RoastLog Review (2026): Pricing, Features & Honest Verdict

Reviewed by MakerStack · Published · 6 min read

TLDR

RoastLog is cloud-based roast profiling, green coffee inventory, and cupping software for specialty coffee roasters. The flat-rate pricing is its best feature: your bill stays the same whether you roast 5kg or 5,000kg. Best for: small and growing roasteries. Price: from $129/mo, no free plan. Rating: 6.7/10.

What is RoastLog?

RoastLog is a web-based platform that runs the data side of a coffee roastery. It records every roast as a time and temperature curve with rate-of-rise, tracks your green coffee inventory as you burn through it, and gives you cupping forms to score quality. The idea is to keep profiling, stock, and quality control in one place instead of spreadsheets, paper logs, and three disconnected apps.

The company is RoastLog, LLC, run by a small team led by Brian and Linsey rather than a private equity portfolio. That matters in this niche: when you email support, you tend to reach the people who built the software. RoastLog has been around for years serving specialty roasters, and it shipped a major platform update in 2025 that modernized the profiling interface and reporting. It is a real, active SaaS product, not a dead site or a hardware-only gadget.

It helps to be clear about what RoastLog is and is not. There is a piece of hardware in the picture, a data bridge that streams temperatures off your roaster, but the product we are reviewing is the software subscription. The cloud platform is where roasters spend their time: building profiles, reconciling inventory, and reviewing reports. RoastLog sits in the same category as Cropster and Artisan, aimed at people who treat roasting as a repeatable, data-driven process rather than guesswork. If you sell coffee and care about hitting the same cup twice, this is the kind of tool that exists for you.

What Are RoastLog’s Key Features?

Automated roast profiling

This is the core. RoastLog captures bean and environmental temperature over time, calculates rate-of-rise, and plots it live as you roast. You can overlay a reference profile and chase it curve-for-curve to hit the same flavor batch after batch. You log events like first crack, drop, and tasting notes against each roast. Live logging needs a data source: a compatible data bridge over Bluetooth or USB, or a Phidgets thermocouple setup. You can also enter roasts by hand if you do not have a logger yet.

Green coffee inventory

RoastLog tracks green coffee contracts and deducts stock automatically every time you roast, so your inventory reflects reality without manual counting. It shows low-stock alerts and roasting velocity so you can reorder before you run dry. This is the feature that pays for itself once you carry more than a handful of origins, because running out of a key bean mid-week is the kind of mistake that costs real money. Note the limit: inventory reporting and green delivery tracking start on the Growth plan, not Starter, so the cheapest tier is mostly a profiling tool with cupping notes attached.

Cupping and quality control

You get customizable cupping forms, including SCA-standard scoresheets, to evaluate green samples and finished roasts. Scores and notes can be shared with staff, partners, and producers for collaborative grading, which is handy if you buy from multiple importers or want to send feedback back to a producer. Basic cupping notes are on every plan, but structured sample management as a workflow lives on Growth and above. It is competent rather than exhaustive, and Cropster still has the edge for roasters who run cupping as a daily, central part of the operation.

Multi-roaster and multi-site support

You can connect unlimited roasting machines at no extra software cost, and the platform works with equipment from all major manufacturers. Higher plans unlock additional locations, role-based permissions, and customizable reporting, which is where multi-site operations get real value.

How Much Does RoastLog Cost?

RoastLog starts at $129/mo for the Starter plan, billed as a flat monthly fee. There is no free tier, but you get a 30-day free trial and a 90-day money-back guarantee, which is a generous safety net for switching software. Starter includes 3 users, one roastery, roast profiling, real-time rate-of-rise, reference roasts, and cupping notes.

Above that, Growth runs $249/mo for 5 users and 2 locations and adds inventory reporting, green delivery tracking, sample management, and maintenance logs. Scale is $499/mo for unlimited users and locations, plus customizable reporting, contracted coffee tracking, and role-based permissions. Annual billing knocks close to 20 percent off every plan.

The headline here is the pricing model, not the dollar figure. Cropster, the category leader, charges based on how much you roast, so your bill climbs as your volume grows. RoastLog charges the same flat rate at any volume. At the other extreme, Artisan is free and open-source, with an optional artisan.plus inventory add-on from about 49 euros per year for home use up to 499 euros per year for the full pro and inventory bundle. So RoastLog is far from the cheapest option, but it is predictable, and for a busy roastery the flat rate can undercut Cropster as you scale.

PlanPricePlan FeaturesBest For
Starter$129/mo3 users, 1 roastery, roast profiling, real-time RoR, cupping notesNew and small roasters
Growth$249/mo5 users, 2 locations, inventory reporting, green delivery tracking, sample managementScaling roasteries
Scale$499/moUnlimited users and locations, custom reporting, contract tracking, role permissionsMulti-site operations

Who is RoastLog Best For?

Use RoastLog if you run a small or mid-sized specialty roastery and you want profiling, inventory, and cupping in one tool with a bill that does not balloon as you roast more. It fits roasters who are growing past spreadsheets, who run one to a few locations, and who value reaching a real human in support. If you are sick of Cropster’s volume-based invoices, RoastLog’s flat pricing is a direct answer.

Skip RoastLog if you are a home roaster, a hobbyist, or a brand-new micro-roastery counting every dollar. The $129/mo floor and absence of a free plan are hard to justify when Artisan gives you excellent free profiling and a cheap inventory add-on. Skip it too if you depend on a deep ecosystem of third-party integrations, where Cropster’s larger network still wins. And think twice if your real bottleneck is sales, e-commerce, or production scheduling rather than the roast itself, because RoastLog is deliberately focused on the roastery floor, not on running your whole storefront.

One more consideration: budget for the data bridge. Live, automatic logging is the whole point of profiling software, and that needs a compatible bridge device or a Phidgets thermocouple setup wired to your roaster. The software is hardware-optional in the sense that you can type roasts in by hand, but in practice most roasters will want the hardware, and that is a one-time cost on top of the subscription.

Best RoastLog Alternatives

Cropster

Cropster is the heavyweight in coffee roasting software and RoastLog’s most direct rival. It has deeper quality-control tooling, a bigger integration ecosystem, and farm-to-cup features that span sourcing, roasting, and sales. The catch is volume-based pricing: the more you roast, the more you pay, and pricing is quote-based rather than published. If you want the most complete platform and do not mind a bill that grows with you, Cropster is the benchmark. If predictable costs matter more, RoastLog wins.

Artisan

Artisan is free, open-source desktop software and the default choice for home and budget-conscious roasters. Core profiling, logging, and even roaster control are completely free. The optional artisan.plus cloud add-on brings inventory and reporting, starting around 49 euros per year for home roasters and rising to roughly 149 to 499 euros per year for pro and inventory bundles. Artisan asks more setup effort and lacks RoastLog’s polished all-in-one cloud workflow, but the price is tough to beat.

RoastPATH

RoastPATH is cloud workflow software that ties together roasting, inventory, sales, and production planning. It is free to use for owners of Mill City Roasters machines, which makes it very attractive if you run that equipment. The trade-off is that it is built around the Mill City ecosystem, so it is a weaker fit for roasters on other brands. RoastLog is the more equipment-agnostic, manufacturer-neutral choice.

Final Verdict: Is RoastLog Worth It?

RoastLog is a solid, focused product that does the three jobs a roastery actually needs: profile roasts, track green coffee, and cup for quality. The standout is flat-rate pricing that does not penalize growth, plus a small team that answers its own support email and a 90-day money-back guarantee that makes trying it low-risk. We found the profiling and inventory genuinely useful for roasters who have outgrown spreadsheets.

The 6.7 rating reflects the gap between a strong tool and a steep entry. There is no free plan, the $129/mo floor locks out home and hobby roasters, the best inventory and cupping features sit on the $249/mo Growth tier, and the integration ecosystem trails Cropster. If you are a growing specialty roastery that wants predictable costs and an all-in-one cloud platform, RoastLog is worth a serious trial. If you roast at home or on a shoestring, start with free Artisan instead.

RoastLog Pros & Cons

What We Like

  • Flat-rate pricing that stays the same whether you roast 5kg or 5,000kg per month
  • Roast profiling, green inventory, and SCA cupping forms in one cloud platform
  • Works with all major roaster brands and is hardware-optional, not hardware-locked
  • 30-day free trial plus a 90-day money-back guarantee lowers the risk of switching

What Could Be Better

  • No free plan and a $129/mo floor that prices out home roasters and side-hustle roasteries
  • Smaller ecosystem and fewer third-party integrations than market leader Cropster
  • Live data logging needs a compatible data bridge or Phidgets device, which is an extra hardware cost

RoastLog FAQ

What is RoastLog?

RoastLog is cloud-based software for specialty coffee roasters. It combines roast profiling, green coffee inventory management, and cupping or quality-control tools in one platform so a roastery can keep its data and records in a single place.

How much does RoastLog cost?

RoastLog has three flat monthly plans: Starter at $129/mo, Growth at $249/mo, and Scale at $499/mo. Annual billing saves close to 20 percent. There is no free plan, but there is a 30-day free trial and a 90-day money-back guarantee.

Is RoastLog worth it?

For a small or growing roastery that wants profiling and inventory together, yes. The flat pricing means your software bill does not climb as your volume grows. It is poor value for home roasters, who are better off with Artisan.

What are the best RoastLog alternatives?

Cropster is the feature-rich category leader with volume-based pricing, Artisan is free open-source profiling software with an optional artisan.plus inventory add-on, and RoastPATH is a free cloud option tied to Mill City Roasters equipment.

Does RoastLog offer a free plan?

No. RoastLog does not have a permanent free tier. It offers a 30-day free trial and a 90-day money-back guarantee, after which you pay at least $129/mo for the Starter plan.

Who is RoastLog best for?

RoastLog is best for small to mid-sized specialty coffee roasters who roast across one or more locations and want flat-rate profiling, inventory, and cupping in one tool. It is overkill for hobbyist home roasters.

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