Homebrew software compared: the best brewing apps in 2026

BrewForge, Brewfather, BeerSmith, Brewer's Friend and Kleiner Brauhelfer side by side: what each one is, where it is strong, what it costs and who it suits. Written by the maker of BrewForge, with competitor facts checked on their own sites in November 2026.

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Short answer

Which brewing software should you use?

BrewForge if you want web and phone from one account, free hydrometer logging, inventory planning, a cellar and a tap list.
Brewfather if you want polished native apps, a big community recipe library and many device integrations.
BeerSmith if you want a desktop program that works offline, deep calculations and mead, wine and cider.
Brewer's Friend if you live in online calculators and a large shared recipe database.
Kleiner Brauhelfer if you want free, open-source, offline software with a German interface.

Price vs Brewfather

Same features for less. More features for the same price.

BrewForge Basic and Pro next to Brewfather Premium, Brewfather’s main paid plan.

The core for less

BrewForge Basic

$19.99/year

Brewfather Premium

~$29.99/year

The everyday features you pay Premium for, $10 a year cheaper:

Unlimited brews
Hydrometer logging
Inventory with stock and cost
BeerXML import and export
Recipe versions
PDF recipes and brew-day sheets

Not in Basic: the REST API (in Pro) and what Brewfather is still ahead on, see below.

Same price, more

BrewForge Pro

$29.99/year

Brewfather Premium

~$29.99/year

Everything in Basic plus the REST API, like Premium, and on top what Brewfather doesn’t have:

Inventory planner and order lists
Cellar with fermenters, kegs and bottle stock
Tap list menu and TV screen
BJCP score sheets
TRMNL e-ink display
MCP server: ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor can use BrewForge

Brewfather Premium Plus (~$49.99/year) adds a built-in AI assistant and file attachments. BrewForge Pro instead lets the assistant you already use, like ChatGPT or Claude, work with your brewing data.

Hydrometer logging (iSpindel, Tilt, RAPT Pill, GravityMon, Hydrom) is on BrewForge’s free plan. Brewfather needs Premium for device integrations.

Brewfather prices in USD as shown on brewfather.app in October 2026; they vary by region and tax. BrewForge prices in USD.

The tools

Five brewing apps, one honest profile each.

BrewForge

This is our product.

Type: Web app for PC, phone and tablet (installable, no app store apps). English and German.
Strengths: Device logging on the free plan (iSpindel, Tilt, RAPT Pill, GravityMon, Hydrom, Plaato Airlock, custom webhooks). Water chemistry with mash pH. Inventory planner with order lists, cellar with kegs, tap list with TV screen and QR menu, BJCP score sheets, TRMNL, REST API and an MCP server for ChatGPT, Claude and other AI assistants. Brewer profiles where brewers share recipes that others can find and save. Imports Brewfather, Kleiner Brauhelfer, BeerXML and MaischeMalzundMehr.
Watch out for: No brew day timer, no offline mode, no native app store apps. Younger and smaller than the others, so its shared recipe collection is still small.
Pricing: Free up to 20 brews. Basic $19.99/year, Pro $29.99/year.
Best for: Brewers who want one place from recipe to keg, with devices that log on their own.

Brewfather

Type: Cloud app on web, iOS and Android.
Strengths: Polished interface and native apps, a large public recipe library, brew day timer, 20+ device integrations, AI assistant on Premium+.
Watch out for: Device integrations, inventory and BeerXML need Premium. No cellar or built-in tap list.
Pricing: Free up to 25 recipes and 25 batches. Premium about $29.99/year, Premium+ about $49.99/year.
Best for: Brewers who want the most widely used modern app and community recipes.

Read the full comparison →

BeerSmith

Type: Desktop program for Windows, Mac and Linux, with a web version on yearly licenses and a separate mobile app.
Strengths: Two decades of calculation depth, beer plus mead, wine and cider, 2.1M+ recipes on BeerSmithRecipes.com, works offline. BeerSmith 4 (2026) moved to a SQL database with cloud or local storage and shared cloud inventory.
Watch out for: Mobile app is a separate purchase, web version needs a Gold license or higher, no live hydrometer logging (Tilt data import only).
Pricing: Basic $34.95 one-time (desktop only). Gold $14.95/year, Platinum $21.95/year with web version.
Best for: Desktop brewers who want offline use, a one-time purchase or mead and wine.

Read the full comparison →

Brewer's Friend

Type: Web app with mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Strengths: A large collection of free online calculators, a big public recipe database, recipe builder and brew logs, Tilt, iSpindel, Floaty and Plaato streaming.
Watch out for: The free trial holds only 5 recipes and brews, Premium Plus for recipe versions and device alerts is one of the pricier plans.
Pricing: Free trial (5 recipes and brews). Premium $42/year, Premium Plus $135/year (or monthly).
Best for: Brewers who mainly want calculators and a big recipe database.

Kleiner Brauhelfer

Type: Free open-source desktop program (GPL-3.0) for Windows, Mac and Linux, with an Android app.
Strengths: Free, works offline, data stays in a local file, German interface and a big German-speaking community, recipes from MaischeMalzundMehr.
Watch out for: No live hydrometer logging (CSV import), syncing between devices is up to you, no calendar, cellar or tap list.
Pricing: Free.
Best for: German-speaking brewers who want free offline software.

Read the full comparison →

Feature table

Homebrew software comparison table

"Unknown" means the vendor doesn't say, not that the feature is missing.

Feature	BrewForge	Brewfather	BeerSmith	Brewer's Friend	Kleiner Brauhelfer
Runs in the browser			PartlyGold license or higher
Desktop program, works offline
On your phone	Mobile-optimized website		Separate purchase		Android app
Water chemistry					PartlyBasic
Live hydrometer logging	Free plan	Paid plan	PartlyTilt data import	Tilt, iSpindel, Plaato	PartlyCSV import
Public recipe library	Shared on brewer profiles
Ingredient inventory		Paid plan		Unknown
Tap list	Pro			Unknown
BeerXML import and export		Paid plan
German interface			Unknown	Unknown
Open source

What’s missing

BrewForge’s gaps, and what we’re building.

Brewfather, BeerSmith and Brewer’s Friend still have things BrewForge doesn’t. Here is each one with its status on our public roadmap.

Brew-day timer with alarmsPlanned
Native iOS and Android appsPlanned
Brewing controllers (Brewtools, SmartPID, …)Planned
Offline modeNot on the roadmap yet

Built in public: 62 new features and 55 fixes in the last 30 days, 666 changelog entries since January 2026. See what’s next on the public roadmap and what shipped in the changelog.

Prices

What each one costs.

BrewForge

Free · Basic $19.99/year · Pro $29.99/year

Free up to 20 brews incl. devices. Basic $19.99/year unlimited brews, Pro $29.99/year with planner, cellar, tap list, API.

Brewfather

Free · Premium $29.99/year · Premium+ $49.99/year

Free up to 25 recipes and 25 batches; devices and inventory on Premium. Prices vary by region.

BeerSmith

Basic $34.95 one-time · Gold $14.95/year · Platinum $21.95/year

Basic is desktop only; yearly licenses add web and all upgrades. Mobile app sold separately. Pro license $49.95/year for commercial use.

Brewer's Friend

Trial Free · Premium $42/year · Premium Plus $135/year

Trial holds 5 recipes and brews. Also monthly: $6 or $15.

Kleiner Brauhelfer

Open source Free

Free desktop program, GPL-3.0. No paid plans.

Prices in USD as published on the vendors' sites on November 7, 2026, before tax. All BrewForge plans

Free and specialist tools

Worth knowing, but not full brewing apps.

These come up in every software thread. They are great at one job and work alongside any of the apps above.

Brewtarget

Free open-source desktop recipe software (GPL-3.0) for Windows, Mac and Linux with mash designer and BeerXML/BeerJSON. Version 5.2.2 from November 2026.

Clawhammer Beer Builder

Free web recipe builder by Clawhammer Supply. Works without an account and exports BeerXML, which BrewForge imports.

Bru'n Water

Excel spreadsheet for brewing water and mash pH by Martin Brungard. Free, with a supporter version for a donation.

MaischeMalzundMehr

German recipe archive with about 1,900 recipes. Recipes export as JSON, which BrewForge and Kleiner Brauhelfer import.

Brewgenix, a newer cloud app, is still in beta in November 2026, so it isn't compared here yet.

Detailed comparisons

Brewfather alternative

Feature table, prices and how the Brewfather import works.

BeerSmith alternative

BeerSmith 4 licenses, desktop vs web, and the BeerXML route.

Kleiner Brauhelfer alternative

Import your kb_daten.sqlite and what changes.

Taplist.io alternative

Tap list tools for homebrewers vs the one built into BrewForge.

Tap list

Brewboard, Tapitgood, Taplist.io and RaspberryPints compared.

FAQ

Questions brewers ask

What is the best homebrew software in 2026?

There is no single best one. Brewfather is the most widely used modern app, BeerSmith the classic desktop program, Brewer's Friend the calculator site, Kleiner Brauhelfer the free German choice. BrewForge suits brewers who want web and phone in one account, free hydrometer logging, inventory planning, a cellar and a tap list.

Is BrewForge cheaper than Brewfather?

For the core features, yes: BrewForge Basic is $19.99/year against about $29.99/year for Brewfather Premium, both with unlimited brews, hydrometer logging, inventory and BeerXML. BrewForge Pro is $29.99/year, the same as Premium, and adds an inventory planner with order lists, a cellar with kegs, a tap list with TV screen, BJCP score sheets and TRMNL. Hydrometer logging is free on BrewForge, while Brewfather needs Premium for it. Brewfather still has native apps and a brew-day timer; both are planned on the BrewForge roadmap.

What is the best free brewing software?

Kleiner Brauhelfer and Brewtarget are fully free and open source but desktop only. BrewForge is free for up to 20 brews including hydrometer logging. Brewfather is free for 25 recipes and 25 batches without device integrations. Brewer's Friend's free trial holds 5 recipes.

Which brewing app works with iSpindel, Tilt and RAPT Pill for free?

BrewForge logs iSpindel, Tilt (via TiltBridge or TiltPi), RAPT Pill, GravityMon and Hydrom on its free plan, plus Plaato Airlock activity and any device through a custom webhook. Brewfather needs Premium for device integrations. Kleiner Brauhelfer imports CSV files.

Which brewing software works offline?

BeerSmith and Kleiner Brauhelfer are desktop programs that work without internet, and so is Brewtarget. Brewfather, Brewer's Friend and BrewForge are online apps.

Which brewing software is available in German?

Kleiner Brauhelfer, BrewForge and Brewfather have a German interface. At BrewForge the app, emails and PDFs are in German, and so are the website and help docs.

Can I move my recipes between brewing apps?

Yes, BeerXML is the common format: BeerSmith, Brewer's Friend, Brewfather, Kleiner Brauhelfer and BrewForge read and write it. BrewForge also imports a full Brewfather export and the Kleiner Brauhelfer database with brews, readings and stock.

See whether BrewForge fits your brewing.

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