Buying a Nespresso machine on a plan: Is it worth it?

Okay, let’s wind back. If you’re not familiar with George Clooney sipping coffee wistfully in some beautiful apartment - aka every Nespresso ad of late - Nespresso machines use little pods of coffee in a small machine to make your favourite hot drinks. There’s mini machines that take up hardly any bench space, to advanced devices that come with their own in-built milk frother. Some Nespresso machines take the intelligent Nespresso Vertuo pods exclusively, while others are a classic pod design, so you can bung in some cheaper alternatives and save some dosh.

On paper, the Nespresso Plus subscription plans look like a great deal - especially when they throw in things like a free month included. But will you actually save money compared to buying the machine and pods outright?

A quick look at the Nespresso website tells us that for their Espresso range of Vertuo pods, you’ll part with $8.60 for a sleeve of ten pods, so that’s going to be our yard stick for the Vertuo machines. 

For their Original Collection pods, they’ll set you back $8.20 for a sleeve of ten pods.

We’ll compare the cost of purchasing the pods outright with how many are included in the Nespresso subscriptions, which can differ between machines and plans.

We’ll also compare them to a sleeve of Nespresso compatible pods from Woolworths, which retail at $3.55 for a sleeve of ten pods.

Well, look at that! When it comes to Nespresso Plus plans that use the Vertuo pods, our examples show that you’re better off getting it on the plan than buying the machine and pods outright. This is helped by the fact that there’s a decent savings on the machine, and you can’t opt to use the cheaper pods, as Vertuo machines use the Vertuo pods exclusively. 

However, getting the Lattissima One machine and pods outright was more cost effective over the 12 months - even more so if you opt to buy the cheaper sleeves of pods from Woolworths.

That is of course, assuming you need all the pods included in the subscription. If you’re only drinking a few cups of coffee, here’s how much you’d save on the Vertuo Pop and Aeroccino3.

If you’re going to drink less than 40 cups of coffee per month, you’re better off buying the Vertuo Pop and Aeroccino3 and pods separately. If you need more than 40, then the subscription is better.

It’s also worth noting that the Nespresso Plans require a 12 month minimum commitment, so if you’re only wanting pods every so often, then buying them outright would also put you on top.