Breville Barista Express vs KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder

Both grind into a portafilter, brew with a single coil heater and steam through a manual wand. They differ in control and in size of everything: the Breville Barista Express lets you set brew temperature and uses a 54mm portafilter; the KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder uses the 58mm commercial size, adds a larger filtered tank, a separate hot-water spout and a longer US warranty, and gives you three temperature steps instead of a set temperature.

The short answer

Which one should you buy?

Every row below is resolved from the two catalog records, not from a preference of ours; where the records tie, the row says so.

Where each one stands

We publish a score only for award winners, on the award page that justifies it, so this comparison is decided on what the two machines do rather than on a number. In the words of the two review records: the Breville Barista Express is A capable all-in-one starter with a built-in grinder and 54mm group. Because the grinder is integrated, moving to a separate grinder changes the workflow rather than replacing a standalone component. The KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder is A grinder-in-one 58mm machine with a gauge, a 2.5 litre filtered tank, a separate hot-water spout and a two-year warranty, and milk most testers liked. The dose is timed rather than weighed and the three temperature steps are coarse.

Spec by spec

* Pressure figures are manufacturer-published pump ratings. A pump rating is the pump's maximum, not the pressure at the coffee during a shot, and we have not measured brew pressure on either machine, so the two numbers are shown because the manufacturers publish them, not as comparable measures of extraction. † Marked figures are not confirmed on a manufacturer source for the exact model number listed above; we have left our tracked value in place rather than substitute an unverified one. Plant-milk ratings are our own documented 1–5 scoring, published on each review page.

Portafilter sizes for every machine we cover, with sources, are on our portafilter size chart; footprints are on the dimensions chart.

The price arithmetic

Both machines include their grinder — Built-in grinder: Yes and Yes — so there is no hidden second purchase on either side and the arithmetic is simply the two machine prices.

At live prices the Breville Barista Express costs about $0 more than the KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder. Prices at retail move, and this figure moves with them; what does not move is what the premium buys, which the sections below take row by row from the two records.

Temperature and pressure: what you can control

The Breville Barista Express has PID temperature control that you can adjust, a pressure gauge and a volumetric or manual shot. The KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder has three brew temperature steps that KitchenAid does not translate into degrees, a gauge marked with an ideal range rather than bar, and automatic pre-infusion. Both rate their pumps at 15 bar. If you like to change temperature for light and dark roasts, the Breville Barista Express gives you a number to change; the KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder asks you to pick low, medium or high.

The built-in grinders

The KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder's grinder uses conical stainless burrs, with fifteen settings plus eight finer steps on an inner adjustment, a timed one-shot or two-shot dose, and an anti-static ion generator. Testers found it quiet and convenient but not exceptional, and one found the double-shot dose overfilled the basket, so weigh your doses at first. The Breville Barista Express's grinder is one of the most documented in home espresso; our review covers its settings and limits. In either machine the integrated grinder is the part you would upgrade first.

Living with them

The KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder is the larger machine, about a third of a metre wide and nearly forty centimetres tall, with wheels at the back, a 2.5 litre tank with a water filter, and a hot-water spout so Americanos do not go through the wand. The Breville Barista Express is a little narrower. Both make you brew first and steam second. KitchenAid's US warranty on the KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder is two years; check the warranty recorded for the Breville Barista Express in the table above.

Where each one wins

And where each loses — from the same review records:

Reviewed on our published rubric

⭐ Honorable mention

Breville Barista Express

Semi-Automatic · 54 mm portafilter · Built-in grinder · Manual steam

$699.95Live Amazon price · as of 10/24/2026 12:40 AM

A capable all-in-one starter with a built-in grinder and 54mm group. Because the grinder is integrated, moving to a separate grinder changes the workflow rather than replacing a standalone component.

Check price on Amazon →

Reviewed on our published rubric

Reviewed

KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder

Semi-Automatic · 58 mm portafilter · Built-in grinder · Manual steam

$699.95Live Amazon price · as of 10/24/2026 12:41 AM

A grinder-in-one 58mm machine with a gauge, a 2.5 litre filtered tank, a separate hot-water spout and a two-year warranty, and milk most testers liked. The dose is timed rather than weighed and the three temperature steps are coarse.

Check price on Amazon →

Frequently asked questions

Sources for this page: every score, spec, pro and con is rendered from the same two records that produce the Breville Barista Express review and the KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder review; manufacturer figures carry the spec source recorded on each catalog entry (Breville Barista Express: Breville BES870XL product page structured data, read 2026-08-31) (KitchenAid KES6551 with Burr Grinder: KitchenAid KES6551 owner's manual W11556263, product guide W11653923 and the kitchenaid.com KES6551SX page and spec block, read 2026-10-23: 'Thermocoil - Single', Hi/Med/Low brew temperature, 15 bar pump, 58 mm flat-base portafilter, 15 grind settings plus 8 fine steps on the top burr, 2.5 L tank with filter, 1500 W, 33.3 W x 27.9 D x 39.1 H cm, two-year US warranty. Conical stainless burrs per KitchenAid's April 2024 launch copy (HomePage News) and Coffeeness. Weight 10.7 kg per TechRadar (KitchenAid publishes boxed weight only). Hands-on: Tom's Guide, TopTenReviews, Coffeeness (bought), Trusted Reviews, TechRadar, Design Milk, Home Beautiful.). We have not physically tested either machine.

Keep going