Comparison

Counter Service vs Smokecraft

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

Head to head
About

Counter Service

Order delicious, freshly made sandwiches for delivery or pickup. Find nearby locations, reorder favorites quickly, and enjoy convenient mobile ordering.

Highlights
  • Order sandwiches on the go
  • Find nearby stores
  • Order for delivery or pickup
  • Quickly reorder favorites
  • In-app mobile ordering
Features
Read full description

Welcome to the Counter Service app where you can order our sandwiches on the go. Sandwiches made as good as we can make them. Meat roasted in-house, our own sauces, the best bread you can buy in NYC. Sandwiches for this sandwich-y place and time. Now available with the convenience of an app. Use the Counter Service app to find stores near you, order ahead for delivery or pickup, quickly reorder your favorites, and more.

About

Smokecraft

This app acts as a real-time coach for BBQ cooking, creating personalized schedules and sending alerts for every stage of the cook. It supports various meats and grilling methods, offering precise temperature guidance and rest time calculations. The companion watch app provides at-a-glance information and haptic alerts.

Highlights
  • Personalized cook scheduling
  • Real-time coaching notifications
  • Supports various meats and grilling methods
  • Doneness selector for grilled cuts
  • Multiple simultaneous timers
  • Apple Watch companion app
  • Cook logging and export
Features
Read full description

Smokecraft is the real-time cook coach your BBQ deserves. Tell it what you're cooking and when you want to eat — it builds the schedule, sends the alerts, and stays with you on your wrist so you never miss the stall, the wrap, or the rest. No accounts. No cloud. No ads. Smokecraft runs on your phone. Your cook data stays yours. YOUR COOK. ORCHESTRATED. Tell Smokecraft what you're cooking, how heavy it is, and when you want to eat. It builds a precise phase-by-phase schedule, sends coaching notifications at every critical moment, and stays with you on your Apple Watch so you never have to leave the grill to check your phone. iCloud sync keeps your cook history across iPhone and iPad automatically. BUILT FOR EVERY GRILL Whether you're running an offset smoker low and slow at 225°F, a gas grill on direct high heat, or a charcoal setup doing a combo sear - Smokecraft knows the difference and adjusts every timing and coaching tip accordingly. PHASE ENGINE WITH REAL COACHING Every phase of your cook gets a countdown, a coaching tip, and a perfectly-worded notification. When your brisket hits the stall at 165°F, Smokecraft tells you exactly what's happening and what to do next. When it's time to rest, it won't let you rush it. Supported cooks: - Brisket (low & slow, stall management, rest) - Pork Butt (stall, bark lock-in, pull temp) - Spare Ribs — 3-2-1 method - Baby Back Ribs — 2-2-1 method - Beef Ribs (8–10 hour smoke) - Pork Belly - Whole Chicken - Salmon - Steaks, Burgers, Pork Chops, Lamb Chops (doneness-aware: Rare → Well Done) - Lamb Leg, Chuck Roast (low & slow with pull temp) - Grill-type coaching tuned for smoker, charcoal, and gas — every phase and tip adjusts to your heat source DONENESS SELECTOR For grilled cuts, choose your target: Rare through Well Done. Smokecraft back-calculates your pull temperature and rest time, and alerts you with precision as your internal temp approaches the target. SMART TIMERS Run multiple timers simultaneously — quick timers, flip timers for two-sided cooks, rest timers, and phase timers linked to your active cook. Preset timers for the moments you hit every cook: Burger Flip, Chicken Check, Rib Glaze, Preheat. APPLE WATCH COMPANION The most important screen in Smokecraft fits on your wrist. Current phase, live countdown, and a quick temp logger you can operate with one hand — crown scroll to temperature, single tap to log. Haptic alerts when phases transition. A "Pull Now" alert pattern you'll feel even with gloves on. Complications for every watch face. WEATHER-AWARE (SMOKECRAFT PRO) Wind, humidity, and cold temperatures all affect your cook. Smokecraft surfaces real-time weather conditions and flags when you should adjust your estimated cook time. COOK LOG Every cook is logged — meat, weight, duration, temperature history, notes, and a 5-star rating. Swipe to cook again with the same parameters. Filter by protein. Export to PDF. HANDS FULL? Use your voice to control, Siri ("Start the spritz timer in Smokecraft", "Start the steak flip timer", etc.) CLEAN. FOCUSED. YOURS. Dark design built for outdoor visibility. No ads. Ever. Ad-free for every user, free or Pro. SMOKECRAFT PRO — $29.99/year or $4.99/MONTH - Live Activities on lock screen and Dynamic Island - Apple Watch companion app - Weather-aware cook coaching - MEATER probe support — auto-log temperatures over Bluetooth - Multi-meat mode (run up to 8 cooks simultaneously) - Unlimited timers - Advanced temperature analytics - iCloud sync across iPhone and iPad - PDF cook report export - 3-day free trial Privacy Policy: https://www.sapphirefive.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.sapphirefive.com/terms Smokecraft is proudly independent

Screenshots

Counter Service2 screens
Smokecraft4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Counter Service at none against Smokecraft's 2. Counter Service also leads on ratings volume (10 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). Smokecraft's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 months). 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. Smokecraft sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Counter Service 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 Counter Service against 5.0 for Smokecraft. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Counter Service has 10 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Counter Service ships an update every 3 months, Smokecraft every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 3 level
Counter Service versus Smokecraft: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCounter ServiceSmokecraft
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (10 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings10 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKernel Foods, IncBrett Wilson

Customer experience

Counter Service

All ratings10 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Smokecraft

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Counter Service

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Smokecraft

Subscriptions2
  • Smokecraft Pro$2.991 Month
  • Smokecraft Pro Annual$14.991 Year

Questions

Is Counter Service free?
Counter Service is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Smokecraft free?
Smokecraft is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Counter Service or Smokecraft?
Counter Service and Smokecraft are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 10 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Counter Service or Smokecraft have ads?
Counter Service shows ads; Smokecraft does not.
Which is updated more often, Counter Service or Smokecraft?
Counter Service ships an update every 3 months, and Smokecraft every 3 days. Most recently, Counter Service was updated on October 30, 2026 and Smokecraft on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons