GastroCore vs Spec
GastroCore
gastrocore.co.ukSpec
specapp.comSide by side
| Figure | GastroCore | Spec |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £44.25/mo | $83.25/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Restaurant Inventory Management Software | 8.1 (#6) | 8.6 (#2) |
| Integrations | NEXUS POS is described as launching soon; the maker says its orders will automatically deduct stock in NEXUS Stock. | The account sign-up page offers Google, Facebook, and Apple sign-in options. |
| Intended users | The maker says GastroCore is built for independent restaurants, cafés, pubs, and takeaways across the UK. | Spec presents its tools for bars and restaurants building and running food and beverage programs. |
| Inventory | It tracks ingredient stock in real time, with minimum stock levels, expiry dates, and email alerts for low stock. | Its product library stores information about the food and beverage products a business carries. |
| Recipe costing | It calculates recipe costs and margins and generates PDF recipe cards with allergens. | Recipes use product-library quantities to calculate associated ingredient costs, and recipes can be nested inside other recipes. |
| What it does | GastroCore provides UK restaurants with stock control, ingredient tracking, and food cost management. | Spec is a restaurant and bar management platform for recipe costing, menu analysis, inventory, ordering, invoicing and staff training. |
Plans
Spec
- Free PlanFree
- Spec Pro$99 a month
- Spec Pro (annual)$999 a year
- Spec Pro annual$999 a year
In their own words
GastroCore
GastroCore is stock control, ingredient tracking and food-cost software for independent UK restaurants, cafés, pubs and takeaways. It tracks ingredient quantities in real time, supports minimum levels and expiry dates, and emails low-stock alerts. Recipe tools calculate costs and margins, produce PDF recipe cards, and track all 14 mandatory UK allergens with report generation. Teams can record food waste with reasons and costs, create purchase orders, and update inventory when deliveries arrive. Batch traceability follows products from supplier to plate, while reports cover consumption, margins, low stock and cost breakdowns. Unlimited team members can be assigned Owner, Manager or Staff roles without extra charge. GastroCore runs on Android, iOS and the web, and responds to phones, tablets and desktops. Monthly pricing is 59.00 GBP; annual pricing is 531.00 GBP, both with a 14-day trial.
Spec
Spec is an inventory management platform for food and beverage programs at bars and restaurants. Its product library stores information about what a business carries, while recipe tools calculate ingredient, labor and sub-recipe costs. Users can assemble menus from products and recipes and analyze pricing effectiveness. Spec can draft text or email orders and divide bulk orders by vendor. Staff can use the mobile app to view recipes, product details and training materials. The Pro plan adds digitized invoices, product price alerts and invoice reports. Spec offers a free plan at free, limited to 30 ingredient costings, 30 labor costings, 30 sub-recipes and 10 menus, with no stock counts. Spec Pro costs $99 a month or $999 a year and includes unlimited costing and menus, stock counts, multiple inventory locations, and invoice and price-change reporting. A 30-day trial is listed. The platform supports Android, iOS and web. Businesses can email an inventory spreadsheet for ingestion by Spec’s team.