The best laser cutters in July 2023
The best laser cutters in July 2023 – Cut, score and engrave a variety of materials, using the best laser cutters for ultimate precision. Our expert tester picks the top laser machine for home and studio use.
The best laser cutters are both increasingly capable and increasingly affordable. And so you don’t have to be a big business or professional manufacturer to use them: hobbyist and small business owners are finding they can greatly enhance their productivity and creativity too. (With Prime Day coming up, expect some of the brand’s below to drop in price, as well as good deals on the best laser engravers and the best laser cutter for a small business.)
The best laser cutters can be used to cut materials, of course, but also engrave and score. Working with digital drawing software, you can transfer the most meticulous designs to a material of your choice. Most of the best laser cutters now come with bespoke apps too and can be used on desktop, tablet or mobile. Laser cutters are becoming more accessible and match up to the best Cricut alternatives and Cricut machines for modern digital crafting.
But which model should you buy? With so many options on the market, it can be challenging to choose the right one for your specific needs. In this article, I bring together the best laser cutters available today, considering factors such as cutting power, precision, software compatibility, and ease of use. I’ve personally tested many of the laser cutters below.
The best laser cutters: my quick picks
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The best laser cutters available now
The xTool P2 is the newest laser cutter from a brand that is fast becoming one of the more popular in this space, with a laser engraver and cutting machine for most uses. The headline news is the P2 is a 55 watt CO2 laser cutter, just pipping Glowforge and comparable to the Gweike Could Pro. (Read my xTool P2 explainer for a detailed breakdown of this laser machine.)
It is simple to the Glowforge Pro below, so this is a metal casing with a glass lid and inbuilt extractor fan. It’s designed to be clean and easy to use. The P2 boasts some impressive stats too, its workspace is larger than Glowforge Pro; P2 is 600mm by 308mm, while Glowforge Pro is 495mm by 279 mm. Though, to be clear, Glowforge Pro has a passthrough that works out of the box while P2 requires an add-on, the Automatic Conveyor Feeder to really make use of its expandable size (3,000 x 500 mm).
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What could be seen as P2’s weakness is actually one of this laser cutter’s strengths. xTool has a history of offering interesting add-ons, and the P2 is no different. You can increase the size of the workspace height using a Riser Base. The P2 is speedy too, running at 600 mm/s, it cuts 18mm basswood in one pass with ease.
The xTool P2 is cheaper than the Glowforge Pro (below) but quite comparable overall, despite having a slightly more powerful laser. One thing of note, P2 has a precision of 0.3mm while Glowforge has a macro camera that can reach 0.1mm levels. I have both laser cutters and am currently testing P2, and can say both machines are excellent. With P2 the advantage is it fits into xTool’s wider ecosystem of add-ons, ensuring that overall, this laser cutter can do pretty much anything, including rotary engraving (purchased separately).
Glowforge Pro does for laser cutters what Cricut has done for craft cutters; this is a beautifully designed ‘laser printer’ that removes the mess and fuss and packages it all in a clean and approachable device, making it easily the best laser cutter around at the moment (for a price). This model is the top Glowforge laser cutter, while the brand has a the medium Plus edition and a slightly less powerful Basic model.
The Glowforge does the same cutting and engraving as many of the best laser cutters on my list, but its design keeps any mess inside the machine (a filter sucks away any dust and debris into an external air filter). Designs are sent to the machine via a bespoke app, and the Glowforge machines support Windows, Mac and tablet devices.
The Glowforge Pro uses a high-spec Class 4, 45 watt laser which is the most powerful you can get outside of an industrial use. (The Plus and Basic use a 40 watt, Class 1 laser, which is still more powerful than most on this list.) In my Glowforge Pro review this laser cutter impressed with its speed, ease of use and an excellent design app. It does, however, ideally need to be used with the Glowforge Air Filter accessory.
It’s this ease of use and clean approach to laser cutting and engraving that ensures the Glowforge makes it to No.1 on my list. It looks like a standard printer but can engrave everything from metal to wood and tiles to paper and leather – it’s perfectly suited to every task that requires accurate cutting too, from costume creation to model work. This Pro model comes with a ‘passthrough’ slot for large lengths of material, making it an ideal wood laser cutter – you can even make furniture. The results are always great, making this the best laser cutter for small business overall.