Comparison

Roastguide 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

Roastguide

Explore a vast catalog of specialty coffee roasts and roasters. Get personalized recommendations, track your brewing experiences with detailed notes, and connect with a community of coffee lovers. Discover new favorites and grow your coffee expertise.

Highlights
  • 40,000+ specialty coffee roasts catalog
  • Personalized weekly coffee picks
  • Snap photos for instant coffee details
  • Follow roasters for new releases
  • Log and rate brewing experiences
  • Detailed tasting notes and coffee tracking
  • Expert brewing guides and tips
Features
Read full description

Featured on the App Store. Where great coffee finds you. The world's largest specialty coffee catalog with 40,000+ roasts from over 1,100 roasters, updated multiple times daily through our living database. Journey through specialty coffee with Roastguide, your digital coffee companion. Our intelligent recommendations and real-time catalog updates ensure exceptional roasts find their way to you, then make them part of your story through personalized brewing logs, detailed tasting notes, and community connections. Discover & Explore Browse our unparalleled catalog of 40,000+ specialty roasts, updated multiple times daily Get personalized Weekly Picks curated just for your taste preferences Snap photos of any coffee bag for instant details and information Follow roasters and get notified when they release new coffees Track Your Journey Log and rate every brewing experience with intuitive tools Keep detailed notes of your coffee adventures and discoveries Monitor your coffee collection with smart bag tracking Build streaks and track your coffee habits over time Grow Your Expertise Access expert brewing guides and professional tips Learn through detailed flavor profiles and coffee stories Connect with fellow coffee enthusiasts in our growing community Share your discoveries and learn from other coffee lovers Connect with Coffee People Follow other coffee enthusiasts and see their reviews Share your profile and coffee journey with friends Join thousands of coffee lovers discovering amazing roasts daily Our living database and intelligent recommendations mean you'll never miss your perfect cup. From finding your next favorite roast to perfecting your brewing technique, Roastguide helps you write your unique coffee story while great coffee finds you. Download now and let great coffee find you!

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 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

Roastguide4 screens
Coffee Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: Coffee Journal at #158 against Roastguide's unranked. Coffee Journal also leads on ratings volume (27 vs 3) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). Roastguide's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 88%). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Roastguide sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $22.99 per year and Coffee Journal sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $7.90 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Roastguide against 4.9 for Coffee Journal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Coffee Journal has 27 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Roastguide's written reviews are positive against 88% of Coffee Journal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Roastguide ships an update weekly, Coffee Journal every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on June 5, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Roastguide versus Coffee Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRoastguideCoffee Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better4.9 (27 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better88.2% of reviews
Number of ratings327 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#158 — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB102 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHumanized ABBitlever

Customer experience

Roastguide

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Coffee Journal

All ratings27 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive88.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.8%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Roastguide

Subscriptions1
  • No Beans, No Worries Pass$22.991 Year
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 Roastguide free?
Roastguide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Coffee Journal free?
Coffee Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Roastguide or Coffee Journal?
Roastguide is rated higher. Roastguide averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Coffee Journal averages 4.9 from 27 ratings.
Do Roastguide or Coffee Journal have ads?
Neither Roastguide nor Coffee Journal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Roastguide or Coffee Journal?
Roastguide ships an update weekly, and Coffee Journal every 5 days. Most recently, Roastguide was updated on June 5, 2026 and Coffee Journal on September 22, 2026.

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