Brewguide vs Coffee Journal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Brewguide
This app helps you set up and personalize your Acaia Pearl S coffee scale. You can also browse, create, and share coffee recipes, and transfer them directly to your scale for guided brewing.
- Scale setup guide
- Personalize scale messages
- Browse official recipes
- Create and share recipes
- Transfer recipes to scale
- Guided brewing mode
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Brewguide is the companion App for the Acaia Pearl S Welcome to your new scale! The Acaia Pearl S pairs with all of our apps but this is the one to use to set up the scale. If you don’t have a Pearl S, you can still browse and create recipes. In Brewguide, you can: * Walk through a setup guide to adjust settings like turning on/off modes, changing the weight unit, adjusting the auto-off timer, turning on/off the button sound, and changing the temperature unit. * Personalize your Pearl S with your own loading message * Browse official recipes or create and share your own with a QR code or link * Easily transfer a recipe to your Pearl S - the scale holds one recipe at a time To enter Brewguide mode, where you view the loaded recipe’s prompted steps, hold the Tare button until you see “Brewguide” on the scale.
Coffee Journal
Log your coffee beans, track brewing parameters, and discover new recipes with AI assistance. This app helps you organize your coffee journey, from bean origin to tasting notes, and even generate recipes from web links.
- AI-powered coffee bean logging
- Track grind settings and resting time
- Organize beans with multiple views
- Generate recipes from web links
- Explore recipes from top baristas
- Chat with a coffee expert AI
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BeanBook is a free coffee app for specialty coffee lovers. Keep a coffee journal, organize your beans with a coffee tracker, explore coffee recipes, and discover coffee deals from specialty roasters. Remember what made each cup great. Save your photos, tasting notes, grind settings and brewing details together, from your morning pour-over to a memorable café visit. YOUR COFFEE JOURNAL - Record home brews and café visits with photos, notes and ratings. - Track dose, ratio, grind, water temperature and brew time. - Attach beans, Gear and recipes to each Brew Log. - Customize sections and backgrounds to make the journal your own. - Changes save as you edit. - Revisit your cups in list or grid view and track your week in coffee. YOUR COFFEE TRACKER - Scan coffee bags with AI to fill in the roaster, origin, process and tasting notes. - Track roast dates, resting time and how each bag is aging. - Pause the roast clock while a bag is frozen. - Match your beans to jars with numbered or custom container labels. - Remember your favorite coffees and keep a history of finished bags. EXPLORE COFFEE RECIPES - Discover brewing methods and save your own coffee recipes. - Keep dose, ratio, grind settings and temperature ready for your next brew. - Start a Brew Log from a saved recipe. - Calculate water amounts for two to five pours with Brew Calculator. - Follow your brew with the built-in timer. Find recipes for Hario V60, AeroPress, Hario Switch, OXO Rapid Brewer, V60 NEO, NextLevel Pulsar, Deep27, Origami, Orea, Chemex, French Press and Cezve. Explore recipes from coffee professionals including James Hoffmann, Tetsu Kasuya, Lance Hedrick, Scott Rao, The Coffee Chronicler, April Coffee Roasters and World Brewers Cup champions. EXPLORE COFFEE DEALS AND NEW DROPS - Discover coffee deals and new releases from specialty roasters. - Browse beans by origin, process and flavor. - Find new roasters and revisit your favorites. YOUR COFFEE GEAR - Organize grinders, brewers, kettles and scales with photos, notes and ratings. - Save grinder settings for the coffees you brew. - Find related Brew Logs on bean and Gear pages. - Keep a wish list for your next setup. BEANBOOK AI - Scan bags to spend less time entering coffee details. - Ask about origins, processing, flavor notes and brewing techniques. - Get suggestions for grind size, temperature, resting time and extraction. TRY IT WITH SAMPLE BEANS - Get started with sample beans and explore Pro features before adding your own coffee. FREE TO START BeanBook is a free coffee app with optional Pro features. Keep up to 10 fully unlocked Brew Logs on the free plan, plus unlimited basic logs with photos, notes, beans, locations and overall ratings. BeanBook Pro unlocks unlimited beans, recipes and Gear, plus advanced Brew Log features beyond the free allowance. Brew, taste, remember. Keep your coffee journey in BeanBook. Terms of Service: https://beanbook.app/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://beanbook.app/policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Coffee Journal at 4.9 against Brewguide's 3.1. Coffee Journal also leads on review sentiment (88% vs 46%) and update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly). Brewguide's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4). On price, ratings volume, ads 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
Both are free to download. Coffee Journal sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $7.90 per month. Brewguide asks for nothing beyond the download.
Coffee Journal holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 27 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Brewguide's written reviews are positive against 88% of Coffee Journal's.
Brewguide ships an update monthly, Coffee Journal every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Brewguide | Coffee Journal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (14 ratings) | 4.9 (27 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 46.4% of reviews | 88.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 27 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | — | #197 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 102 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | acaia | Bitlever |
Customer experience
Brewguide
Coffee Journal
In-app purchases
Brewguide
No in-app purchases
Coffee Journal
- BeanBook Pro Monthly$7.901 Month
- BeanBook Pro1 Month trial$35.901 Year
- BeanBook Pro1 Month trial$49.901 Year
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- BeanBook Pro1 Year trial$49.901 Year
Questions
Is Brewguide free?
Is Coffee Journal free?
Which has better reviews, Brewguide or Coffee Journal?
Do Brewguide or Coffee Journal have ads?
Which is updated more often, Brewguide or Coffee Journal?
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