How much does making coffee at home cost?

Roughly 75 cents to $1.30 a drink for specialty beans, 30 to 60 cents for supermarket beans, plus a few cents of machine. Capsules cost more per cup.

How Much Does Home Coffee Cost per Cup?

The bean cost is the easy part and it is smaller than people expect.

A 12 oz (340 g) bag of good specialty coffee costs roughly $16 to $24 in the US and makes about:

That works out at roughly 75 cents to $1.30 per drink for specialty coffee, and 30 to 60 cents for good supermarket beans.

Roughly 40 to 80 cents each for Nespresso Original compatibles, and about $1 or more for Vertuo, which only Nespresso makes.

So capsules usually cost more than good beans for the same drink, permanently.

A $600 setup over ten years and two drinks a day is about 8 cents a cup. Over three years it is 27 cents.

Machines are cheaper per cup than most people assume, provided they last — which is the argument for filtering the water.

Descaler, cleaning tablets, filters and paper: roughly $40 to $80 a year, or 5 to 10 cents a cup.

A café flat white costs about $4.50 to $6. At two a day, home brewing pays back even an expensive setup within a few months.

That is the honest arithmetic, and it is why the machine price matters far less than most buying guides suggest.

Last reviewed 30 October 2026

How often should I descale my coffee machine?
Follow the machine's descale prompt if it has one. Otherwise descale monthly on hard water, quarterly on medium and twice a year on soft water.
Should I spend more on the grinder or the machine?
Spend more on the grinder than the machine. Grind uniformity sets the ceiling on every brew, and no espresso machine can compensate for a poor grinder.
Is a standalone milk frother worth buying?
A standalone milk frother is worth it if your machine has no steam wand or a weak one. It makes convenient hot or cold foam, but not true microfoam.
Removable or sealed brew unit — does it matter?
Removable, if you want the machine to last. Coffee oils accumulate in the group on every machine; the only question is whether you can reach them.
Is a cheap espresso machine worth buying?
Under about $200 you get pressurized baskets, which work on day one with pre-ground coffee and cap how good the coffee can get. A fair trade for some.
Are combined machine-and-grinder units any good?
Convenient and compromised. In a combined espresso machine and grinder, the built-in grinder is usually the weakest part, and it cannot be upgraded on its own.