The best coffee machines are those that make preparing your morning caffeine hit not only delicious, but which are convenient, easy-to-use and can potentially teach you a thing or two about what makes a good coffee, great.
Naturally, you'll find coffee machines to suit all budget types and all coffee styles. From wallet-friendly prices all the way through to wallet-busting models that cost thousands, and drip filter coffee through to barista-level machines for the home, there's a coffee machine for everyone in Australia.
And, while it may be true that the more you spend the closer to authentic "cafe quality" you're going to get, don't for one minute think that a 'cheap' machine is going to serve you a coffee you're going to want to immediately pour down the drain.
Below you'll find our pick of the best coffee machines in Australia right now, catering to all budgets, all machine types and all sizes of kitchen counter space.
Whether you like your coffee black or white, tall or short, hot or cold, there's a coffee machine out there for you. We've done the hard work so that you can just sit back and choose which one is for you. And don't worry, we've tried and tested them all – though not all at once. We don't drink that much coffee.
The best coffee machine overall
The Barista Touch Impress combines Breville's best home-coffee-machine innovations to make a semi-automatic machine that anyone can use. Whether a professional barista or a coffee novice you'll be able to make exceptional coffee in a compact, efficient and tidy machine. There's not really anything this one is missing.
The best filter coffee machine
If you drink mainly black coffee and want to ensure you've always got a pot ready to pour, the Breville Luxe Brewer Thermal is the best machine for the job. Its best features include a removable water tank, delayed start, cold-brew function, and an excellent insulated carafe that keeps coffee hot for hours.
The best all-in-one coffee machine
Now finally available in Australia, the Ninja Luxe Café is a do-it-all machine that can prepare espresso, drip coffee, and cold brew – it even includes an automatic milk-frothing system. It's rare to find a coffee maker that does everything well, but the Luxe Café nails it all. It's the only coffee maker you need, and it costs a lot less than you might expect too.
The best coffee pod machine
This dinky Nespresso machine is easy to use, quick to heat up and produces a lovely thick crema. It'll pour an espresso in around a minute, including heat up time, with results never tasting bitter or burnt.
The best fully automatic coffee machine
This gorgeous bean-to-cup espresso machine produces excellent results time after time. A great selection of drink recipes and an automatic milk frother should keep drinkers of all kinds happy. Just note that the frother doesn't always play nice with plant-based milks.
The best compact coffee machine
Offering manual and automatic control, along with a smart tamping system that makes dosing the perfect puck a breeze, this compact machine will have you brewing perfect coffee in no time. Plus, we think it's a bit of a looker, too.
Reveal the next products...
The best Nespresso machine
If you want to elevate a capsule coffee experience, the Vertuo Creatista adds Breville’s latest Auto MilQ technology to an updated Nespresso Vertuo espresso system to make the best milk coffees of any pod machine.
The best coffee maker for cold brew
It might be pricey, but the Jura J10 delivers exceptional espresso, foams milk to perfect and it even creates a delicious cold brew. If you want one machine to do anything and everything, this is it.
The best coffee maker for plant milk
This updated version of the Barista Touch Impress semi-automatic espresso machine features cold brewing, and has an automated steam wand that works particularly well when texturising plant milks (whether oat, soy, or even rice). During tests it proved super easy to use, with a clever mess-free tamping system.
The best coffee machine overall
✅ You want good coffee that's simple: For a machine that will do everything easily and all for a good price, this is it.
✅ You want to experiment: With a raft of features including 30 grind settings, there's plenty of room for coffee experimentation.
❌ You love full manual control: The Barista Touch Impress is designed to be as automatic as possible. If you know what you're doing, you can find top-performing machines for less.
❌ You're on a budget: It's priced competitively considering what it can do, but if you don't have a few thousand dollars to spend, this isn't the machine for you.
If you want better coffee at home, but don’t really have the time or motivation to learn how to be a barista, then Breville’s Barista Touch Impress is built specifically for you. The company has done a lot of research into the main pain-points of manual coffee machines for first-time users and has pieced together a set of clever technologies into a machine that requires no existing coffee knowledge or barista experience.
The Breville Barista Touch Impress combines the user-friendly assisted tamping and auto-dosing of the 2022 Barista Express Impress with the intuitive touchscreen and automatic milk frothing of the Barista Touch to make the simplest manual coffee machine for first-time users available.
The integrated grinder and tamping mechanism gives you feedback on how much coffee is going into your basket and the touchscreen provides prompts on exactly what settings you need to change in order to grind the perfect amount at the optimum coarseness. When this info is combined with advice on what to do if the shot takes too long or finishes early, you get a coffee grinding feedback system that can easily be dialled-in for excellent coffee by anyone after just one run of the machine.
It’s also excellent at making cafe-level milk, whether you know how to froth it or not. The Barista Touch Impress is best at turning full-cream cow’s milk into perfectly aerated coffee milk, but one of the headline features is that the new Auto MilQ system comes with customised steam presets that allow you to make great oat, soy or almond milks for your coffee as well. The automatic wand and temperature gauge combine to deliver good quality milk without you having to learn any milk folding techniques.
When you combine all these features you get excellent manual-machine level coffee that anyone can easily make by following prompts and pushing a few buttons. If you are a trained barista using a dual-boiler manual machine it’s possible to make better coffee faster… but the difference isn’t big enough to not be tempted by all the added conveniences of the Barista Touch Impress.
It’s expensive, but there isn’t another device around that you can use without any skill that’ll make better coffee, which makes the Barista Touch Impress the best all-round home coffee machine for everyone in our eyes.
Secure yourself an exclusive 10% discount at Breville thanks to our Breville Australia coupon codes.
Read our full Breville the Barista Touch Impress review
The best filter coffee maker
✅ You really enjoy drip coffee: The Luxe Brewer Thermal will do your beans justice, and keep your batch brew hot for hours without stewing it on a hotplate.
✅ You like authentic cold brew: The Luxe Brewer Thermal does it the traditional way by steeping the grounds for 24 hours. It's easy and makes virtually no mess.
❌ You want a traditional-looking batch brewer The Luxe Brewer Thermal has a distinctly modern look with its brushed metal finish and clean lines.
❌ You want the cheapest option: There are definitely cheaper drip machines available, although they don't offer the same performance.
In our experience, drip coffee machines released in recent times place too much of an emphasis on being as smart as possible and over-complicate the coffee brewing process as a result. Fortunately, the Breville Luxe Brewer (known as Sage in the UK) keeps things much simpler, with great results.
This filter coffee machine that is, dare we say, attractive, gives you just a handful of options to tinker with. These include brew temperature, pre-infusion temperature, and pre-infusion time (all of which can have a noticeable effect on your brewed coffee) but otherwise keeps things super straightforward. Just add water, coffee grounds, and you're good to go.
What elevates the Luxe Thermal Brewer above other drip machines is an array of thoughtful design touches, such as a water tank that can be removed for easy filling (no more spilling water on your counter while pouring it in from a pitcher), and an insulated carafe that's, in a word, superb. Even when only half-full, it keeps coffee at a perfect drinking temperature for over four hours. No need to keep your drink stewing on a hotplate.
Another great feature is the cold-brewing mode, which lets your coffee steep for 24 hours and beeps to let you know when it's done. It's incredibly easy, and there's no mess. The delayed start timer is an excellent feature too, letting you wake up to a piping hot brew every morning. It's not the cheap, but we think it more than justifies its asking price.
Secure yourself an exclusive 10% discount at Breville thanks to our Breville Australia coupon codes.
Read our full Breville Luxe Brewer Thermal review
The best all-in-one coffee maker
✅ You enjoy variety: If you can't choose between drip, cold brew, and espresso, the Ninja Luxe Café does it all.
✅ You want ease of use: It might look complicated, but this coffee maker is surprisingly straightforward to master.
❌ You want to brew big pots of coffee: You're limited to 18oz at a time. If you want to make a pot, the Ninja DualBrew Pro could be a better option.
❌ You want to steam plant milk: Automatic milk frothers tend to be optimised for dairy, and this one is no exception.
After what feels like a lifetime of waiting, the Ninja Luxe Café has finally landed in Australia. Having already proven incredibly popular overseas, Aussies can now get their hands on this cult-like coffee machine and up their barista game at home... only if you can find one in stock, that is.
Why is the Luxe Café so popular? Well, partly because it can do espresso, drip coffee, and cold brew no problem. Best of all, it does all of these things well and guides you through the process of making your ideal drink like your personal, patient barista.
It is a big and bulky machine, but while it might look complicated, our tester was surprised how easy it was to master. The Luxe Café suggests a suitable grind size and dosage for the drink you want to make, and the result was consistently well extracted coffee with minimal effort. Espresso turned out beautifully, though we found the choice of four different settings to be unnecessary for filter coffee - regular and cold brew would have been fine.
The automatic milk frother worked well with our tester's 2% milk, creating creamy microfoam for lattes and cappuccinos. It wasn't so well suited to oat milk though, which we've found tends to be the case with auto milk systems. In all other respects, the Luxe Café is hard to fault, and if you want a machine that can produce drip coffee, cold brew, and espresso drinks all in one, you need look no further.
Read our full Ninja Luxe Café review
The best coffee pod machine
✅ You don't have much room: The Pixie is one of the most compact Nespresso machines we've tested.
✅ You prefer black coffee: This machine doesn't have a milk frother, so it can't make a latte or cappuccino.
❌ You want a menu of coffee options: The Nespresso Pixie only offers two choices: expresso or lungo.
❌ You want your coffee piping hot: The temperature is about what we'd expect at 154-167F/ 68-75C, but there's no option to adjust it.
The Nespresso Pixie is the best coffee pod machine you can buy, particularly if space is at a premium in your kitchen.
On test, our reviewer found that the Pixie was very easy to use, and offered a hassle-free way of making a morning coffee. It took on average 25 - 30 seconds to preheat, and an espresso took just 15 seconds to pour. We were really impressed with the thick crema that the machine consistently produced, too, which resulted in a coffee tasting neither burnt nor overly bitter.
Because it uses the Original size of Nespresso capsules (which many third-party coffee roasters also produce, meaning you have plenty of choice) it means the internal bin can hold 10 used pods. It's a great size considering the compact nature of the machine, and it's easy to remove and clean. As with all coffee makers, a descale will be required to help maintain the machine after every 1000 capsules.
Read our full Nespresso Pixie by Krups review
The best automatic coffee machine
✅ You make several coffees daily: The BCC13 isn't cheap, but if you make several coffees a day, then coupled with the quick brew time, it'll be more than worth the money.
✅ You value ease of use: The BCC13 takes care of every step in the coffee-making chain – perfect if you want to be hands-off.
❌ You love to experience: Since this machine does everything for you, if you're someone who likes to tinker, you don't have the option here.
❌ You drink plant-based milk: Smeg admits itself that the BCC13's frothing system doesn't play nice with non-dairy milk. If this is you, you may want to look for a machine with a manual steam wand instead – the Smeg BCC12 does just that.
This unassuming fully-automatic coffee machine is one of the best we've ever come across. Not only does it look downright stunning, but it brews consistently good, well extracted coffee, with barely any input from you.
Simply pour in some coffee beans, make sure the water tank is full, press a button for the drink you want using the menu on the top (you'll likely need the manual to hand at first to learn what each icon represents) and that's it, you're done.
During our tests, we were very impressed by the quality of the espresso produced by the BCC13, which was delicious and well extracted every time, with a rich golden crema. Dairy milk foamed well using the auto frothing system, though plant milk didn't fare quite so well (something Smeg does warn about). If you want to use alternative milks regularly, you might want to consider a machine with a steam wand, such as Smeg's own BCC12).
Read our full Smeg BCC13 review
Best compact coffee machine
✅ You're buying your first espresso machine: This machine is practically foolproof, meaning even complete beginners can brew consistently good coffee.
✅ You're a bit intimidated by technicalities: It's not fully automated, but the La Specialista Touch doesn't assume lots of prior knowledge or experience.
❌ You want your coffee quickly: Dosing and tamping are straightforward, but they can be time consuming.
❌ You already have a coffee grinder: If you're happy dialling in, grinding, and dosing your coffee, then you won't need all the features offered here.
If you thought investing in a bean-to-cup coffee machine meant giving up half your kitchen to house one, think again. The De'Longhi La Specialista Touch is one of the smallest machines we've come across, including those that use capsules. It's also remarkably lightweight at just 10.8kg, making it easy to move around if needed.
Don't let its manual espresso machine looks put you off either, as this is a great, beginner-friendly choice for anyone who wants to ditch the coffee pods in favour of experimentation with a variety of beans. It's not totally automatic (the Smeg BCC13 at #3 on this list is your go-to there) but the included smart dosing and tamping tools make it easy not only to create a well-performed puck, but also make the traditionally tricky process accessible to anyone.
The Bean Adapt system is good for beginners too, offering a great starting point if you're not sure how to choose the best grind size and brew settings for your particular beans. All you need to know is the type and roast (which you can judge by the colour) and the machine will configure itself to get you started.
During our tests we were particularly impressed by the La Specialista Touch's steam wand, which offers manual and automatic modes. The auto option can create different proportions of steamed milk and foam depending on the drink you've selected, which is a nice touch.
Read our full De'Longhi La Specialista Touch review
The best Nespresso machine
✅ You want a Nespresso machine with an integrated milk frother: The milk wand is the most advanced automated milk frother you can get on a Nespresso machine. Its clever sensors allow you to adjust temperature and foam volume, without learning barista style milk frothing skills.
✅ You want the most premium Nespresso Vertuo on offer: We’ve seen similar Nespresso Creatista models that take the Nespresso original capsules, but this is the first of its kind and the most premium you can buy if you want to use the Nespresso Vertuo capsules.
❌ You love full manual control: The Barista Touch Impress is designed to be as automatic as possible. If you know what you're doing, you can find top-performing machines for less.
❌ You're on a budget: It's priced competitively considering what it can do, but if you don't have a few thousand dollars to spend, this isn't the machine for you.
The convenience of pod coffee means it’s still the go-to platform for many Australians making coffee at home and if you don’t mind the taste of your average capsule then it’s hard to look past Nespresso’s wide array of machines and coffee.
Nespresso has partnered with Breville to build a new Creatista machine that integrates the Vertuo centrifusion pod system with Breville’s milk frothing technologies.
While Nespresso has had a version of the Creatista available for some time, the Vertuo Creatista uses the newer style centrifusion pods that can (theoretically) produce more subtle flavours thanks to a different extraction technique that requires less pressure and heat. In reality, it tastes pretty similar to the old capsules so we wouldn’t recommend replacing your existing machine expecting an improved experience.
One thing that is likely to be much better is Breville’s Auto MilQ system for frothing the perfect accompaniment to your espresso. The milk wand system on the Vertuo Creatista isn’t as sophisticated as what you’ll get on something like the Barista Touch Impress, but it’s pretty good at turning cold, full-cream milk into a nicely textured milk at the perfect temperature on its own.
There are three levels of heat and foam to choose from, a selection that will get close enough to your favourite style for anyone interested in Nespresso. It’s an easy to use system, but it ends up causing the machine to be as expensive as some premium manual machines and it doesn’t really elevate the flavour of the coffee that much above what you get from any other Vertuo machine and Aeroccino frothing system.
The Vertuo capsule range features barcodes that will automatically deliver the shot size that each pod was designed for, making it as simple as possible to get the perfect shot and it includes a new function to make more concentrated coffee shots by double pressing the shot button.
Despite these improvements you can get way better flavour from a manual machine like the Bambino Plus with good quality coffee (that isn’t roasted for as long as Nespresso’s blends). If you absolutely have to have a Nespresso pod machine, however, then this is the best one for making milk coffee.
Read our full Nespresso Vertuo Creatista review
The best coffee machine for cold brew
If you're very specific with your coffee order, to the point where it makes your local barista sweat, the Jura J10 is the coffee machine for you. It covers the basics of espresso brewing exceptionally well, but key to its success is its ability to deliver a delicious, authentic-tasting cold brew.
Unlike most other machines that offer a cold brew recipe, the Jura J10 forces pulses of water over your freshly ground coffee at high pressure (as shown in the video below). The result is impressive, and noticeably more flavoursome than cold brew from other machines we've tested – mellow and well-rounded. Toss in a couple of ice cubes and you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the J10's cold brew and coffee made the traditional way that's made overnight.
The Jura J10 also has a particularly good milk-texturising system – even for non-dairy milks – and it gives you the option to add a flavoured syrup, which is distributed evenly throughout the foam as it's dispensed. Because the syrup isn't concentrated in the bottom of your cup, you only need a little to achieve plenty of flavour, and the syrup never enters the coffee machine itself so you don't need to worry about it tainting your next drink.
It's all very impressive and well executed, though the price tag means it's definitely a luxury buy.
Read our full Jura J10 review
The best coffee maker for plant milk
✅ You want optimum flavour from your beans: This machine guides you through the process of dosing coffee and choosing the ideal grind size for a perfectly extracted shot. It might take a while to get it just right, but it’s worth the time,
✅ You want tasty cold brew without the wait: The latest version of the Barista Touch Impress does a good job replicating the smooth taste of traditionally-made cold brew.
❌ You only use dairy milk: The AutoMilq system works best with plant-based milk, though steaming dairy milk manually is fine.
❌ You have small kitchen counters: This machine is quite bulky, and you need to be able to access the back to refill the water tank.
If you enjoy milk-based coffee drinks, then you should be aware that automatic steaming systems on coffee machines are usually optimised for full-fat dairy. If you drink plant-based milks, you can either turn to manual steam, or hope the automatic option does a good job. In our experience, you will often be left with a drink that's hot, but flat. That's not the case with the Breville Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction (branded as Sage in the UK), which works even better with plant-based milk than dairy.
It's also a great coffee maker if you want to learn how to make espresso manually, guiding you through each step of the process and helping you understand the effect of every decision along the way. Want to know the effect of increasing the grind size? Taste the resulting espresso and find out. Curious about brew temperature? Try tinkering and see what happens.
This machine also has a supremely satisfying lever-operated tamper. After you've ground your beans straight into the filter basket, pull down the arm on the left-hand side of the machine twice to compress it into a perfect puck. The machine can even adjust the amount of coffee it grinds (the dose) depending on your chosen beans and grind size.
Cold extraction works well too, producing a mellow and well-rounded espresso that's much better than one brewed hot and then watered down with ice.
Read our full Breville Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction review
We also tested
We test new coffee machines every month here at TechRadar. Here are some we've reviewed recently that didn't quite make our shortlist.
How to choose the best coffee machine for you
The first decision you're going to want to make is do you want a pod machine or an espresso machine that uses freshly ground beans?
Pod Machines - Pods offer peak convenience allowing you to get decent coffee at the push of a button and have your coffee ready in no time. If you rush in the mornings or you aren't willing to dedicate a weekend to learn how to be an at-home barista then pod machines are for you.
Manual Espresso Machines - If you're an ex barista or you are a coffee obsessive that will do anything to get the perfect cup of coffee int he morning then you're probably going to want a manual espresso machine. Basically manual machines get more rudimentary as they get less expensive, so those with more skill/ time/ determination will be able to make café level coffee from a $500 machine that's almost as good as what can be done on machines that cost thousands.
Automatic Espresso Machines - The other end of the ground coffee spectrum are automatic espresso machines. There are some legacy at-home machines that'll do milk and coffee in a vending machine style, but these devices are often expensive and don't taste great. Fortunately there's a new wave of automatic and semi-automatic espresso machines that have a manual machine appearance but will do everything for you. If you can afford to drop $2K on a device then the top manual espresso machines offer low barrier to entry and great coffee.
Frequently asked coffee maker questions
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 of the best coffee 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 the best 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, while for those with larger kitchens and a bigger budget, consider the De’Longhi La Specialista Arte EC9155MB or the Breville Oracle Touch.
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.
Which type of coffee maker should I choose?
For those that want to perfect their coffee-making skills, consider an espresso machine. This is the best coffee maker for people who prefer to 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 a familiar style to most of us and it's the best coffee machine for 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 favourite coffee at home
How we test the best coffee makers
We take testing the best 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 the best coffee machines 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.
- You've reached the end of the page. Jump back up to the top ^
