CompareRoasterTools
RoastConsole as a RoasterTools alternative
RoasterTools is good at the half of the day that happens at a desk. It does not touch the roaster. So the useful question is whether you want the batch you just dropped to be the same object as the invoice it eventually pays for, or whether typing it twice is a cost you are happy to keep paying.
Credit where it is due
What RoasterTools does well
Wholesale ordering built for the customer, not just for you
We both give wholesale accounts a portal to order through, but theirs is the more developed one: dynamic discounts, order reminders, exclusive products and white-label options on top. If your accounts already order that way and the selling motion depends on those extras, that is real and we are not going to talk you out of it.
A longer track record on QuickBooks
RoasterTools has synced invoices to QuickBooks Online for longer than we have, and mileage counts for something in an accounting integration. Ours covers the same ground and a little more — invoices and expenses across, QuickBooks sending the invoice, payments reconciled back — alongside Xero, Stripe and Square. The capability is no longer the difference between us; the years behind theirs still are.
Shipping and fulfilment integration
Shipping is wired into the order flow, with ecommerce order imports and carryover tracking on the production side. It is built by people who have clearly watched wholesale orders go out of a door.
Cheaper than us on sales and operations alone
Their rate card is public and, past roughly 470 lb a month, it undercuts ours: $199 covers 5,000 lb where we are $386, and the gap widens with volume. Unlimited users come on every plan too. If sales and operations software is the whole of what you need, they are the better-priced answer and we would rather you read that here. The one thing to read alongside the price is the term: Essentials is month to month, and every plan above it is a one- or two-year commitment.
The honest limit
Where the record stops
RoasterTools is not roasting software and does not present itself as any. That is a coherent choice, and it is also the whole of the difference.
The roast happens somewhere else
No live curve, no profiles, no connection to the machine. Somebody roasts, then walks to a computer and enters a number that came from Artisan or a notebook. Two records, kept in step by a person who is also trying to get the afternoon batches out.
No cupping or quality record
Cupping scores and sample evaluations have nowhere to live. That matters the day a wholesale buyer asks why this year's Guatemala tastes different, because the answer is in a notebook and a spreadsheet rather than attached to the lot they are asking about.
Green is stock, not a lot with a history
There is green reporting, but no moisture, density, screen size or defect count, and nowhere to record the pre-purchase sample that told you whether the lot was worth the money. Green becomes a quantity rather than a coffee with a history.
The price is for half the operation
Their rate card covers the desk half, not the roaster, so most RoasterTools roasteries are paying a second bill for Cropster or artisan.plus. At 5,000 lb a month that is $199 plus whatever the roasting software costs, against $390 here for both halves. Run those two totals against each other and the gap looks very different.
Side by side
Including the rows where RoasterTools wins.
| RoasterTools | Pilot · free | Cloud · paid | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $99–$2,300/mo by roasted volume; Essentials month to month, Organize and above on a 1- or 2-year term | Free | $79/mo base, then a falling per-lb rate |
| Users | Unlimited on every plan | Per Mac | Unlimited people and machines |
| Live curve and control | Not covered | Live capture and control | — |
| Roast profiles and comparison | Not covered | Yes | Shared across the team |
| Cupping and QC scores | Not covered | — | Included |
| Green physical analysis | Green reports | — | Moisture, density, screen, defects |
| Wholesale orders | Customer portal, discounts, reminders | — | Orders through to delivery |
| Customer-facing portal | Portal, discounts, reminders, white label | — | Wholesale customer portal |
| White label | Yes | — | Not covered |
| Accounting | QuickBooks Online | — | Xero and QuickBooks Online; Stripe and Square for payment |
| Shipping integration | Yes | — | Not covered |
| Contract | 1- or 2-year term above Essentials | None | Month to month |
| Production planning | Yes | — | Weekly drag-and-drop schedule |
| Point of sale | Not in their published features | — | Counter and walk-in |
At your volume
What each one costs at your volume
Both rate cards meter roasted pounds, so these are the same unit. Their cell is the cheapest plan that covers the volume, overage included, on monthly billing. Ours is the published rate card. Their number buys the desk half of the roastery; ours buys the roaster too.
| Roasted out, per month | Their plan | RoasterTools | RoastConsole Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 lb roasted | Essentials, month to month | $99 | $101 |
| 1,000 lb | Essentials, month to month | $99 | $136 |
| 2,500 lb | Organize, 1- or 2-year term | $199 | $236 |
| 5,000 lb | Organize, 1- or 2-year term | $199 | $386 |
| 10,000 lb | Organize + 5,000 lb over | $449 | $641 |
| 15,000 lb | Automate, 1- or 2-year term | $499 | $891 |
| 25,000 lb | Automate + 10,000 lb over | $899 | $1,241 |
Read 15 September 2026. Annual billing takes roughly 17% off their prices on a two-year term. Ours has no annual discount and no term. RoasterTools does not touch the roaster, and most of its roasteries run Cropster or artisan.plus beside it: artisan.plus PRO is €50 a month, Cropster Core from $109. Add that bill to their column before you compare. Above 25,000 lb we quote rather than publish.
Moving
If you are weighing the two
Ask what your roasting software costs you
Almost nobody runs RoasterTools alone. Add whatever you pay for roasting software to their number before you compare it to ours, and if that roasting software is free Artisan, compare it against free Pilot plus Cloud rather than against Cloud on its own.
The accounting question is settled now
If your books are in QuickBooks Online, this used to be the thing that decided it. Both of us connect to QuickBooks now, so it is no longer a reason to choose between us — compare the rest of the page on its merits instead.
Bring the roast history
Artisan and Cropster roast data import directly, with CSV and JSON for lots, suppliers, products, customers and price lists. Whichever of those you have been roasting into, the history comes with you rather than staying behind as the reason you cannot move.
The move itself.
Roast history imports directly, and the business records come across as CSV or JSON. It is not perfect. Open orders and invoices in flight are easier to finish in the old system than to carry over, and anything that only ever lived in a notes field will need a decision about where it goes. Most of the switch is a few hours of checking that the numbers match, not weeks of re-keying, and we do it with you. Send us an export before you decide anything and we will tell you what comes across and what does not.
Questions
Including the ones where the answer is “stay”.
- Does RoasterTools do roast profiling?
- No, and it does not claim to. It handles orders, production paperwork and the books; the curve happens in Artisan or Cropster on a different machine. Which is fine, and also the reason most RoasterTools roasteries are paying two bills. Compare the pair, not either half.
- Is RoastConsole cheaper than RoasterTools?
- On the software alone, only if you are small, and the table above has the numbers. Under about 470 lb a month we come out cheaper. Above it they do, and it widens: at 5,000 lb they are $199 where we are $386. Two things that number leaves out. The roast, which they do not do, so most of their roasteries pay Cropster or artisan.plus beside it; add that and the totals land close together. And the term: everything above their Essentials plan is a one- or two-year commitment, where ours is month to month. Compare the pair against the pair, and read the contract.
- Do you integrate with QuickBooks?
- Yes — connect, invoice push, expenses across as bills, QuickBooks sending the invoice itself, and payments reconciled back onto the order. The same shape as our Xero integration, which also runs end to end, with Stripe and Square for payment and a public API and webhooks if you would rather bridge it yourself. If you are moving your books across as part of the switch, tell us and we will walk through what lands where.
- Can I keep using my own wholesale ordering portal?
- Yes. Orders can come in through the API or through Shopify and Square, so an existing storefront can keep taking orders while production, stock, and invoicing happen here. We also have a portal of our own: wholesale accounts log in to see order status and history, track shipments, reorder, and send an inquiry. What RoasterTools adds on top is dynamic discounts, order reminders, exclusive products and white-label, and if your selling motion depends on those, theirs is the more developed one.
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 (opens in a new tab)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 trialIf you are moving
Ask us about the move from RoasterTools.
What imports, what needs re-keying, and whether your machine is on the list. A straight answer, including when it is “stay”.
Talk to us