I love my Moccamaster, but $370 is a lot for drip coffee: This Ninja brewer is the best alternative (and it's under $90!)

ninja 12 cup coffee maker — (Image credit: Future)

The Coffee Lab

the smeg emc02 mini pro manual espresso machine in jade green — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

I'm Erin, and welcome to the seventh episode of The Coffee Lab, the series where we forget coffee snobbery. The Coffee Lab is all about making coffee fun. Join me as I help you kickstart your coffee journey!

The Moccamaster is revered in the coffee world, and for good reason. It's one of the few SCA-certified (Specialty Coffee Association) drip brewers, it has a lifetime repair promise, and is so good that it's remained mostly unchanged since the '60s. But it's also $369... yes, $369. This price is simply unattainable for most of us.

If you're looking for a drip brewer for less, let me introduce the Ninja 12-Cup Coffee Brewer. This little workhorse is just $89 — but often discounted to $69 — and is a fantastic budget option. We've got this in our New York office and it's a crowd pleaser (and then some).

So, no, you don't have to spend $400 to get one of the best coffee makers. Let me tell you exactly what the Ninja 12-Cup Coffee Maker is capable of. Spoiler alert: it's an absolute steal if you can snag it for $70.

Choose your brew

the ninja 12 cup brewer coffee maker with a blue background making coffee — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Just like the Technivorm Moccamaster KGBV Select, the Ninja 12-Cup puts you in the driver's seat. You can choose to brew either a full batch or a small batch (1-4 cups vs 12 cups), so you never waste coffee. And when you have guests around, everyone gets a cup of hot coffee at the same time.

If that's not enough, there are also two brewing modes: Classic and Rich. Classic makes that smooth and full-bodied cup, whereas Rich is more intense. Of course, you can still adjust this flavor based on how much coffee you put in the filter basket — you're in control, after all.

Wake up to a fresh pot every day

Now, this is something my Moccamaster actually can't do. With the Ninja 12-Cup, like the Smeg Retro Coffee Maker, you can program a delayed brew start. Essentially, you can set your coffee maker up before bed, then it will come on before you wake up so you get a fresh pot of coffee as your alarm clock.

Honestly, how cool is that? I want to wake up every day to the smell of coffee. Maybe it'd make that early-morning alarm more palatable.

But there are some sacrifices for the $90 price tag

Of course, you're not going to get the same performance in a $90 coffee maker as you would in a $370 coffee maker. The Ninja doesn't have SCA certification, and it doesn't have a 5-year warranty or lifetime repairs.

Ninja only offers a 1-year warranty, which obviously pales in comparison to Technivorm's. If you want an SCA-approved machine, you'll unfortunately have to fork out a bit more for something like the Moccamaster, the super-speedy Breville Luxe Brewer, or the gorgeous Fellow Aiden.

One of the cheapest SCA-certified models I've seen is the $149 Bonavita 5-Cup. Of course, though, this is only a 5-cup brewer — the Ninja does double that!

You're always going to have to weigh up pros and cons when choosing a new coffee maker — but the Ninja excels in the price department. You get a surprising range of features for your $90, which is why the Ninja 12-Cup is my go-to for a great drip machine that won't break the bank.

Have you tried the Ninja 12-Cup, or would you try it? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to check back next Friday for more from The Coffee Lab. I post new videos on Tom's Guide's TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube every single week.

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Erin Bashford is a senior writer at Tom's Guide, focusing on reviews. She has a Masters in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from the University of East Anglia. As an ex-barista, she knows her way around a coffee machine, and as a music lover, she's constantly chipping away at her dream of having a multi-room home sound system. In her spare time you can find her reading, practising yoga, writing, or stressing over today’s NYT Games.