Where Ready2Tow Fits
If CaravanMate covers what you need, it is a perfectly reasonable choice. Where Ready2Tow pulls ahead is integration: your weights, tyre pressures, checklists, and maintenance all live together, tied to your specific rig, so you are not re-entering the same details into three apps or wondering which one has the current numbers. And because it pairs with Ready2Roam, your trip planning and your towing safety sit in the same ecosystem — plan the trip in one, confirm the rig is safe to tow in the other.
The Free tier gives you a pass-or-fail weight check at no cost, so you can see whether it fits how you travel before paying anything. The full feature breakdown covers everything it does, and the comparison page lays out where it differs from single-purpose tools.
A closing point that applies to every app on this list, ours included: none of them measures your real weight. Ready2Tow does arithmetic on the figures you enter or measure — it is a point-in-time check, not a certification, and it does not account for things it cannot see such as load shifting under way or tyre condition.
Ready2Tow provides weight and tyre pressure calculations as a guide only. It does not replace professional weighing services or qualified tyre technicians. Always verify your weights at a certified weighbridge before towing.
