Comparison

Bean Box vs Coffee Journal

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

Head to head
About

Bean Box

Discover and receive world-class specialty coffee from over 50 award-winning U.S. roasters. Curated by experts, this app delivers fresh, small-batch coffees to elevate your daily routine and bring you better mornings.

Highlights
  • Specialty coffee delivery
  • 50+ award-winning roasters
  • Expert curated selections
  • Small-batch coffee discovery
  • Freshly shipped coffee
Features
Read full description

Bean Box is the #1 specialty coffee delivery app. No matter where you live, we'll bring the world’s best specialty coffee to you. Choose coffees from 50+ award-winning roasters across the U.S., curated by a world-class expert, to elevate your morning routine. Discover new and exciting small-batch coffees with every delivery, all shipped fresh for a superior morning cup. We’re on a mission to bring you better mornings. We believe great coffee isn’t just a drink, it’s an experience, and one with the power to make your mornings, and your days, even better. Download Bean Box now and start your journey to better mornings.

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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 follow the coffee world in the Coffee Feed. 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 LIBRARY - Beans, Brews, Recipes and Gear live in one library, a swipe apart. - One + button adds a bag, brew, recipe or gear from any page. - View, sort and filter each page from one menu next to search. - Open My Coffee Wrapped, your coffee year, in one tap (Pro). THE COFFEE FEED - Read facts and real voices from the coffee community on new beans and gear, daily, each with its sources, quotes and key notes. - See what coffee people are arguing about in Hot takes, and vote in the Daily Poll. - Catch new coffee drops and deals from roasters in your region. - Save stories to read later. YOUR COFFEE JOURNAL - Record home brews and café visits with photos, notes and ratings. - Track dose, ratio, grind, water temperature and brew time. - Log the water and mineral drops you brewed with. - Send Brew Calculator's ratio, water and pours straight into a Brew Log. - Attach beans, Gear and recipes to each Brew Log. - Save a setup as a template (gear, recipe, numbers and steps) and start your next brews from it (Pro). - Customize sections and backgrounds to make the journal your own. - Changes save as you edit. - Revisit your cups in list or grid view, see every brew on a check-in calendar and every café on a map. 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. - See how much coffee is left in each bag as you brew. - 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. 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. 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

Bean Box4 screens
Coffee Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bean Box at none against Coffee Journal's 4. Bean Box also leads on ratings volume (757 vs 30) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). Coffee Journal's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating 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

Both are free to download. Coffee Journal sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $7.90 per month. Bean Box asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Bean Box against 4.9 for Coffee Journal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bean Box has 757 ratings behind it against 30, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of Bean Box's written reviews are positive against 91% of Coffee Journal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bean Box ships an update every 3 weeks, Coffee Journal every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Bean Box versus Coffee Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBean BoxCoffee Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (757 ratings)4.9 (30 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.8% of reviews90.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings757 — better30
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFreemium
Best chart rank—#199 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB103 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBean Box, Inc.Bitlever

Customer experience

Bean Box

All ratings718 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive81.8%
Neutral7.8%
Negative10.4%

Coffee Journal

All ratings30 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive90.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative9.1%

Bugs and requests

Bean Box

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes on opening
  • Unable to view account information
  • Coupon codes not working as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Search and filtering options for coffees
  • Ability to manage subscription details in-app
  • Option to switch between whole bean and ground coffee
  • Integration of past order history and ratings

Coffee Journal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Bean Box

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Coffee Journal

Subscriptions4
  • BeanBook Pro Monthly$7.901 Month
  • BeanBook Pro1 Month trial$35.901 Year
  • BeanBook Pro1 Month trial$49.901 Year
Show 1 more
  • BeanBook Pro1 Year trial$49.901 Year

Questions

Is Bean Box free?
Bean Box is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Coffee Journal free?
Coffee Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bean Box or Coffee Journal?
Coffee Journal is rated higher. Bean Box averages 4.8 out of 5 from 757 ratings, while Coffee Journal averages 4.9 from 30 ratings.
Do Bean Box or Coffee Journal have ads?
Bean Box shows ads; Coffee Journal does not.
Which is updated more often, Bean Box or Coffee Journal?
Bean Box ships an update every 3 weeks, and Coffee Journal every 5 days. Most recently, Bean Box was updated on October 26, 2026 and Coffee Journal on October 27, 2026.

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