The Breville Bambino is the narrowest espresso machine here, at 160 mm wide, and at 305 mm high it is the lowest alongside the Bambino Plus, whose published heights run from 300 to 310 mm. The Gaggia Classic Pro is the shallowest at 270 mm deep, with the Ascaso Dream PID next at 280 mm against the Bambino's 350 mm, so the machine for your kitchen depends on which measurement your counter runs out of first.

Three measurements, three kinds of small kitchen

Your kitchen runs short of one of three measurements. A narrow run between the wall and the sink limits width, a shallow worktop limits depth, and a wall cabinet limits height. No machine below is the smallest on all three, so measure your space before you read a figure.

Width, depth and height, machine by machine

Width first. The Bambino is 160 mm wide, and Target and Bi-Rite Home Appliances, who label each side, print figures within 5 mm of each other. The Bambino Plus is 196 mm wide, the same figure at Seattle Coffee Gear and Whole Latte Love. Three makers label their own widths: the Profitec GO at 210 mm, the Rancilio Silvia at 235 mm and the Ascaso Dream PID at 245 mm.

Depth changes the order. The Classic Pro is 270 mm deep on Gaggia's own page, which labels that figure d, and the Dream PID is 280 mm deep. The Bambino Plus is 320 mm (Seattle Coffee Gear and Target, within 5 mm) and the Bambino 350 mm (Bi-Rite and Target, within 5 mm). The GO is 362 mm deep without its portafilter on Profitec's product page and product card, and 410 mm with the portafilter fitted. Gaggia's North American store prints the Classic Pro at 9.5 in deep, and the maker's own figure is the one used here.

Height puts the Bambino near the bottom again at 305 mm, where Target and Williams Sonoma agree. The Bambino Plus has no single height: Seattle Coffee Gear prints 300 mm and Target 310 mm. The Silvia is 340 mm high, the Dream PID 345 mm, the Classic Pro 355 mm and the GO 381 mm.

Breville's own pages print the three figures under a width, depth and height label, but in an order that changes from one country's page to the next. Every Breville size in this piece therefore comes from retailers that label each side.

One body or two

A built-in grinder changes the sum. The Barista Express is 338 mm wide, 313 mm deep and 407 mm high, and on each side two of Seattle Coffee Gear, Bi-Rite and Williams Sonoma, which label every side, agree within 5 mm. Put a Bambino beside a Baratza Encore ESP grinder, 120 mm wide, 160 mm deep and 350 mm high on Seattle Coffee Gear's labelled line, and the two bodies add up to 280 mm of width. That is 58 mm less than the Express, but the deeper body of the pair, the Bambino, sets the depth at 350 mm where the Express needs 313 mm. No maker prints a side clearance, so measure the gap you want between two bodies yourself.

What the manuals say about cabinets

Four manuals tell you to keep the machine out of a cabinet while it runs: Ascaso's for the Dream PID (page 23), Gaggia's for the Classic Pro (page 13), Profitec's for the GO (page 89) and De'Longhi's for the Stilosa. The manuals for the Bambino, Bambino Plus, Silvia and Barista Express give no instruction either way. No maker prints a clearance at the rear, at the sides or above for any machine here.

What you can read is how each tank comes out. Breville's manual has you lift the Bambino's tank from the machine, and Breville prints no figure for the room that lift needs. Ascaso's manual has you take the Dream PID's tank out from the side. Profitec's lets you take the GO's tank out or fill it where it sits from a container.

Sizes that stay unnamed

Some machines get no figure here because their makers print no labelled size. De'Longhi prints the Stilosa as three figures with no unit and no side labels. Gaggia labels the first of the Classic Pro's three figures l, for length, so the Classic Pro has no width here, and Rancilio labels the first of the Silvia's three figures L, so the Silvia has no depth. Profitec prints the Jump and the Pro 300 as one line of three figures without labels. Breville prints the Barista Touch Impress, the Oracle Jet and the Oracle Dual Boiler without labels too, and no labelled reading confirms them. The Oracle Touch is left out altogether, because Breville has discontinued it.

Which machine for which kitchen

For a narrow run, take the Bambino, which at 160 mm is 36 mm narrower than the Bambino Plus. For a low cabinet, take the Bambino at 305 mm and check the room above it for lifting the tank, or look at the Silvia at 340 mm and the Dream PID at 345 mm. For a shallow worktop, take the Classic Pro at 270 mm or the Dream PID at 280 mm, and keep either one on an open counter, because both manuals say to keep it out of a cabinet. If one body suits your counter better than a machine and a grinder side by side, the Barista Express is 313 mm deep.

Then measure your own width, depth and height, and read the figure for the axis you are short of. The small-space espresso setup is built around the Bambino, the room behind a machine covers what a cabinet adds, and the Bambino against the Bambino Plus puts the two side by side. Every machine we hold is on the espresso machine page.