Espresso machines with a built-in grinder

A machine with a grinder in it does the whole job from beans to cup. That is genuinely convenient, it is usually cheaper than buying the two separately at the same quality, and it takes up one footprint instead of two. The trade is that you have bought a pair, and pairs age together.

The built-in grinder is usually the cheaper half

Look at the price of the whole machine and then at what a standalone grinder of similar quality would cost. On most combined machines the grinder inside is not the equal of the brewing side, because the visible specifications are on the brewing side and that is where makers spend. It is not a scandal, it is where the cost went, and it is the reason a serious espresso setup usually separates the two.

You lose the upgrade path

The grinder is the component that most improves a shot, so it is the one people replace first. With a combined machine you cannot: replacing the grinder means replacing the machine. If you expect your interest to grow, a modest machine plus a grinder that can do espresso leaves you somewhere to go.

Bean-to-cup and grinder-equipped espresso are not the same thing

Two different products sit in this list. A bean-to-cup machine grinds, doses, tamps and brews at a button press, and you do not touch the coffee. A grinder-equipped espresso machine grinds into a portafilter that you still tamp and lock in yourself. The first is an appliance, the second is a tool, and somebody who wants to learn espresso will find the first frustrating and somebody who wants coffee at 7am will find the second tiring.

Ask what happens in year three

The question nobody puts on the box is whether the brew group comes out to be rinsed. On a machine that grinds and brews internally, that decides whether cleaning is a rinse or a service bill. Machines with a removable brew group is the same catalogue filtered on exactly that.