Comparison

Brew Timer vs Third Samurai

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Brew Timer

This app guides you through the coffee brewing process step-by-step to achieve a consistently great cup. It offers numerous included recipes and grinder settings, allows customization, and features automatic tracking of brew details and notes.

Highlights
  • Step-by-step brewing guidance
  • Customizable brew recipes
  • Grinder-specific settings
  • Automatic brew journal
  • Detailed coffee tracking
  • Brew dashboard for notes and tweaks
  • Metric and imperial unit support
Features
Read full description

Can brewing coffee at home be both easy and delicious? Yes! Brew Timer helps you produce a consistently great cup of coffee by guiding you step-by-step through the brewing process. Start with one of the included brew recipes or add your own and tune it to perfection. Brew Timer works with you, no matter what you use to brew. Water mass, grind setting, total brew time — there's a lot to keep track of when dialing in your brews. That's why Brew Timer is packed with powerful features like grinder-specific settings, smart water adjustments, and an automatic brew journal. When you find your perfect cup, Brew Timer will help you repeat it. Brew a delicious cup of coffee every time with Brew Timer! — 28 Included Recipes — Aeropress (×5) Hario V60 (×4) Chemex (×3) Kalita Wave 155 (×2) Kalita Wave 185 (×2) Espresso (×2) Hario Switch (×2) Stagg [X] (×2) Stagg [XF] (×1) Clever Dripper (×1) French Press (×2) Siphon (×1) Tricolate (×1) Add your own! (×∞) — 36 Included Grinders — 1Zpresso Baratza Capresso Commandante Fellow Hario Helor Kinu Knock Niche Orphan Espresso Option-O Porlex Timemore Wilfa Add your own! — Coffee Tracking — Brew Timer comes with detailed coffee tracking built in. You can track everything from the simple "Name" and "Roaster", to the more fine-grained details like "Varietal" and "Harvest Date". To save you from typing it all out, on iOS 15 and later Brew Timer supports scanning coffee bags to automatically extract these coffee details for you. — Brew Journal — Every time you complete a brew, Brew Timer creates a new entry in your personal Brew Journal. Grind, coffee and water amounts are all tracked automatically. Record your own notes to capture thoughts on technique and taste for next time. — Brew Dashboard — After each brew, Brew Timer compiles a one-stop dashboard to make it easy to add tasting notes, reference coffee details, and tweak your recipe for next time. Brew Timer supports metric (mL/g) and imperial (fl. oz/oz) and will convert recipes to Aeropress-specific units for you. Brew Timer works without a scale, but it is recommended. Follow Brew Timer on: Instagram - https://instagram.com/brewtimerapp Twitter - https://twitter.com/brewtimerapp -- Thanks Matt Luedke for the app preview music!

About

Third Samurai

Discover new coffee brewing techniques and recipes with this app. It features a detailed timer with step-by-step guidance and hints to help you achieve the perfect cup.

Highlights
  • Recipe discovery
  • Recipe experimentation
  • Brewing timer
  • Detailed brewing steps
  • Brewing hints
Features
Read full description

Third Samurai is an application for coffee lovers and baristas who want to discover new brewing techniques and recipes or experiment with their own recipes. Brewing coffee requires precision in time - the app offers the timer with detailed steps and hints for brewing.

Screenshots

Brew Timer4 screens
Third Samurai3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Third Samurai at fortnightly against Brew Timer's every 3 months. Third Samurai also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 88%) and price ($1.99 vs $2.99). Brew Timer's advantage is ratings volume (55 vs 4) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Brew Timer costs $2.99 and Third Samurai $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Brew Timer holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brew Timer has 55 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 88% of Brew Timer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Third Samurai's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brew Timer ships an update every 3 months, Third Samurai fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Brew Timer versus Third Samurai: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrew TimerThird Samurai
Price$2.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.7 (55 ratings) — better4.5 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews88.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings55 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank#113 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStephen PanaroIvan Dzyubenko

Customer experience

Brew Timer

All ratings55 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral5.5%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive88.5%
Neutral7.7%
Negative3.8%

Third Samurai

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Brew Timer

No in-app purchases

None

Third Samurai

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Brew Timer free?
Brew Timer costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Third Samurai free?
Third Samurai costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Brew Timer or Third Samurai?
Brew Timer is rated higher. Brew Timer averages 4.7 out of 5 from 55 ratings, while Third Samurai averages 4.5 from 4 ratings.
Do Brew Timer or Third Samurai have ads?
Neither Brew Timer nor Third Samurai shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brew Timer or Third Samurai?
Brew Timer ships an update every 3 months, and Third Samurai fortnightly. Most recently, Brew Timer was updated on September 23, 2026 and Third Samurai on September 21, 2026.

Other comparisons