Cutting plotter buying guide: Cricut, Silhouette or Brother?

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The wiki lists five hobby plotters from three manufacturers: Cricut Maker 5, Explore 5 and Joy Xtra, the Silhouette Cameo 5α and the Brother ScanNCut SDX2250D. All of them cut flex film, vinyl and paper. The differences lie in the width, in how they handle mats, in thick materials and above all in the software. How a plotter works in general is explained in Cutting plotters explained.

The criteria

Cutting width and length

The width determines how large a design can be in one piece. The Joy Xtra cuts 21.6 cm wide, the other machines about 30 cm. Measure your typical designs before buying: anything wider than the cutting width has to be split and applied in several pieces.

The length depends on the mat. With the large mat, the Maker 5 and Explore 5 cut a maximum of 29.2 x 60.3 cm and 29.2 x 59.6 cm respectively. Longer cuts are only possible without a mat.

With or without a mat

• Cricut: without a mat only with its own Smart Materials (Smart Vinyl, Smart Iron-On, Smart Paper). With these, the Maker 5 and Explore 5 manage up to 3.6 m, the Joy Xtra up to 1.2 m. Ordinary roll material from other manufacturers goes on the mat.
• Silhouette Cameo 5α: any material with a carrier sheet runs without a mat, up to 4.87 m long. For thin materials up to 0.5 mm, an optional electrostatic mat without adhesive is available.
• Brother ScanNCut SDX2250D: cuts with a mat. With the optional roll feeder, Brother USA states up to about 1.78 m for material up to 0.5 mm.

If you process a lot of film from the roll and do not want to be tied to one manufacturer’s materials, this is an important point.

Materials, cutting force and tools

None of the three manufacturers states a cutting force in grams for these machines. Only the material thickness figures and the tools are comparable:

• Cricut Maker 5: 13 compatible tools, including rotary blade for fabric, Knife Blade, engraving and debossing. According to Cricut, it cuts material up to 3 mm.
• Cricut Explore 5: six tools. The deep-cut tool, available separately, cuts up to 1.5 mm, for example foam, rubber and magnetic sheet.
• Cricut Joy Xtra: three tools (blade, pen, foil transfer), intended for paper, card, vinyl and flex film.
• Silhouette Cameo 5α: up to 3 mm, two tool holders, the AutoBlade sets the blade depth automatically.
• Brother ScanNCut SDX2250D: auto blade up to 3 mm, rotary cutter kit for fabric included.

Scanner on the ScanNCut

The ScanNCut is the only machine in this comparison with a built-in scanner at 600 dpi. You place a drawing, a stamp impression or a printout on the mat, the machine recognises the outline and cuts it out. It is operated through a 5-inch touchscreen, according to Brother even entirely without a computer. According to Brother, the DX series reads SVG files without prior conversion.

Software, subscription and offline use

This is where the systems differ most:

• Cricut Design Space is free but needs a Cricut account and, according to Cricut, a fast internet connection. Cricut Access is an optional subscription from €9.99 a month.
• Silhouette Studio is installed on your computer. The Basic Edition is free, upgrades are one-off purchases without a subscription.
• Brother works on the machine itself. For designing on a computer there is CanvasWorkspace for Windows and Mac, plus the Artspira app with the optional Artspira+ subscription.

The details on prices and features are in Cricut software: Design Space, Access and alternatives.

The machines compared

Prices: Cricut shop as of 16.10.2026, Silhouette and Brother as of 12.10.2026. There is no German manufacturer shop for the Cameo 5α and the ScanNCut, so the prices come from retailers. Current prices and all data are in the data sheets: Joy Xtra, Explore 5, Maker 5, Cameo 5α, ScanNCut SDX2250D.

Which Cricut suits me?

• Joy Xtra: if you mostly make cards, stickers, labels and smaller flex film designs and have little space. It is the lightest and cheapest, but connects only via Bluetooth and cannot handle thick materials.
• Explore 5: if you cut vinyl, flex film and card at 30 cm width. With the deep-cut tool, craft foam, rubber for stamps and magnetic sheet up to 1.5 mm are also possible.
• Maker 5: if fabric, leather or thin wood are added. Only it works with the rotary blade and Knife Blade and can engrave and deboss.

Cricut also offers a machine quiz and a comparison page.

Which Cricut can cut wood?

For wood you need the Maker 5 with Knife Blade. According to Cricut, the Knife Blade cuts thicker, dense materials such as balsa wood, leather, mat board and craft foam up to 3 mm. The tool is available separately and was out of stock in the German Cricut shop on 16.10.2026. Important: according to Cricut, projects with the Knife Blade do not run via iOS or Android, only via a computer. The cuts take a long time. Switch off your computer’s sleep mode: if the Bluetooth connection drops, you may have to restart the cut from scratch, according to Cricut.

According to the shop, Cricut’s thin wood veneer is also compatible with the Explore 3 and Explore 4; the Explore 5 is not on the list there. For thicker wood a plotter is the wrong tool, and that is a job for the laser.

Cricut, Silhouette or Brother?

Cricut versus Silhouette: Both cut 30 cm wide and up to 3 mm. The difference lies in everyday use. Cricut relies on the online app Design Space and matless cutting only with its own materials. Silhouette relies on a desktop program without a subscription and matless cutting with any film on a carrier. With Silhouette, however, you can only open SVG files from the paid Designer upgrade; with Cricut you upload SVG for free.

Cricut versus Brother: The ScanNCut is more geared towards sewing, quilting and appliqué. A rotary cutter and a scanner are included, it works without a computer and reads SVG directly. In return it is heavier and more expensive, and it only cuts matless with accessories.

Which plotter for beginners?

There is no blanket answer, but these questions narrow it down quickly:

1. What do you mainly want to make? T-shirts with flex film and stickers work with all machines. Fabric and leather point to the Maker 5 or ScanNCut.
2. How big will your designs be? Under about 20 cm width the Joy class is enough, otherwise 30 cm.
3. Do you want an account and internet for every cut? If not, look at Silhouette Studio or the ScanNCut.
4. Do you want a subscription? With Cricut it is optional, and according to Cricut the machine runs without it. According to Cricut, more than 3,000 images and more than 100 fonts are free, and with the subscription more than 1,500,000 images and over 1,000 fonts.
5. What do the consumables cost? Mats lose their adhesion over time, blades go blunt. A replacement Premium Fine-Point Blade costs €13.99 at Cricut (RRP, as of 16.10.2026).

To apply flex film you also need a heat press or an iron, see Cutting and ironing on flex film.

Sources

• Cricut: Maker 5, Explore 5, Joy Xtra, Knife Blade replacement set, Wood veneer, Replacement Premium Fine-Point Blade, Cricut Access, Uploading images
• Silhouette America: Cameo 5α, Silhouette Studio
• Brother: ScanNCut SDX2250D, ScanNCut DX using the SDX1200 as an example, CanvasWorkspace
• Retailers: 3DJake Cameo 5α, Saturn ScanNCut SDX2250D