If you are reading this page, most probably you are searching for best budget automatic coffee machine and you are in the right place 🙂 There are many great automatic coffee makers on the market. Unfortunately, most of them have expensive price tags! But don’t worry! There are also affordable and skilled machines too. Here is the most popular budget automatic coffee machines review, available on the market.
Our Favorite Coffee Maker
After testing different kind of budget automatic coffee machines in terms of taste, programmability, control panel features, water tank capacity, grinder features, we landed on Siemens EQ500 Automatic coffee machine. In addition to budget friendly price, it has an easy-to-use design and makes tasty coffee.
Do You Really Need an Automatic Coffee Machine?
Before searching for a Fully Automatic Coffee machine, you should ask yourself a basic question: Do I need an Automatic Coffee Machine? Many people may answer as “Of course, why not?”. But sometimes, it is not the case.
Many coffee lovers want full control over the coffee they make. They want to customize and make fine tuning of Coffee strength, heat and brewing time which are very important for a delicious Coffee.
If you are one of them, Fully Automatic Coffee Machines might not be for you. That kind of customization options are usually limited at automatic Coffee machines. For this reason, it is a good idea to find a manual, semi-automatic Coffee machine or just a simple MOKA POT. They give you more fine-tuning options in the expense of quick “best” standard coffee taste.
But, if you want to make fast and above the average Coffee, fully automatic Coffee machines are for you! Keep reading…
Quick Summary
Siemens EQ500 is our favorite budget automatic coffee machine, for home. It has an elegant and easy to use design. It is not a complicated coffee machine, but it does almost everything that you can expect from an automatic coffee machine. Colored TFT screen of EQ 500 makes it extremely easy to use. Customization options are big plus for EQ500. In short, EQ500 is easy to use and very skilled automatic coffee machine with affordable price tag.
Siemens EQ 300 is our runner-up cheap bean to cup coffee machine for very tight budgets. Siemens EQ 300 has an LCD screen for simple operation. You can perform all operations using the convenient touch panel and monitor everything on the LCD display. Best thing with Siemens EQ300 is, it makes tasty coffee. It makes excellent cappuccinos and macchiatos, but its espresso is absolutely stunning! EQ 300 has a 67 db noise level, which is fairly good in this price range. Ceramic grinder and cup warmer is other distinctive features of EQ3. If you have very tight budget, Siemens EQ300 price is fairly good.
Siemens EQ500 Review (Best Overall)
Siemens EQ500 is a mid-level and very skilled fully automatic coffee machine. It has an easy-to-use Colored TFT screen, and you see all your customizations and configuration on that screen. You can make all kind of coffee and customizations by touch buttons, and you see results on the screen. Very easy to use!
Siemens EQ500 Key Features
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Display | Colorful and TFT-touch |
| Bean Container | 270 gr |
| Weight (kg) | 8.5 kg |
| Water Reservoir | 1.7 Liters, side loading |
| Pressure | 15 Bar |
| Noise | 62 db (Grinder) |
| oneTouch DoubleCup | Yes |
| Max Cup Height | 13 cm |
| Auto off | Yes, programmable |
| Cup Warmer | No |
| Operation | Automatic |
| Milk Frothing | Tube |
| Grinder | Ceramic, 3 grind settings |
| Coffee Input | Ground + Bean |
| Wattage | 1.500 W |
 |
Siemens EQ 500 have four pre-defined coffee choice :
- Espresso
- Coffee Crema (Americano)
- Cappuccino
- Latte macchiato
You can adjust hardness and amount (in milliliter) easily and see all your operations on the screen. As you change coffee types, pictures of that type displayed at to upper colored TFT screen. Also, a blue led lights just on the upper side of coffee you choose. That is very convenient.
If you want to make a custom coffee, you have extra options. One of them is, hardness. Some people like softer coffee, whereas others prefer harder one. Fortunately, changing coffee hardness is also very easy. Just press coffee bean button as you wish. Other option is coffee amount milliliter. You can change coffee amount just by pressing ml button. In Espresso mode, each pressing increase amount 5 milliliter (30-35-40 etc.) but in Caffe Crema mode each pressing increase amount 20 ml (80-100-120 etc.). This increment is different in other coffee modes. This property was not available at Siemens EQ 300, and I loved it very much 🙂
Siemens EQ500 Review Pros & Cons
Pros
- Silent
- Easy to Use Menu
- Tasty Coffee
- Big Water Reservoir
Cons
- Non-Adjustable Coffee Temperature
What We Liked
- One of the most silent automatic coffee machine in the market with 62 db grinding noise
- Colored screen and easy-to-use menu makes it very convenient. You can make all adjustments with a few button-touch
- Predefined four types of coffee drink options makes tasty coffee, easily
- Adjustable drink quantity
- Ceramic grinder
- Big water reservoir and bean container
- Good price for premium quality
What Would be Better?
- Adjustable coffee temperature would be good, but not common at that price range.
- After milky coffee drinks, you must clean milk system (fortunately not difficult!)
Siemens EQ500 Review In short, Siemens EQ 500 is a mid-level automatic coffee machine with many customization options. It makes tasty coffee, and it is extremely easy to use. Best thing with Siemens EQ 500 is its silence. It is very silent for an automatic coffee machine. It has a 62 db noise level and it is really acceptable.
Siemens EQ300 Review (Best for Tight Budget)
Siemens EQ 300 is one of the best budget bean-to-cup coffee machine. Although it is an entry level Coffee maker, it has many great features that similar price ranged competitors doesn’t have. For this reason, Siemens EQ3 is also good fully automatic coffee machine at this price range.
| Siemens EQ 300 Specs | |
|---|---|
| Display | LCD |
| Bean Container | 250 gr |
| Weight (kg) | 7.348 kg |
| Water Reservoir | 1.4 Liters |
| Pressure | 15 Bar |
| Noise | 67 db |
| Cup Warmer | Yes |
| Operation | Automatic |
| Milk Frothing | Steam Pipe |
| Grinder | Ceramic |
| Wattage | 1.300 W |
|
EQ300 is a classical bare bone automatic coffee machine. You can make many different preset types of coffee with just a button. EQ.300 combines right amount of coffee with right amount of water with suitable temperature and at the end you get a great coffee. EQ3 integrates all components of coffee maker to make a delicious coffee. Siemens call this feature as “iAroma”. As long as you use same coffee and water, you get same great taste. It is a good cappuccino machine also.
Unlike De’Longhi Magnifica S, Siemens EQ3 has a big LCD display and big control buttons. All operations and customizations are carried out by this control buttons. When you choose or change something, you see it on LCD display. That makes coffee machine extremely easy to operate.
Siemens EQ300 use only bean coffee (no ground coffee). It has a 250 gr capacity bean container. Usually, a single shot espresso weight around 6-7 grams and you can make around 30+ cups of coffee with full container. This is fairly enough for home and small office use. On the other hand, EQ3 has a relatively small water tank (1.4 Liter) which is a bit small. Fully automatic coffee machines use much water for self-cleaning; you must add water as need. I use that skilled coffee machine for more than 2-years and small water tank was not a problem. But if you have a big family, that might be a problem for you!
Unlike similar priced automatic coffee machines, Siemens EQ.300 has a ceramic grinder, not stainless-steel grinder. Stainless-steel grinders easily heat as it is used. Then, coffee beans start to burnt and you may get ruin flavor from coffee you made. This is something common at stainless-steel grinders. Fortunately, Siemens EQ.300 has ceramic grinder, and l did not meet such a thing. Grinder has 3 rotary settings which are enough for an automatic coffee machine. But changing rotary settings is a bit difficult.
Pro Tip: You can change settings while operating or better when the container is empty.
It has a moveable and removable external milk nozzle. It is very easy to use and clean. You can easily remove milk nozzle and wash it by hand or dishwasher. Since there is no internal milk tank, there is no internal milk pipeline. So, there is less part to clean. This is much more hygienic than internal milk tank models. In Siemens EQ.3 milk nozzle is external and removable.
No internal pipeline = Very easy cleaning + Hygiene.
â–¶ Read REAL Amazon reviews for Siemens EQ300
Siemens EQ300 Review In short, Siemens EQ3 has great features for a budget coffee machine at that price range. EQ3 has enough customization features, like customizable coffee strength, customizable coffee volume, customizable grinder level. You can make easy, fast and delicious coffee at home comfort with reasonable price. Siemens guarantee that you can make 15.000 cups of coffee in its guarantee period for personal use (not for commercial use) with EQ3. This is great especially for a budget coffee machine.
Melitta Solo & Milk (Best Slim)
Melitta Solo & Milk is our best affordable automatic coffee machine for limited space. It is really compact and easy to use bean to cup coffee machine. Compared to other fully automatic coffee machines, its size (45.5D x 20W x 32.5H cm) is small. But it doesn’t mean it is a less functional coffee machine.
| Melitta Caffeo Solo | |
|---|---|
| Display | No Screen |
| Bean Container | 125 gr |
| Weight (kg) | 8.1 Kg |
| Water Reservoir | 1.2 Liters, side loading |
| Pressure | 15 Bar |
| Noise | Moderate |
| Cup Warmer | Yes |
| Auto off | Yes |
| DoubleCup Mode | Yes |
| Operation | Automatic |
| Milk Frothing | Steam Wand |
| Grinder | Steel, 3 grind settings |
| Wattage | 1.400 W |
| Adjustable Coffee Temp. | Yes |
| Size | 45.5D x 20W x 32.5H |
|
Similar to De’Longhi Magnifica S, Melitta Solo doesn’t have an LCD/LED screen. Instead, it has small LED icons to display operations. Actually, this type of display is better for simple operations. Easy and efficient.
In contrast to its small size, Melitta Solo has some unique adjustable settings. Many of the bigger and expensive coffee machines doesn’t have that unique settings, like adjusting brewing temperature. It has 3 coffee strength settings, mild, regular, strong. It has 3 grinding level, which is fairly enough also. Adjusting the espresso amount is also very easy and efficient. Also, you can make 2 espressos at a time (which is useless I think)
Melitta Solo has a 1.2 Liter water tank capacity. This is enough, but more capacity water tank is better if you have high coffee consumption. Keep in mind that, bean to cup coffee machines use extra water for self-cleaning. So, if you demand high coffee, that amount might be a problem for you.
This coffee machine has a 125g capacity bean container and enough for home usage. Melitta describes its grinder as “Whisper Grinder” for low noise level.
Melitta Solo doesn’t have a milk tank, which is a plus for that range coffee machines due to cleaning difficulties of milk tanks and pipelines. Melitta Solo use a milk frothing nozzle to prepare milky coffee. You can make cappuccino or latte easily. It is a bit complicated, compared to Siemens EQ3, but it works. As you make practice, you can prepare great milky coffee.
By the way, It is to be noted about Aroma Extraction System (A.E.S.) feature. A.E.S is a pre-brewing process. Ground beans are moistened before actual brewing process. This release more aromatic substances and hence you get more aromatic coffee. This is a superb feature for a budget automatic coffee machine. You can prepare espresso, café crème, latte macchiato and cappuccino.
Pros
- Melitta Quality
- Minimalist Design
- Tasty Coffee
- Adjustable Drink Quantity
Cons
- No Screen
- Small Water Reservoir
- Small Bean Container
What I Liked
- Fits every kitchen due to small size
- Minimalist and easy-to-use design makes all adjustments easily
- Predefined drink options make tasty coffee
- Adjustable drink quantity with big amount range (30 ml to 200 ml!)
- Adjustable drink temperature is rare at this price range, but Melitta Solo have
- Good price
What Would be Better?
- No display. Actually, LEDs guide for smooth operations
- Small water reservoir might be a problem for big families
- Smal bean container capacity might be a problem for big families
In short, Melitta Solo and Milk is a compact, easy to use and one of the best budget automatic espresso machine. Its small size makes it perfect for compact kitchens without any feature loose. In addition, it has many customization settings to prepare great coffee at home.
Compare Popular Budget Automatic Coffee Machines
| Siemens EQ500 | Siemens EQ300 | Philips 3200 | Melitta Solo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | TFT | LCD | Touchscreen | None |
| Bean Container | 270 gr | 250 gr | 275 gr | 125 gr |
| Water Tank | 1.7 L | 1.4 L | 1.8 L | 1.2 L |
| Pump | 15 Bar | 15 Bar | 15 Bar | 15 Bar |
| Grinder Prog. | 3 | 3 | 12 | 3 |
| Grinder | Ceramic | Ceramic | Ceramic | Steel |
| Cup Warmer | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Input | Ground + Bean | Bean | Ground + Bean | Bean |
| Noise | 62 db | 67 db | 70 db | – |
| Weight | 8.5 Kg | 7.3 Kg | 9.57 Kg | 8.1 Kg |
| Watt | 1.500 | 1.300 | 1.500 | 1.400 |
| | | |
Review Summary – Most Popular Cheap Automatic Coffee Machines
There are many fully automatic coffee machine on the market ranging from ÂŁ200 to ÂŁ3.000. If you are looking for a good bargain automatic coffee machine, you should consider some basic criteria. Like, programmability, control panel features, water tank capacity, grinder features etc.
After all, We choose Siemens EQ500 as the best budget automatic espresso machine for Home. It has higher water tank capacity, higher bean container capacity and very easy to use TFT screen. Attractive tasty coffee is a big plus of course. Siemens EQ 500 have a TFT display and well-designed control buttons make it perfect budget coffee machine for home. Its price is also very affordable compared to its features.
If you have very tight budget, you can choose Siemens EQ300 which is also really good automatic coffee machine. Siemens EQ300 has an LCD screen. You can perform all operations using the convenient touch panel and monitor everything on the LCD screen. It makes excellent cappuccinos and macchiatos, but its espresso is absolutely stunning! Ceramic grinder and cup warmer is other distinctive features of EQ3. If you have very tight budget, Siemens EQ300 is a very good option.
If you have limited space but want to drink customised coffee, Melitta Solo is perfect alternative for you. Melitta Solo is a slim automatic coffee maker. Its small size makes it perfect for compact kitchens without any feature loose. In addition, it has many customization settings which are very rare at that price range, like adjustable brewing temperature and making two espressos simultaneously.
Why is My Espresso Coffee is Very Acidic?
There are many reasons for acidic coffee, especially Espresso Coffee.
- Bad Water – Many cities have chalky municipal water. This can result in acidic coffee. Try spring or pure water to make coffee.
- %100 Arabica coffee beans – Pure arabica coffee beans can yield acidic coffee too. Try blend coffee of Arabica and Robusta. Many coffee makers make especially for Espresso Coffee, which is usually good blend of that coffee types.
- Grind Coffee Beans Coarser – Many automatic coffee machines can adjust grinding levels. Try Coarser grinded coffee.
- Use Darker Roasted Coffee – Lighter roasted coffee beans release more acidic compounds. Use darker roasted coffee to make espresso.
Cheap Bean to Cup Coffee Machines
Fully automatic coffee machines are known as Bean to Cup Coffee machines (BTC Coffee Machines).
Usually, you just give bean coffee and water as input and at the end you get delicious espresso coffee and espresso derivatives in a few seconds.
Coffee machines grind your coffee beans, take water from water tank and heat it to a proper temperature and combine ground coffee and hot water with high pressure.
That high pressure extracts coffee aroma and you get your coffee.
Total process finish in just 30-40 seconds.
You just press a button at the beginning and don’t need to do anything else.
Although fully automatic Coffee machines are usually pre-programmed as easy to use machines, most of them give you some customization features.
In some of the good cheap automatic coffee machines, you can adjust Coffee strength, grinding level, temperature and some other options.
Most of them have built-in Coffee functions, like espresso, latte, cappucino, amaricano etc.
Similarly, you just press Coffee function button and get that coffee in a few seconds.
Cheap Bean to Cup Coffee Machines for Office Use
Fully automatic coffee machines are very practical for home use, and they are extremely useful at office also. In an office environment, usually there is no one dedicated to preparing coffee. For this reason, Bean to Cup Coffee machines are very common and useful at office. They don’t need a dedicated person, usually they are easy to clean, require less maintenance and best of all, they usually prepare near the coffee shop quality Coffee at the expense of bean coffee and water! There are only a few budget fully automatic coffee machine for office use on the market. Fully automatic coffee machines were very expensive for about 10 years ago, but you can find a budget fully automatic coffee machine for office more easily now.
Here is a quick guide to choose a good fully automatic coffee machine.
Buying Guide | How to Choose Cheap Automatic Coffee Machine?
Programmability (Personalization)
Although fully automatic coffee machines are designed to operate with predefined settings, some allows you to modify extra settings.
In this case, you have the option to prepare your own coffee recipes.
For example, some automatic coffee machines brews coffee at a specific temperature. This temperature is fine for most people and coffee type.
But, some people might prefer hotter coffee, or some coffee beans extract its flavor at higher temperatures. In this case, programmability of brewing temperature is a big plus.
Some common programmability options are brewing temperature, coffee strength, bean grinding size and amount of coffee (espresso) produced.
Programmability is usually limited at budget coffee machines. Usually, as the price of coffee machine rise, programmability options are also increase. But this does not mean, a budget coffee machine doesn’t have such features. Some very tight budget coffee machines might have such features. For example, Melitta Solo and Milk Fully automatic coffee machine has the ability to adjust brewing temperature, which is uncommon at that price range.
Control Panel
Most of the programmability features are carried out by control panel of coffee machine. Some budget Coffee Machines might have an LCD display, but usually there is no such a display at that price range. In this case, all the arrangements are done by buttons. Having an LCD display surely great feature but not having is not a very big problem. In some cases, not having an LCD display might be a plus for some people. Because some people might find LCD display complicated.
Water Tank Capacity
May be the most important criteria for a fully automatic coffee machine is water tank capacity. Water is used not only to prepare coffee, but also to clean coffee machine. Self-cleaning process consumes much more water than you expected. Self-cleaning is something great. Otherwise, you must clean your coffee machine by yourself. Many bean to cup coffee machine make a self-cleaning while starting and while closing!
If your coffee machine has a small water tank, you must frequently fill it by fresh water. After a while that might be a bit annoying. Especially if you are using your coffee machine frequently. For this reason, bigger water tank is something superb! Many budget coffee machines have around 1.4-1.5 liter water capacity, but some others have 1.8 liter capacity.
Coffee Grinder
Most of the fully automatic coffee machines has an internal coffee grinder. This means you can grind fresh bean coffee just before brewing your coffee. This is surely something great for a delicious coffee. But bad thing with coffee grinders is that: they are very noisy! Noise level for a regular budget fully automatic coffee machine is around 65-70 db. If you are very obsessive for noise, you must prefer low noise level automatic coffee machines. By the way, some budget bean to cup coffee machines uses both ground and bean coffee to prepare coffee. This is also a plus some people.
Some coffee grinders have ceramic grinder, many others have stainless steel grinder. Ceramic grinders are superior to stainless-steel type grinders. Because stainless-steel grinders easily heat as it is used. Hence coffee beans start to burnt and you get ruin flavor from any coffee you made. But at ceramic grinder you will not meet such a thing.
Many automatic coffee machines have around 250-300 grams of bean container. This enough for most people. A regular espresso shot is around 7-9 grams, and 250 grams coffee beans yields around 30 cups of coffee.
Warranty
Most of the bean to cup coffee machines comes with basic limited warranties. But some manufacturers give extra warranty time or extra warranty features.
For example, Siemens gives 15.000 Cups of Coffee Guarantee for personal use for EQ.300 model. This is awesome!
Extra warranties are definitely big plus while choosing BTC coffee machines.
The Most Popular Budget Automatic Coffee Machines – 2026
Summary
Siemens EQ.500 Classic Automatic Coffee Machine is a mid-level coffee machine with many extensive features. I have been using EQ.300 model for more than 3 years, and I can clearly conclude that EQ500 is a big jump after EQ3.
How We Selected These Products
We recommend these items based on a thorough research process designed to highlight the best options available. While we did not physically test some products ourselves, we relied on detailed research and verified customer feedback to evaluate them.
- Detailed Research: We reviewed product specifications, manufacturer information, and feature lists to understand what each item offers.
- Customer Insights: We analyzed verified buyer reviews and ratings to learn how these products perform in real-world use.
- Comparison Factors: We compared products across price, durability, usability, and unique features to identify the strongest choices.
- Personal Experience: With over 25 years of working in internet-related technologies and following online trends since 1995, I bring a deep understanding of how products are marketed, evaluated, and used. This background helps me filter out hype and focus on what truly matters for everyday users.
- Balanced Evaluation: Our goal is to provide clear, unbiased information so you can make confident purchasing decisions.
See also How We Review Products section for more details on our process.
Written by Metin Karal
Metin Karal is a Computer Engineer with over 25 years of experience working with internet technologies, trends, and digital tools since 1995. He brings this deep background into his product reviews, combining technical expertise with careful research to deliver honest, practical insights for readers. Passionate about technology, Metin also enjoys programming in C# and is currently developing PairMem, a challenging memory game available for free on the official Microsoft Store.
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