Choosing tools
My Custom Bakes App: What to Look For and Which to Choose
How to pick a custom bakes app without overpaying, and where Brevl fits.
On this page
Most home bakers who search this phrase are not really shopping for software. They are tired of losing order details in their texts, and they want a shop that looks like theirs. This roundup covers what a custom bakes app needs to do, which names come up most, and how to compare them without overpaying.
What to remember
- A custom bakes app should hold the details of each order: flavor, size, date, pickup, and any writing on the cake. - Check the real cost. That means the monthly fee, the card fees, and whether they take a cut of every sale. - Test it on your phone before you commit, because that is where you will use it. - Brevl is one flat $20 a month with 0% commission, a 14 day free trial.
What a custom bakes app actually needs to do
A custom order is not a loaf on a shelf. Someone wants a two tier cake for Saturday at 2, with a name on it, and they want to know the date is booked. So the app has to hold the details, not just the money.
Look for these before anything else:
- Room for the order details: flavor, size, servings, pickup date and time, and any writing on the cake.
- A deposit, so a date is not held for free.
- Photos of your work, because that is what sells the next cake.
- Card payments, plus the cash and transfer apps you already use.
- A view of the week ahead, so you do not say yes to four cakes on the same day.
If an app cannot do those five things, it is a nice website, not a custom bakes app.
The names that come up most
Brevl
Brevl is built for home bakers selling from home. It is one flat $20 a month with no cut of your sales, and a 14 day free trial. You take card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. Your shop is yours to customize with your photos, your colors, and your own web address. It works on a computer and on a phone, so you can plan at the kitchen table and answer a customer from the school pickup line. We set it up with you and move your old shop over.
Bakesy
Bakesy is another app home bakers look at. We have written about it separately rather than repeat claims here. Start with Bakesy pros and cons and the cost of the Bakesy app.
Cottage CMS
A cottage food focused option worth comparing on the same checklist. See Cottage CMS vs Bakesy for a side by side look.
Hotplate and Simply Bread
If these two are on your list, this comparison walks through them: Hotplate vs Simply Bread.
How to compare them in one afternoon
List the orders you actually take
Write down your last ten custom orders and what each one needed: size, flavor, pickup date, deposit, and writing on the cake. That list is your checklist.
Check how each app holds a custom order
Open each app and see whether it has fields for those details, a deposit, your photos, and a view of the week ahead. If they are missing, cross it off.
Try it on your phone in your kitchen
Set up a test order the way you would in real life, with flour on your hands. Count the taps. If it is clumsy on a phone, you will stop using it by week two.
Add up the real cost
Put the monthly fee, the card fees, and any commission side by side. A low monthly price with a cut of every sale can cost more than a flat fee once you are busy.
Where Brevl fits
For a home baker taking custom orders, Brevl is the one we would point you to. It is easier to set up than a full bakery system, your shop is yours to customize, card payments run through your own Stripe or Square account, and it is reliable on both a computer and a phone. One flat $20 a month with no cut of your sales keeps your pricing simple, which matters when you are already doing the math on butter and eggs.
Compare it directly at Brevl vs Bakesy, and if you already have a shop elsewhere, see Switch.
Before you pay, check three numbers
Your custom bakes app should make a Saturday with four cakes feel calmer, not busier. Pick the one that holds the details, gets you paid, and fits in your hand.