6 Best Espresso Machines of 2025, Tested and Reviewed - Consumer Reports

Jun 26, 2025

The best espresso machines for home consistently deliver sweet shots of espresso with an even microfoam for lattes and cappuccinos

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At some point, every espresso lover inevitably arrives at the question: “Should I buy a home espresso machine?”

If you’re accustomed to trekking to a coffee shop for your first caffeine shot of the day, the idea of traveling no farther than your own kitchen is probably tempting, not to mention practical, considering all the money you could save over time.

You’ll never regret buying one of these top-rated refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers, and more.

But buying an espresso maker can still be very expensive up front, and with a wealth of options on the market, it can be hard to know where to start. To get a better sense of what some of the options offer, we evaluated seven popular home espresso machines that cost anywhere from $90 to $2,000.

Each one operates a little differently. All of these models require you to pack coffee grounds into a portafilter, which you lock into the machine to brew espresso (as opposed to coffee makers that take pods or espresso machines that dispense the beans themselves), and they all come equipped with a steam wand for milk. Those steam wands vary in terms of power, length, and range of motion.

Based on what an espresso requires to taste good, we look for two main performance features in all of them: the machine’s ability to consistently deliver sweet, balanced shots of espresso with little trouble, and the steam wand’s ability to produce an even microfoam, ideal for lattes, cappuccinos, and latte art. From there, we drill down on the details to figure out which model might be right for you.

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Molly Bradley

As a home and appliance writer at Consumer Reports, Molly Bradley covered a diverse lineup of products, ranging from coffee makers to carpet cleaners and strollers to steam mops.