Capsule systems
Capsules are the format everyone claims to look down on and millions of people happily use. We compare machines system by system, and give you the number nobody prints on the box: the real cost per cup over three years, against a bean-to-cup machine.
Original system · 0.6 L · 11 cm wide
Eleven centimetres wide, twenty-five seconds to heat, and it takes the Original capsules that dozens of brands make. The cheapest sensible way into the system that stays cheap to run.
Best for: A small kitchen, a studio flat, an office desk, or a second machine.
≈ $150 / £80 / 90 €
Centrifusion · barcode-read capsules · 4 cup sizes
Spins the capsule instead of pressing water through it, which makes genuinely good long black coffee — and locks you into a closed capsule system with almost no third-party competition.
Best for: Someone who drinks mugs of black coffee and wants zero decisions.
≈ $100 / £80 / 90 €
A Modo Mio system · 0.5 L · 12 cm wide
A third capsule system worth knowing about, because A Modo Mio capsules are among the cheapest in Europe and the machine costs almost nothing. The coffee is Italian-roast dark and unapologetic about it.
Best for: Espresso in the Italian style, at the lowest running cost of any capsule system here.
≈ £70 / 75 €
15 bar · hot & cold drinks · milk capsules
Makes hot chocolate, chai and iced drinks as well as coffee, using a separate milk capsule instead of real milk. Good at being a drinks machine, mediocre at being a coffee machine.
Best for: A household with mixed tastes where not everyone drinks coffee.
≈ $110 / £70 / 80 €
19 bar · Original system · 1 L tank
The Original system, where the patents expired and everyone makes capsules. The machine is unremarkable; the point is that you can buy pods from a supermarket at a third of Nespresso's price.
Best for: Espresso and lungo drinkers who want capsule convenience without capsule prices.
≈ $190 / £150 / 160 €
Centrifusion · 5 cup sizes · 54 % recycled plastic
The Vertuo machine with the full range of cup sizes, up to a 414 ml carafe. Same excellent long coffee, same single-supplier capsules, in a body made largely from recycled plastic.
Best for: Someone who drinks large black coffee and occasionally wants a carafe.
≈ $180 / £130 / 140 €
On a pod machine the tank is the only constraint on service: everything else is automatic.
When you want neither to adjust nor to clean, start from the highest-rated model in the aisle rather than the cheapest.
The real cost of a pod machine is in the pods, not the machine. The most affordable model is often the rational choice.
Quality varies a lot between brands, and the mechanics matter: a badly calibrated pod can pierce crookedly or leak inside the machine. The best ones compete without difficulty.
Yes, with a suitable grind and tamp. They demand exactly the technique and precision you were trying to avoid, which limits their appeal to the principle.
Yes, like any machine that heats water. It is in fact the only real maintenance operation, and skipping it eventually blocks the circuit.
That is the pump's maximum pressure. Actual extraction happens around 9 bars, and the higher figure adds nothing in the cup.
Most machines offer it, but a long coffee pulled from an espresso pod over-extracts and turns bitter. Dedicated pods exist for exactly this reason.
A long time, which is their main asset: the seal protects the coffee from air. A pod stays decent for months where ground coffee fades in days.
No. Milk pods give a regular, industrial foam; a steam wand on fresh milk plays in another category.
Collection schemes exist depending on brand and local authority. Aluminium recycles well, multilayer plastic far less so.
A pod machine is bought for convenience and the absence of maintenance, never for economy or for the cup. The price of the machine matters little: it is the cost of pods over three years you should look at before deciding.
Only the specifications at least four models out of five state. A column that is more empty than full compares nothing.
| Model | Price | System | Water tank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lavazza A Modo Mio Tiny | 70 $ | Lavazza A Modo Mio | 0.5 L |
| Nespresso Vertuo Pop | 100 $ | Nespresso Vertuo (centrifusion) | 0.56 L |
| NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto Genio S | 110 $ | Dolce Gusto | 0.8 L |
| Nespresso Essenza Mini | 150 $ | Nespresso Original | 0.6 L |
| Nespresso Vertuo Next | 180 $ | Nespresso Vertuo | 1.1 L |
| Nespresso CitiZ | 190 $ | Nespresso Original | 1 L |
Specifications: manufacturer sheets and Amazon product pages. Prices and availability: Keepa. No product on this site has been physically tested.
Most recent revision in this category: August 8, 2026.
