Coffee Maker vs Coffee Shop: 5-Year Cost Calculator 2026

How coffee maker vs coffee shop cost is worked out

A coffee maker and a coffee shop are priced on the same cups, so the price of each cup is the only running difference. The home total is the maker price once plus the home cost a cup times the cups a day times the days a year times the years, and the shop total is the shop price a cup times the same cups. The winner is the smaller total, and the gap a year is the gap over the whole horizon divided by the years.

At the defaults — maker $100, home $0.45 a cup, shop $4.50 a cup, 2 cups a day, 365 days a year, 5 years — that is 2 × 365 × 5 = 3,650 cups in all. Brewing them at home costs 3,650 × $0.45 = $1,642.50, plus $100 for the maker, for a home total of $1,742.50. Buying them at the shop costs 3,650 × $4.50 = $16,425.00. Home wins by $16,425.00 − $1,742.50 = $14,682.50. A year costs $348.50 at home against $3,285.00 at the shop, so home saves $2,936.50 a year.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: maker $100, home $0.45 a cup, shop $4.50 a cup, 2 cups a day, 365 days a year, 5 years.

Line 1 — the cups. 2 × 365 × 5 = 3,650 cups in all.

Line 2 — the home brewing cost. 3,650 × $0.45 = $1,642.50 of beans, filters and water.

Line 3 — the home total. $100 for the maker + $1,642.50 of brewing = $1,742.50.

Line 4 — the shop total. 3,650 × $4.50 = $16,425.00.

Line 5 — the winner. $16,425.00 − $1,742.50 = $14,682.50 to home. A year costs $348.50 at home against $3,285.00 at the shop.

Every branch, checked

1 cup/day: 1 × 365 × 5 = 1,825 cups. Home is $100 + 1,825 × $0.45 = $921.25, and the shop is 1,825 × $4.50 = $8,212.50. Home wins by $7,291.25. Half the cups still leaves home far ahead, because the shop charges ten times the home price a cup.

4 cups/day: 4 × 365 × 5 = 7,300 cups. Home is $100 + 7,300 × $0.45 = $3,385.00, and the shop is 7,300 × $4.50 = $32,850.00. Home wins by $29,465.00. More cups widens the gap, because every extra cup costs $0.45 at home and $4.50 at the shop.

Shop $6.00 a cup: the shop is 3,650 × $6.00 = $21,900.00, while home stays $1,742.50. Home wins by $20,157.50. A dearer shop is home’s best case: every cup costs $5.55 more out than in.

Home $0.80 a cup: home is $100 + 3,650 × $0.80 = $3,020.00, while the shop stays $16,425.00. Home wins by $13,405.00. Even pricey beans leave home far ahead, because $0.80 a cup is still less than a fifth of the shop price.

Maker $300: home is $300 + $1,642.50 = $1,942.50, while the shop stays $16,425.00. Home wins by $14,482.50. A maker three times the price only costs $200 more over 5 years — the maker is a small part of the home total.

Weekdays only, 260 days a year: 2 × 260 × 5 = 2,600 cups. Home is $100 + 2,600 × $0.45 = $1,270.00, and the shop is 2,600 × $4.50 = $11,700.00. Home wins by $10,430.00. Skipping weekends cuts the gap by a third, because fewer cups means fewer $4.05 savings a cup.

1-year horizon: 2 × 365 × 1 = 730 cups. Home is $100 + 730 × $0.45 = $428.50, and the shop is 730 × $4.50 = $3,285.00. Home wins by $2,856.50. Even in the first year the maker pays for itself many times over, because the first year already saves $2,956.50 on cups against a $100 maker.

10-year horizon: 2 × 365 × 10 = 7,300 cups. Home is $100 + 7,300 × $0.45 = $3,385.00, and the shop is 7,300 × $4.50 = $32,850.00. Home wins by $29,465.00. A longer horizon doubles the gap, because the maker is paid once and the cup savings run every year.

Flip — shop $0.45 a cup: the shop is 3,650 × $0.45 = $1,642.50, while home stays $1,742.50. The shop wins by $100.00. When the shop charges the same a cup as home brewing, the $100 maker is the whole difference — and the shop wins by exactly the maker price.

Shop $0.50 a cup: the shop is 3,650 × $0.50 = $1,825.00, while home stays $1,742.50. Home wins by $82.50. Five cents a cup over the home price is enough to flip it back, because 3,650 cups times $0.05 is $182.50, which covers the $100 maker and leaves $82.50.

Reverse — the break-evens: the shop price breaks even at about $0.48 a cup (exactly $0.4774 a cup): below that price the shop wins, above it home wins. The home cost breaks even at about $4.47 a cup (exactly $4.4726 a cup): above that cost the shop wins, below it home wins. The maker price breaks even at $14,782.50: at that maker price the two totals tie at $16,425.00, so any maker cheaper than that still leaves home ahead.

What the defaults assume

The model assumes you drink the same cups at home and at the shop, so the price a cup is the only running difference, and it assumes the prices stay flat for the whole horizon, with no price rises. It assumes the maker lasts the whole horizon and costs nothing to run beyond the $0.45 a cup for beans, filters and water, and it leaves out the electricity, the milk and sugar, the time spent brewing, the time spent queuing, and the pleasure of the café itself, which are real but not priced here. Rounding convention: money is rounded to cents, cups are whole numbers, and all figures are computed from unrounded values, rounded only for display.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• The daily café regular: they learn brewing at home costs $1,742.50 over 5 years against $16,425.00 at the shop — so they know home saves $14,682.50, and they check the 1 cup/day case at $921.25 before cutting back.
• The one-cup-a-day drinker: they learn home costs $921.25 against $8,212.50 at the shop — so they know even one cup a day saves $7,291.25, and they check the weekdays-only case at $1,270.00 before deciding how often to brew.
• The weekday-only buyer: they learn weekdays-only home costs $1,270.00 against $11,700.00 at the shop — so they know home still saves $10,430.00, and they check the $0.48 a cup break-even before trusting a cheap shop.
• The fancy-machine shopper: they learn a $300 maker still leaves home at $1,942.50 — so they know the dearer maker only costs $200 more over 5 years, and they check the $14,782.50 break-even maker price before worrying about the price tag.

Accuracy & limitations

The math is exact for the numbers you enter: the home total is the maker price plus the home cost a cup times the cups a day times the days a year times the years, the shop total is the shop price a cup times the same cups, and the winner is the smaller total. What the model cannot do is taste the coffee for you: check the shop price on the menu and the home cost on the bean bag, because a $0.45 shop and a $6.00 shop give opposite answers. It assumes the same cups both ways, flat prices, a maker that lasts the horizon, and no maintenance, electricity, water, milk or sugar costs, and it leaves out the time spent brewing, the time spent queuing, and the café itself. For the brewing itself, see coffee brewing ratio chart; for the wider home-vs-out comparison, see coffee shop vs home coffee.