Introduction
Nowadays, it is quite easy to make ourselves some coffee without having to lift a finger. Figuratively, of course: you still have to press at least one button!
With so many coffee makers out there, we thought it would be nice to have an easy-to-read article that would highlight some of the best ones out there.
In this article, we’ll be focusing on coffee makers under $100- because, really, a coffee maker doesn’t need to be super expensive. And there are quite a lot of inexpensive coffee makers out there that make great coffee. You just have to know where to look.
And that’s where we come in! We’ve gone through hundreds of these and with the combined powers of our experience and knowledge when it comes to this stuff. We bring you a list of the ten best coffee makers under $100 along with a short review and a handy summary of their features and specs.
Ten Best Coffee Makers under $100
Black+Decker CM1160B-1 CM1160B 12-Cup Programmable Coffee Maker, Black/Stainless Steel
Black+Decker coffee makers are great. They always sport good-looking designs that are still neutral enough to fit in your home or office– depending on where you drink your coffee. This coffee maker does exactly that, with a matte/transparent combo that looks rather good and modern.
The control buttons are big and easy to use. They also have a rubberized feel that makes them even easier and more pleasant to use and more resistant to wear and tear and to getting dirty.
All in all, this is one of the best ones you can buy for its price (under $30!)
- Capacity: 12 cups
- Digital controls with rubberized feel
- Sneak-a-cup feature
- 2-hour auto shutoff
- Keep Hot carafe plate
Hamilton Beach 2-Way Brewer Coffee Maker, Single-Serve and 12-Cup Pot, Stainless Steel (49980A), Carafe
Similar in capacity to the previous one, yet going in a whole different direction. This is a chunky, not-so-slick coffee maker that instead aims for practicality. You may not get the same flashy looks, but you get a more easy-to-operate machine. It’s also built with harder materials, so it’s more durable.
We also have a feature that’s quite rare- a dual brewer that can brew both a full carafe or a single portion. It’s got two different nozzles, each for one of the options. You can stick a cup or mug in the single portion slot or even a travel mug. It comes in quite handy, and it’s unique as far as drip coffee machines go.
- Capacity: 12 cups
- Brew 2 ways: single-serve or full pot
- Fully programmable
- Adjustable
- Smart features
Keurig K-Slim Coffee Maker, Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Brewer, 8 to 12Oz. Brew Sizes, Black
Changing the game. This is a Keurig- maybe the Keurig. This brand started as a rival for Nespresso, and in general, tries to be as convenient as possible. The goal with single-serve coffee makers is to be as small as possible and as easy to use as possible. If they could make them smaller and with no buttons, they would.
But the closest thing we have to that is the K-slim. It is unbelievably small, and it only has 6 buttons- though it feels like it’s only one big button divided into smaller parts.
It doesn’t have a lot of features, but it makes a great espresso, and it’s super compact.
- Capacity: 4 cups
- Fits anywhere
- Multiple cup water reservoir
- 3 cup sizes: 8, 10 or 12oz
- Single-serve
Cuisinart DCC-3200P1 Perfectemp Coffee Maker, 14 Cup Programmable with Glass Carafe, Stainless Steel
Cuisinart makes the most trustworthy, standard appliances we can think of. This coffee maker is no different: pretty standard when it comes to the design. It’s actually quite comforting to look at it’s got a lot of space upstairs for the buttons and display, though this makes the bottom half look a little cramped.
As to the coffee, it’s not bad, although not the best one we’ve ever had. The Perfectemp does let you play around a little bit with the settings, so it’s accommodating in that sense. If you don’t find the coffee to your liking, there’s still a couple of ways to fix it… which is more than most machines in this price range give you.
- Capacity: 14 cups
- Control panel: 24-hour programmability, self-clean, 1-4 cup setting and auto shutoff (0-4 hours)
- Reusable filter
Ninja CE251 Programmable Brewer, with 12-cup Glass Carafe, Black and Stainless Steel Finish
Ninja makes great coffee-related products and this line of coffee makers, in particular, is just superb. This is the first in the line- for starters, the design is really cool and sets it apart from any other drip coffee machine you’ve ever seen.
The buttons and interface, in general, are great and super easy to navigate. It doesn’t feel lazy – as we see in so many other coffee makers, it doesn’t feel cramped even though it takes up so little space. We got several brewing options: batch, classic, and rich.
Possibly the best option on the list, yet the priciest one.
- Capacity: 12 cups
- Hotter brewing technology
- Programmable
- Adjustable warming plate
- 60oz removable water reservoir
Keurig K-Mini Coffee Maker, Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Brewer, 6 to 12 Oz. Brew Sizes, Black
The K-mini is made to be even smaller than the K-slim. In practice, it’s exactly the same, so there’s not really a lot we can tell you. However, the one thing is that you don’t get any buttons other than the “brew” one. This is on hand great cause it lets you have a smaller and much more minimalist machine, but it takes away some options.
- Fits anywhere
- Single-serve
- Energy efficient
- Brews: any cup size between 6-12oz
Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Trio Coffee Maker, 2-Way Single Serve & Full 12c Pot Compatible with K-Cup Pods or Grounds, Combo, Black (49976)
The FlexBrew is something of a chimera. On one side, you’ve got a drip coffee maker that normally works with its cone filter and ground coffee- also a slot for the carafe.
On the right side, however, we see something that quite honestly looks like a soda machine. Here, though, we have the option to use both coffee capsules or coffee grounds.
The idea is that the first side is mostly used for brewing batches of coffee- it’s slower and makes more coffee. However, the single-serve side is smaller and makes coffee super-fast whether you’re using a coffee capsule or using your own coffee grounds.
This is the first time we’ve seen a machine that has two different brewers that can both use ground coffee. It’s strange yet convenient. We definitely love that part.
- Capacity: 12 cups
- 3-ways to brew
- Single-cup coffee maker
- Easy-Touch
- 2 separate easy-fill water reservoirs
SHARDOR Coffee Maker, Touch-Screen 10-cup Programmable with glass carafe, Stainless Steel
This SHARDOR coffee maker is actually very cool. We talked before when talking about Cuisinart, about their “standard” design. You know: they are sort of rectangular, round edges, silver finish- you get the idea. Instead of trying to go for something else entirely, what they’ve done here is to take that idea and completely revamp it.
The result is… great. We just like it too much. You get a standard(ish) design that looks actually quite tasteful. The best example of this is the digital display which looks super elegant, it’s easy to read and to use, and is easily one of the best displays we’ve seen so far. It’s big, too, compared to most others.
Besides this, the SHARDOR is a great drip-coffee machine with a low-medium price even though it offers features and quality above this price range. It’s a bargain.
- Capacity: 10 cups
- Smart Touchscreen
- Full Programmability
- Warming pad
- Easy to clean
- Anti-drip function
Hamilton Beach (47950) Coffee Maker with 12 Cup Capacity & Internal Storage Coffee Pot, Brewstation, Black/Stainless Steel
Back again with Hamilton Beach, this time with a very different concept. This is a drip coffee machine- except it tries very hard not to replicate the usual flaws and inconveniences of one.
For one, the Brewstation completely eliminates the carafe. This allows us to narrow the space where the drip tray is and, therefore, make a much smaller machine. There’s more balance this way.
Another good thing this design has is that the water tank is at the side instead of being at the back of the coffee maker- this is another thing that makes it much smaller, enabling it to fit in many more cramped spaces than a regular drip coffee maker would. And because we took away the carafe space, it still doesn’t feel wide.
In general, a great machine for drip coffee lovers that aren’t big fans of carafes and would like to economize when it comes to kitchen space.
- Capacity: 12 cups
- Removable water reservoir
- No carafe
- No hot plate
- Internal heater
BLACK+DECKER 12-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker, Black/Silver, CM2035B
And the last one, quite ironically, ends with a standard drip coffee maker. At least that’s what it seems like at first glance: this is actually quite the juggernaut. The carafe, in particular, is of the highest quality- it’s a thermal carafe that can cup coffee hot for hours. It also preserves aroma and flavor in a way that’s usually expected of very high-price equipment.
In all other respects, this coffee maker is pretty standard, although it does fall short when it comes to customizability and, in some cases, even coffee flavor. Still, we think it more than makes up for its shortcomings with its absolutely amazing carafe. Price is also very attractive.
- Capacity: 12 cups
- QuickTouch Programming
- Thermal Carafe
- Evenstream showerhead
- Auto brew and auto-shutoff
Conclusion
There are tons of coffee makers out there- and here, we’ve narrowed them down to just ten. Ten coffee makers under $100… and yet it will probably seem a little overwhelming. Our advice? Go with your gut feeling. Don’t spend too much time going over specs and driving yourself crazy comparing machine by machine.
If our experience has taught us anything, is that first impressions are usually correct when it comes to coffee makers. If you see one that you really like, the chances are that’s the right one for you. Go for it!
