The Great Coffee App vs Act Four
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Great Coffee App
Explore the world of coffee with this app, featuring detailed guides on espresso-based drinks and alternative brewing methods. Learn from an expert barista through videos, cross-section visuals, and interesting facts.
- Espresso-based drink recipes
- Alternative brewing methods
- Step-by-step video demonstrations
- Cross-section drink visuals
- Coffee facts and information
- Expert barista insights
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Popular espresso-based drinks and alternative brewing methods by an expert barista with many years of experience. - “App Store Best of 2013” in Chinese App Store; - #1 top paid app in "Food & Drinks" category in 30 countries; - #1 top paid app in 8 countries; - "Editor's choice" in South Korea; - Featured on crateandbarrel.com; - Featured by Apple in a TV ad. Demonstration of drinks in cross-section, videos of every step of the process, interesting facts about coffee, specially created music and impressive graphic design – all this will help expand your horizons and teach you about the world of Coffee. By covering the stages from beginner to expert, you will open up a whole new world of drinks, and may be one of them will become your favorite! Espresso-based drinks: - Espresso - Espresso Ristretto - Espresso Lungo - Espresso Macchiato - Espresso Con Panna - Espresso Romano - Espresso Doppio - Latte - Americano - Cappuccino - Flat white - Marocchino - Latte Macchiato - Caffe Mocha - Irish coffee - Flamingo - Cafecino - Vienna coffee - Crappa Brewing methods: - AeroPress - Turkish coffee - Pour-over - Cup brew - French press - Cold brew - Siphon - Vietnamese hot - Chemex - Moka pot Welcome for the world of Coffee! "This app is the sleek and sophisticated digital cookbook for coffee" Mashable.com "This is a superbly, yet simply designed app which gives short instructions and descriptions on how to make the various types of espresso and espresso based drinks" Sandboxgeneral.com "Overall, great app for coffee drinkers who want to extend their knowledge of coffee casually, rather than going all Wikipedia on it. Images are gorgeous, music is beautiful – a great experience!" Applecture.com Please send your ideas, critique, and other feedback at feedback@greatcoffeeapp.com
Act Four
Learn to brew perfect espresso with video guidance and taste analysis. The app tracks your brew automatically, helping you adjust your machine and recipe for your ideal cup. Designed for both beginners and experienced baristas.
- Video-guided brewing workflow
- Speed and taste analysis
- Machine and grinder adjustment guidance
- Automatic recipe tracking
- Hands-free operation
- Brew Weight and Timing adjustments
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Let’s brew amazing espresso. New to espresso? Act Four’s video-guided workflow is designed to quickly walk you through the same steps used by professional baristas. We’ll analyze the speed and taste of each brew to tweak your machine, grinder, and brew recipe until you land on your ideal cup. Espresso pro? Let’s dial in by taste. After each brew, we’ll dive into the tasting experience to drive adjustments to Brew Weight and Brew Timing. Each brew iterates on the previous until we hit that magic cup. Act Four’s minimal workflow is designed to be hands-free and out of your way. Just open the app for automatic recipe, preinfusion, brew, and flow rate tracking. Privacy Policy: https://actfour.coffee/privacy Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Act Four at Free against The Great Coffee App's $2.99. Act Four also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). The Great Coffee App's advantage is ratings volume (190 vs 18) and chart position (#93 vs unranked). On ads and in-app purchases 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
Act Four is free to download; The Great Coffee App costs $2.99 up front. The Great Coffee App sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Act Four sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Act Four holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Great Coffee App has 190 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of The Great Coffee App's written reviews are positive against 100% of Act Four's.
The Great Coffee App ships an update every 2 months, Act Four every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Great Coffee App | Act Four |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (190 ratings) | 5.0 (18 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.5% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 190 — better | 18 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #93 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 239 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Baglan Dosmagambetov | AIV, LLC |
Customer experience
The Great Coffee App
Act Four
Bugs and requests
The Great Coffee App
Reported bugs
2 issues- Aeropress demo shown upside down
- App forces rating/sharing to access content
Requested features
4 requests- Detailed brewing instructions with measurements
- More coffee drink varieties and preparation methods
- Ability to save favorite drinks
- Latte art tutorials
Act Four
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Great Coffee App
- Optional Patronage – Token$0.99
- Optional Patronage – Regular$4.99
- Optional Patronage – Generous$9.99
Act Four
- Monthly3 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- SwitchBot Integration$19.99
Questions
Is The Great Coffee App free?
Is Act Four free?
Which has better reviews, The Great Coffee App or Act Four?
Do The Great Coffee App or Act Four have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Great Coffee App or Act Four?
Other comparisons
