18 best coffee machines for 2024, tried and tested for barista-worthy drinks

The cult London coffee shop has branched out into producing its own coffee machines. It fits all Nespresso pods but Grind also makes its own pods that work in this machine too. We absolutely loved the simplicity and chic good looks of this pod machine. It’s small enough on the work surface, but all the shiny metal makes it stand out – and you’ll want to show it off.

We liked the “aeroplane-style” dials, and the manual lever to pull the capsule into the machine. And with 19 bar of pressure, it also made a great cup of coffee with a decent crema. Although this doesn’t have a fancy steam wand, you can buy a complementary Grind milk frother to go with this machine. This machine wins in looks, durability and quality of coffee and that’s why it’s our best overall.

It’s hard not to love this coffee machine. The price might not be for everyone, but it will wow everyone from those who love milky iced coffees all the way to die-hard coffee fans. Using it is incredibly easy, and it comes with two milk canisters – one for cold-milk drinks, one for hot. Select which drink you want from the touchscreen – there are more than 50 to choose from – and it will then advise you how to set up the machine, how much milk to put in the canister and then get on with brewing your coffee. We were provided with amazingly good coffee within moments, and felt confident we could create whatever drink anyone could ever ask for.

For cool drinks there’s a Cool Extraction Technology, so you can have cold brew at your finger tips. There’s also a container for beans, and one for ground coffee (you fill it one scoop at a go), so you can do decaf and caffeinated coffees with no stress. There is also a “To-go” function, which remembers what your favourite drink is and delivers it into your travel mug at the size you want. We found this incredibly useful for school-run emergencies. Whether you have this at home or in the office, this coffee machine is a sure-fire hit.

Sage claims this is an espresso machine, but with a whole-bean hopper on top it’s made its way firmly into our round-up. We loved how easy this machine was to use, and how much fun we had experimenting with making our perfect cup. You can tinker with the settings to your heart’s content, including the grind size of the bean and the volume of coffee, plus of course, creating microfoam using the steam wand. We liked that once you grind your coffee, you tamp it on the machine and it tells you when you’ve got the perfect dosage.

There’s a lot of tech under the hood of this machine, which allows it to make sure the water temperature is just right for creating the perfect smooth coffee without any bitter taste. We found we made dreamy cups of coffee with little fuss right from the get-go. If you want to get your microfoam game perfected, this is probably the best bean-to-cup machine for this.

Smeg is almost certainly best known for its high-end retro-looking appliances (that iconic fridge!), and this, its new bean-to-cup coffee machine fits with the brand nicely. But the 1950s design on this machine belies some high-tech innards. The easy-to-fill hopper on top grinds beans for the freshest coffee, and the machine produced some of the best-tasting coffee during testing.

It took seconds to set up this machine, and we were able to create barista-quality coffee quickly. The steam wand took moments to get up to temperature and allowed us to create dense microfoam easily in the metal milk jug that’s included. All the accessories felt great quality, right down to the metal weighted tamper. We also liked the small footprint of this machine – for a bean-to-cup machine it didn’t take up too much space on our kitchen counter. You can pre-order this machine now.

If you want a coffee machine that will do everything but make your bed for you in the morning, Miele is here to help. The CM coffee machine grinds your beans, makes coffee and froths your milk just so, and all you have to do is tap a button.

It’s almost impossible to include here all the things we liked about this machine. There’s the cup warmer on top, which you can set to work every time. You can adjust just how hard your water is, and the machine tweaks itself to produce the best coffee. It’s also insanely easy to set up, and links via wifi to an app on your phone. From here you can control your machine, even switching it on. This means you can ask your machine to have a cup of coffee ready for you in the morning when you come downstairs, or when you get home.

At a tap of a button (or click on the app) it delivered perfect coffee-shop quality coffees. From flat whites to cappuccinos, lattes, long coffee and even herbal teas – the Miele machine can make everything pretty much. Milk is done via a container on the side, and steams and froths it so you don’t have to worry about barista training on this machine. You do have to remember to remove the leftover milk afterwards to avoid it going grim on the side though. Another thing that’s smart is that, after making milky drinks, this machine automatically takes itself through a cleaning process.

The proof is in the cup of coffee, and this machine makes a perfect one. The price is going to be the sticking point here. Even if you’re looking to save money spent at a coffee shop every day, you’re going to need to make a lot of cups of coffees to recover the cost. However, we think this machine would be perfect for office environments too – you can put it in entertaining mode, so it can gear itself towards making lots of coffees in quick succession.

If you’re after a bean-to-cup machine on a budget, we reckon this Beko machine is fantastic value for money. It looks smart and has a smaller footprint than many other machines we tried, yet lets you perfect your ideal cup of coffee.

To use, fill the hopper with your beans and the tank with water, and then you’re good to go. It’s simple to use if you’re a novice, but if you like to tinker you can adjust the grind on your beans to suit the roast. You can also create your own texturised milk using the steam wand, although this machine does not come with a metal milk jug so you’ll need to invest as these are a bit of an essential – you can usually pick one up for around £5 though, so it’s not too much extra expense.

This machine also only has a hopper for one coffee at a time, so you cannot switch between two types of coffee, such as decaf and caffeinated. However, we liked that it prompts you to set it to self clean, and maintenance is something we found very easy on this compared to others we tried.

We loved that this Smeg coffee machine looked sleek, and perhaps less intimidating to use than some others we tested. And it is easy to use too. Just pour in the coffee beans and water into separate compartments in the top. From the buttons on top you can then cycle through a “light” and “regular” menu, which includes ristretto, espresso, long coffees and steam. Your coffee is dispensed, and then you can go on to steam your milk for lattes, flat whites, cappuccinos, etc.

We liked that you can programme the machine to create the right volume for your cups. It’s also easy to clean. This isn’t the machine for you if you want to get deep into crafting coffees and really geek out over grinds and extraction. However, if you’re after a really good cup of coffee without too much thought, this is a great choice.

If you mainly want to use pods, but would also like the option of using ground coffee then this Dualit coffee machine is ideal. It takes ground coffee as well as “easy serve espresso” or ESE coffee pods – which look similar to tea bags but are filled with coffee – Nespresso pods and Dualit’s own eco-friendly compostable coffee pods.

Setting up this machine is easy, it heats quickly and then is ready to go. There’s a cup-warming plate as well as extra height under the filter holder, so it can accommodate large cups, and it produced a decent enough coffee with crema – we were impressed. There is also a steam wand to create foams and hot milk – we did find that perhaps due to the plastic filter, it didn’t warm the milk quite so effectively.

We found that actually using ground coffee or ESE was easier with the Dualit than Nespresso pods. The pods fit in the filter head using a special adaptor, but we felt if we were going to this faff we might as well use ground coffee. However, it would be a handy feature if you wanted to switch between your favourite Nepresso blends.

Nespresso now includes not just the standard pods, but the vertuo pods. These only fit in vertuo machines, but have the benefit of coming in different sizes so you can opt for a shorter or longer coffee. And there are a plethora of blends, including decaf and Starbucks’ own range. The machine itself is designed to fit into most spaces in a kitchen or work place. Although the water tank is sizey – great if you’ve got lots of users vying for their morning coffee – you can move it around the machine to fit the space you have for it.

It’s incredibly easy to use. Load your pod, shut the lid and press brew. It then automatically detects the size of the pod and delivers your coffee in about 20 seconds. We found the coffee produced was great for a pod machine – there was even a good amount of crema on top. The drawback of this machine is that not many brands have adopted vertuo pods yet, so you can’t get quite as wide a range of pods from brands as you can the standard Nespresso. But it does include a tasting pack of 12 pods, so you’re sure to find at least one that works for you.

Despite its purse-friendly price, this Tassimo machine has lots of features found on bigger ticket coffee machines. Firstly, it’s made by Bosch, so you know you’re going to get that great German engineering and quality here. As we live in a very hard-water area, we were pleased to see it’s fitted with a Brita water filter, with a timer on it so you know when you need to replace it. This meant yes, it delivered better coffee but also means the life of your machine is extended as it’s not going to get so clogged with limescale.

The Tassimo machine takes the brand’s own pods, rather than those Nespresso caps you might be more familiar with. But Tassimo makes a great range of coffees in its pods, and our kids were delighted that it also makes Cadbury’s hot-chocolate pods.

You can also tweak the temperature, volume and intensity of your coffee easily on the buttons on front. Once you’ve found your perfect blend, you can set it as a favourite – there’s memory for four favourites, so all coffee drinkers in the test house were able to have theirs saved. This machine produced a good cup of coffee – it’s not going to be for die-hard coffee nerds, but for your morning cup (and the kids’ hot chocolate) it’s a purse-friendly option for sure.

This pod machine is all bells and whistles. It takes traditional Nepresso pods, which you can load in, then the touch-screen menu takes you through all the coffees it can make. As well as espresso and americanos, it can do milk-based coffees such as flat whites, lattes and cappuccinos. We were impressed that it caters for even, ahem, particular coffee drinkers as you can tweak the volume and temperature of your coffee and milk.

You then fill the milk jug and stick it under the wand – there’s a sensor so you know you have it in the right place. Press start, and your coffee is extracted and your milk is frothed at the same time. We loved that this machine offered the convenience of a pod machine with the chance to be creative and a bit extra with making our coffee just the way we like it. The price isn’t going to be for everyone, but if you want the crème de la crème pod machine, then this is the one for you.

If you’re looking to hone your barista skills, but don’t quite want a bean-to-cup affair (they do take up a lot of space, after all) then the Sage bambino is a great bet. It’s been designed to deliver barista-level coffees, with all the high-tech specs to match. It is quick and easy to set up, and can make a coffee in seconds thanks to the quick-warming action. The machine then makes sure there’s a fine balance of everything – water pressure, temperature, coffee dosage – to deliver top notch coffee.

We are certainly not quite barista level, but we found we were able to create fantastic coffees on this machine – wowing ourselves and passing visitors. The degree of flexibility on this machine means you can get creative within certain bounds. For instance the steam wand feels professional level, and lets you get into creating microfoams and seeing what works for you. Who knows perhaps one day you’ll be creating latte art…

One of the smallest coffee machines we tested in terms of footprint, the A modo mio jolie and milk is perfect for those with limited space. We loved that this machine comes with a milk frother attached, which keeps things tidy, and you can make a speedy milky coffee without barista training. True, you’re not going to have the same degree of control as you would over a steam wand, but you’ll get a lovely thick latte in minutes.

The A modo mio jolie takes its own coffee pods, not the traditional Nespresso-style capsules, and there’s a decent range of different blends to choose from. Speaking of the pods, we loved that Lavazza’s eco caps can go in your food waste bin – they’re fully compostable, which was a huge draw for us when so many other capsules can be quite difficult to recycle. This little machine is so easy to use, is discreet and can whip up a coffee in minutes. We were big fans of this pocket rocket.

If you like to keep things simple, and want to create your own iced coffee drinks at home, the Breville iced and hot is perfect for you. It can create both iced and hot coffess, and comes with an insulated tumbler for making iced coffees. The machine is easy to use – simply top up the water reservoir (you have to do this each time, but it’s not too much hassle) and pour in ground coffee. It comes with a scoop so you can make sure you’ve got the perfect amount of coffee whether you’re making iced or hot coffee. Then you just hit a button and the machine does the rest for you. Well, you have to fill the tumbler with ice, but that’s it.

Apparently the iced function extracts more coffee for a bolder flavour once ice is added. Certainly, it made a great iced coffee for us – as good as any we’ve tried from high street coffee shops. While this coffee machine isn’t going to be for coffee afficionados, it is great for a quick cup. It’s easy to clean and takes up little space on your work surface, too.

We found this machine fuss free and easy to use, yet it delivered a good cup of coffee with plenty of flavour. At the price point, we were very impressed. Perhaps it doesn’t look quite as fancy as the chrome-heavy coffee machines, but we think that on balance it’s a great option for those that want great coffee and don’t want a very complicated (or expensive!) machine. There’s a 14l water tank at the back, which does make it quite a deep machine, but means you’re not constantly having to refill it.

You can select from single shot or double at the top, and switch on the steamer. There’s also a dial at the side to control the steam wand, allowing you to get creative with making steamed milk and microfoam. We found this wand worked really well and gave us our desired texture of milk without needing full-on barista training.

Everything about this KitchenAid coffee machine is clearly well made and built to last, from the heavy-duty portafilter to the very weighty tamper and, of course, the machine itself. It comes with single and double wall filters for both one and two shots, which isn’t something all espresso machines include, and lets you tinker with your espresso as well as be able to create americanos, cappuccinos, flat whites, lattes and so on. There’s even a recipe card included for espresso martinis. The steam wand, as well as allowing you to create microfoams and steam your milk, dispenses hot water to make long-coffee drinks.

Looking great on our kitchen surface, and has quite a slim profile, so would fit in even smaller kitchens, this is the machine for coffee aficionados and those who want to be able to enjoy coffees that have a bit more punch than your average coffee.

We don’t reckon this machine is going to win any prizes for looks – it’s grey and slightly plastic-tastic compared to others on our list. But before you scroll on, it’s on this round up for a reason so let’s delve deeper than looks.

The portafilter can take ground coffee or ESE pods, if you can’t stand the mess of ground coffee. From the controls you can choose from espresso, latte or cappuccino and the milk is frothed automatically. Fill the container with whatever milk you choose – this machine has been designed to work both with dairy milks and plant-based alternatives – and then you can tweak how much foam and steamed milk is added to your coffee. We also liked that the milk canister can be stored in the fridge to keep it fresh, rather than faffing about with decanting it back into the bottle each time.

If you want your coffee as soon as you hit the kitchen in the morning, this high-end machine Melitta can be controlled via an app on your phone. That means you can get on with making breakfast and answering emails while your machine gets your caffeine fix going. There are also two bean chambers – you can have two different roasts and switch between them, we found this to be super handy in our household where some people take decaf.

If you have a busy house or are using this machine in a work environment, then you can set four profiles and the machine will remember each of your favourite drinks. During testing, we also found the two-cup mode handy as it means you can make two cups in one go.

To make sure you get the ideal cup each time, in the app, you can tweak the volume, how frothy the milk is and the amount of hot water added.