How we decide

We would rather be short than wrong.

Every other site in this category answers every question. That is not confidence, it is a business model. Here is what has to be true before a sentence appears on this site.

A price is worth quoting for two days

An exact price carries the shop, the page and the hour we recorded it. 48 hours later it stops being a fact about today, so we withdraw the number and send you to the shop instead. A price range survives 7 days, because a range was never a promise about a particular listing.

Prices shown today: 0. A price older than two days is not shown.

A hand holds a pencil over a ruled notebook page beside a portafilter, its marks plain scribbles. — Coffee Projects: shot log one sheet

Two sources that disagree do not average out

When one reading says the machine is 12.6 in (32 cm) deep and another says 13.4 in (34 cm), the honest answer is not the middle. We keep both readings and answer only where both agree. Where a counter clears under both we say it fits; where the two part company we say we cannot tell.

Figures where published numbers differ: 12, each shown with both readings

A hand in a dark grey sleeve presses a polished steel tamper into a portafilter on a black rubber mat on a dark soapstone counter, two more plain steel tampers of clearly different widths standing on the mat, a brushed steel espresso machine soft in the background at the left. — Espresso Corner: tampers 54 mm and 58 mm

A figure the maker does not state is named where the answer needs it

A missing figure is not a small figure. Where the maker does not state an operating clearance, it adds nothing to the footprint and we say so beside the answer; we never leave it out of the arithmetic in silence. The fit you see is the envelope against your counter, and the clearance is named beside it as the one thing still to check. Without the envelope there is no fit at all: no figure, no fit. And no answer here is called verified until the clearance itself has been measured.

Clearances the maker does not state: 216, each one named

Name all 216

Stilosa Espresso Machine (EC260BK): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Bambino Espresso Machine (BES450): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing
Bambino Plus Espresso Machine (BES500): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing
Classic E24 Espresso Machine (RI9380): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Encore Coffee Grinder: space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach
Encore ESP Grinder: space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach
DF64 Gen 2 Single Dose Coffee Grinder: space behind it, space beside it, space above it, front working reach
The Knock Box 20: space behind it, space beside it, space above it
The Milk Cafe Milk Frother (BMF600): space behind it, space beside it, space above it
Stagg EKG Pro Electric Kettle: space behind it, space beside it, space above it
Hario V60 Ceramic Pour Over Coffee Set (02, White): space behind it, space beside it, space above it
OXO Good Grips 3-Piece POP Round Canister Set: space behind it, space beside it, space above it
Silvia Espresso Machine (2024 revision): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
GO Espresso Machine (CM500014): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Barista Express Espresso Machine (BES870XL): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing
Barista Pro Espresso Machine (BES878): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Barista Express Impress Espresso Machine (BES876): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing
Virtuoso+ Coffee Grinder (ZCG587): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach
Ode Brew Grinder Gen 2: space behind it, space beside it, space above it, front working reach
Smart Grinder Pro (BCG820): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach
Lunar Espresso Scale (2021): space behind it, space beside it, space above it
Basic 3.0 Electronic Espresso Scale with Timer: space behind it, space beside it, space above it
Barista Touch Espresso Machine (BES880): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing
Oracle Touch Espresso Machine (BES990): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room above to refill the tank, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing
Dream PID Espresso Machine: space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Sette 270 Espresso Grinder (ZCG1270): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach
Vario+ Coffee Grinder (ZCG887): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach
Forte AP Coffee Grinder (ZCG1085): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach
Barista Touch Impress Espresso Machine (BES881): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Oracle Jet Espresso Machine (BES985): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Oracle Dual Boiler Espresso Machine (BES995): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Mara X Espresso Machine (PL62X): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Pro 300 Dual Boiler Espresso Machine, Matt Black (CM500002-01): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
JUMP Heat Exchanger Espresso Machine: space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Silvia Pro X Dual Boiler Espresso Machine: space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room to lift the water tank out, front working reach, room for the steam wand to swing, room under the spout for a cup
Encore ESP Pro Coffee Grinder (ZCG595): space behind it, space beside it, space above it, room above the grinder to load beans, front working reach
Heavy-Duty Espresso Knock Box (S): space behind it, space beside it, space above it
The Knock Box 10 (BEA501): space behind it, space beside it, space above it
Pocket Coffee Scale V3: space behind it, space beside it, space above it
Black Mirror Nano Coffee Scale with Timer, White: space behind it, space beside it, space above it

An espresso machine on a counter, seen from the side, a narrow gap and its cable visible behind it. — Beginner Home Barista Setup: the room behind a machine

Every line here rests on a published figure

The figures come from the maker and the shop, each with its date, and the fit comes from the counter you gave us. Nobody here has pulled a shot on one, opened one after two years or held one, so a shot-quality verdict, a reliability score and a build-quality verdict of our own wait until we have run them. Where an owner has written about the weeks after the box, the page carries it in their words, with its source and its date.

Rows we answer: 4 of 8

The plain brushed steel back of an espresso machine on a light oak counter, its grey tank lid on top and its cable trailing. — Beginner Home Barista Setup: entry espresso machines four lines on a spec sheet

A worked example.

Every figure we hold carries a single reading today, so there is no disagreement to trace.

The trace above is one real pair, taken from its two sources. The rule holds the same way for any two units that differ: a width, a depth, a grinder's footprint. None of them gets rounded toward the other.

Two coffee grinders with their hoppers removed, one tall and narrow, one squat and wide, on a light oak counter. — Beginner Home Barista Setup: encore and df64 gen 2

Who pays us

Some links, marked where they appear.

Amazon, eBay, MHW-3BOMBER and 1st in Coffee links are affiliate links (we earn a commission at no cost to you). Other shop links are plain links. The disclosure page says the same, and it does not say it from a paragraph somebody typed: it asks the link router at the moment the page is served, and where there is any doubt it declares a relationship rather than denying one.

What it will never buy

Position in a list, a warmer sentence, a figure that leans the right way, or the removal of a refusal. Rankings come out of your measurements and the rules above.

What we will not take

Payment to appear, payment to rank, and product sent to us for free. The last one sounds harmless. It is how a review site stops being able to say nothing.

A brushed steel espresso machine stands on a pale stone counter with a white cup on its drip tray, a small closed notebook with a blank dark grey cloth cover lying flat beside it with a pencil across it, nothing written anywhere in the picture. — Espresso Corner: five things said about home espresso

The pictures

Why the machines are drawn and not photographed

A picture sitting on a public product page is not a licence to reuse it, and for almost every machine here no basis for using one has been found. So each is drawn instead, from the maker's own image and compared back against it, and the drawing carries no lettering, because a model name belongs in type where it can be spelled correctly. What we hold for one particular machine is on that machine's page, under every fact, each with its source.

A drawing of a first coffee corner: a machine, a grinder and a scale set out along a short counter, with a cup and a cloth beside them. — Beginner Home Barista Setup

A sunlit compact coffee station in a small kitchen: a stainless espresso machine and a grinder on a short oak counter under a white wall cabinet, a cup and a folded cloth, a window at the side

How we say what we know: the five states

Every answer on a setup or product page is in one of five states. The word beside a figure is the state, and the state decides whether the figure is used; two readings that disagree are never averaged. Where nothing answers a question yet, the page shows the step that would answer it, or leaves the slot out.

Confirmed (Confirmed): Measured or confirmed from a source we can name. Usable for the decision.
Likely (Likely): Computed from figures the manufacturer or a retailer published. Usable, but not measured by us.
Needs a check (Needs a check): Evidence exists, and one action still stands between it and a decision.
Published figures differ (Published figures differ): Published figures differ. Neither is used for fit.
Doesn't fit (Doesn't fit): The evidence says this combination does not work.

What we hold today

We compare 80 products across 11 setups.

263 of 594 figures carry a value. 251 of those are usable for fit; 12 differ between published figures. A figure where published figures differ is never used as a number; where a counter clears under every published reading we say so, and where the readings part company we say we cannot tell. 0 of the usable figures were measured by a person rather than transcribed from a document.

No operating clearance - the space a machine needs to lift its tank out, swing its portafilter or open its hopper - has been measured yet, so no setup on this site can currently show Verified fit; the ceiling is Likely fit, and only where a published figure exists.

0 of 49 compatibility pairings have been signed by a reviewer; about the rest we say nothing either way.

The count of differing published figures above covers every product, blocked ones included; the figures listed under rule 02 are counted over the products we show. Both are counted on this request.

We quote 288 owner reports on 27 products, each with its source and its date.

As of 18 October 2026. Specifications change: if a claim no longer matches its source, tell us and we correct the page and update its date.