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Will it fit under my cabinets? Espresso clearance checker

Measure from the countertop to the underside of the upper cabinet at the front edge, where the machine will sit. Enter it below to see which machines from our guide fit, and which you could refill without dragging them out.

1 Your gap
Units
2 How will you refill the water?
Assumptions (tap to edit)
  • Breathing room, 1 in: our assumption, so the machine slides in and out without scraping and steam isn't trapped against the cabinet. Pull it forward while steaming milk either way.
  • Top-fill lift room, 4 in: the low end of the 4-6 in coffee retailers commonly suggest above a top-loading tank (Clive Coffee). Use 6 if you pour from a tall jug.
  • Tank direction not confirmed: when our sources don't say which way a tank comes out, we assume it needs the same lift room as a top-fill tank, so the result errs on the safe side.
  • Portafilter and cups: the portafilter locks in from the front under the group head, and the cup space is inside the machine's listed height, so neither needs extra headroom. A cup warmer on top does, if you plan to use it.
  • Heights: manufacturer or published figures from our guide. Where sources give a range, we check the taller number.

Machine heights this checker uses (4, from our guide)
MachineHeightRefill
Breville Bambino Plus (BES500)12.2 inRear tank: 1.9 L tank lifts off the back, so you can refill with the machine pushed most of the way in
De'Longhi Dedica Arte (EC885M)12 inNot confirmed: 35 oz tank is removable; our sources don't confirm which way it comes out
De'Longhi Stilosa (EC260BK)11.2 inNot confirmed: Our sources don't confirm which way the tank comes out
Gaggia Classic Evo Pro (RI9380/46)14.2-15 inTop-fill: 2.1 L reservoir fills from a lid on top

Measure twice: cabinets are often not level, and listed heights can differ slightly between production runs. None of these machines has a built-in grinder, so check your grinder's hopper height against the same gap.

Height is only half the measurement

A machine that technically slides under your cabinets can still be a daily chore if its water tank only opens from the top, because you end up pulling a hot, heavy machine forward to refill it. That's why this checker asks how you want to refill and adds lift room for top-fill tanks. If the numbers are close, a machine with a tank that comes off the back is the safer choice.

Guides that use this checker