Caviste vs Ploc: scanning, drinking windows and cellar map
Ploc costs nothing. The question is what you end up doing instead.
Ploc is entirely free and owns a minimal interface: you type in your bottles, you draw your cellar, you keep a notebook. For a beginner, that may be enough. But what is not in the app falls to you: typing every label by hand, and guessing on your own when to open.
Try Caviste for free. 30 wines, scanning and drinking windows included, no card needed. See the app →
Ploc is free and minimal: no scanning, no alerts, no drinking window. Caviste offers 30 wines and 50 scans, reads the label and works out when to open each bottle.
| Ploc | Caviste | |
|---|---|---|
| Label scan | None: typed in by hand | The AI reads the label, the entry fills itself |
| Drinking window | None | 1,394 appellation rules, from estate to grape, editable |
| Peak reminder | None | Reminders on your phone, in order of urgency |
| Food pairing | None | A sommelier picks from your cellar and explains |
| Cellar map | Yes, draw your cellar | Yes, shaded by wine colour, drinking window or time in the cellar |
| Price | Free | Free up to 30 wines, then 24.99 €/year |
| Import & export | Excel | CSV, free, both ways |
Comparison based on public information (App Store listing and official site) in September 2026. Features may change.
What Ploc does not do
Ploc claims simplicity and owns it: no scanning, no alerts, no recommendations, a limited catalogue. That is not a hidden flaw, it is its stance. But the list of what is missing is exactly the list of tasks that fall back on you: identifying the wine, estimating how long it keeps, remembering to open it at the right time.
Typing it in, bottle after bottle
Without scanning, every bottle entering the cellar is a form: estate, appellation, vintage, colour, grape variety. For ten bottles that is fine. For a case brought back from a weekend away, it is the reason most digital cellars stop after three weeks. With Caviste you photograph the label and the entry fills itself, including for a wine no database knows. You confirm before saving.
Caviste is on your phone
Does your cellar know when to open?
That is the only question that justifies keeping a cellar on your phone, and Ploc does not address it. Caviste draws on 1,394 appellation rules and 828 rated vintages, from the estate down to the grape variety, to give a window per bottle, which you can rewrite. A “Drink first” screen ranks what is urgent, and a reminder lets you know on your phone.
Try Caviste free. Now on the App Store and Google Play. Discover the app →
Frequently asked questions
Is Ploc really free?
Yes, entirely, and that is consistent with its positioning. In exchange it includes neither AI scanning, nor alerts, nor a drinking window.
Does Caviste have a free version?
Yes, and it is published: 30 wines and 50 AI scans, kept, with the drinking window and the cellar map included. Beyond that, Premium is 24.99 € a year or 2.99 € a month.
See also: Caviste vs Oeni · Oeni vs Viniou · All wine cellar apps compared
Caviste is on your phone
Scan the label, your cellar fills itself and tells you when to open each bottle.