The Best Coffee Grinder for Every Budget and Skill Level

You found the best coffee maker and have it proudly displayed on your counter. You’ve got your filtered water, coffee filters, and your favorite mug. You’ve got the best whole beans after promising your barista that you’re ready to swear off pre-ground. You’re ready to make yourself a cup of really, really good coffee.

Only one thing left to buy: the best coffee grinder. We’ve got you covered with this list of the top five grinders for home use. We’ll jump right into the list first and follow it up with a breakdown of the different types of grinders if you need some help separating your burrs from your blades.

5 Best Coffee Grinders

Anyone and everyone can benefit from freshly grinding their beans before they make their coffee. While pre-ground beans can get stale and lose flavor, grinding your beans right before you brew will lead to fantastic results — and it’s really not that hard.

Here are our top picks for home coffee grinders that work for a variety of brewing methods and skill levels — one of them even automates the whole process for you!

1. Baratza Encore Coffee Grinder

Best overall

Source: Amazon

• Price: $135
• Type: Automatic conical burr
• Good for: Drip and manual brewing methods

Our favorite coffee grinder for almost any home barista is the award-winning Baratza Encore Coffee Grinder. The entry-level machine boasts 40 grind settings — more than any others at its price point — and will work for almost any brewing method. While it shines when used for drip coffee makers and manual brewing methods like AeroPress, French press, and Chemex, it has a setting for espresso machines too.

You’ll get an even grind size every time with this machine, whether you want a coarse grind for your cold brew or a powder-like fine grind for your latte.

We love that the Baratza doesn’t take up a ton of counter space and is easy to clean. Replacement parts also are easy to find if something breaks.

The only cons to speak of are that it has to be started and stopped manually with an on/off switch. There isn’t a timer like the higher-end Baratza Virtuoso+ model. But if you measure your beans ahead of time, you won’t really need to set your grind time anyway. And with the same motor on both models, we’d go with the Encore to save some money.

At $135 on Amazon, the Encore isn’t cheap, but it’s what you should expect to spend to get a good automatic burr grinder. You’ve got a choice of black or white so you can match your coffee machine, too.

2. OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

Most budget-friendly

Source: Amazon

• Price: $80
• Type: Automatic conical burr
• Good for: Drip, French press, Aeropress

The OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder is a popular lower-budget pick that still has plenty of settings to play with. This straightforward machine has 15 grind settings that coffee beginners can easily understand, from an ultra-fine espresso grind to a coarser French press grind. It doesn’t get too technical with the settings, so entry-level home coffee makers are welcome.

If you’re nervous to invest a lot of money into a new tool, the OXO fits into most budgets at $80. If you go much lower in price, you’ll be stuck with a grinder that won’t last you long or will give you inconsistent, uneven coffee grinds. The OXO Brew will give you excellent grind consistency, which translates to a better-tasting cup of coffee.

The OXO Brew has a low impact on your countertop space and comes in a sleek silver-and-black design. It is pretty tall at 16 inches, so make sure to measure your space first. You need room to remove the lid and pour the beans in, so you’ll need some extra vertical clearance.

3. Breville Smart Grinder Pro

Most versatile

Source: Amazon

• Price: $199
• Type: Automatic conical burr grinder
• Good for: French press, drip coffee maker, espresso, Moka pot

The Breville Smart Grinder Pro can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. With a digital screen and 60 grind settings, this is one of the best coffee grinders for those who want a highly customizable yet error-proof machine.

The LCD screen displays three settings: grind time, shots/cups, and grind size. They can adjust automatically and take the guesswork out of your cup of joe, which many beginners appreciate.

If you want to dial things in yourself, the grind time can be adjusted in 0.2-second increments. The screen will also display the number of shots you’re about to pull or cups you’re about to brew, so however your brain works when you make coffee, this machine can work with it. The grounds container even has markings for the amount of coffee you need for different brew methods: French press, drip, or espresso. It’s hard to mess up with this machine guiding you along each step.

For grind size, you’ll see a scale from “coarser” to “finer” marked with clear terms along the way: press, percolator, drip, and espresso. Speaking of espresso, you can swap out the airtight grounds container for a portafilter (the part of an espresso machine that holds the grounds), so it doubles as an espresso grinder.

The high-quality, stylish machine even comes in 10 colors, from brushed stainless steel to cranberry red to champagne.

With such a detail-oriented machine, some people think the Breville is too customizable. While it’s user-friendly, many reviewers found it to be too much and preferred simpler grinders.

4. Bodum Bistro Premium Electric

Most beginner-friendly

Source: Amazon

• Price: $99
• Type: Automatic conical burr
• Good for: Drip coffee machine, pour-overs, cold brew

The Bodum Bistro Premium Electric grinder is our favorite low-cost grinder for newbies. It’s low-profile, attractive, and has a few color options like white and red in addition to basic black.

The 12 settings are easy to understand, with a French press icon on one end and an espresso portafilter icon on the other side. After you set the timer anywhere from 5 seconds to 20 seconds, you simply press a button to grind beans. They filter into an attractive glass container that has a rubber grip for stability.

If you need some help with your process, the hopper lid is topped with a chart that helps you find the perfect grind time based on the type of coffee you’re brewing. While this grinder may not have the intense range of the other machines on this list, people who use the same 2 or 3 brew methods every day will dial in their settings with ease.

Some reviewers mentioned some inconsistent grind results, and others disliked the noise of the machine. But for a low-cost machine that’s super easy to use, this is our favorite for novice coffee makers.

5. Fellow Ode Brew Grinder

Most attractive

Source: Amazon

• Price: $299
• Type: Flat burr grinder
• Good for: Pour overs, drip coffee maker, French press

If you know any baristas, they probably have a Fellow gooseneck kettle in their kitchen. This beloved brand’s grinder has quickly become a cult favorite. The Fellow Ode Brew Grinder is a strikingly beautiful grinder and a chic addition to your countertop. It comes in black or white and is distinctly more streamlined and minimalistic than the other grinders on the market, with a giant knob on the front for setting the 31 grind sizes.

This high-end burr grinder is more expensive partly due to being a flat burr grinder (as opposed to a conical burr) and partly due to its beloved brand name.

The flat burrs in the Ode translate to a brighter drink — perfect for French press coffee, V60, or Chemex. It likely won’t produce a full-bodied cup of coffee, so skip this if you mainly want hearty dark roasts and rich cold brew. It also doesn’t have a super-fine setting, so this isn’t the best espresso option on our list.

Reviewers adore how fast and shockingly quiet this grinder is. The built-in grinds knocker clears out straggling ground coffee, which will save you from banging on the side of your machine to get every last bit out. If you’re someone who will spend a bit more for a look you enjoy, you’ll eagerly await this package and proudly add the Ode to your coffee station.

Types of Coffee Grinders

As you do your shopping for the best coffee grinder, make sure you understand the types of grinders out there. There are two categories home brewers look at: blade vs. burr and manual vs. automatic.

Burr Grinder vs. Blade grinder

A blade grinder is a propeller-like grinder that cuts through the beans in a chamber. You can stop or start the grinder to control how fine you want your beans. It leaves you with a less consistent grind, but beginner coffee drinkers might not notice the difference in their cup of joe. It’s a cheaper and often simpler grinder.

A burr grinder is what most home coffee enthusiasts go for. It uses pressure to grind the beans using oscillating stainless steel or ceramic serrated plates. It has more reliable grind consistency and allows you to precisely control the settings. You pour the beans into a hopper and set your desired grind size. The machine will spit the beans into a separate removable grounds container once they’re the right particle size. It’ll be a higher price point, but it’ll provide better results.

Then within the burr world, there’s also a flat burr or conical burr coffee grinder:

• Conical burr grinders crush coffee beans between two rings of burrs. You’ll get a very consistent grind and a less expensive machine than a flat burr grinder.
• Flat burr grinders have burrs laid atop each other to do the grinding. The result is even more consistent, but most people will get amazing results from their less-expensive conical counterparts.

Manual Grinder vs. Automatic Grinder

You also have a choice between a hand grinder (aka manual grinder) or an electric grinder (aka automatic grinder). 

A manual coffee grinder is where you crank the grinder to make it work — no electricity is required. This is great for travel or camping, but it can really take a toll on your hands. But some coffee lovers swear by it — it’s a burr grinder, so it does produce excellent results, slow as they may be. The best manual coffee grinders will be comfortable to hold, have sturdy parts, and be easy to clean.

Automatic grinders are electric and can be burr or blade grinders. They do all the work for you — just plug it in, adjust any settings, and watch your beans grind before your eyes. The grinders on our list are all automatic.

Rise and Grind

There’s nothing quite as exciting for the caffeine-obsessed as opening up a new grinder. It’s the vital workhorse of a coffee setup and lays the perfect foundation for your steaming mug or an ice-cold glass of coffee. To get some help with the next steps, check out our guide to 14 coffee brewing methods.