Comparison

Act Four vs The Espresso Protocol

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Video-guided brewing workflow
  • Speed and taste analysis
  • Machine and grinder adjustment guidance
  • Automatic recipe tracking
  • Hands-free operation
  • Brew Weight and Timing adjustments
Features
Read full description

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/

About

The Espresso Protocol

This tool helps assess coffee quality for espresso performance. It uses sensory science to quantify and describe coffee attributes, promoting transparency and communication across the coffee supply chain.

Highlights
  • Coffee quality assessment for espresso
  • Sensory science integration
  • Quantify coffee characteristics
  • Promotes supply chain transparency
  • Bridges roaster and producer communication
Features
Read full description

The Espresso Protocol (TEP) is a coffee quality assessment tool for identifying coffees that will perform well as espresso. It incorporates sensory science and allows tasters to quantify and describe the characteristics and attributes of coffees.* Efficient, precise and repeatable, it is designed for the benefit of the entire coffee supply chain from producers to roasters. The common language created by TEP promotes transparency in value attribution along the supply chain and bridges the gap between roaster and producer regarding origin effects on differentiated price structures based on roasting and extraction methods.

Screenshots

Act Four4 screens
The Espresso Protocol3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The Espresso Protocol at none against Act Four's 3. The Espresso Protocol also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Act Four's advantage is ratings volume (17 vs 2). 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. Act Four sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. The Espresso Protocol asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Act Four against 5.0 for The Espresso Protocol. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Act Four has 17 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Act Four ships an update every 8 days, The Espresso Protocol every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Act Four versus The Espresso Protocol: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAct FourThe Espresso Protocol
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (17 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings17 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAIV, LLCPremium Quality Consulting, LLC

Customer experience

Act Four

All ratings17 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

The Espresso Protocol

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Act Four

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • SwitchBot Integration$19.99
None

The Espresso Protocol

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Act Four free?
Act Four is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Espresso Protocol free?
The Espresso Protocol is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Act Four or The Espresso Protocol?
Act Four and The Espresso Protocol are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 17 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Act Four or The Espresso Protocol have ads?
Neither Act Four nor The Espresso Protocol shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Act Four or The Espresso Protocol?
Act Four ships an update every 8 days, and The Espresso Protocol every 2 weeks. Most recently, Act Four was updated on October 9, 2026 and The Espresso Protocol on September 20, 2026.

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