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1. Our Top Picks
2. The Best Manual: OXO Brew Rapid Brewer
3. The Best Pod: Nespresso Vertuo Up
4. The Best Budget Pod: Keurig K-Express Single-Serve Coffee Maker
5. The Best Hybrid: Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Advanced 5-in-1 Coffee Maker
6. How We Tested Single-Serve Coffee Makers

For well over a decade, I have been a dedicated single-serve coffee maker fan. Between my college dorm, offices, apartments, and finally a house, I’ve worked my way through many a Keurig, Nespresso, and beyond. There was a time when I had a coffee pot, but it never made any sense for someone like me who mostly lived alone or with just one other person, and who only drank a cup or two a day. 

What I didn’t realize until recently was that single-serve coffee makers go beyond just the pod machines. There are also manual coffee makers that are great for travel, as well as hybrid machines that can utilize coffee grounds in addition to pods. So, to figure out which ones are the very best in these categories, I tested 13 single-serve coffee makers over the course of two months. Four emerged as the winners, and now my coffee game is seriously strong (and I still have plenty of counter space!).

Our Top Picks

• The Best Manual: OXO Brew Rapid Brewer ($33.99): This affordable coffee maker is easy to use, brews hot or cold coffee in just minutes, and is great for folks who travel often.
• The Best Pod: Nespresso Vertuo Up ($229.99): This new coffee machine produces high-quality hot and iced brews quickly. Café-quality coffee, here you come!
• The Best Budget Pod: Keurig K-Express Single-Serve Coffee Maker ($69.99): This no-frills coffee maker reliably crafts delicious hot coffee for a budget-friendly price.
• The Best Hybrid: Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Advanced 5-in-1 Coffee Maker ($119.99): This hybrid coffee maker can brew individual cups using pods or coffee grounds, and you can choose from hot and iced options. Plus, it has a carafe that fits seamlessly into the side for even greater versatility.

The Best Manual: OXO Brew Rapid Brewer

Not only is the OXO Brew Rapid Brewer pretty popular on Amazon (shoppers bought more than 2,000 in the past month!), but it’s also a very solid coffee maker. It’s a French press-style brewer that’s easy to get the hang of, brews your drink in 2 to5 minutes (depending on whether you’re going for a hot or iced coffee), and is simple to clean up (especially because it can go right into the dishwasher). 

The thing about this brewer is that it makes concentrated coffee, which means it needs to be diluted with water or milk before drinking. Given that I always add milk or creamer to my coffee, this was no problem. I did try the hot coffee with just 3/4 cup of hot water added, and it was still quite rich and bold — no watery coffee here! Plus, I didn’t need to use a paper filter and there were no grounds that escaped into my mug. All around, this brewer makes great coffee — and it’s under $50.

• Dishwasher-safe
• Makes concentrated coffee (so add water or milk before drinking)
• Brews both hot and cold
• Travel-friendly

Best for: Coffee drinkers who are often on the go and/or don’t have the space or interest in an electric coffee maker.

• Weight: 1.3 lbs
• Water tank capacity: 5.41 oz

The Best Pod: Nespresso Vertuo Up

Nespresso’s Vertuo Up is the newest machine in the brand’s lineup — and it totally delivers. What stands apart about this machine is how good the coffee is. After two months of testing coffee makers nonstop, the quality of this coffee was immediately apparent. It brews rich, full-bodied coffee, with a nice layer of crema to boot. Plus, it has a button for iced coffee, which means I can fill a cup with ice and have the Vertuo Up brew directly over it with minimal melting (and therefore less wateriness than if I brewed it hot and poured it over ice). 

This machine only has two buttons: one for initiating brewing (you press it both when you’re making iced or hot coffee) and one to signal that you’re making iced coffee. The display is super-simple, which makes it easy to use. 

The only downsides to this machine are that it’s pricey at $230 and capsules are only sold online or at Nespresso stores, which can be hard to get to depending on where you live. (For example, I live in St. Louis, and there are none in my area.) That said, I recently ordered more pods online on a Thursday and had them in hand by Tuesday, so I was happy with that timing. And despite its priciness, it clearly makes the best coffee of any machine I tested. The coffee is so good, it hasn’t left my counter since I began testing it three weeks ago — and it’s not going to anytime soon.

• Brews both hot and iced coffee
• Disposes of capsules within machine (although it does need to be cleared out from time to time)
• Connects with the Nespresso Smart app for more personalization options

Best for: Coffee drinkers who want both hot and iced café-quality coffee at home.

• Weight: 8.8 lbs
• Water tank capacity: 47 oz

The Best Budget Pod: Keurig K-Express Single-Serve Coffee Maker

If you want a coffee maker that doesn’t take up much space, look no further than the Keurig K-Express. It’s a little over a foot deep and not even half a foot wide, making it so easy to fit on the counter. Plus, you can choose from a few different mug sizes — 8, 10, and 12 ounces — along with a “strong” button, if you’d like a more robust brew on any given day. The display is really straightforward, making it super-easy to use. 

Unlike the other two machines I’ve talked about so far, this one does not offer an iced coffee option. So hot coffee drinkers, this one’s for you. This coffee maker is also quite affordable — especially given it’s on sale for just $70 at Amazon right now.

• Comes in six colors
• Is currently on sale at Amazon for just $70
• Has a removable drip tray
• Includes a “strong” button for those who want their coffee more robust

Best for: Coffee drinkers who want an affordable, space-conscious machine that brews delicious hot coffee.

• Weight: 4.1 lbs
• Water tank capacity: 42 oz

The Best Hybrid: Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Advanced 5-in-1 Coffee Maker

I tested a few different hybrid coffee machines, which is to say that they can brew coffee using K-Cup pods or coffee grounds. Hamilton Beach’s FlexBrew blew me away for the fact that it can do that and then some. Like the other machines I tested, this one can brew an individual cup of coffee using pods or grounds, and it can make it hot or iced. But the major difference? This one can also brew you a 12-cup pot of coffee, if you so choose (and you can even adjust how many cups it makes).

Plus, it has a sleek and intuitive touchscreen. And better yet, it’s space-conscious because the carafe fits seamlessly into the side of the machine, so it doesn’t stick out awkwardly or take up unnecessary space. You can also decide where the water tank sits, so you can have it sitting directly behind the machine so it doesn’t take up so much width on your counter or it can sit on the side for easy refilling. Oh, and did I mention it’s on sale at Amazon for just $80?

• Can use pods or grounds for individual cups
• Brews both hot and iced coffee for individual cups
• Has a carafe on the side that can accommodate as much as 12 cups of coffee
• Features an adjustable water tank that makes it easy to fit the machine into your space

Best for: Coffee drinkers who want a compact machine with serious versatility.

• Weight: 9.6 lbs
• Water tank capacity: 60 oz

How We Tested Single-Serve Coffee Makers

Usually, this is where I would tell you each of the tests the coffee makers went through. But because each coffee maker I tested was different, and a manual coffee maker will have different capabilities than, say, a hybrid electric coffee maker, I didn’t run standardized tests across them all. Instead, I used each maker multiple times over the span of two months, keeping in mind the quality of the coffee it brewed, how much functionality each machine offered (can it brew iced coffee, hot water, etc.?), and how well the machine operated (if the displays were confusing, if the tops of the machines were hard to open, if the water tank needed to be refilled after every use). This criteria is what ultimately led to my selections above. 

Why You Should Trust Me as a Tester

I’ve been reviewing the best products for your home, kitchen, and beyond since 2022. In that time, I’ve tested hundreds of kitchen products alone, including cookware, knives, small appliances, meal delivery services, and lots of condiments. I only write about the ones that truly impress me and I’d be willing to pay for with my own money. Someone once told me that a negative review doesn’t help anyone, but a positive review actually tells someone where to go, what to eat, or what to buy. And that’s become my professional MO. 

What Makes the Best Single-Serve Coffee Maker

• Easy to use: The best single-serve coffee makers are pretty intuitive to use and don’t require a serious learning curve to get the hang of. On electric machines, the display should be straightforward. 
• Space-conscious: Counter space in the kitchen is a hot commodity, so having a great coffee maker that doesn’t take up too much counter space is a serious win. (Plus, then you have extra room to store pods, capsules, grounds, sugar, syrups, and more!)
• Brews hot and iced coffee: Not all of the best single-serve coffee makers on this list can brew hot and iced coffee, but most of them can. As a big iced coffee drinker, the ability to brew coffee directly into an icy cup without it watering down my drink is always a serious win. Not to mention, if you have a family or roommates you share this machine with, it’s nice to be able to accommodate both.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can all single-serve coffee makers brew hot and iced coffee? No. That said, a fair few of them can (you can find three above), but not all single-serve coffee makers are outfitted with the ability to brew directly into a cup with ice. These functions are meant to keep the ice meltage to a minimum so your coffee doesn’t end up watery. 
• Do all single-serve coffee makers use pods? Nope. Quite a few of them do, but the individual manual coffee makers certainly don’t. And there are some hybrid electric machines out there (like the Hamilton Beach FlexBrew) that can use both pods and grounds. Plus, even if you have a pod machine you can buy reusable pods and fill them with grounds to make the most of those machines. 
• How often do these coffee makers need cleaning? Depends on the machine. The manual machines should be cleaned after each use. For the electric machines, you’ll want to make sure you’re doing regular maintenance to keep it in tip-top shape. This includes wiping down the machine, washing out the drip tray so mold doesn’t form, cleaning the water tank, and running a water cycle to rinse out the pod machines, and some (like the Keurig K-Express) have a descaling button already on the machine. 

Which one will you be buying? Tell us about it in the comments below.