Best K-Cup Pods
K-Cup pods ranked from our reviews. Keurig's patent expired in 2012, and everything good about this system follows from it: dozens of roasters compete inside one format, boxes run to a hundred and twenty rather than ten, and the cheapest cup on this site is a K-Cup. It is also the only system here where the capsule can go in your own recycling rather than a mail-back bag, if the lid peels and your local service takes it.
Ranked by our review score, which is worked out from the specifications each maker publishes rather than from opinion, so you can open the arithmetic on any product page. Anything commercial is labelled and sits outside that order, and how we score explains what each criterion measures.
Ranked, and why
scored on what the maker publishes · open a row for the working1
San Francisco Bay OneCUP 100% Colombian7.5- What Is In The Capsule
- 8.0
- Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo
- 6.4
- Recycling & Disposal (home compostable and kerbside recyclable not published)
- 7.0
- System, Range & Availability
- 7.8
- Sourcing & Certification
- 8.4
Weakest link: Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo — 6.4 of 10, carrying 22 of the 87.8 points scored here.
Read review →PricePricing N/A2
Tayst Bold & Brazen Coffee Pods6.9- What Is In The Capsule
- 7.0
- Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo
- 3.6
- Recycling & Disposal (home compostable and kerbside recyclable not published)
- 9.0
- System, Range & Availability
- 9.0
- Sourcing & Certification
- 8.1
Weakest link: Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo — 3.6 of 10, carrying 22 of the 87.8 points scored here.
Read review →PriceFrom $41.653
Tayst Defiantly Decaf Coffee Pods6.9- What Is In The Capsule
- 7.0
- Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo
- 3.6
- Recycling & Disposal (home compostable and kerbside recyclable not published)
- 9.0
- System, Range & Availability
- 9.0
- Sourcing & Certification
- 8.1
Weakest link: Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo — 3.6 of 10, carrying 22 of the 87.8 points scored here.
Read review →PriceFrom $41.654
Tayst Medium & Magnificent Coffee Pods6.9- What Is In The Capsule
- 7.0
- Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo
- 3.6
- Recycling & Disposal (home compostable and kerbside recyclable not published)
- 9.0
- System, Range & Availability
- 9.0
- Sourcing & Certification
- 8.1
Weakest link: Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo — 3.6 of 10, carrying 22 of the 87.8 points scored here.
Read review →PriceFrom $41.655
Death Wish Coffee Dark Roast Death Cups6.6- What Is In The Capsule
- 7.0
- Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo
- 5.0
- Recycling & Disposal (home compostable and kerbside recyclable not published)
- 5.0
- System, Range & Availability
- 7.8
- Sourcing & Certification
- 8.1
Weakest link: Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo — 5.0 of 10, carrying 22 of the 87.8 points scored here.
Read review →PricePricing N/A6
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Breakfast Blend K-Cup Pods6.4- What Is In The Capsule
- 7.0
- Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo
- 5.0
- Recycling & Disposal (home compostable and kerbside recyclable not published)
- 5.0
- System, Range & Availability
- 7.8
- Sourcing & Certification
- 6.6
Weakest link: Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo — 5.0 of 10, carrying 22 of the 87.8 points scored here.
Read review →PricePricing N/A7
Peet's Major Dickason's Blend K-Cup Pods6.2- What Is In The Capsule
- 7.0
- Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo
- 3.6
- Recycling & Disposal (home compostable and kerbside recyclable not published)
- 5.0
- System, Range & Availability
- 7.5
- Sourcing & Certification
- 8.4
Weakest link: Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo — 3.6 of 10, carrying 22 of the 87.8 points scored here.
Read review →PricePricing N/A8
Peet's Decaf House Blend K-Cup Pods6.0- What Is In The Capsule
- 7.0
- Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo
- 3.6
- Recycling & Disposal (home compostable and kerbside recyclable not published)
- 5.0
- System, Range & Availability
- 6.2
- Sourcing & Certification
- 8.4
Weakest link: Cost Per Cup, and Per Kilo — 3.6 of 10, carrying 22 of the 87.8 points scored here.
Read review →PricePricing N/A
K-Cup is the most open of the pod systems. Keurig's patent expired, third parties make capsules freely, and that competition shows up directly in the price: this is the only format in our catalogue where a capsule drops under 70 cents.
Box size decides the price more than the coffee does
The spread here is the widest of any pod family and almost none of it is about quality. San Francisco Bay's OneCUP is about $0.64 a capsule in an 80-count box. Peet's K-Cups are $1.20 a capsule in a ten-count box. Same format, same machine, nearly double the money, and the count on the box explains most of it.
If you drink K-Cups daily, buying the small box is the single most expensive habit available in this category. Check the count before the brand.
The open system is worth something
Because anybody can make a K-Cup, you get options a closed system will not give you. San Francisco Bay sells a plant-based capsule certified commercially compostable by BPI, which is a genuinely different disposal story from aluminium. Death Wish sells a high-caffeine dark roast. Green Mountain, which Keurig owns, sells the mainstream. The range is broad because the barrier to entry is low.
It also means prices fall over time rather than being set by one company, which is the opposite of the Vertuo position.
What K-Cups do not publish
Dose. Almost no K-Cup states how many grams are inside, which makes a price per kilo impossible to calculate for most of the format. That is a real gap and it is why our scoring leans on cost per capsule here rather than cost per kilo - we will not estimate a weight nobody printed.
They also publish no intensity number, which is not a weakness. Nespresso's intensity is a private scale, so its absence removes nothing you could have compared anyway.
What to ignore
"Compatible with Keurig 1.0 and 2.0" as a differentiator. Nearly everything sold today is, and it tells you nothing about the coffee. The 2.0 lockout was resolved years ago.
Common questions
Which K-Cups are the best value?
The large boxes. San Francisco Bay's OneCUP is around $0.64 a capsule in an 80-count box, against $1.20 for a ten-count box of Peet's. The count on the box explains most of the price difference in this format.
Are there compostable K-Cups?
Yes. San Francisco Bay's OneCUP is plant-based and certified commercially compostable by BPI, which means an industrial facility rather than a garden compost heap. It is one of the advantages of K-Cup being an open system.
How much coffee is in a K-Cup?
Almost no K-Cup states it, which is why a price per kilo cannot be worked out for most of the format. We score K-Cups on cost per capsule rather than estimating a dose nobody published.
Do all K-Cups work in every Keurig?
In practice yes for machines sold today. The Keurig 2.0 lockout that blocked third-party capsules was resolved years ago, so compatibility claims on the box are rarely a real differentiator.
Why do K-Cups not have an intensity number?
Because intensity is Nespresso's own private scale rather than an industry measure. Its absence on a K-Cup removes nothing you could have compared against another brand anyway.