I’d definitely try out the free version to see if you like it. I’m a big fan of it myself. I really like the web browser interface. There’s enough customization available to suit my needs, but it’s simple enough to just jump in.
I’m a big fan of the (semi) integrated water calculator. It’s really nice not to have to plug in your grain bill into a separate calculator.
I find that the results between Brunwater and Brewer’s Friend are within a couple hundredths on the pH scale. I generally use BrunWater for the water profiles, but use the calculator in Brewer’s Friend to make (and store) my actual adjustments. Disclaimer - I no-sparge, so water chemistry is a bit simpler for me.
Yeah, I noticed that water chemistry isn’t as adjustable in Brewer’s Friend. I like to subtract my boil off from the kettle additions. Never did this with 5 and 10 gallon batches, but after a very minerally 1 gallon batch it occurred to me that it might be wise to do so.
Most of the time I just type out what my additions were in the notes fields.
“Gypsum - .35gpg (1.4g boil, 1.05g kettle)”