Comparison

Act Four vs steep

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

steep

Discover cafes and bars with detailed reviews and curated itineraries. Find the perfect spot for any occasion, from working alone to a first date, with a unique scoring system for quality, atmosphere, and value. Explore cities with personalized, walkable routes based on real user experiences.

Highlights
  • Detailed venue reviews
  • Unique scoring system
  • Moment-based tagging
  • Interactive city maps
  • Curated itineraries
  • Walkable route builder
Features
Read full description

Find the right place for this moment. steep is a global cafe and bar guide, written and reviewed by one person who drinks too much coffee and too much wine in too many cities. Every venue is visited and paid for out of pocket. No one pays to be featured. No one pays to be ranked higher. THE STEEP INDEX Every review is scored across five axes: quality (coffee or drink), atmosphere, solo-friendliness, value, and staying power. One overall score. No stars, no vague vibes, just an honest breakdown of what you're walking into. PERFECT FOR Every venue is tagged for the moment you're actually in: working alone, a first date, a slow weekend, people watching, no laptops, an espresso pilgrimage. Filter by what you need right now, not just by neighborhood. WHAT'S INCLUDED, FREE Sign in with a one-time email code (no password) and get full access to every review, city guide, interactive map, curated itinerary, and PDF city guide. Save places, mark them visited, and leave yourself notes. None of this is paywalled. 35 CITIES Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Chiba, Taipei, Bangkok, Seoul, Lisbon, Porto, Melbourne, New York, Stockholm, Oslo, Granada, San Sebastian, Madrid, Helsinki, Tallinn, Edinburgh, and more added regularly. BUILD A DAY Pick a city, a time of day, and a vibe. Get a walkable route built from real reviews, not a generic list. Built for people who care where they end up, not just what's nearby.

Screenshots

Act Four4 screens
steep4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: steep at none against Act Four's 3. Act Four's advantage is ratings volume (17 vs 2). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. steep 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 steep. 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. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Act Four ships an update every 8 days, steep every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Act Four versus steep: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAct Foursteep
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (17 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings17 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 8 daysEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB8 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperAIV, LLCMark Francisco

Customer experience

Act Four

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

steep

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
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

steep

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Act Four free?
Act Four is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is steep free?
steep is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Act Four or steep?
Act Four and steep are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 17 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Act Four or steep have ads?
Neither Act Four nor steep shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Act Four or steep?
Act Four ships an update every 8 days, and steep every 4 days. Most recently, Act Four was updated on October 9, 2026 and steep on October 12, 2026.

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