The 3 Best Espresso Machines (2026)

A daily latte habit runs real money, and the machine aisle is where people overpay in both directions — too little machine to make coffee worth drinking, or a thousand dollars of features they’ll never touch. You don’t want a research project; here’s the short answer. A $120 De’Longhi that an ex-barista reviewer says performs like a machine double its price. A $500 Breville that makes proper espresso and steamed milk push-button simple. And the $700 Breville with the grinder built in that America’s Test Kitchen calls its overall favorite. We threw out anything that needs an app and anything without named independent testing behind it, and ran safety-recall checks on every brand in contention — all clean.

Our three picks at a glance

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PREMIUM PICK

Best premium: Breville Barista Express (BES870XL)

The Barista Express won the premium slot because it’s the whole bench in one machine — burr grinder, dose control, pressure gauge, steam wand — and because the people who test espresso machines for a living keep landing on it. America’s Test Kitchen calls it their overall favorite, the machine that makes it “easy to start pulling shots and steaming milk like a pro.” And when Tom’s Guide ran it in their office, it produced what they described as perfect shots “in cup after cup,” with milk steaming they rated superior — the staff didn’t want to give the test unit back.

The integrated conical burr grinder is the feature that separates it from everything below this price: it’s the least expensive machine in Breville’s line with a grinder built in, and pushing the portafilter into the cradle dispenses freshly ground coffee dosed for the basket you’ve loaded. You get four filter baskets — single- and double-wall in both sizes — so the machine grows with your skill instead of gatekeeping it, plus a magnetic tamper, a stainless milk jug, and a removable 67-ounce water tank with a carry handle.

We’ll be straight about the flaws, because they’re documented: Tom’s Guide found there’s no low-water warning, and the tank sits at the back of the machine where the level is hard to check at a glance — keeping it topped up is on you. The brushed shell also picks up fingerprints, which is cosmetic but real. This is also a machine that rewards a little learning; Tom’s Guide is plain that the ideal latte takes some know-how. Breville backs it with a one-year limited warranty, shorter than we’d like at this price, but the platform has been in production for over a decade and parts, baskets, and accessories are everywhere.

At $699.95, you’re not paying for features you’ll never touch — you’re paying for the counter setup that ends the upgrade cycle: grinder, machine, and dose control in one footprint you’ll still be pulling shots on years from now.

Also available at Breville.

Testing we relied on: America’s Test Kitchen · Tom’s Guide

ALL-AROUND PICK

Best all-around: Breville Bambino Plus (BES500)

The Bambino Plus is the pick for people who want the espresso without the apprenticeship. Tom’s Guide gave it an Editor’s Choice and calls it “the reigning champ of entry-level espresso machines” — in their reviewer’s words, “breathtakingly easy to use — no calculating ratios or counting seconds here.” The detail that separates it from every look-alike at this price: the automatic milk-steaming mode, which Tom’s Guide confirmed “actually works,” texturing milk to a chosen temperature and froth level while you do something else. America’s Test Kitchen recommends it as “essentially the same machine” as their overall-favorite Barista Express “in compact form,” and TechGearLab’s instrumented program scored it 72/100 with their Best for Novices award.

Compact is not a small claim here — the machine is 7.7 inches wide by Breville’s own spec, and unlike our budget pick it arrives with the full kit: single- and dual-wall portafilter baskets in both sizes, a proper tamper, the Razor dosing tool, and a stainless milk jug. There is nothing to add at checkout.

The honest flaws, from Tom’s Guide’s testing: seating the portafilter in the group head is stiff enough that you’ll brace the machine with your free hand, the steam wand’s range of movement is limited, and the polished shell tarnishes if you don’t wipe it down. The machine also vibrates enough during extraction that you shouldn’t park spare parts on top of it. None of these touch the coffee.

At $499.95 — with sales at $399 common by Tom’s Guide’s price tracking — it sits between our other two picks and earns the gap in both directions: $380 over the budget pick buys push-button consistency, working auto-milk, and the complete accessory kit; $200 under the premium pick, the only thing you give up is the built-in grinder. If you already own a grinder you love, this is most of the premium result in half the counter space.

Also available at Breville.

Testing we relied on: Tom’s Guide · America’s Test Kitchen · TechGearLab

BUDGET PICK

Best budget: De’Longhi Stilosa (EC260BK)

The Stilosa won the budget slot by refusing to fake the one thing cheap espresso machines usually fake: it ships with true single-wall portafilter baskets, so it pulls real espresso instead of the pressurized imitation most machines under $200 settle for. Tom’s Guide’s Erin Bashford — an ex-barista — reviewed it and titled the verdict plainly: it “performs like an espresso machine double the price.” Her best pull was “deliciously thick and creamy, with an airy crema,” and the steam wand had enough power to pour latte art. (She tested the UK-market EC230; by her own review the two Stilosa variants differ only in pod compatibility, finish, and wand width, and the review covers both.)

The engine is a 15-bar pump and a stainless steel boiler, by De’Longhi’s own spec, in a machine that weighs 9.4 pounds and takes up less counter than a toaster. It heats up fast, and there’s no app, no screen, and nothing to configure — a dial, a portafilter, and a wand.

Now the honest part, because the compromises are all in the accessories: Tom’s Guide called the included plastic tamper “just awful” — it doesn’t even fit the 51mm portafilter properly — there’s no milk jug in the box, and the plastic group handle is flimsy and can jam if seated carelessly. Real espresso also takes practice on a manual machine; Bashford’s first pulls ran sour until she dialed in the grind.

So the arithmetic is this: $119.99 for the machine, and roughly $50 more if you take Tom’s Guide’s advice on a metal tamper and a milk jug — call it $170 all-in, still a third of the next pick, with a one-year warranty per the listing and no consumables after that. There is nothing else at this price that pulls genuine espresso; step down from here and you’re buying a different beverage.

Also available at De’Longhi.

Testing we relied on: Tom’s Guide

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Also considered

• De’Longhi La Specialista Touch — Tom’s Guide called it “an instant classic” after a month of testing — it was the last cut, pressing against our premium pick at $799.95 without the Barista Express’s long production track record and deep testing consensus.
• De’Longhi Dedica Duo — Tom’s Guide liked the pastel styling but named its “one major flaw”: the price — at $299 list it presses into Bambino Plus territory while their testing found the far cheaper Stilosa performs about the same, and it ships pressurized-only baskets where the Stilosa ships single-wall.
• Smeg ECF03 — Reached the US this spring; none of the testing programs we rely on has put it through a full test yet — too little independent evidence to stake a recommendation on.

How we chose

Every pick had to clear the same bar: real testing from a named independent program — instrumented lab work or extended hands-on use, never our say-so and never customer star ratings — plus availability at Amazon and direct from the maker. We excluded machines that depend on a companion app, and we ran safety-recall checks on every brand in contention — the 2024–2026 sweep came back clean across the field. Commission rates never touch pick selection — we choose products first, add links second.

Updates to this page

Picks stay at this address and get re-verified at least once a year. Any change to a pick is logged here.

• 2026-08-24 — Published.