The short answer
Buy the Original for everyday home brewing for one or two. Buy the Go for travel - it packs into its own mug. Buy the XL to brew 20 oz at a time, and remember it needs XL-specific filters.
The three side by side
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Quick picks
The answer first. Tap any row to jump to the full reasoning for that pick.
1. Choose this for most people
AeroPress Original
Manual tier · A hand-pressed immersion brewer using a paper or metal filter.
1 to 3 cups, and the size nearly every AeroPress recipe is written for.
The Original brews up to 10 oz, 1 to 3 cups, and weighs about 6.5 oz. It takes paper or metal mesh filters.
It is the size the method was designed around, which is more useful than it sounds: nearly every recipe you will find assumes this chamber, so they work without conversion.
It travels well, if not as compactly as the Go.
For one or two people brewing at home, there is little reason to choose either of the others.
Specification
- Capacity
- 10 oz, 1-3 cups
- Weight
- About 6.5 oz
- Filters
- Paper or metal mesh
What it does well
- Almost impossible to brew a bad cup with
- Forgiving of grinder inconsistency in a way pour-over is not
- Cleans up in about ten seconds
Where it gives ground
- Not espresso, whatever the marketing around it says
- One or two cups at a time
- Plunging takes real hand pressure
Skip it if
Skip it if you brew for three or more at once. The XL doubles the capacity.
2. Choose this for travel
AeroPress Go
Manual tier · The travel AeroPress: smaller, and it packs inside its own mug.
8 oz, about 5.6 oz, and it packs into its own mug.
The Go brews 8 oz, one cup, weighs about 5.6 oz and measures 4.5 inches tall by 3.6 wide. It packs into a mug that doubles as the carrying case.
It is slightly smaller than the Original, which is the point: everything nests into one object that goes in a bag.
The coffee is essentially the same as the Original's at single-cup volumes.
At home it is a little small - one cup per press - and not every Original accessory fits it: the Fellow Prismo, for example, does not.
Specification
- Capacity
- 8 oz, one cup
- Weight
- About 5.6 oz
- Size
- 4.5 in H x 3.6 in W
What it does well
- The whole kit nests into the mug it comes with
- Lightest way to make genuinely good coffee away from home
- Brews the same way as the Original
Where it gives ground
- One cup only
- Shorter chamber limits some published recipes
- The bundled mug is the point; at home it is dead weight
Skip it if
Skip it as your only home brewer if you make two cups. The Original makes both in one press.
3. Choose this for a household
AeroPress XL
Manual tier · A double-size AeroPress for brewing two mugs at once.
20 oz per press - twice the Original - with its own filters.
The XL brews 20 oz / 591 ml per press, weighs about 10.2 oz and stands 7.6 inches tall by 4.6 wide.
Twice the capacity means brewing for a table in one press instead of three. That is the whole case for it.
The detail that catches buyers out: it uses XL-specific filters. Original, Go and Clear metal filters do not fit it, so existing filter stock will not carry over.
It is bulkier and heavier than the Original, and at single-cup volumes it offers nothing extra.
Specification
- Capacity
- 20 oz / 591 ml
- Weight
- About 10.2 oz
- Size
- 7.6 in H x 4.6 in W
- Filters
- XL-specific; Original, Go and Clear metal filters do not fit
What it does well
- Solves the AeroPress one real limitation: batch size
- Same brewing behavior scaled up
- Two mugs in one press
Where it gives ground
- Accessories are not cross-compatible with the smaller models
- Too big to travel with
- Needs a properly strong plunge
Skip it if
Skip it if you usually brew one cup. The Original is easier to handle and its filters are everywhere.
Same coffee, different volumes
All three use the same method - immersion, then pressing through a filter - so at the same recipe they make essentially the same coffee. What changes is how much you make per press and how easily it travels.
That makes this a simpler decision than most comparisons on the site. Choose by volume and by where you brew, not by taste.
The filter detail
The XL uses its own larger filters. Original, Go and Clear metal filters do not fit it, and accessories built around the Original chamber may not carry over either. Check before assuming anything you own will fit - see reusable filters.