Choosing tools
Bakery Software Free Comparison: What Free Really Costs
You will know what each free option really costs and which one fits your kitchen.
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If you bake from your kitchen and sell to neighbors, friends, and the occasional stranger on Facebook, you have probably typed “free bakery software” into your phone more than once. It is a fair place to start. Just know that free comes in a few shapes, and the shape matters more than the word.
What “free” can mean in bakery software
Free can mean three different things here.
- No monthly fee, but a fee on every order you complete.
- A free plan that stays free, with a paid upgrade sitting above it.
- Paid software that you buy, with no free tier at all.
Decide which one you are actually looking for before you compare anything. “Free” on a pricing page and “free” in your bank account are not always the same thing.
Batch Boss: no monthly fee, a fee per order
Batch Boss is free for bakeries with no monthly fees and no setup costs. It charges 2.9% plus $0.30 on all completed orders. Online order fees are deducted automatically, while cash fees are billed monthly.
That shape suits someone taking a handful of orders. Take a $40 order. The fee is $1.16 plus $0.30, so about $1.46 comes out of that one order. Now picture a busy stretch. Ten orders a week is forty orders a month, and at that pace the fee is roughly $58 out of your baking money, before you count what the ingredients cost you.
BakeProfit: a free forever plan with a paid upgrade
BakeProfit offers a free forever plan with an optional Pro upgrade. Its tools cover recipe costing, order tracking, customer management, and invoices. That is a useful list for a home baker, because costing and invoices are the two chores that quietly eat an afternoon.
Worth asking before you sign up: which of those tools sit in the free plan, and which sit behind the upgrade. The answer changes what free is worth to you.
CakeBoss: paid software built with home bakers in mind
CakeBoss was designed for the home baker, though it also has shop owner users. It includes recipe costing, pricing, and calendaring, plus a pricing calculator that accounts for expenses including mileage. It is not a free plan, so it belongs in this comparison as the paid option you weigh against the free ones. If you deliver, a calculator that counts mileage is a detail worth noticing.
What to check before you choose
Count your orders
Look at last month and write down how many orders you completed and what they were worth. That number decides whether a fee per order or a flat monthly cost is cheaper for you.
List what you actually need
Most home bakers need four things: a way to take an order, a price that covers ingredients, a way to get paid, and a place to see what is due this week.
Ask how you get paid
Check whether you can take cards, and how each option handles the fee on a cash order.
Try it on your phone first
You will use it between batches, standing at the counter with flour on your hands. If it is awkward on a phone, it will not last.
Why home bakers pick Brevl
Brevl is $20 a month, flat, with no cut of your sales, and a 14 day free trial. Card payments run through your own Stripe or Square account, alongside Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. Your shop is yours to shape, with your photos, your colors, and your own web address. Recipes come with real costing, ingredient inventory, and a weekly planner, so pricing and planning happen together. It works on a computer and on a phone, and a real person answers, usually within minutes. If you are moving from another tool, we set it up with you and move your products, photos, reviews, and dates over.
If you want the point by point version, see Brevl vs Bakesy. When you are ready to move, Switch walks you through it. You can also compare notes on payment software for small bakeries and bakery order management software before you commit.
Free is a fine place to start
None of these options is a bad choice. Batch Boss keeps your monthly cost at zero and takes a slice of each order. BakeProfit gives you a free forever plan to grow into. CakeBoss charges you and hands you the costing tools. The one that fits is the one that matches how you sell right now, not how you hope to sell next year. Pick the shape of free that matches your order count, try it for a month, and let your own numbers tell you if it is working.
Common questions
Is a free plan enough to run a home bakery? It can be, if you sell in small batches and you are comfortable with a fee per order. The moment your order count climbs, compare that total against a flat monthly cost.
What should I look for first? Recipe costing. If your price does not cover ingredients, packaging, and your time, no free tool will save you money. Start with how to price your bakes and then pick software that supports the number you land on.
Common questions
Is free bakery software really free?
It depends on which one you mean. Batch Boss is free for bakeries with no monthly fees and no setup costs, and it charges 2.9% plus $0.30 on all completed orders. BakeProfit offers a free forever plan with an optional Pro upgrade. So free usually means either a fee per order or a free tier with a paid tier above it.
Which is cheaper, a monthly fee or a fee per order?
It comes down to how many orders you fill. A fee per order stays small when you are busy in a slow month and grows when orders pick up. A flat monthly fee stays the same either way. Brevl is one flat $20 a month and takes no cut of your sales.
Does CakeBoss have a free plan?
CakeBoss is not a free plan. It was designed for the home baker, though it also has shop owner users, and it includes recipe costing, pricing, and calendaring, plus a pricing calculator that accounts for expenses including mileage.
Can I take card payments without a monthly fee?
With Brevl you take card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. Brevl charges one flat $20 a month and takes no cut of your sales.
How do I move my old orders and photos over?
Brevl sets it up with you and moves your old shop over, including products, photos, reviews, and dates.
Sources
Prices and fees change. Check each company's own pricing page before you sign up, and read the terms on how and when fees are charged.