Best Drip Coffee Makers of 2026, Tested by Experts
Consumer Reports’ engineers evaluated more than 100 drip-style coffee makers to find the best for your daily brew
When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.
It’s hard to beat the convenience of a drip coffee maker. A good one will brew coffee at an optimal temperature to extract the best flavor from the grounds, keep the coffee hot, and not make a mess on your counter. It should also be intuitive to operate and easy to clean.
To find out which ones perform best, Consumer Reports has rigorously tested more than 150 coffee makers (including more than 100 drip machines) across a wide price range. Some models our engineers tested include extra features that can increase the cost, but which you might not need.
“In general, for a higher price, you can get add-ons like a water filter, clean cycle, clean indicator, permanent filter, or thermal carafe,” says CR test engineer Ginny Lui.
Read on for the top-performing coffee makers from our tests, listed in alphabetical order and grouped by type. For more options, check out CR’s comprehensive drip coffee maker ratings. And if you’re looking for a different type of coffee maker, check out our complete coffee maker ratings, which also include single-serve coffee makers, dual coffee-makers, cold-brew coffee makers, and more. Not sure which to choose? See our coffee maker buying guide for smart shopping tips.
Traditional Drip Coffee Makers
With traditional drip coffee machines, you fill a chamber with water, put coffee into a filter basket, and flip a switch to heat the water and run it through the grounds and into a carafe.
The Bunn HB Heat N Brew Programmable receives strong marks across the board in our performance tests. But it’s a bit bare-bones. While it features auto shutoff, a cleaning indicator, and programmability, it lacks essential options such as a brew-strength selector or a small-batch setting, despite its relatively high price. Still, you’re likely to love this machine. Bunn drip coffee makers have earned an excellent reputation for owner satisfaction and are more reliable than most, according to data from our latest member surveys.
You can expect a great-tasting cup of coffee from the Calphalon 14 Cup Programmable as well. Its excellent brew performance score indicates that the machine brews coffee between 195° F and 205° F for 5 to 6 minutes, which is ideal for optimal taste. It also receives an excellent score for ease of use. Our testers found this coffee maker easy to clean, and the carafe poured easily without dribbles or drips, down to the last drop. This machine comes with a permanent cone-type filter.
Cuisinart makes several top-performing drip coffee makers in Consumer Reports’ ratings, including the currently available Cuisinart PerfecTemp 14 Cup Programmable DCC-3200 and similar Cuisinart PerfecTemp DCC-3200CP. You can expect excellent brew performance for the best-tasting coffee from these machines. They’re simple to clean and convenient to use, and the carafes are easy to hold and pour from. Each of these models brews 14 cups. As a brand, Cuisinart earns an excellent score for owner satisfaction in CR’s member surveys, indicating that owners of these drip coffee makers are likely to recommend their models to friends and family.
The Haden 14-Cup Programmable coffee maker is striking to look at, with your choice of copper or chrome flourishes. But even more impressive is its excellent brewing performance, which delivers the best-tasting coffee from your beans. It makes a full pot in about 9 minutes, and the included carafe is easy to handle and pour from, with no dribbling or dripping. Plus, we found it easier to clean than many other machines in our ratings.
The Hamilton Beach 12-cup Programmable 49465R is one of the least expensive drip coffee makers in CR’s tests, and it’s CR Recommended, indicating it meets our highest standards. It’s easy to use and to clean, and programmable, meaning you can set it to brew before you even get out of bed. It also demonstrates excellent brew performance (based on the Specialty Coffee Association’s brew temperature guidelines), meaning you can expect great-tasting coffee.
Grind-and-Brew Drip Coffee Makers
Grind-and-brew drip coffee makers do exactly as the name says: They grind whole coffee beans before brewing, ensuring the freshest cup of coffee.
The Cuisinart Next-Generation Burr Grind & Brew 12-cup DGB-800 earns a near-the-top score for brew performance and a top score for owner satisfaction in our member surveys. It features a stainless steel finish, a permanent cupcake-type filter, a water filter, auto-shutoff, programmability, and brew-strength control. It isn’t the most intuitive to use, but its carafe is easy to handle even when it’s full. Its bean hopper holds half a pound of coffee beans.
The Melitta Aroma Fresh Plus 10-Cup earns a very good score for brew performance (meaning it hits the temperature required for optimal flavor), and delivers a pot in about 11 minutes. Our lab testers found it very easy to set up and operate, plus its design makes cleanup a cinch. This machine’s carafe was also easy to hold, pour from, and empty. This model features auto-shutoff and an indicator to notify you when cleaning is necessary.
Self-Serve Drip Coffeemakers
Instead of brewing coffee into a carafe, a self-serve drip coffee maker brews coffee that’s kept hot in a reservoir inside the machine. That means there’s no need to lift a carafe every time you want a cup. Instead, you dispense it with the push of a button.
The Cuisinart Coffee on Demand DCC-3000 excelled in our brew performance test, maintaining an optimal brewing temperature for the best coffee concentration. It receives a very good score for ease of use, meaning it’s fairly easy to fill the removable reservoir, install the coffee filter, and gauge how much coffee’s left. Our testers also found it very easy to clean.
How CR Tests Drip Coffee Makers
In CR’s lab, each drip coffee maker we rate brews roughly 65 cups by the time our engineers are through with it. Our brew-performance tests measure brew temperature and contact time—how long water remains within the optimal flavor-extraction range of 195° F to 205° F. We determine concentration using a refractometer, a device that measures the amount of coffee dissolved in each brew.
Our convenience tests look at how easy it is to set timers, fill the reservoir, clean the machine, and more. We also incorporate data for predicted reliability and owner satisfaction using survey results collected from thousands of CR members.
BEST TIME TO BUY:
