The Best Cricut Machines Of 2022

The best Cricut machines can precisely cut the material and print your design on mugs, T-shirts and more.

Cricut machines are a must for dedicated craftsmen and scrapbookers alike. With one, you can say goodbye to cutting shapes by hand. By using cartridges with pre-downloaded designs and shapes, Cricut allows anyone to make beautiful fonts, shapes and embellishments.

Cricuts work with a variety of materials such as paper, vinyl, card, felt, fabric, leather and cardboard – looking a bit like a high-end printer. You prepare your design on the computer, and the machine automatically cuts it out. This gives you precise accuracy that you can’t achieve with manual cutting. It’s also much easier, and it saves on waste and expense.

However, Cricut does more than just cut. Some of the best Cricut machines focus on other tasks, such as transferring your designs to mugs, clothes and other items. In this article, we’ve handpicked the best Cricut machines available today. We explain what each one does and provide you with the information you need to choose the model that best suits your needs.

01. Cricut Maker

The best Cricut machine for most people

For most people, the Cricut Maker is the best cutting machine for Cricut. The exception is if you want to use smart materials, in which case skip to the next product on our list, the newer Cricut Maker 3. Otherwise, if you’re looking for the best vinyl Cricut machine, the best Cricut machine fabric, or indeed the best Cricut machine for most purposes, this is the one for you.

The Cricut Maker lets you precisely cut over 300 materials, including everything from delicate fabrics and papers to rigid materials like cardboard and leather. You’ll get 13 tools that let you precisely cut, score, write, emboss, engrave or add other decorative effects. These include a rotary blade for cutting fabric, a blade for materials up to 2.4 mm thick, a scoring wheel for creating creases and folds, and a foil transfer tool for foil decoration.

In use, we found it incredibly adaptable and the custom Cricut Design Space application was perfect for all projects, although we did, and if you are a skilled artist or craftsman, you may want to explore other software available for Cricut with Design Space; for example, we found that CorelDraw worked well.

So while this isn’t the cheapest Cricut machine, it’s not the most expensive either, and given the variety of tasks it can perform and the regular offers you can find, Cricut Maker is overall the best value.

02. Cricut Maker 3

The best Cricut machines for smart materials

If you want to work with smart materials, then the recently released Cricut Maker 3 is for you.

The Cricut Maker 3 is very similar to the Cricut Maker. The biggest difference is that it can cut smart material without a mat, which means you can cut up to 12 feet (3.6 m) at a time. In our Cricut Maker 3 review, we found this to be very beneficial, and once tried, you really can’t consider not having the option to cut long and complete rolls of craft items.

The Cricut Maker 3 is also twice as fast as the Cricut Maker when using smart materials. Best of all, you also get two additional accessories, a larger portable trimmer and a roll holder that can help you feed the smart material into the machine. So while it’s much more expensive than the Cricut Maker, the extra cost will be well worth it if you’re working on a large craft project.

03. Cricut Explore Air 2

The best Cricut machine for beginners

This product from Cricut is the perfect machine for beginners because it offers a bundled eBook for beginners with tutorials and projects to help you create your first DIY craft. Air 2 cuts paper, felt, iron-on and more to create your own personalized home decor, interior decals, wall signs and more. It has built-in Bluetooth for wireless cutting, writing and scoring, making it easy to use for everyone. The wireless feature also allows you to upload images from multiple file types on iOS, Android or the desktop Cricut Design Space online software.

This beginner’s kit includes a spatula, weeder, scraper, scissors and tweezers as a starter kit. There are also eight sheets of 9-inch x 12-inch Cricut vinyl and two sheets of 9-inch x 12-inch transfer paper. Also, the machine comes with an accessory adapter as well as a USB power cord. The bundle gives you everything you need to get started while learning how to use the machine and materials in an easy and effective way to create your own personalized and professional-looking DIY projects.

04. Cricut Explore 3

Cricut machines for large projects

Cricut Explore 3 is a huge leap forward compared to previous versions because it unleashes your creativity 2 times better in a matter of minutes. With this DIY machine, you will be able to cut, draw, score and do so much more intelligently and faster than ever before. This cutter works with 6 different tools to easily cut and trim up to 100+ materials. This includes cardstock, vinyl, iron-on, glitter paper, cork, bonded fabric and more to create everything from craft projects to large DIY commissions. It’s also compatible with Cricut Smart Materials such as Smart Paper, Smart Vinyl and Smart HTV Iron-On for long, accurate cuts up to 12 feet long without a machine pad.

Whether you’re creating personalized home décor, car decals, or logos for T-shirts, Explore 3 brings incredible precision and speed, allowing you to just load up and bring it to life in minutes. You can also combine Explore 3 with expanded Cricut materials and Cricut tool and accessory kits to take your creativity to the extreme. The purchase of Explore 3 comes with a premium Fine Blade + Case, USB cable, power adapter, a free trial subscription to Cricut Access, and a welcome card to get you excited to start building right away.

05. Cricut Joy

The best Cricut machines for travel

As the name implies, this compact and portable Cricut machine will give you great pleasure in performing quick vinyl, HTV iron-on hot press and paper projects. This machine is designed for creating custom decals, custom t-shirt designs, creating label designs and creating personalized greeting cards. This portable DIY machine is easy to set up and use.

The Cricut Joy Machine is a fairly compact and lightweight cutting/heat pressing unit, but it is very smart and offers amazing features for artisans and beginners in the field of vinyl design and projects. The machine is affordable and can be used for cutting vinyl decals, precision cutting, matless cutting and creating custom cards. It is an essential everyday tool for personalizing and customizing your projects.

It is also categorized as a writing machine for creating items such as wall decorations and custom water bottles. You can use this Cricut machine for other projects such as making home labels, designing event banners and creating greeting cards/business cards. You don’t need a cutting mat to make long cuts, which means you can make and cut your designs easily and quickly.

06. Cricut EasyPress 2

The best Cricut machine for making T-shirts

This is one of the best Cricut machines for heat pressing T-shirts, banners and other materials. Measuring 9 x 9 inches, this machine is perfect for basic designs for aprons, tote bags, shirts, pillows, and HTV vinyl projects. With its endless project possibilities, it makes our list of the best Cricut machines. It also has an insulated secure base.

It has a ceramic coated surface and an advanced shaped heating plate that ensures ironing of materials within minutes. You don’t have to worry about overheating because it has a temperature control up to “400°F” and a built-in timer. It comes with an online heat guide that allows users to set the preferred time and temperature for their projects.

The lightweight and portable features make it the ideal Cricut heat press to take with you when you travel out of town. It is the essential ironing machine that provides quick and easy heat pressing as it offers tested temperatures and times for any type of project.

07. Cricut EasyPress Mini

The best Cricut machine for ball/cap decoration

This is a hot pressed mini raspberry machine designed for tight spaces and unusual objects. It is also used in hard-to-reach places. The machine has three main heat settings that allow the user to perform ironing and non-melting ink tasks. It has a ceramic heating plate for edge-to-edge heat transfer on materials such as hats, shoes, T-shirts and vinyl.

In addition, the machine is lightweight, weighing 1.07 lbs. and measuring 3.4 x 2.1 in. This makes it easy to store and maintain after use. It is also an ideal model for use and one of the best Cricut machines due to its excellent heat transfer capabilities. So if you are looking for a high performance heat press that can handle unusual objects and small spaces, make sure you get the “Cricut EasyPress Mini Machine”. Highly recommended.

08. Cricut Mug Press

Best Cricut machine for mug printing

Cricut has been offering many useful machines for different arts and crafts and this Mug Press machine is no exception. The Cricut Mug Press gives you the freedom to create personalized and custom designed sublimations on your mugs and see them come to life in a matter of minutes. It has no manual temperature or pressure settings, making it easy to use for beginners and casuals alike. It is a great addition to any Cricut cutter as well as the Cricut Easy Press for many projects such as giveaways, decorations and commercial use.

Mug Press also allows users to design and personalize their own designs on their computer or mobile device to make their creations stand out. It makes a professional quality gift for birthdays, graduations, congratulations and weddings. When made with insoluble ink materials and Cricut ceramic mugs, the finished project is peel-proof and dishwasher safe. Mug Press fits most standard size mugs, so you will always have the perfect gift for your neighbors, co-workers, friends and loved ones.

Conclusion

One of the best things about Cricut machines is that they are easy to use. No matter what your level, from beginners to professionals, they ensure that anyone can access them and easily start working immediately. This is because they are designed to be simple and designed to provide the most accurate cuts, rather than extensive unnecessary and complicated features. Therefore, any of the models reviewed here are perfect for all first-time Cricut users.