Is Artisan still free?

Yes. Artisan is free and open source and nothing on this page suggests otherwise. The paid part is artisan.plus, a separate service for inventory and reporting. Almost nobody goes looking because the roasting got hard; they go looking because a wholesale account asked for a traceability record and it took two days to assemble.

Can I import my Artisan roast profiles into RoastConsole?

Yes. Artisan roast data imports directly, and any roast exports back out to Artisan CSV or .alog whenever you want it. Both directions work on purpose.

Does RoastConsole support my roaster?

Check before you switch. We have tested four roasters — Kaleido, IKAWA, Loring, Kaffelogic — and anything with thermocouples reads through a Phidget board, which is a shorter list than Artisan's two hundred. If your machine needs a driver of its own, tell us and we will look at it; that is how those four got there. Pilot is free, so one batch will tell you either way.

Should I switch if I only care about roast profiles?

Probably not. If the roast is the whole job and the operation around it fits in your head, Artisan does that job well and costs nothing. Pilot is free and worth an afternoon if you are on a Mac and tired of the roast record living on one machine that only you can reach. It is not a reason to abandon something that works. The case for moving shows up later, usually the first time you have to price a wholesale rate card and realise you do not actually know what a bag costs you to make.

CompareArtisan

RoastConsole Pilot as an Artisan alternative

The thing that replaces Artisan is Pilot: a free Mac app that reads your probes and draws the curve. Cloud is the paid half and you do not need it to roast. You need it the day someone asks what a bag cost you, and you cannot answer without three files and a calculator. Most of this page is about the free half.

Credit where it is due

What Artisan does well

Machine coverage nothing else matches

Over 200 machines, 50 devices, four operating systems, more than 30 languages. We have tested Pilot on four — Kaleido, IKAWA, Loring and Kaffelogic — and anything with thermocouples reads through a Phidget board. If you are on Windows, or you want a driver written for your machine rather than a probe taped to it, Artisan is the one that will talk to it today.

Genuine roast control, not just logging

Sliders, alarms, PID, roast replay. Artisan drives the roaster rather than just recording it, and roasters have been improving it in the open for more than ten years. Pilot does the same job — PID control, and Auto roast holding the machine to a curve you picked — so this is one of the few rows where the two of us are genuinely close, and Artisan got there first.

Free, and open source

No licence, no seat count, and nobody who can decide later what happens to your data. Free is the actual model, not a trial that runs out.

The honest limit

Where roasteries outgrow it

Artisan is roasting software and has never claimed to be anything else, so none of this is a criticism. It starts to matter at the moment the batch hits the cooling tray, because that is where Artisan's job ends and the rest of yours begins.

The green never becomes inventory
A roast in Artisan knows which coffee it was. It will not take 22 lb off that lot, so the number you actually order against lives in a spreadsheet somebody updates from memory on Friday. Ours moves when the batch is saved, which is the only version that is right on Wednesday afternoon.
Roasted output does not become product
The batch finishes and the record stops there. Bagging, stock, wholesale orders and invoices happen somewhere else. So when an account calls about the bags that shipped on the 14th, you are opening Artisan and a spreadsheet and your email to answer one question.
Production and reporting are a separate subscription
Artisan's own answer to inventory and reporting is artisan.plus, a separate paid service. Nothing wrong with that, but it does mean two products and two invoices for one roastery. Worth adding both together before you compare either one against our $79.
One machine, one operator, one screen
Artisan runs beside the roaster and so does Pilot, so that part is a wash. It matters when the green buyer, whoever plans production and whoever sends invoices all need the same figures. A folder of roast files on one Mac cannot give them that.

Side by side

Including the rows where Artisan wins.

	Artisan	Pilot · free	Cloud · paid
Cost	Free and open source	Free	Paid subscription
Platforms	Four operating systems	Mac	Web, plus iOS on the floor
Machines supported	200+ machines, 50+ devices	Four tested, more with drivers built	—
Live curve and control	Sliders, alarms, PID, replay	PID control and Auto roast to a curve	—
Roast profiles and review	Yes	Yes	Shared across the team
Green lots and contracts	Not covered	—	Stock drawn down by roasting
Production planning	artisan.plus	—	Included
Orders and invoicing	Not covered	—	Included
Cupping and QC scores	Not in their published features	—	Included
Multi-user	Per install	Per Mac	Shared record, unlimited people
Your data out	Open formats, always	Artisan CSV and .alog	Full archive, open formats

Moving

If you do move

Your roast history comes with you

Artisan roast data imports directly, alongside CSV and JSON for lots, suppliers, products, customers, and price lists. A decade of roasting does not get left behind because the format changed.

You can leave the same way

Any roast exports back out to Artisan CSV or .alog, or to RoastConsole CSV, or to a picture of the curve for a customer. Whole-account exports come as an archive in open formats. If you try us for a season and go back to Artisan, you should leave with everything you brought and everything you made here.

You do not have to choose today

Pilot is a free Mac download and nothing about it expires. Run it next to Artisan for a week and compare the curves against ones you already trust. That is worth more than this page is.

Questions

Including the ones where the answer is “stay”.

Is Artisan still free?: Yes. Artisan is free and open source and nothing on this page suggests otherwise. The paid part is artisan.plus, a separate service for inventory and reporting. Almost nobody goes looking because the roasting got hard; they go looking because a wholesale account asked for a traceability record and it took two days to assemble.
Can I import my Artisan roast profiles into RoastConsole?: Yes. Artisan roast data imports directly, and any roast exports back out to Artisan CSV or .alog whenever you want it. Both directions work on purpose.
Does RoastConsole support my roaster?: Check before you switch. We have tested four roasters — Kaleido, IKAWA, Loring, Kaffelogic — and anything with thermocouples reads through a Phidget board, which is a shorter list than Artisan's two hundred. If your machine needs a driver of its own, tell us and we will look at it; that is how those four got there. Pilot is free, so one batch will tell you either way.
Should I switch if I only care about roast profiles?: Probably not. If the roast is the whole job and the operation around it fits in your head, Artisan does that job well and costs nothing. Pilot is free and worth an afternoon if you are on a Mac and tired of the roast record living on one machine that only you can reach. It is not a reason to abandon something that works. The case for moving shows up later, usually the first time you have to price a wholesale rate card and realise you do not actually know what a bag costs you to make.

The like-for-like swap

Pilot is a free Mac download.

Run it beside what you use now and compare the curves before anything changes.

Download Pilot

Only if you need it

Cloud holds the record the roast belongs to.

Green lots, production, cupping, orders, and invoices, agreeing with each other. Fourteen days, no card.

Start Cloud trial