Best Gaggia Espresso Machine

Gaggia has an extensive range of coffee machines so it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to pick the best one. Which is why we’ve done all the hard work for you. We’ve tested and reviewed all the Gaggia espresso machines to make your choice simple.

The new Gaggia Accademia is the best Gaggia espresso machine currently available – it looks fantastic and makes amazing coffee with ease. Those who want to be their own barista will love the Gaggia Classic Evo Pro. Or, for the best value for money, the Gaggia Magenta Prestige is a great choice.

With such a large range there really is a Gaggia espresso machine for everyone. All you have to do is scroll down and pick the one that stands out for you. Not sure what you need? Don’t worry we’ll talk you through what you should be looking for too.

Gaggia Accademia – Our Top Pick

The upgraded model of the Gaggia Accademia is a huge step up in every way from its predecessor. The glass and stainless steel design looks fantastic and it feels as premium as the price tag suggests. The touchscreen and dial combo make choosing and adjusting your favorite coffee simple. Plus, you can now save them to your profile.

Don’t get us wrong, it’s not perfect:

We’d like it if the espresso size could go smaller than 1oz since the max dose is 11.5g. The drip tray needs to be emptied every 5 drinks or so and the milk dispenser can splash a little when using smaller cups or glasses.

But overall you’re getting great coffee quality, great customization options, great build quality, and a machine that’s incredibly easy to use. Oh and did we mention that it looks fantastic?

This is a stellar flagship offering from Gaggia that far exceeds the next most expensive model, the Babila.

Gaggia Classic Evo Pro – Best Semi-Automatic

The Gaggia Classic Pro espresso machine is nearly as old as me and in considerably better physical condition. Debuting in 1991, there have been updates but no overhaul to the design.

It’s an espresso lover’s best friend. The 58mm portafilter allows for a larger dose in a wider, flatter puck for better flavor extraction. Plus, the steam wand is a commercial standard, allowing you to get perfect microfoam and latte art.

The downside of all this is that you have to do the work. You’ll need a good quality grinder and tamper and then time your espresso shot to perfection.

But if you really love pulling espresso shots, you’ll join a big community of Gaggia Classic fans. It’s a high-quality espresso machine that’s simple to use, comes in a range of colors, and is basically invincible.

For an affordable price, you get one of the best home barista espresso machines. Pair it with a 1Zpresso J-Max (read our J Max review, here) and a decent coffee scale for your full setup. Combined, it comes in at a comparable price to an entry-level super-automatic but with the ability to produce far better espresso shots.

A brilliant machine for anyone with the desire to learn to pull supreme espresso at home.

Gaggia Magenta Prestige – Best Value for Money

The Magenta Prestige packs quite a lot in for such a reasonably priced machine. The modern looks and design combined with a beautiful screen and buttons are a big step forward from previous generations of Gaggia machines.

You get 10 drinks options: ristretto, espresso, espresso lungo, coffee, americano, cappuccino, café au lait, flat white, latte macchiato, and cafè cortado. Plus, you can dispense hot milk or hot water on their own. While these may not have the same level of customization as the more expensive machines, you can still alter the strength and length to your preference.

The high-quality flat burr grinder and boiler deliver consistent grounds and extraction for flavorful espresso shots. However, we did have to turn the dose up to maximum and the grinder to the finest setting.

The milk carafe is removable and simply clicks in when you want to use it. It dispenses really high-quality milk foam and is simple to use, easy to clean, and can be stored in the fridge. There’s no manual milk wand on the Magenta Prestige though so budding latte artists might prefer the Magenta Plus instead.

Overall, this is an excellent value-for-money espresso machine that looks the part and has Gaggia’s incredible build and coffee quality.

Gaggia Carezza Deluxe – Best on a Budget

As an entry-level option for the casual espresso or cappuccino fan, the Gaggia Carezza Deluxe does an excellent job. The large, pressurized filter basket, pre-infusion, and quality Gaggia boiler mean it’s easy for even a beginner to pull a decent shot of espresso.

The Panarello steam wand will make learning to froth milk a breeze, though you’ll never get the quality of a professional-level wand. You can also take the cover off the wand for more control over the manual milk frothing experience.

This machine has a temperature gauge on the front but there’s no way to adjust the temperature which is a bit weird. The pressurized basket is great for beginners, using pre-ground coffee, or ESE pods. But the quality of espresso will be lower than the best semi-automatic espresso machines.

Often available at a heavy discount to sweeten the deal, this is a good-looking Gaggia coffee machine that works really well and is ideal for the casual or beginner espresso drinker.

Gaggia Babila

The Gaggia Babila espresso machine has been built with the espresso lover in mind.

Along with the normal options of adjusting pre-infusion, strength, and temperature, you also get flow control. This dial allows you to speed up or slow down how fast the water moves through the puck. You can make it slower for espresso and faster for longer coffees to get the perfect balance. It takes some time to get right, but makes a huge difference.

For those more concerned with getting coffee as easily as possible, there are 8 classic coffees available with a couple of button presses. Ristretto, cappuccino, flat white, and latte macchiato are all there so there’s something for everyone.

You can steam milk manually if you prefer, though the automatic milk dispenser is excellent. This flexibility opens up basically every espresso drink under the sun. Dual boilers mean this all happens super fast too. Oh, and the ceramic burr grinder is insanely quiet and accurate, keeping those precious flavor oils in the espresso where they belong.

A superb machine for every coffee lover.

Psst… Want to see how the Babila stacks up against another coffee-making powerhouse, the ENA 8? We’ve compared them both here.

Gaggia Cadorna Prestige

The Gaggia Cadorna Prestige is a superb espresso machine for anyone looking to replace the daily trip to a café or single-serve machine. Having a really good user interface, detachable milk carafe, user profiles, and ceramic grinder at this price is very impressive.

It’s slightly annoying to adjust the grinder and we’d like to have some pre-infusion options like you find on the best Gaggia coffee machines. But maybe we’re just being greedy considering the price.

Gaggia’s trademark build quality and sleek design round out a truly excellent super automatic espresso machine at an affordable price. It will comfortably pay for itself within the year by saving you all those coffee shop cappuccinos.

The Cadorna Prestige is a little bit of a “tweener” – it’s not really a budget machine and it isn’t as good as the higher-end Gaggias. But it is brilliant for the price, especially if you can purchase it in the sales. 

You can see how it stacks up in a head-to-head comparison with the Gaggia Babila, here.

Gaggia Anima Prestige

The Gaggia Anima Prestige has been left behind a bit as other Gaggia models have been upgraded. But it’s still a solid espresso machine. The buttons make it very simple to use, it has a high-quality ceramic grinder and it’ll pull a decent espresso or coffee.

The milk frother is also good and while not up to the very high standards of the Magenta Prestige or Cadorna Prestige, it still does an admirable job.

There aren’t a lot of customization options and the milk container can be a little annoying to clean. However, these are minor inconveniences on a really good-priced machine. We also don’t like that the bean hopper lid isn’t airtight, allowing our precious beans to go off. But maybe we’re the ones being precious here.

Overall, this is a high-quality entry-level machine that will do the job of making your coffee nicely with no fuss and minimal effort. It’s just not as impressive as some other machines at the same (or nearly the same) price.

Gaggia Brera

For any super-automatic espresso machine to be available in the ‘budget’ price bracket, is pretty impressive. And the Gaggia Brera super-automatic espresso machine will do the simple things pretty well. It’ll brew you a nice coffee and the Panarello steam wand will let you foam some nice pillowy milk with no difficulties.

It’s not going to pull life-changing espresso or foam perfect latte art milk. But it will brew good coffee at a touch.

We like that it has a memo function to remember your settings and it has automatic pre-infusion – an essential step for getting good quality coffee. The high-quality ceramic grinder is also excellent, though we’d recommend only using it on the finest setting.

Overall, it’s a good-quality espresso machine for such a low price. But you have to expect some limitations in terms of coffee quality.

Gaggia Velasca Prestige

The Gaggia Velasca Prestige super-automatic espresso machine is pretty good. But it really it suffers from the fact that it’s basically the same price as the Magenta Prestige which has had a glow-up.

The milk system on the Velasca Prestige is very good and easy to clean. It simply clips on and off so it can be stored in the fridge when not in use.

It has espresso, lungo, and cappuccino available at the touch of a button. Plus, it can dispense milk foam at a touch in case you want to try and just add a dash of milk to your black coffee. Weirdly, it has a “mini-cappuccino” in the drinks menu. Maybe they felt they couldn’t call it a macchiato but wanted something similar. Anyway, it’s there if you fancy it.

There’s also a good grinder, pre-infusion, and nice build quality. All the stuff you’d expect from Gaggia that puts them above some other domestic espresso machines.

The Gaggia Velasca espresso machine has just been superseded by the new Magenta Prestige in basically every area. But that doesn’t stop it being a good espresso machine.

Gaggia Cadorna Milk

The Gaggia Cadorna milk is a fantastic-looking machine that packs in some excellent features for the price. Having 4 user profiles, 5 strength settings, automatic pre-infusion, and a ceramic grinder are all great features.

The milk system, while not as good as the clip-on system found on the Cadorna Prestige, is still good. It’s still an automatic milk dispenser (so no practicing your latte art), it’s just a little clunkier to use.

Considering the small price difference between Cadorna Milk and Prestige, the loss of flat white and cortado as coffee options is upsetting.

It’s still a really good value espresso maker. Some people will absolutely prefer the looks to the Prestige too. We just feel it isn’t as good value for money.

Image	Product	Details	Cost ($$$$$)
Best Overall	Gaggia Accademia	11.1 x 15.2 x 16.5 inches 5 pre-programmed coffee recipes Super-automatic	$$$$$	Check Price
Best Semi-Automatic	Gaggia Classic Evo Pro	8 x 14.2 x 9.5 inches Semi-automatic	$$	Check Price
Best Value for Money	Gaggia Magenta Prestige	8.8 x 14 x 17.1 inches 9 pre-programmed coffee recipes Super-automatic	$$$	Check Price
Best on a Budget	Gaggia Carezza Deluxe	11 x 12.75 x 12.5 inches Semi-automatic	$	Check Price
	Gaggia Babila	9.6 x 14.2 x 16.5 inches 8 pre-programmed coffee recipes Super-automatic	$$$$$	Check Price
	Gaggia Cadorna Prestige	10.2 x 15 x 15.7 inches 12 pre-programmed coffee recipes Super-automatic	$$$$	Check Price
	Gaggia Anima Prestige	8.7 x 13.4 x 16.9 inches 4 pre-programmed coffee recipes Super-automatic	$$$	Check Price
	Gaggia Brera	10 x 12.4 x 17.5 inches 2 pre-programmed coffee recipes Super-automatic	$$	Check Price
	Gaggia Velsaca Prestige	10.3 x 13.5 x 17 inches 4 pre-programmed coffee recipes Super-automatic machine	$$$	Check Price
	Gaggia Cadorna Milk	10.2 x 15 x 15.7 inches 8 pre-programmed coffee recipes Super-automatic machine	$$$	Check Price

Achilles Gaggia was responsible for the proliferation of espresso machines throughout Italy in the 1950s as his factory churned out well-made and reliable machines for cafes.

That commitment to build quality is still a foundation of the company’s success. Added to this are the high-quality ceramic grinders that are standard on Gaggia automatic espresso machines and you’re on to a winner.

An espresso maker is an investment so choosing a company known for building machines that last is important when buying a machine. And, if there are any issues, Gaggia machines come with a 1-year warranty as standard.

Semi-Automatic or Super-Automatic?

This is a question of how much work you’re willing to put in:

If you’re looking for a fast and easy way to get your coffee then you’ll want a super-automatic espresso machine, also known as a bean-to-cup machine. These machines will take whole coffee beans and turn them into delicious coffee with a few button pushes.

Semi-automatic machines require more work. These are small versions of the ones you see your local barista using. You need to dose, grind, and tamp your ground coffee. Then pull your espresso shot (start and stop the flow of water) by timing/weighing it.

The upside of a semi-automatic is a cheaper machine, though you’ll need to buy a separate grinder and scale for top-notch coffee. You can also get far superior espresso, once you’ve got all your settings nailed.

Luckily, Gaggia offers a number of great machines that fall into both categories. So you’re covered, no matter your preference.

Milk Frother

If you’re looking for a machine to churn out shots of espresso all day for you, do you need a milk frother? Maybe having a manual one is great for when you have guests over? Or would an automatic milk frother be better if you’ll likely want to change things up?

Balance getting the features you need whilst not paying extra for features you won’t use to get the perfect machine.

Your favorite coffee is an important consideration. Whether it’s americano, flat white, or cortado, you want to make sure the machine you buy makes your go-to order. After that, you should consider if you need it to make lots of other things too.

Overall, the Accademia is the best Gaggia espresso machine. But for those on a budget, the Gaggia Carezza Deluxe is excellent.

When it comes to getting the best bang for your buck, the gorgeous Magenta Prestige can’t be beaten for great features at a bargain price. Or, for those looking to be more involved in their espresso-making, the Gaggia Classic Pro is the best semi-automatic Gaggia espresso machine.

Matt Woodburn-Simmonds

Matt's coffee obsession started in 2006 when working as a Barista. A tendency to turn up to work hungover kickstarted his coffee journey which quickly turned into a love affair. As he moved on to work as a Restaurant Manager and Sommelier, the obsession continued to grow. Now, his passion is helping others to enjoy better coffee at home.