Oof, no. It's fairly the opposite: A high-quality espresso machine is a fiddly little beast. You have to backflush it daily; you have to cafiza it weekly;

Oof, no. It's fairly the opposite: A high-quality espresso machine is a fiddly little beast. You have to backflush it daily; you have to cafiza it weekly; and it's going to lose a temperature or pressure regulator every few years. An aeropress is trivially cleanable, and mine's been functional for years now with no problems. After about five years, the plastic might start getting a little crack-y and the rubber plunger bit gets loose, and then you spend another $30 and you're good to go. A good espresso machine makes substantially better coffee, though, assuming you like espresso. (I have an aeropress + very nice grinder for home, and an assortment of espresso machines at work. I prefer the espresso machines, but I don't want to deal with the hassles and expense of one at home. The grinder, on the other hand, lasts almost forever and saves a ton of pain.)