Just as the pandemic kicked into high gear, both of our Nespresso machines died. We had never taken to newer models, and were still using 2 D290 machines. We replaced one with the Creatista Uno machine, which we like very much. But we’ve used Nespresso machines for over 10 years, and have watched the cost of the capsules rise from 50 cents each to almost 80 cents each. When I looked at what we spent on Nespresso capsules in 2019, I decided it was time to consider a superautomatic. The difference in the cost of the coffee would pay for the machine in around a year. After researching many different machines, we settled on the Gaggia Anima. I was concerned that the maintenance on a superautomatic would be burdensome, or would get away from me, causing the machine to break, but honestly it’s pretty easy to care for (more about that later). Though it is expensive, Nespresso espresso is excellent, to match the quality would not be easy. Luckily we chose well, and we love this machine! On the Anima, we set the grind to fine, and set the amount of coffee to 5 - the highest. We’re lucky to know someone locally who roasts his own coffee, we buy regular medium roast coffee from him. We use half caf, mixing the coffee we buy locally with Don Pablo decaf we buy on Amazon. Between the two, my husband feels the espresso is even better than Nespresso, I think it is as good. We have cappuccinos with 2 shots every morning. The crema is great, and the Panerello milk wand makes the microbubbles in the milk, the consistency of the frothed milk better than the wand on our Nespresso D290 was. Overall our cappuccino from the Anima is at least comparable to cappuccino from a great coffee shop. As to the maintenance, it’s easy peasy. Every day I clean the removable milk wand, and the under wand. I pull out the drip tray and wash it. Once or twice a week, I pop out the brew group, rinse it in the sink, and pop it back in. None of these tasks takes more than 5 minutes. There is additional maintenance, including decalcifying the machine, but most of it you do once or twice a year. There are videos on you tube to run you through it, so it’s pretty simple. The one thing I would recommend is using the available filter for the water tank, and using only filtered water in the machine, or frankly any good espresso machine. The quality of the water has quite a bit to do with both the quality of the espresso and the longevity of the machine. We’ve had water filters on our kitchen sinks for years in an effort to wean ourselves off bottled water. The filters get changed infrequently, no more than once every 1 to 5 years, depending on the filter system you choose. Anyway, that’s our story. We’ve had the Anima for 4 months now, and we love it! I will update this review if that should change.