The rulebook has been scrapped – Black Friday Cricut deals have started with an astonishing price drop

For total newbies, the Cricut Joy or Joy Xtra are excellent starting points. They're compact, affordable, and perfect for smaller projects like cards and labels. However, if you're serious about crafting and want room to grow, we'd recommend investing in the Cricut Maker 4 or Explore 4 instead. While these devices are more expensive, they offer significantly more versatility and can handle a much wider range of materials and project sizes. The Maker 4 is particularly impressive with its powerful cutting force and ability to work with thicker materials like leather and wood. Both machines use Cricut's Smart technology, which makes them surprisingly easy to use even for first-timers.

No, you don't need a subscription to use a Cricut machine. You can use Cricut Design Space for free and upload your own images or purchase individual designs from the Cricut library. There is also a subscription service called Cricut Access that gives you unlimited access to thousands of fonts, images, and ready-to-make projects, plus discounts on materials and priority customer support. For beginners, the free version is perfectly adequate, but you end up buying lots of designs individually, the subscription might save you money over time.

The main differences come down to size, automation, and price. The EasyPress models (Mini, 2, and 3) are handheld heat presses that you manually apply to your material – think of them like an advanced iron designed specifically for heat transfer vinyl and infusible ink. They're portable, affordable, and great for hobbyists. The Autopress, on the other hand, is a fully automatic heat press with a clamshell design that applies consistent, even pressure without any manual effort. It's much larger, more expensive, and delivers commercial-quality results. The Autopress is ideal if you're running a small business or doing high-volume projects, while the EasyPress range is perfect for casual crafters and home use.