The best coffee maker 2024: top coffee machines for everyone
Best coffee maker: quick menu
The best coffee maker will make your life better. Or at least, it’ll get your day off to the right start. There’s a wide variety of coffee machines to choose from, and they come in at all kinds of prices.
If you’re just after no-fuss coffee to keep you going all morning, a drip filter machine is a great choice. Or for equally low effort but more coffee options, a pod machine should be right up your street. Alternatively, for more dedicated caffeine fans looking to unleash their inner barista, there are lots of bean-to-cup or espresso machines, at varying levels of cost and capability.
Every single coffee maker you’ll find in this guide has been thoroughly tested by us, in real kitchens, by real caffeine junkies. We investigate at not only how good the coffee is (we’re extremely well caffeinated at this point), but how easy these machines are to use and clean, how noisy they are, and the variety of drinks they can be used for. Whether you’re an espresso aficionado, a fan of froth or just want some easy extra get-up-and-go, there’s a recommendation for you here.
The quick list
1. Moccamaster KBGV Select coffee maker
Best coffee maker for most people
The Moccamaster KBGV Select makes delicious coffee with minimum effort, and as a bonus it looks like it jumped out of a mid-century catalog. We rate this the top coffee maker around.
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2. Nespresso Vertuo Next coffee maker
Best budget coffee machine
Easy to use and easy to clean, with a price tag that won’t make you wince, the Nespresso Vertuo Next is our best budget coffee maker pick. Perfect for those who want a straightforward but effective option.
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3. Breville The Barista Touch Impress
Best premium coffee maker
If money is no object, the Breville The Barista Touch Impress offers a premium bean-to-cup experience with espresso capabilities. It even has a touchscreen.
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4. Seattle Coffee Gear Diletta Bello
Best manual coffee machine
There may be a learning curve since this fully manual espresso machine, but once you get it, it’s easy to use and produces lattes and cappuccinos on par with the best cafés.
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5. Sage the Barista Express Impress
Best bean-to-cup
The Sage The Barista Express Impress is an outstanding bean-to-cup coffee maker, with integrated Burr Grinder and steam wand.
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6. De’Longhi Dinamica Plus ECAM370
Best automatic milk frothing
The De’Longhi Dinamica Plus ECAM370 brings a different dimension to the bean-to-cup espresso machine – automated milk frothing. It is very pricey and bulky, however.
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7. Smeg Drip Filter Coffee Machine
Best filter coffee maker
If you need a lot of coffee, the Smeg Drip Filter Coffee Machine will deliver just that. You can set it to make a brew for when you wake up and it can keep the coffee warm for 40 minutes.
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Best coffee maker for customization
The Breville Bambino Plus only lets you make one cup of espresso at a time, but has a built-in milk frother with three different temperature settings for lots of customization.
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9. KitchenAid Classic Drip
Best budget filter coffee maker
It might take some time to brew, but the KitchenAid Classic 5KCM1208 Drip Coffee Maker makes and keeps your coffee piping hot. It also does all that quietly.
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10. Smeg ECF01 Espresso Maker
Best compact espresso machine
Want to make espresso but have limited space? Get the Smeg ECF01 Espresso Maker. This stylish compact model has a learning curve, but the results are worth it.
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The best coffee maker overall
The Moccamaster KBGV Select, or the Moccamaster KBG Select as it’s also known as in Europe, takes over the top spot of our coffee makers guide for several reasons: it brews impeccable coffee, it looks cool, and it’s effortless to use.
During our tests we found that this hand-built European coffee maker is beautifully simple to use thanks to its two-switch operation. The filter holder is even removable so you can pop it on the scales to weigh out the correct quantity of coffee, and the carafe pours cleanly without dripping. Those who are aesthetic-driven will also appreciate not just its sturdy build but also its elegant, retro-style design that comes in so many colorways – 21, to be specific.
Just keep in mind that the hotplate stays on for only 40 minutes. However, leaving coffee on a hotplate for hours can make the coffee bitter anyway, so this is hardly a massive dealbreaker.
It’s cheaper than many of the models on our list, but there are cheaper drip filter machines around if you’re on a tighter budget is a concern. (Check out the Smeg model at #7 or KitchenAid at #9, or head to our best drip coffee maker ranking for plenty more options.)
Read our full Moccamaster KBGV Select review
The best budget coffee maker
If you need an effortless way to make your morning brew, then the Nespresso Vertuo Next is the coffee maker for you. It’s the best single-serve pod coffee maker we’ve tested, and it couldn’t be any easier to use – you simply place a capsule inside and press a button while the Nespresso takes care of the rest.
On test, the Nespresso Vertuo Next created smooth coffee with a thick crema on top that reformed even after we stirred in some sugar. It can create five different-sized drinks, and because this machine uses pods, cleaning up takes seconds too.
However, the pods can work out more expensive than buying ground coffee, and if you’re a fan of lattes and cappuccinos, the Nespresso Vertuo Next won’t be able to froth milk but you can purchase a separate milk frother from the brand if you’re sold on the rest of the Vertuo Next’s features. Like the brand but don’t think this is the model for you? We have a separate guide to the best Nespresso machines to help you find your perfect match.
Read our full Nespresso Vertuo Next review
The best premium coffee maker
The Barista Touch Impress combines a compact integrated grinder, user-friendly assisted tamping and auto-dosing with an intuitive touchscreen and automatic milk frothing of the Barista Touch to make the most user-friendly manual coffee machine available anywhere. In fact, we rate it the best premium coffee maker on the market.
This machine caters for two kinds of coffee making: bleary-eyed Monday mornings when you just want to press a button for your caffeine fix, and lazy Sundays when you have the time and inclination to get into the manual settings to become your very own barista. This Breville manages to inhabit both of those roles perfectly, and while the automatic programs aren’t quite as good as what you’ll get from a more hands-on approach to your brewing they get really, really close.
It’s a bit of an investment (although far from the priciest coffee maker on the market) but worth it – it’s one of the very best bean-to-cup coffee makers on the market. If you’re not fussed about the auto options, check out the Express Impress (#5), which has many of the same manual features.
Click here to read our full Breville The Barista Touch Impress review
The best manual coffee maker
The Seattle Coffee Gear Diletta Bello has swooped in to our best espresso machine guide to claim the top spot. We feel that this is a next-level espresso machine, not quite an industrial-grade one you expect to see at coffee shops but more elevated than that automatic one you’ve got at home.
Most of the things you do on this espresso machine are manual; there are no buttons here to push, no dials for programming settings. Instead, you’ll need to master the art of pulling the lever for the perfect pour and get used to the artful tango of milk frothing, quickly shutting it down before your froth spills over.
If you’re looking for an espresso machine that does everything for you with a single touch while you’re still rubbing the sleep from your eyes, then we think that this isn’t the machine for you. But if you care about the craft of coffee, if you want manual controls so you can get your coffee just-so, there’s a lot to love – not least a price tag that comes in below many other high quality manual machines. Our reviewer found that while the learning curve is pretty steep – it’ll take a day or so before you really get the hang of it – it’s straightforward once you’ve got the hang of it, and the coffee is pretty much perfect.
Read our full Seattle Coffee Gear Diletta Bello review
The best bean-to-cup coffee maker
Breville’s the Barista Express Impress is, for our money, the best bean-to-cup coffee maker around. It’s designed to use the ideal quantity of ground beans, at the perfect temperature, with exactly the right water pressure and the perfect micro-foam to make the perfect, barista-style coffee. And in our review, we found it really delivered, creating rich flat whites and creamy cappuccinos.
It’s similar to a commercial espresso machine, so it’s a bit more complicated than a standard bean-to-cup model, but that’s a huge part of the appeal. To match the quality of professional, barista-made coffee takes time – but we thoroughly enjoyed mastering the ritual of tamping and dosing – almost as enjoyable as drinking the results of our labor. If you want the option of something simpler, check out the Touch Impress at #3, which adds an automatic option for when you have less time.
Read our full Sage The Barista Express Impress review
The best automatic milk frothing coffee maker
From grinding beans to frothing milk, the De’Longhi Dinamica Plus is perfect for creating a completely automated cup of coffee. Simple to use, the color touch display walks you through every step of choosing and customizing your coffee – from the grind level, strength, and quantity to the froth level of milk, and temperature. Although that does mean it will take some experimentation to achieve the perfect drink for you.
On test, the coffee maker produced an intense, smooth coffee with a thick crema every time, while the automatic milk frother delivered thick, velvety, stable foam. However, it’s a bulky appliance, which takes up plenty of room on a kitchen countertop, and compared to espresso and single-serve coffee makers, it’s expensive, too.
Read our full De’Longhi Dinamica Plus review
The best filter coffee maker
If you’re a fan of drip coffee then the Smeg Drip Filter Coffee Machine is one of the best we’ve tested. It can make several cups of coffee in one go and it’ll keep coffee warm for 40 minutes too, so on those extra sleepy mornings, you can keep coming back for more.
For the ultimate convenience, you can set the timer on this machine and it’ll start brewing your coffee before you even get out of bed, and we think waking up to the smell of fresh coffee is perfection. It’s finished in Smeg’s signature retro style and available in a wide range of colors, too.
On test, it made a smooth cup of coffee and was easy to use, plus with a two and four cup option, you don’t always have to make a full carafe. However, we found the Smeg Drip Filter Coffee Machine’s interface steamed up quite a bit, and the coffee maker takes up a lot of space on the countertop too.
Read our full Smeg Drip Filter Coffee Machine review
The best coffee maker for customization
This espresso machine, which is branded Sage rather than Breville in the UK, produced a smooth, intense espresso, and was quick to heat up in our tests. It can also froth milk, and offers three different milk temperature settings along with three texture settings so you can have your drink just how you like it.
It’s is small enough to not take over your countertop but it has almost everything to give you barista-style coffee. Although it’s worth noting, that, unlike some espresso machines, it can only brew one shot at a time and it needs a good clean after every use. This Breville coffee maker isn’t the cheapest in the market, but it performed exceptionally well in our tests and we think it’s well worth its price tag – we rank it amongst the very best espresso machines around.
Read our full Breville Bambino Plus review
The best budget filter coffee maker
If you’re on a budget, the KitchenAid Classic 5KCM1208 Drip Coffee Maker is one of the best affordable designs on the market. This coffee maker, which has the brand’s signature vintage style but with some more modern features, can brew 10 cups of coffee. However, we found the cups to be much smaller than a standard-sized cup, so if you like a huge mug of coffee, don’t expect to be able to top it up 10 times. What is good about the KitchenAid Drip Filter coffee maker is how it can keep coffee warm for over 30 minutes. And when we say warm, we mean piping hot – so you’ll need to give it a while to cool down.
The KitchenAid Drip Coffee Maker also works very quietly so it won’t be a nuisance when it’s brewing. Just be prepared to wait for it to brew – it took 12 minutes to fill the carafe in our tests.
Read our full KitchenAid Classic 5KCM1208 Drip Coffee Maker review
The best compact espresso machine
The Smeg ECF01 Espresso Maker is just what you need if you want great coffee but also a stylish addition to your countertop. During testing, it created smooth coffee with an impressive crema every time and can be used with ground coffee or Easy Serve Espresso (ESE) pods, giving you flexibility.
It’s not a machine suitable for beginners, as it takes patience to perfect the brew that’s right for you, but once you’ve mastered it, you’ll never be without excellent coffee again. It’s also expensive compared to the rest of the market but is a worthy investment if you want to level up when it comes to barista skills.
We were also impressed at its ability to froth milk until it’s just the right level of silkiness. And if patience isn’t your virtue, you’ll be pleased to know you only need to wait 40 seconds for the machine to heat up. We’ve also reviewed the newer Smeg ECF02, which isn’t quite as compact – we don’t feel like it offers quite as good value for money, either.
Read our full Smeg ECF01 Espresso Maker review
How to choose the best coffee maker for you
There are so many different coffee makers on the market that it can be hard to know which is the best option for you.
If you enjoy a simple americano and don’t like milk-based drinks, then a drip filter coffee maker will be a great option. Plus, these machines can make as many as 12 cups of coffee in one go.
If you just want small quantities of coffee, though, we’d recommend a single-serve coffee maker from Keurig or Nespresso.
If you like milk-based coffee, then there are quite a few options available. Some models are fully automated and have a built-in frother that will be able to create a variety of milk textures, while others have steam arms which you place into a jug of milk and froth the milk yourself. There’s a third option too – and this includes buying a separate milk frother which is a stand-alone machine. You’ll be able to use these to make everything from lattes to hot chocolates, and they make a great accompaniment to a pod coffee maker.
Coffee drinkers that like plenty of customization options will be best suited to a coffee maker that lets you adjust the strength of your brew and create different sizes of hot drinks. Many premium coffee makers will let you do both of these things, but you can also adjust the strength and the aroma of your coffee with a good drip filter model.
The final thing to consider is how involved you’d like to be in the coffee-making process – and the clean-up afterwards. Some designs are smart-enabled so you can simply switch them on from your phone, however, others will require you to pack down ground coffee and pull your own shot of espresso before frothing the milk yourself. Some coffee machines have self-cleaning systems which purge the steam wand to prevent milk residue drying in the pipes, while others have systems to flush out any build-up in the machine.
If you’re still not sure, you can find a more detailed breakdown in our article covering which type of coffee maker to buy.
Frequently asked questions about the best coffee makers
What is the best coffee maker?
Now you’ve read through out top 10, you may be wanting to know what our number one is so to recap, we an totally recommend the Moccamaster KBGV Select. It’s elegantly stunning, brews impeccable coffee, and it’s effortless to use. It’s quite pricey compared to some all-in-one coffee makers and you don’t have the manual options of a more complex espresso coffee maker, but when it comes to delivering consistently great coffee with the minimum of fuss it’s a real winner.
Can espresso machines make regular coffee?
Technically yes, because espresso is the base of all kinds of coffees. Espresso machines can be used to make an americano if they have the functionality to add hot water to a shot of espresso (which many machines do). If you want to make milk-based drinks such as lattes or flat whites you’ll need to ensure that there’s a steam arm on the machine, or alternatively, you can purchase a separate milk frother.
How do coffee makers work?
With so many different types of coffee makers on offer, it’s no surprise that each type of machine works slightly differently. Here we focus on espresso machines and pod coffee makers but for a more detailed explanation, head to our feature on how coffee makers work.
Espresso machines work by using a pump to push pressurized water through coffee grounds so that it infuses with the water to make a smooth shot of espresso. If an espresso machine has a milk frother, it will use a boiler to push steam out of the machine which is then used to give the milk a velvety texture. Pod coffee makers work by using a compacted capsule of coffee and piercing a hole in the capsule. Hot water is then powered up through the machine and pushed through the capsule to create a coffee. Some more advanced pod machines, such as the Nespresso Vertuo Next, spin the coffee pod around at high speeds so that the contents evenly infuse with water for an even smoother cup of coffee.
How to clean a coffee maker
Keeping your coffee maker clean will not only ensure it looks great, but it’s crucial for maintaining working order and keeping it hygienic. We’ve written a full feature on how to clean a coffee maker and all its parts but the good news is that you’ll be able to clean thoroughly using products you’ve most likely got at home already. To clean your machine’s water tank, you can make a solution with one part water and one part white vinegar and simply leave it to soak inside your water reservoir for a couple of hours. To give the pipes a good flush through, let the vinegar solution run through the machine by switching it on as you would do normally for water.
We’re also got a dedicated article on how to clean a Nespresso machine and how to clean a Keurig, for those that have single-serve coffee makers at home.
What is the best coffee maker for home use
If you’re looking for a coffee maker to use at home, either because you’re spending more time working remotely and want a cup of Joe that’s the same quality as you’d get in the office, or you just want to cut down on your expenses by reducing your coffee shop visits, then you’re probably wondering which is the best one to buy.
For true coffee-shop-worthy espresso, then it’s worth investing in one of the best espresso machines on the market right now. These ensure you can tweak the strength of the coffee by changing aspects such as the volume of water used to brew the espresso, the length of time the brewing process takes, and how tightly or loosely compacted the puck (the disc of ground coffee) is.
All of these affect how strong, and how bitter the coffee tastes. But espresso machines require plenty of experimentation, which takes time and using ground coffee can be messy.
If you’re tight on space consider the Breville Bambino or Breville Bambino Plus (which are sold under the Sage brand in the UK), while for those with larger kitchens and a bigger budget, consider the De’Longhi La Specialista Arte EC9155MB or the Breville Oracle Touch – again known as the Sage Oracle Touch in the UK.
If you don’t want to spend all your time learning how to brew the perfect coffee, or cleaning up after it, then one of the best single-serve coffee makers, also known as pod coffee machines, will produce good quality espresso with minimal mess. We rate the Nespresso Vertuo Next, but our article which Nespresso machine is best? offers plenty of further information to help you decide.
If you’re in the US there’s also an array of Keurig single-serve coffee makers to choose from. Check out Nespresso vs Keurig: which should you buy? if you’re unsure which manufacturer you should plump for.
Which type of coffee maker should I choose?
For those that want to perfect their coffee-making skills, consider an espresso machine. This style of coffee maker lets you handle every part of the brewing process, from compacting the coffee grounds into a puck or small disc (a process known as tamping) to the brew volume and duration to create the perfect cup of coffee to suit you. If you’re new to this type of coffee maker, discover how to use an espresso machine in-depth in our article.
Alternatively, for the same coffee-shop standard hot drinks but with a hands-off approach, opt for a bean-to-cup coffee machines, which automate the processes described above to rustle up a cup of joe at the touch of a button.
If you’re looking to make a cup of coffee with as minimal amount of fuss as possible, a single-serve coffee maker is the best fit. Also known as pod coffee machines, they use capsules filled with ground coffee to create a hot drink with far less mess than espresso machines.
Nespresso and Keurig are the biggest brands when it comes to single-serve coffee machines and offer a range of machines each. However, pod coffee machines have a poor reputation when it comes to sustainability as many of the capsules end up in landfill. Follow our guide on how to recycle Nespresso pods to help ensure this doesn’t happen.
Finally, the drip coffee maker is one of the most familiar styles of coffee machine and is best suited to those that want to brew large quantities of Java at any one time. Discover in-depth how coffee makers work in our article then, find out how to make your favorite coffee at home
How we test coffee makers
We take testing coffee makers seriously and put all the machines through their paces to see if they really can do everything they promise to. We test each coffee maker for the crema it produces on an espresso, how easy it is to use and set up, and also for consistency from one cup to another.
When we’re testing, we take into account the overall design of each coffee maker – how it looks, how much space it’ll take up on your kitchen counter, whether the water tank is removable for easy refills, and how the machine looks as a whole.
For coffee makers with milk frothers, we test the milk texture to see if it’s silky and smooth and of course, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t drink plenty of coffee along the way to see how each cup measures up for the overall taste.
We test models to see how much control you have over each cup of coffee, and whether it’s a case of simply pressing a button or whether more of a hands-on approach is needed. All coffee makers will require regular cleaning so we’re always sure to note what maintenance is involved and how easy these machines are to keep in top condition.
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