Comparison

Steep vs My Tea Shelf

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

Head to head
About

Steep

Features
Read full description

Steep is the tea app for people who care how their tea is brewed. Set a precise timer for green, black, oolong, white, or puerh โ€” with smart presets for temperature and time. In gongfu mode, Steep tracks each short infusion in sequence, auto-bumping the next steep and counting down right on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, so your hands stay on the gaiwan. Build your stash by photographing a tin or pouch โ€” Steep reads the label and fills in type, origin, vendor, and harvest year for you to confirm. See your whole collection at a glance, track quantity and value, and mark aging puerh cakes you're saving. Journal every session: log each infusion, dictate tasting notes hands-free, and let on-device intelligence organize them into aroma, body, and finish. Suggestions, never appraisals โ€” your palate stays the authority. When your shelf is worth showing off, export a beautiful tea-shelf card to share with your community. Everything syncs privately across your devices with iCloud. Nothing leaves your phone for our servers. Free to brew with built-in timers and a starter stash. Steep Pro unlocks unlimited teas and sessions, label scanning, AI notes, value tracking, and unbranded cards โ€” monthly, annual, or a one-time lifetime unlock. Steep your tea. Remember it. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://brainrash.com/privacy

About

My Tea Shelf

Features
Read full description

My Tea Shelf lets you build your own tea shelf by adding teas one by one, changing shelf themes, and organizing your collection in a cozy way. For each tea, you can record its name, tea company, tea color strength, brewing time, rating, and a short review. You can also customize your shelf by choosing the tin case shape, tin case color, label color, and label font. Main Features Add and manage teas on your shelf Create multiple shelves Set a theme for each shelf Record tea color strength Use a brewing timer Save ratings and short reviews Customize tin cases and labels

Screenshots

Steep4 screens
My Tea Shelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: My Tea Shelf at every 3 days against Steep's every 2 months. My Tea Shelf also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Steep sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and My Tea Shelf sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Steep ships an update every 2 months, My Tea Shelf every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Steep versus My Tea Shelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSteepMy Tea Shelf
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS26.013.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size4 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJustin PruskowskiYumin Lim

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Steep

Subscriptions2
  • Steep Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Steep Pro Annual$14.991 Year
5 purchases

My Tea Shelf

One-time5
  • Forest Palette$0.49
  • Berry Palette$0.49
  • Blossom Palette$0.49
Show 2 more
  • Peach Palette$0.49
  • Candy Palette$0.49

Questions

Is Steep free?
Steep is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is My Tea Shelf free?
My Tea Shelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Steep or My Tea Shelf have ads?
Neither Steep nor My Tea Shelf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Steep or My Tea Shelf?
Steep ships an update every 2 months, and My Tea Shelf every 3 days. Most recently, Steep was updated on October 31, 2026 and My Tea Shelf on October 31, 2026.

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