Best Bean-to-Cup Machines 2026: Comparison & Buying Guide

Selected by score, not by price

Among the bean-to-cup machines we list eighteen machines with their own review, all newly written and based on the manufacturers’ manuals, data sheets and product pages. A machine gets onto this page solely through its overall score, and the eight range from 9.4 for the Jura E8 to 8.6 for the Dinamica Plus 370.70.

The Siemens EQ6 plus shows how little price has to do with it: at approx. €748.21 it costs more than five of the eight listed machines and is still missing. It stands at 8.6, and three machines are level there: besides it, the Philips Series 5400 and the DeLonghi Dinamica Plus 370.70. The Dinamica gets eighth place because our list script sorts by page name when scores are equal, and its name comes first in the alphabet. So this eighth place says nothing about the machine itself.

Our editorial team awards the overall score. Below it, the review gives a sub-score each for build quality, performance, handling and value for money; how the overall score is derived from the four is not disclosed in the reviews. We have not used any of the eight ourselves. What is written here about the brew group and milk rinsing comes from the manuals, not from our own use of the machines.

The guide prices of the five machines with an Amazon.de catalogue entry date from September 2026. For the Jura E8, its review also gives the price as of September 2026, but without a day; for the Jura E6 and Nivona NICR 790, no retrieval date is documented.

Brew unit and milk path: two questions that divide this list

The first is: does the brew unit come out? Both Jura machines keep it inside the housing. Their manuals nowhere list it as a part to be taken out; the machine cleans it itself, with a tablet, after 180 preparations or 80 switch-on rinses, in a programme of around 20 minutes. On the other six you pull the brew group out by hand, and every manufacturer sets a rhythm for it. Nivona, and De’Longhi for the Rivelia and the two Dinamica Plus machines, require this at least once a month, rinsed with water only, without washing-up liquid, never in the dishwasher. For the EQ600, Siemens gives no interval, only regular removal, likewise without washing-up liquid and without acidic cleaners. Philips asks the most for the 5500: rinse weekly, a degreasing tablet monthly, and grease the piston, shaft and guide rails every two months.

More hangs on this than a cleaning schedule. Anyone who never touches the brew group relies on the tablet programme, and at Jura that means original care products. Under the warranty terms of both Jura machines, all warranty lapses if the filter or tablets do not match the original specifications. De’Longhi, by contrast, writes that its bean-to-cup machines need no chemical additives for cleaning; you are tied only for the descaler.

The second question is the path of the milk, and on it the list splits into three designs.

Four machines draw the milk through a tube from a container beside the machine: the two Jura machines, the Nivona and the Siemens. For the tube, connector and milk outlet, Jura gives a replacement roughly every three months, and how much work remains after the drink varies widely. The E8 starts the milk system rinse by itself 15 minutes after the drink, and the Siemens cleans with steam after every dispense without you pressing anything. On the E6 you open and close a rotary knob for every milk drink, and on every day with milk a cleaning with Jura milk system cleaner is due. The Nivona requires a rinse after milk drinks, for which you re-plug the tube.

The three De’Longhi machines work with a carafe from the LatteCrema range that sits on the machine. After every milk drink you turn the knob on the carafe to the cleaning position, and the carafe with the milk in it may then go into the fridge for two days at most. If it has stood out for more than 30 minutes, it gets taken apart.

Only the Philips has the third design. LatteGo needs no tube and does not clean itself: after every milk drink you take the part off and rinse it or put it in the dishwasher. Philips gives its own reason: there is no automatic cleaning because the parts would have to be cleaned additionally anyway.

In our assessment, these two questions sort the machines faster than any drinks list. Anyone who never wants to hold a brew group chooses between two machines, both from Jura. Anyone who accepts taking it out has six to choose from, and all six cost under €800.

Why each machine is where it is

Place 1: Jura E8 (9.4)

The review of the Jura E8 justifies first place with two things together: the fixed brew unit with its cleaning programme, and a menu with 27 specialities (ED variant) and three taste worlds. For build quality and performance it has the highest sub-scores on the list, 9.6 each, and for value for money, at 8.0, the second lowest. At approx. €1,049 it is the most expensive of the eighteen machines in the catalogue. Its review describes the suitable household as two to six drinks a day, some of them with milk, and someone who really does switch between Hot Brew, Light Brew and Sweet Foam.

Place 2: Jura E6 (9.2)

The Jura E6 is two tenths behind and has the highest value-for-money sub-score of the eight, 9.1. Against the Nivona it wins all four sub-scores, three of them by only a tenth, build quality by five tenths. It shares the brewing system with the E8, not the menu: the current E6 (ED variant, model year 2026) has 17 specialities, the E8 in its ED variant 27. According to its review it suits up to about eight dispenses a day, of which no more than one or two with milk; the section on upkeep works out the E6’s milk costs. According to the product page, Light Brew runs at around 60 °C.

Place 3: Nivona NICR 790 (9.0)

The Nivona NICR 790 is the highest-placed machine whose brew unit you take out yourself: remove the service door on the right, red switch up, turn the handle to the left, pull it out, rinse under cold water. Cappuccino and latte macchiato come at the press of a button, and it draws the milk from a container of your choice; Nivona does not supply one. The data sheet and manual give a tank of approx. 2.2 litres, by our count the largest among the eighteen bean-to-cup machines in the catalogue, although Nivona’s series page gives 1.8 litres in one place. It is not built for large mugs: one dispense runs from approx. 20 to 240 millilitres, the outlet goes up to 14 centimetres, and the grounds container holds only 7 to 11 portions.

Place 4: DeLonghi Rivelia (8.9)

The DeLonghi Rivelia comes with two bean containers of 250 grams each, of which only one sits on the machine at a time. Grinding happens in a single grinder, and beans of the old variety stay in it after every dispense. For a clean switch, Switch mode empties the grinder beforehand; otherwise, according to the manual, a mixture of old and new variety ends up in the cup. That suits two people who drink different beans, or decaf in the evening. On top comes a tank of 1.4 litres, the smallest of these eight. The Bean Adapt setting assistant exists for espresso only, and it merely recommends: you have to adjust the grind size by hand.

Place 5: Siemens EQ600 iAroma (8.8)

For the Siemens EQ600 iAroma, the place depends on quantity. XL dispenses go up to 480 millilitres, the pot function brews up to six cups of caffè crema at the press of a button, and the outlet can be raised to 16.3 centimetres, higher than on any other machine on this list. For value for money it stands lowest, at 7.6. One restriction belongs here: 19 of its 41 drinks on the TP601E09 run only through the app. According to its review, anyone who drinks only espresso from small cups pays for XL dispenses and the pot without needing them.

Places 6 and 7: Dinamica Plus 380.95 and Philips LatteGo 5500 (8.7 each)

The same overall score, different sub-scores. For build quality both stand at 8.5, the Dinamica leads on performance (8.8 to 8.7), the Philips on handling (9.0 to 8.9) and value for money (8.7 to 8.6). Which machine is in sixth place is decided by the sorting alone.

The DeLonghi Dinamica Plus 380.95 has 24 drinks in the menu, half of them needing the milk carafe, and for guests it brews 250, 500 or 750 millilitres of coffee in one go. Its review sees it with two to four people who often drink milk drinks. For that group the grounds container matters too, which is full after 14 portions.

The Philips LatteGo 5500 is the cheapest machine on the list at approx. €514.78. Its feature is LatteGo, the third design from the section on the milk path; on top come eight iced variants, which are brewed warm over ice cubes, with nothing chilled inside the machine. Two user profiles and one guest profile are the maximum, and in a household with three or four coffee drinkers with fixed preferences that gets tight, according to its review.

Place 8: DeLonghi Dinamica Plus 370.70 (8.6)

The DeLonghi Dinamica Plus 370.70 stands here because of the tie that the first section explains. In its favour is its value-for-money sub-score of 9.0, and De’Longhi states tank and performance exactly as for the 380.95. Against it speaks the calculation in our price box: it costs €10 more than the 380.95 and has 12 recipes instead of 24. In De’Longhi’s German shop, its product address led to an error page on 25 September 2026, and app control is promised only by the Amazon title; De’Longhi describes none. We would take it only if its price falls below the €589 of the 380.95.

Reason to buy and condition for each machine

Price tiers between approx. €514.78 and approx. €1,049

Below the Philips 5500, the entry point of this list, the catalogue draws another line: we list not a single machine cheaper than the Philips Series 5400 at approx. €424.48 that makes milk drinks at the press of a button. The four cheaper ones froth by hand at a steam wand or not at all.

Four machines on this list cost between approx. €589 and approx. €699, the Dinamica Plus 380.95 at the lower end, the Jura E6 at the upper. Across these €110, each of the four buys something different with its extra cost. The 380.95 brings the pot function and 24 drinks. The Rivelia costs €71 more than the Dinamica Plus 380.95 and brings the second bean container. The Jura E6 sits another €39 above the Rivelia, and for that gap you get the brew unit you never take out, together with the tie to Jura care products. The 370.70 falls out of this pattern, for the reasons given under place eight.

Above that, Nivona and Siemens are €29 apart, with very different strengths, one in the brew group you can take out, the other in quantity.

The E8 costs €350 more than the E6 and roughly €534 more than the Philips 5500, so about double. The E8 review describes the brewing system as the same as in the E6. According to the E6 review, what you pay for is mainly the menu, meaning ten more specialities and Sweet Foam with a syrup attachment, and a different connector on the milk tube, HP3 instead of HP1. Anyone who never goes into the menu pays, according to the E8 review, for part of the machine that they do not use, and for them the sensible price tier ends at the E6, in our assessment.

Upkeep: where the money goes after purchase

The E6 is worked out most precisely, with prices from the JURA online shop of 24 September 2026. A household with four dispenses a day, one of them a milk drink, comes to around €272 a year there for cleaners, tablets and milk parts, filter cartridges not included. Two thirds of that goes on the milk system cleaner, because one bottle lasts for 30 cleanings, and cleaning is due on every day with milk. If the prices in the JURA online shop stay the same, this profile adds up to around €816 over three years, more than the E6 costs in our price box. For the E8, its review gives no annual total, only the quantities.

For the others it is mainly the filters that can be put in figures. The Nivona needs at least six CLARIS filters a year; in two sets of three from the Nivona shop they cost €79.90 together on 24 September 2026. On the Philips 5500, the replacement interval forces at least four AquaClean filters, around €40 a year, plus twelve degreasing tablets and six greasings of the brew group, whose price its review leaves open. For the 370.70, six De’Longhi filters come to approx. €44.94 a year, and the De’Longhi descaler costs approx. €1.60 per use in our price box. For the Rivelia, its review gives six filters a year without a price, and for the Siemens, prices for filters and tablets are missing entirely.

On descaling, the two Jura machines stand apart from the rest, but not equally far. With the CLARIS Smart+ cartridge, according to the manual neither requests a descaling programme any more, and according to its manual the E8 then does not have to be descaled at all. The E6 manual, however, also requires you, even in filter operation, to descale the water tank from time to time with three tablets over several hours. Nivona and Siemens, by contrast, state expressly that descaling is done with a filter too, just less often, and Philips advertises up to 5,000 cups without descaling for the AquaClean, reached only after eight filter changes.

Five households, five answers

There are two of you and you get through four cups a day. Then the E6 is enough, and its grounds container with 16 portions needs emptying every four days at that pace. We would advise the E8 only if flat white or Sweet Foam really do reach your table, because of the two Jura machines only the E8 has flat white on its drinks list, and Sweet Foam exists only on it.

In the evening you want decaf in the cup. For a single cup, a chute for ground coffee is enough on seven of the eight; only the Siemens has none, and with it you refill the bean container for this. On the E6, no more than two level measuring spoons are allowed, and the dispense must start within about a minute of filling. If two varieties are to run side by side permanently, the Rivelia is the machine for that, and emptying the grinder at the switch then becomes part of the routine.

At the weekend six people come. The reviews describe a pot function for three of the eight: the Siemens (quantities under place 5) and the two Dinamica Plus machines, which cool for five minutes after a pot before the next drink runs. The Siemens is €190 above the Dinamica Plus 380.95, but its outlet reaches higher. For coffee-only rounds in your own kitchen, the 380.95 is enough in our assessment.

Your wall cupboard sits 48 centimetres above the worktop. Then the Rivelia and the two Dinamica Plus machines are out, because De’Longhi requires 15 centimetres of free space above the housing. For the Rivelia that comes to 54 centimetres to the underside of the cupboard, for the Dinamica to 51 using the height from the manual and 49.8 using the one from the product page. For the other five, no manufacturer states a minimum clearance above, only the housing height: Nivona 34 centimetres, Jura 34.8, Philips 37.7 in the manual and Siemens 38.2. At 48 centimetres, around 10 to 14 centimetres would remain above, and whether the lids open within that, the documents do not say. On the Nivona, the grind size dial and brew group sit behind a door on the right-hand side, so against a wall on the right you have to pull it forward for them.

Your tap water is hard, and you never want a descaling programme to run. Then the two Jura machines remain, and only with the cartridge inserted, whose replacement they report themselves when due. On the E6, the tank descaling with tablets remains, which is covered under upkeep. You set the hardness of your water on the machine for all eight, on the Nivona, according to its review, only in operation without a filter. For taste, our guide Water hardness and coffee names no documented hardness window; in the most recent study it evaluates (one coffee, French press), hydrogen carbonate changed the cup, while calcium and magnesium alone produced no noticeable differences.

Ten bean-to-cup machines missing here, and what they offer instead

The two that are level with the 370.70 set different priorities. The Philips 5400 uses the same LatteGo as the 5500, costs €90.30 less, has 12 specialities instead of 20 and four user profiles plus guest, but no iced or cold drinks. The EQ6 plus has a chute for ground coffee, but manages 12 drinks and has no pot.

Four machines stand at 8.5. The Melitta CI Touch shares the Rivelia’s idea of two bean chambers of 135 grams each, which you switch with a slider, for approx. €626.06. The DeLonghi Magnifica Plus has 18 drinks and no pot function. The Saeco Xelsis makes two milk drinks in one go with LatteDuo and holds 450 grams of beans, but has been on the market since 2017 and is no longer listed in the Philips shop. The Saeco GranAroma stores four profiles plus guest and rinses its milk system with steam after every milk drink.

Below them follow the four cheapest machines in the catalogue. The DeLonghi Magnifica S (8.3) and the Grundig KVA 6230 (7.8) have a steam wand where you froth by hand; the Grundig also has a tank of 2.0 litres. The Melitta Solo (8.2) is 20 centimetres wide and has neither a milk system nor hot water. The Tchibo Esperto mini (8.0) is narrower still at 16 centimetres and, at approx. €229, has the lowest guide price of the eighteen. For the Esperto mini, Tchibo requires 150 millimetres of clearance to the walls on the left, right and rear; with the housing that makes around 46 centimetres of footprint width. Our bean-to-cup machine buying guide collects general questions before purchase.

All products on the list side by side

The prices are guide values from our price boxes and change with the retailer. Prices are in euros from Amazon.de and may differ in your country. You will find the current status for each product on the linked product pages, and all products side by side in the comparison table.