If you're a coffee fan, you know how important that first cup of the day can be, so why not make it the best one as well? Choosing the right coffee maker can help you get the perfect brew every time, and we've been on the hunt to find the best device around. We tested everything from drip machines and French presses to pour-over setups -- and even a Keurig.
Our Picks
After hundreds of cups, the Oxo Brew 8-Cup Coffee Maker came out on top. With smart features, a sleek design and consistently great coffee, it’s the one we’d brew with every morning.
Best coffee makers of 2025
Pros
- Compact
- Attractive, sturdy design
- Brews excellent pots of coffee quickly
- Thermal carafe doesn't drip while pouring
Cons
- The filter basket could be easier to fill
The Oxo Brew 8-Cup Coffee Maker delivers Speciality Coffee Association Golden Cup-rated coffee that tastes just as good as coffee from our previous favorite, the Bonavita Connoisseur, but Oxo's new coffee brewer is more thoughtfully designed. This drip machine takes ground coffee, and also comes with a special single-cup filter basket for Kalita Wave filters. The Oxo Brew is the best drip coffee maker that's compact, stylish and sturdy. Plus, it comes with a thermal carafe that doesn't drip or spill.
Pros
- Affordable price
- Creates the most volume of coffee
- Consistent performance
- Settings for large or small pots
- Cleaning cycle
Often found at a sale price of $70, the Ninja Programmable XL 14-Cup Coffee Maker provides tasty coffee on a budget. Of the cheaper coffee makers, this Ninja regularly made the smoothest, richest and tastiest coffee (not to mention the most volume of coffee). With both classic and rich brew settings and a setting for making smaller quantities, it's a coffee maker that can accommodate working from home alone or having friends over for brunch -- just pop in some freshly ground coffee. It'll brew at a set time and warm your brewed coffee, like many other pots, but it also has a cleaning cycle. With a reusable filter in the box, you can also cut down on one more coffee expense.
Pros
- Brews fast
- Excellent temperature control
- Premium design
- Wi-Fi smart features work with Alexa or Google Assistant
Cons
- Sky-high price
While the Cafe Specialty Drip Coffee Maker doesn't come cheap, it does offer a lot for the money. If you're a coffee drinker who likes a smart coffee maker, you can schedule a delicious cup in advance with its auto brew feature. It's an excellent brewer that takes ground coffee, brews fast and with exceptional water temperature control. The Cafe model also offers a quality thermal carafe, makes 10-cup batches and links to Wi-Fi to provide smart app control. The Cafe is easy on the eyes, too, incorporating lots of brushed metal in its design.
Pros
- Simple to use, easy way to steep and strain grounds at room temperature
- Consistently strong coffee
- Paper filters add extra level of filtration
Cons
- Cost double the price of a basic coffee maker
- Can't brew with hot water
- 12-24 hours of steeping
Cold-brew coffee is delicious, but it can be a pain to make. Oxo's cold-brew coffee maker takes much of the headache out of the process -- just load it up with ground coffee and let it do its thing. This Oxo Brew coffee maker saturates coffee grounds evenly and lets you drain cold-brewed coffee from them into its glass carafe with relative ease.
Pros
- Easy to manually brew coffee
- Consistent
- Cleaning is easy, all parts are dishwasher safe
Cons
- On the expensive side
- Made of plastic instead of glass, metal, or wood
Delicious coffee and great-tasting drip from a product that costs less than $20? It sounds unlikely, but that's just what the affordable Oxo Good Grips Pour-Over offers. It only makes coffee one drink at a time and requires you to provide hot water and ground coffee. Looking for a great electric kettle? We've got the best electric kettle options right here. That said, the simple brewer transforms the otherwise complex task of making a pour-over into one that's easy, clean and almost foolproof.
Pros
- Brews fast and variety of sizes
- Milk frother
- Separate filter for tea
- Compact and looks good
Cons
- Brews a little hot and bitter
- Cold brew lacks flavor and strength
- No manual settings
Think of this kitchen appliance as the Swiss Army knife of the drip coffee maker world. The Ninja programmable brewer (with frother, thermal carafe and reusable filter) offers an uncanny degree of flexibility, making it the best coffee maker for those who don't always want the same cup. This coffee machine takes ground coffee and can create everything from solid drip to perfect cold brew or iced coffee to latte-style drinks with its milk frother, and it will adjust the temperature according to your choice. Its thermal carafe will keep tea or coffee hot for up to two hours. This programmable coffee maker even lets you brew iced coffee and hot coffee in multiple sizes, from small cups up to full carafes.
Pros
- Aesthetic design
- Easy to use
- Customization
Cons
- On the expensive side
You won't mind having the Wilfa Performance coffee maker sitting on your counter. Its clean, striking design makes it a device to show off. You'll also want it close at hand for the smooth and balanced coffee it makes. This Wilfa machine pairs a beautiful design with simple controls that allow you to pop-in some ground coffee, and customize your brew without getting too bogged down in minutia. While you might find similar quality for cheaper, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better-looking coffee maker.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Brews fast
Cons
- Some plastic parts
- Lacks controls, displays, and water-level indicator
- Machine is always on
- Requires special filters
Those who seek lots of coffee in a hurry will love the quick brew cycle of this coffee maker. The Bunn Velocity Brew BT drip coffee maker with its stainless-steel-lined thermal carafe whips up a large pot of joe at an astonishing speed. In as little as 3 minutes and 33 seconds, the coffee maker can deliver full batches of tasty drip coffee to drink -- just supply the ground coffee.
Pros
- Brews great coffee consistently
- Elegant design
- Keeps coffee hot for 6 hours
Cons
- Very expensive
- Takes up a lot of space
Dutch company Technivorm has sold exceptionally good drip coffee makers for decades. Its Moccamaster drip coffee machine sports a design with clean lines and sharp angles that harkens back to 1968, the year the first Moccamaster hit stores. Retro design aside, the Moccamaster KBT 741 consistently puts out perfect freshly brewed coffee that will satisfy coffee connoisseurs. Its stainless-steel thermal carafe also keeps its contents hot for a full 6 hours.
Compare Coffee Makers
| Coffee Makers | Dimensions | Capacity | Weight | Wattage/Volts | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxo Brew 8-Cup Coffee Maker | 10.5"D x 7"W x 13.5"H | 40 fluid oz | 8.85 lbs | 1400 watts | 200 |
| Ninja Programmable XL 14-Cup Coffee Maker | 10"D x 7.87"W x 14.35"H | 14 cups | 6.39 lbs | 1100 watts | 100 |
| Cafe Specialty Drip Coffee Maker | 7.3"D x 12.5"W x 14"H | 10 cups | 10 lbs | 1000 watts | 230 |
| Oxo Brew Cold Brew Coffee Maker | 9.5" x 9.5" x 14.7" | 40 oz | 2.5 lbs | 800 watts | 45 |
| Oxo Good Grips Pour-Over | 5.25"D x 5.25"W x 5.25"H | 12 oz | 0.22 kilograms | 100 volts | 18 |
| Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System | 10.01"D x 11.81"W x 15"H | 50 fluid oz | 11.7 lbs | 1500 watts | 192 |
| Wilfa Performance Coffee Maker | 13.5" x 13.5" x 6.5" | 42 oz | 8 lbs | 120 volts | 299 |
| Bunn Velocity Brew BT | 2"D x 9.25"W x 14.25"H | 10 cups | 10 lbs | 800 watts | 160 |
| Technivorm Moccamaster | 6.75"D x 11.5"W x 15.25"H | 10 cups | 6.5 lbs | 1400 watts | 339 |
What to consider when buying a coffee maker
Capacity and size
A single-service machien is great for personal use. However, if you prefer a larger carage for all drinking caffeine, or have a large household of coffee drinkers, a larger machine would be a better fit. While you're at it, you will also want to consider if the coffee machine fits your kitchen counter.
Customisation and features
Some machines allow for fine-tuned control over strength, temperature settings, or even include a built-in grinder. These features often impact the pricing, so you will want to keep an eye out and prioritise features that you absolutely need.
Ease of use and cleaning
Programmable timers, and auto-cleaning functions are great quality of life additions for long-term use and can be worth paying a premium for. At the same time, you will also want to opt for a coffee machine that is easy to use and clean.
Running costs
A cheap coffee machine can quickly turn expensive if maintenance costs aren't factored in. You will want to keep an eye out for machines with easy availability of spares, repairability.
How we tested the coffee makers
Evaluating the performance of a coffee maker is trickier than it might sound. You need to know what good drip coffee is and, according to the Specialty Coffee Association, there are essential criteria for brewing well. Brewing time and water temperature top the list. Hot water should come into contact with grounds for no less than four minutes and no more than eight. The ideal water temperature range is between 197 degrees Fahrenheit (92 degrees Celsius) and 205 degrees Fahrenheit (96 degrees Celsius).
To see how well each coffee maker meets that challenge, we log the length of their brew cycles. We also employ thermocouple heat sensors connected to industrial-grade data loggers. That enables us to record the temperature within the coffee grounds while brewing is underway.
We measure the temperature inside the brewing chamber of every coffee maker we test.
After brewing coffee, we take sample readings of the produced coffee liquid with an optical refractometer. Given that we factor in the amount of water and freshly ground coffee used, that data lets us calculate the Total Dissolved Solids percentage of each brew. From there we arrive at the extraction percentage. The ideal range is commonly thought to be between 18% and 20%.
We also back up measured data with a good old-fashioned taste test. Over-extracted coffee tastes bitter and sharp, while under-extracted coffee is usually weak or sour. To be certain, we brew identical test runs a minimum of three times to get a sense of the average results.
Coffee maker FAQ
How long do coffee makers last?
If cared for properly a coffee maker can last for years. That said, with the exception of Technivorm Moccamasters which are covered under a five-year warranty, most coffee makers come with one-year limited warranties. Regardless of their length, all these warranties cover manufacturing defects, not ordinary wear and tear or misuse of the item.
How do coffee makers work?
Even the most sophisticated coffee makers perform the same simple task. That's to run hot water over ground coffee, then collect that liquid inside a container. Achieving the perfect balance of strength and flavors for excellent coffee is difficult. Most machines fail because either they lack quality water-heating systems, run water through the grounds too slowly, or can't brew with enough grounds to begin with. Some coffee makers suffer from a combination of these issues -- or all three.
How to clean a coffee maker?
Besides removing external dirt, stains and dust, all coffee makers require periodic deep cleaning. Specifically, their internal water heating systems should be de-scaled regularly. Some manufacturers instruct you to do this with a vinegar-and-water solution. Others don't specify except to say to use a store-bought descaling solution. For example, Technivorn says to use products like Durgol to de-scale its machines.
Is it worth buying an expensive coffee maker?
Expensive coffee makers tend to be a good investment as they can make better coffee. These machines offer better control over temperature, and the flow of water all of which is critical to brewing a better cup of coffee.
