One-minute review

Italian brand Gaggia was founded in 1948 and claims to have invented the espresso process, so it’s a brand you can’t overlook when choosing one of the best espresso machines or indeed one of the best bean-to-cup coffee machines.

The Gaggia Accademia is the newest automatic bean-to-cup machine that the brand is calling its flagship model. It’s a luxury coffee maker that offers an impressive menu of 14 fully customizable coffees as well as several hot water and hot milk functions too.

As a bean-to-cup coffee maker, it grinds whole coffee beans to deliver fresh espresso based coffees. But it can also take pre-ground coffee, which is great news if you like the occasional decaf. It includes a milk wand, in case you want to get involved and play barista, or you can simply hit play and allow it to do all of the work.

The color touch screen makes it incredibly intuitive to use. On test I was impressed by the thick, rich crema on top of the espressos, but the automatic milk frothing left me wanting to do that part myself. 

The range of customizable settings does allow you to perfect your coffee recipe without having to learn barista skills. But you'll need plenty of counter space and a big budget if you want this coffee maker in your life.

Gaggia Accademia review: price and availability

•  List price:  $2499/ £1799/ AU$3399

The Gaggia Accademia is an investment level coffee machine that's the most premium Gaggia currently offers. It’s available from a wide range of independent coffee appliance retailers. In the US you can buy it from wholelattelove.com while in the UK, it’s available from coffee-direct.co.uk or you can get it from Amazon in Australia.

It costs in excess of ten times the price of some coffee machines at the budget end of the scale. And while yes, it does come with a whole host of features, it is difficult to justify the price at a time when a lot of people are struggling with a cost of living crisis. That said, if you have a high disposable income and want a premium do-it-all machine, then it might be worth the price tag.

• Value score: 4/5

Gaggia Accademia review: specifications

Gaggia Accademia review: design and features

• 5 inch touch sensitive color display
• 19 drinks options
• Customizable temperature, volume and, strength

When I removed it from the box, I was struck by the overall size and bulkiness of this coffee maker. At 15.2 x 11.1 x 16.9 in/ 38.5 x 28.2 x 42.8 cm (h x w x d) it demands a large amount of counter space. And the big black boxy design, while streamlined and minimal, is very dominating. I had the black glass mirrored finish for the review but it also comes in a brushed stainless steel option.

The initial setup wasn’t as complicated as I feared it might be. I simply had to insert the drip tray at the front of the machine and push the coffee dispensing spout into position. I followed the directions in the manual to rinse through the machine and also the milk carafe. 

The large color screen will not only alert you to any issues like low water, or a full drip tray, but it displays images to show you how to access the part in question and solve the problem. And these visual instructions are invaluable given how complicated some automatic bean-to-cup machines can be to maintain.  

On top of the coffee maker, there are two flip up lids, one on either side. Under the left one is the water container, it’s removable, or you can leave it in place and fill it through the hole on top. On the right is where the coffee beans go. And in the center there's a cup warmer as well as the compartment for pre-ground coffee.

On the front of the machine there's a removable drip tray at the bottom. Above this is the steam wand for texturing your own milk as well as dispensing hot water. To the right, a magnetic cover removes to reveal the slot where you can attach the milk carafe if you want milk dispensed automatically. 

Because the milk carafe is removable, you can easily pop it into the fridge between coffees. It’s simple to connect to the coffee machine, and the spout rotates to dispense the milk directly into your cup as it sits below the coffee spout. But the spout height isn’t adjustable, so if you’re using shorter cups, it can be a bit splashy.

The coffee dispensing spout is in the center and it’s adjustable to allow for different height cups, but there’s only space for cups up to 2.8 inches/ 7cm - 4.3inches/ 11cm tall. Although to make room for tall cups up to 6.3 inches/ 16cm, it can be removed or pushed back.

A knob on the front of the coffee dispensing spout allows you to adjust the body and crema of the espresso. There are three levels to choose from and apart from the knob above the bean hopper to adjust the grind size, it’s the only adjustment you can make that’s not via the touch screen menu.

The whole front panel of the coffee machine is hinged and opens like a door to reveal a second drip tray and the used coffee container as well as a part called the brew group that needs to be removed periodically for cleaning.

The real star of the show is the large color touch sensitive display. It allows you to easily scroll through the menu choices. Then, within each drink setting, you can adjust the volume, temperature, aroma intensity, pre-infusion setting and froth level if it’s a milky drink. The touch screen and simple icons make it very intuitive to adjust and personalize every drink.

Once you’ve figured out your favorite settings, you can save drinks to one of four profiles, so that you don’t have to adjust the settings every time you make a drink. And you can even set a timer to switch on the cup warmer every morning in advance of you coming to make your coffee.

As with all coffee machines, there’s cleaning and maintenance that needs to take place frequently. And there are automated cleaning functions to take care of some of the tasks. But you’ll still have to remove and manually wash out some of the parts by hand - sadly there’s no getting away from this.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Gaggia Accademia review: performance

• Personalizing drinks is straightforward
• Espresso crema is rich and thick
• Drip tray requires frequent emptying

When first turned on, the coffee machine takes around 55 seconds to heat up and during this process it rinses the coffee spout. Then you can scroll the coffee menu and pick your morning cup of joe. 

The time it takes to dispense any coffee will vary when you start adjusting settings to your preferences. And it took me several coffees to get to a point where I was happy with the flavor, volume, aroma, and milk foam level, so my advice is be patient and be prepared to make a few coffees to test out the various settings. 

Fortunately, the settings for each individual drink are all so easy to adjust via the touch screen, that it’s not a laborious process, in fact, if you’re super into coffee, it’s quite interesting to see the differences a minor adjustment can make. 

The only thing I really struggled with was adjusting the grind size, the knob can only be turned while the machine is grinding beans, so it’s a short window, and I found it really tough to turn, but that may be just the review sample I was sent.

To pour a single espresso on the factory settings, it took 45 - 50 seconds and poured at a temperature of around 155F/ 68C. The temperature was set to the middle of the three temperature options so it can be adjusted up or down to suit your preference.

A double espresso took about 60 seconds, but the average temperature was higher at around 170F/ 77C. The crema can be adjusted via the knob on the front of the spout, I preferred the full body, thick crema setting and it produced a beautifully thick, rich crema, that’s probably the best I’ve seen from an automatic coffee machine.

The flavor of the coffee produced was vastly improved when I switched from the Gaggia branded beans supplied in the box, to freshly roasted beans from a local roast house. After I made the switch, the coffee was more nuanced, fruity and much less bitter. And you can of course adjust the aroma via the settings. I tended towards the coffee boost aroma setting. When in this setting, the machine performs a double grinding for a more intense flavor. But it does increase the time it takes to brew the coffee.

The standard cappuccino takes 1 minute 45 seconds to dispense and it’s 135F/57C, so it’s immediately drinkable, but there’s the option to increase the temperature if you prefer. I must admit I found the milk too bubbly, which made it very obvious that it had been dispensed from an automatic milk frother. 

When I turned the milk froth level down in the settings it was marginally better, but the reality is that it simply can’t produce a thick silky microfoam like you’ll get from a barista. Personally, I prefer to steam my own milk using the wand and it’s great to have that as an option.

When you choose frothed milk from the menu, you can adjust the froth level and the volume of milk dispensed, but not the temperature. It comes out at an average of 135F/ 57C which is cooler than I’d like for a hot chocolate. And in my opinion the automatic milk dispenser feels a bit clumsy, it often splashes milk droplets outside of the cup, I particularly noticed this when I was using shorter cups like my cappuccino cups. Part of the reason is because a quick steam burst follows the dispensing of milk and this can create mess if you’re not using a tall cup, due to the distance between the milk spout and the cup. 

If you fancy the idea of playing barista, the steam wand is really easy to use, but if you haven’t used one before it’ll take some practice to create the perfect milk texture. It’s a shame that the coffee machine doesn’t come with a stainless steel milk jug for use with the steam wand, especially given the premium price point.

To dispense 6.8 fl oz/ 200ml of hot water for black tea takes around 55 seconds and the temperature in the cup averages 170F/ 77C. As a born and bred English person with a tea habit that far exceeds my coffee habit, I would argue that this isn’t hot enough to brew black tea. And unfortunately you can’t adjust the water temperature. I tried the hot water function to see if that was any better, but the temperature was about the same.

Cleaning is simple thanks to the color screen that guides you through every process. But, due to the automatic rinses every time it turns on and off, I felt like it was asking me to empty the drip tray very frequently - it could be as often as every four drinks. And there are various cleaning tasks to do on a weekly and monthly basis, like deep cleaning the milk carafe, cleaning the brew group, and descaling. It’s certainly more involved than the cleaning procedures for a simple espresso machine - but that’s to be expected for such a big automatic coffee maker.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Should I buy the Gaggia Accademia?

Buy it if...

Don’t buy it if...

Also consider...

If you’re not sure about the Gaggia Accademia, here are a couple of other options to consider...

How I tested the Gaggia Accademia

• I tried lots of drinks on the menu
• I frothed milk manually as well as automatically
• I assessed the ease of cleaning

I used the Gaggia Accademia in place of my usual Breville/ Sage espresso machine for around 10 days. I made a minimum of four coffees a day, but also used the hot water to make tea and hot milk function for hot chocolates.

I assessed the flavor of the coffee, general ease of use as well as other important factors like how much maintenance there is and how easy it is to clean.

I’ve reviewed hundreds of coffee machines during my career that began in 2007 at the UK Good Housekeeping Institute. My own personal coffee drinking journey has only really taken off over the last three years, but in that time I’ve become an avid coffee drinker. I haven’t yet mastered latte art, but I’ll get there!

Read more about how we test.

[First reviewed July 2023]

Envato is an online creative asset service full of stock videos, photos, audio, graphics, and a wealth of templates for faster content production. Here we're exploring the various options to find and use stock media through Envato Elements, and its MixKit and Reshot companion platforms.  

• You can try Envato Elements by clicking here 

Envato Elements: Pricing & plans

• A single subscription rate to grant you unlimited access to a wealth of content. Couldn’t be simpler

You might’ve encountered online media libraries before, most of which have rather complex subscription tiers, or even potentially confusing à la carte options, so it’s nice to see Envato Elements has the simplest subscription around: there’s only one - $16.50 per month. Even better, students get a 30% discount.

With that, you gain access to millions of assets, with no limits: you can download as many as you want at any time, all under the umbrella of a simple commercial license, which enables you to use the media for personal and work projects - these protections will apply to any design you’ve created, even if you unsubscribe, you just won’t be allowed to create new works with Envato’s content from that point on.

There are other limits, of course. For example, you’re forbidden from reselling or redistributing the  downloaded content, it can’t be used for merchandising, and musical clips aren’t allowed in a broadcast presentation. But these types of content license agreements are par for the course for even the best free stock photo sites.  

• Pricing & plans: 4.5/5

Envato Elements: Interface & experience

• Simple, well-organized, quick and efficient to find the assets you need

On first impressions, the site is similar to most other online stock media libraries. A large search field at the top, a drop down menu of categories, and thumbnail links to some of the most popular sections.

Based on the categories alone, you’ll notice that Envato offers a variety of assets and formats. Naturally there’s the likes of photos, graphics and video clips. There’s also more specific options such as presentation templates, fonts, and 3D files.

Type in a few keywords in the search field, and Envato Elements will offer you results pretty much instantly. We liked the fact these are very well presented, broken down by category: videos first, then photos, followed by sound effects, graphics, and any other sections containing the keywords you want.

If you mouse over a video’s thumbnail, it’ll play after a couple of seconds. A nice way to make sure the clip fits the bill prior to you clicking on it.

Well-organized though these results are, you may be on the lookout for something specific, like a ‘Graphic’ for instance, so rather than having to scroll through what would be to you irrelevant information, you can narrow down your search from the start: click on ‘All Items’ to the left of the search field to bring up a menu. Select ‘Graphics’ as per our current criteria, and Envato will focus its efforts solely on that category.

Once you’ve narrowed down your search, you’ll find a simple sidebar to the left offering you some additional filters, such as the asset’s predominant color, how many people are in the shot, the file’s orientation, that kind of thing. What is particularly nice is the number next to each parameter. This tells you how many files would match that specific filter. Once you’ve chosen one, all the other parameters’ values will update, making it very clear if it’s worth selecting them or not - no point if you’ll get zero results right? And you know the answer before even clicking on the box. A great feature, and a great timesaver.

• Interface & experience: 4/5

Envato Elements: Selecting media

• If you’ve explored other media libraries, you’ll feel right at home with Envato’s interpretation of its preview pages

Clicking on a thumbnail will take you to that asset’s page, where you’ll find more details about it. There’s some metadata like a photo’s resolution, a video’s dimensions and duration for instance. 

Scroll down to find keywords and similar media. If you like the artist’s work, there’s also a row of thumbnails allowing you to delve deeper into their work. This is nothing we haven’t seen before in many other competing services, but if the style works, why change it? On the right, you’ll find options to download the media, provided you’re a current subscriber. 

• Selecting media: 4/5

Envato Elements: MixKit

• Some free video-based media, including audio tracks and templates

Let’s look at the free MixKit platform. This is a section of Envato which offers you free video clips, stock music, sound effects and templates for some of the best video editing software and VFX software. We’re talking Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve here. 

The search concept is pretty much the same as for Envato Elements. There are some differences, yes, but certainly not enough to confuse anyone. The clips you’ll find are indeed free - you won’t even need to create an account to get them, and no one will ask you to attribute the asset you’re downloading. Just choose the resolution, from 720p up to 4k (if available), and you’re good to go.

We did encounter some clips offering a lower resolution for free, reserving the higher quality version for an Envato Elements subscription. But those might be rare. Put it this way, we couldn’t find another one after our initial casual exploration of the service.

However, as this is a division of Envato, and free doesn’t bring food to the table, you will find links to Envato Elements in the search results, and in all assets’ main pages. Those links will match your search criteria of course, but don’t be surprised that if you like those better, you’ll need to open your wallet to get them.

Should MixKit not have any media that matches what you’re after, all results will take you to Envato Elements - this is the case especially on the music side, but it’s very easy to find which tracks are free and which are not at a glance: the MixKit ones were gray, and the Elements were green.

• MixKit: 4/5

Envato Elements: Reshot

• A nice selection of free icon and illustration artwork - shame said selection is somewhat limited

If you’re on the lookout for some free illustration, you’ll have fun with Reshot, another division of Envato. Point your browser towards https://www.reshot.com to explore what’s on offer. And what you get is thousands of free icons and vector illustrations.

Do a search for what you’re after, click on the download button of the one(s) you like straight from the results page, and you’re done.

Icons come in the SVG format, and you can also download the code instead of the actual image if you prefer, whereas illustrations are offered in either Vector or PNG formats - the choice is entirely yours - you can even download both if you like, no one will stop you.

You’ll find that there aren’t that many results, and unlike MixKit, Reshot isn’t yet integrated into Envato Elements, so there are no links to subscription-based options if Reshots comes up empty. Still, who are we to argue with free content?

With its side selection of free content, coupled with a vast library accessed via subscription, Envato Elements has a lot to offer potential clients.

• Reshot: 3.5/5 

Envato Elements: Scorecard

Should I try?

Try it if...

You’re on the lookout for an affordable subscription with which to access a vast number of different types of media.

Don't try it if...

You’re not a fan of subscriptions, and don’t download enough media to warrant such a commitment - although don’t forget MixKit and Reshot are free.

Envato Elements: Alternatives

We've tested, reviewed, and rated a range of stock content sites, including the best Adobe Stock alternatives. 

For alternatives to  Envato Elements, see our iStock review, Vecteezy review, Shutterstock review, and Unsplash review.

Founded in 1997, Getty Images is a behemoth in the field of professional stock media sites, boosted in part through the acquisition of other libraries. But with a lot of history, and a huge selection of stock media, how does it compare to other sites offering the same? We took a look.  

• You can try Getty Images by clicking here 

Getty Images: Pricing & plans

• Aimed at high-end businesses, with a price tag to reflect that, this is a service out of reach for the casual blogger or YouTuber

If you’re looking for the best free stock photo sites, this platform likely won’t fit the bill. Getty Images is clearly business orientated. Nowhere is this clearer than its pricing plans. You have many options open to you, from single asset licensing, to ultra packs purchases, to premium subscription plans. The latter is most attractive to companies who need to make regular use of the service, as it doesn’t even have daily or monthly download limits. 

You’ll also get access to exclusive premium content, not available with the other plans. These plans however are custom based, depending on the type and quantity of content you’re after, and as such you’d need to contact Getty Images directly so they can tailor a quote for you.

As for the others, they’re more à la carte, letting you pay for a number of downloads in one go and use them as and when you need them (the Ultra Packs), or just buy one image at a time (the Single Asset Licensing option). As you’d expect, the more you pay upfront, the cheaper each individual download will be. The price will also depend on the media’s size/resolution.

Purchasing a small image or a low-res video would cost you $175 for instance, but grabbing a 10-pack of high-res images or 4K videos would be $4,250 for the lot.

• Pricing & plans: 3/5

Getty Images: Interface & experience

• Easy to get around, and if you’re used to other similar library services, you’ll know where everything is

If you’re used to other online stock photo libraries, you’ll feel right at home with Getty Images. There’s a large search field at the top and thumbnail results beneath it.

But there are some subtle differences that reflect what this particular service has to offer. For instance, by default, if you’re looking for images, you’ll be shown results including photos, illustrations and vectors, but you can filter those out with buttons on the right, just below the search field.

Right of the field is where you can choose to look for ‘Creative Images’, ‘Editorial Images’, ‘Creative Videos’ or ‘Editorial Videos’. What’s the difference between creative and editorial? Glad you asked: creative media is pretty much any photo shot by a photographer about a particular subject - it’s like nearly all the photos you see online or take yourself. Editorial content is much more specific - like shots of a live event, for instance, and are generally cleared for use in newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs. You’ll find these cost a fair bit more too.

There are some keywords beneath those buttons, so you can explore alternatives to your current search. The ‘Filters’ button on the left will reveal a sidebar, from which you can further narrow down the displayed results. For instance, a search for ‘Outer Space Background’ yielded 52,538 results. Far too many to be useful. But by altering a few parameters, we whittled it down to 41. Much more manageable.

• Interface & experience: 4/5 

Getty Images: Search by media

• Upload media and Getty will find similar looking ones in its catalog in an instant

You’ll notice a ‘Search by Image or Video' to the far right of the search field. As we noted in our Unsplash review and iStock review, this is a great means of looking for similar media to the type already in your possession. All you need to do is activate the tool, drag a file onto it, and Getty Images show all the content matches it has. We found the process is as fast as any text-based search, and the results are impressive.

It’s a fun means of searching, which is most definitely worth highlighting. As with your other search tools, you can narrow down the results through the additional use of keywords, or applying filters. It’s incredibly versatile.

• Search by media: 4.5/5

Getty Images: Choosing media

• You’ll find very similar features as Getty’s competitors, with a very interesting ‘Market Freeze’ option

Click on an image to be taken to its page on the site. From there, you’ll be able to browse through other media from the same collection, or look through a selection of similar looking assets, see the author’s portfolio, and explore keywords once more. All pretty straightforward. 

You’ll find the cost in a table to the right, and as mentioned above, these are professional business prices. There is however an element we found most interesting: Media Freeze.

What this does is turn this media into an exclusive one: once purchased, Getty Images will remove it from their library for as long as you need it and are paying for it. There is no price information for how much this would cost - you need to contact them for that - but if you’re in the market for exclusivity, to make sure no one else can use the same image you are, without you actually going out and shooting something yourself, this is a great way or achieving that aim.

• Choosing media: 4/5

Getty Images: Insight

• A very useful tool to help you explore current popular searches, and more - pretty much identical to iStock’s offering

One more aspect of Getty Images we found interesting is its ‘VisualGPS Insight’ feature, which you can access through the interface’s top menu bar. With it, you’re offered tools to explore popular search terms, narrow the results down by region, industry and time period. There’s even a way to compare two keywords, and further down the page, you’ll see selected thumbnails that match your current query.

It can be a very useful tool, but if it sounds familiar, that’s perhaps because you’ve seen the exact same capabilities as part of iStock, except there, it’s under the better sounding ‘Trends’ title. Aside from the name, it’s pretty much identical - which isn’t surprising as Getty owns iStock. Still, a good tool is a good tool, and it’s great it’s available to users of either libraries.

• Insight: 4.5/5

Getty Images: Scorecard

Should I try?

Try it if...

You’re a business looking for high-end media, with exclusive options, and have the funds to match your desires.

Don't try it if...

You need a cheaper alternative, as your budget cannot even cope with purchasing a single photo on this site.

Vecteezy: Alternatives

We've tested, reviewed, and rated a range of stock content sites, including the best Adobe Stock alternatives. 

For alternatives to Getty Images, see our Vecteezy review and Shutterstock review.