In short: get a Breville for your home, and a Jura for an office.
The core difference: with a Breville, you load coffee into a portafilter before brewing. With a Jura, a super-automatic, you just press a button. I think Breville wins on almost everything else: espresso, milk, cleaning and value. Jura's one real advantage is that anyone can walk up and use it.
Breville or Jura?
Breville, unless the machine is for an office. Breville machines:
- Make better-tasting espresso
- Steam milk to a more even texture, with more temperature and texture options
- Are quicker to clean day to day
- Cost much less for what you get
If a Jura appeals because you don't want to tamp or steam milk by hand, get the Breville Barista Touch Impress instead. It grinds, helps you tamp with a lever, and steams milk automatically. You just move the portafilter from the grinder to the group and tap the screen.
Breville Barista Touch Impress
Assisted tamping and hands-free milk: espresso-machine quality with near super-automatic convenience.
Jura's advantage is that it is obvious how to use. With beans and water loaded, you press one button for any drink. Even the most automated Breville still needs a few steps (grind, lock in, brew, steam), so first-timers need a quick demo. Usually once is enough, but in a busy office you won't want to train everyone. There, a Jura makes sense, and my pick is the Jura S8: a touchscreen and a good drink range without the top-tier price.
At a Glance
| Breville | Jura | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Portafilter machines (many with grinders and auto milk) | Super-automatic |
| Learning curve | A little steeper at first | Almost none |
| Espresso | Café quality | Strong coffee with crema, not true café espresso |
| Milk | Steam wand, microfoam for latte art | Automatic frother, less even foam |
| Touchscreen | On higher-end models | On higher-end models |
| Price | Good value for what you get | Expensive for what you get |
Workflow and Ease of Use
Juras are easier to walk up to, but Brevilles are quicker once you know how. A portafilter can look like it needs barista training. I always show friends how to use my Barista Pro (see my Barista Pro review), and they're always surprised how easy it is.
A Jura just shows a menu of drinks: tap the one you want.
The surprise comes after the drink. Cleaning up after a Breville means knocking out the puck, wiping the portafilter, and purging and wiping the steam wand. It takes about 10 seconds.
With a Jura, you:
- Run a rinse when you turn it on, and it rinses again when you turn it off (keep an eye on the drip tray, as it fills quickly)
- Clean the milk system regularly, which takes about a minute with a cleaning product
- Empty and rinse the grounds container often, before it starts to smell or go moldy
Over weeks of use, that adds up to more time than grinding into a portafilter.
Winner: Breville (after a short learning curve)
Espresso Quality
Breville makes much better espresso. A Breville can make espresso as good as most coffee shops. If we're being picky, some models struggle with very light roasts, but most people won't notice.
Juras make strong coffee with a head of crema rather than true café-style espresso. It isn't bad, but if you're used to espresso from a good café, or even a chain, you'll likely be disappointed.
Winner: Breville
Milk
Breville steams milk to a better, more even texture, with far more control.
| Breville | Jura | |
|---|---|---|
| Milk system | Steam wand, hands-free on many models | Automatic frother with a milk tube |
| Microfoam for latte art | Yes | No |
| Temperature control | Adjustable on auto-milk models | Limited |
| Texture settings | Several, depending on model | Milk or foam |
| Clean-up | Purge and wipe (~10 s) | Rinse cycle and regular milk-system cleaning |
Brevilles with automatic steam wands, like the Bambino Plus, Barista Touch and Oracle Touch, make it easy: put milk in the jug, place the wand, and press a button. You can still steam manually for more control. Most Brevilles at Jura prices have automatic wands.
Jura's frother draws milk through a tube and foams it on the way out. It can't match a wand's consistency: you end up with some big bubbles and some barely textured milk. Latte art isn't possible.
Winner: Breville
Drinks and Customization
Jura gives you more black coffee options; Breville gives you better milk drinks.
Juras can make a longer "coffee" as well as espresso. Higher-end Brevilles make espresso, ristretto, lungo and Americano. Honestly, a long coffee from any espresso machine is no substitute for a real filter brew. A cheap pour-over cone makes better drip coffee than a $2,000 super-automatic.
Higher-end Brevilles let you set milk texture and temperature, so a cappuccino is light and airy and a latte smooth and silky. Jura's milk drinks share much the same texture and mostly differ in their coffee-to-milk ratio. If you mainly drink milk drinks, get a Breville.
Winner: Breville
Cleaning and Maintenance
Breville is easier. Knocking out a puck is far quicker than removing a drip tray, emptying the grounds container and washing it. Any time a Jura saves you by tamping internally, you spend again cleaning out its grounds.
Longer term, both need descaling or filters and periodic cleaning. But Juras have more internal moving parts, and the brew unit isn't removable, so over time there is more that can need a technician.
Winner: Breville
Price and Value
Breville gives you far more for your money.
- A Breville with a touchscreen and automatic milk (the Barista Touch) costs about the same as an entry-level Jura like the ENA 4, which has no milk system at all.
- The Bambino Plus gives you automatic milk for around $500.
- Breville's flagship, the Oracle Touch, costs about the same as a mid-range Jura E8, yet makes better espresso, gives you far more milk control and has a nicer interface.
Winner: Breville, by a long way
My Picks
Best for Home: Breville Barista Touch Impress
It brings super-automatic convenience to a portafilter machine. Its touchscreen lets you choose a drink, adjust grind size, set milk temperature and texture, and save your favorites.
It grinds into the portafilter and tamps with a lever-assisted system, so you get a level puck without technique. The steam wand is automatic: pour milk into the jug, choose your milk type (it adjusts for plant milks), set temperature and texture, and walk away. It's as easy as a Jura, and once you count clean-up, easier.
Espresso: better than any Jura, and on par with most cafés. Its grinder is the limiting factor; a high-end standalone grinder would be slightly better, but that gap is tiny next to the gap with a Jura.
Milk: hands-free microfoam good enough for latte art, including settings for non-dairy milk. Genuinely impressive.
Value: for the cost of a Touch Impress, a Jura gets you a basic machine. Breville's Oracle Touch costs much more, and its main upgrades are a dual boiler for brewing and steaming at once, and fully automatic tamping. I don't think that's worth it for most people.
For other options, see my best Breville espresso machines, or compare the flagships in Barista Touch vs Oracle Touch.
Best for Offices: Jura S8
One of Jura's more affordable touchscreen models. Anyone can walk up and tap their drink, with no portafilter involved. See my full Jura S8 review.
Workflow: most of the work is the clean-up. Someone has to empty the grounds container (which means removing the drip tray) and run the milk system clean regularly.
Espresso: passable, not great. Better than a Nespresso, but you'll be underwhelmed if you're used to café espresso. At home, those extra few seconds with a portafilter are worth it.
Milk: milk foam or hot milk from an automatic frother, but no true microfoam. Fine for an office.
Value: decent by Jura standards. I'd choose it over the Jura Z10, which costs much more mainly for iced and cold-extracted drinks most people won't use (see Jura S8 vs Z10). Still, it costs much more than the Barista Touch Impress and is worse at everything except first-glance simplicity.
Which One I'd Choose
For home, get a Breville. If you want Jura-like automation, the Breville Barista Touch Impress is the one.
For an office, get a Jura, because anyone can use it without instructions. My pick is the Jura S8.
Comparing more brands? See Jura vs De'Longhi, Breville vs De'Longhi and Jura vs Miele.
FAQs
Is Breville better than Jura?
For home use, yes. Brevilles make better espresso and milk, are quicker to clean and cost less. Jura is better only where many untrained people need to use the machine.
Does Jura make real espresso?
It makes a strong, crema-topped coffee from fresh-ground beans, but it lacks the body and intensity of espresso from a good portafilter machine.
Which Breville is most like a Jura?
The Barista Touch Impress. It grinds, assists with tamping and steams milk automatically, so the workflow is nearly as simple as a super-automatic.
Written by · reviewed by the Cicada Coffee Bar team
Daniel Voss
Lead Equipment Reviewer, Cicada Coffee Bar
Daniel leads the equipment-testing side of Cicada Coffee Bar. Every super-automatic, semi-automatic, and grinder featured on this site is bought or sourced independently, set up on the test bench, and brewed with daily for at least two weeks before a single word is written — tracking espresso quality, milk texture, ease of cleaning, and long-term reliability. Reviews are updated whenever pricing or firmware changes.
