The best Bloom alternative for better coffee.
Bloom is a polished young coffee journal with real charm. Filtru is the brewing companion it isn't yet: Bluetooth scales, community recipes, ten years of refinement, and no cap on your coffee shelf.
Available for iPhone and iPad. Free to download.
Bloom - Coffee Timer & Journal, on the App Store
First, some honesty.
Bloom (Bloom - Coffee Timer & Journal) launched in March 2026 and it's genuinely well made: step-by-step timers with haptic cues, a thoughtful cupping journal, caffeine tracking, and, like Filtru, a private on-device AI bag scanner. For a months-old indie app, it's an impressive start.
It's also early. There's no Bluetooth scale support of any kind, no community or shared recipes, no iPad app, and the free tier caps you at three coffees and five recipes. As of July 2026 it doesn't yet have enough App Store ratings to show a public score.
Filtru has been brewing since 2016. Same indie spirit, nine more years of mornings. Here's how they compare, feature by feature.
Filtru vs Bloom,
feature by feature.
Based on each app’s public App Store listing and documentation, as of July 2026.
| Feature | Bloom |
 Filtru
★ Recommended
|
|---|---|---|
| Guided step-by-step brew timers | Yes. Step timers with haptic cues | Yes. Guided timers for 15 methods |
| Community & shared recipes | No. Not offered | Yes. Community recipes on every brew method |
| Bluetooth scale support | No. No smart-scale connectivity | Yes. 14 brands with live weight + flow rate |
| Live brew graphs (weight + flow) | No. Not offered | Yes. Weight + flow-rate brew print per cup |
| Espresso tools | Partial. Espresso recipes; no shot instrumentation | Yes. Dial-in, shot recording, TDS + extraction |
| Coffee journal | Yes. Deep cupping sliders + flavor tools | Yes. Tasting notes with customisable bag styles |
| AI bag scanning (on-device) | Yes. On-device scanning | Yes. AbolBuna, trained on 50,000+ bags |
| Free version | Partial. Capped at 3 coffees, 5 recipes | Yes. Guided brewing free, no coffee cap |
| Platforms | Partial. iPhone only | Yes. iPhone & iPad |
| Price | Yes. $2.99/mo · $29.99 lifetime | Yes. Free · optional PRO from $3.49/mo |
| Track record | Partial. Launched March 2026; no public rating yet | Yes. 4.8★ from 11,914 ratings · est. 2016 |
“This has become an essential companion for my daily routine as I prefer to brew coffee with a pour over method.”— App Store review of Filtru
Why people switch from Bloom to Filtru.
Your scale is part of the brew.
Bloom lets you note down that you own a scale. Filtru actually talks to it. Fourteen Bluetooth brands pair automatically for live weight, flow rate, and a brew graph of every cup. It's the difference between writing down a pour and watching it happen.
No caps on your coffee shelf.
Bloom's free tier stops at three coffees and five recipes. Filtru's guided brewing is free without a coffee cap. The optional PRO upgrade is for the deeper journal and espresso tools, not for permission to keep brewing.
Recipes from a decade of coffee people.
Filtru's brew methods each carry community recipes shared by other brewers, alongside baseline recipes, including recipes from World Barista Champion James Hoffmann. Bloom's recipes are yours alone.
Ten years of mornings, 11,914 ratings.
Bloom shipped in March 2026 and shows real promise. Filtru has been refined every year since 2016 and holds 4.8 stars from 11,914 App Store ratings. Both are one-person apps made with care. Mine just has a decade's head start.
What you get when you switch.
Works with serious coffee scales
Acaia, Timemore, Felicita, Decent, BooKoo and more. Live weight, flow-rate feedback, and brew graphs, with automatic pairing. See supported scales →
Espresso, properly instrumented
Dial-in tools, shot recording, an extraction calculator, and TDS support. Espresso as data you can act on, not just a timer. See the espresso tools →
A journal that fills itself in
Scan the bag with AbolBuna, brew with the guided timer, and the journal entry writes itself. Beans, recipe, graph, and tasting notes in one place. See the scanner →
Accessibility is a feature, not a checkbox
Filtru works properly with VoiceOver, including live spoken readouts of your scale's measurements while you brew, as often or as rarely as you like. And you can switch the whole app to fonts like OpenDyslexic, Lexend, or Atkinson Hyperlegible.
The answer is YES
Switching from Bloom? These all have the same answer:
- Can I connect a Bluetooth coffee scale in Filtru? Yes
- Can I brew more than three coffees for free in Filtru? Yes
- Can I scan coffee bags privately in Filtru? Yes
- Can I use Filtru on iPad? Yes
- Does Filtru work with VoiceOver? Yes
- Can I follow recipes from other coffee people in Filtru? Yes
Filtru is free to download and works with the gear you already own. No subscription needed to start brewing.
Compare Filtru with more coffee apps.
Filtru vs Beanconqueror · Filtru vs Coffee Book · Filtru vs Beanie · Filtru vs Beanstats · Filtru vs The Great Coffee App · Filtru vs Single Origin · Filtru vs FourSix · Filtru vs Pour-Over Coffee Recipes Timer · Filtru vs Acaia Brewmaster · Filtru vs iBrewCoffee · Filtru vs Aeromatic · Filtru vs BeanBook · Filtru vs Coffi · Filtru vs Burrfect · Filtru vs Act Four · Filtru vs BrewIQ · Filtru vs Beany · Filtru vs Beans · Filtru vs Roast · Filtru vs brevv · Filtru vs Coffee Master · Filtru vs Moka Pot Brew Guide · Filtru vs Siip · Filtru vs Brewly · Filtru vs Roastguide · Filtru vs Breve
Bloom is a trademark of its respective owner; Filtru isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by it. Feature and pricing information comes from public listings and documentation as of July 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell me and I’ll fix it.