Best Die Cutting Machine

The Silhouette Cameo Starter Bundle is our pick as the best die cutting machine. The cutting mat measures 12 in x 12 in and it has 2 high quality cutting blades. It comes with a metallic sketch pen pack to use and you can download for free for 1 whole month on the Silhouette Design store. It is also available in vinyl bundle, vinyl kit with PixScan, Cameo bundle, heat transfer bundle, roll feeder bundle and vinyl with PixScan bundle.

Top Pick: Silhouette Cameo Starter Bundle

Our step-up pick is the Silhouette CAMEO Starter Bundle Vinyl Kit and it includes glitter pens. It also comes with a starter guide and includes a vinyl kit and is ready to be used with a PixScan mat. It comes with a cutting blade and has other optional tools. The starter guide can handle vinyl, sketch, heat transfer, paper and print & cut and there is an instructional DVD included for various ideas and designs. It comes with a download card for up to 10 vinyl designs.

The budget pick is the Cricut Explore Air Wireless Cutting Machine which includes apps that are cloud based for iPhone, iPad, PC or Mac so you can easily sync projects between the devices, which is ideal for office settings and business purposes and is a great die cutting machine for DIY projects and crafting. It has a Bluetooth feature so you can cut via wireless sources from your iPhone, Mac, PC or iPad and can easily work on vinyl, leather, iron-on material or paper. you can easily cut your own images and upload them for free.

A Little Background

A die cutting machine is a great companion when it comes to making perfectly cut projects on vinyl, paper, cardstock and many other materials for project making. It may be expensive but it is a very helpful machine in terms of DIY.
Die cutting machines can be used at home, in school, in the office or for your local printing business and will definitely pay off their worth if you use them for your business or for making gifts for your friends and loved ones.

How We Picked

A good price is definitely important when it comes to picking the best die cutting machine.
The cutting machine’s dimensions as well as software compatibility and max cutting capabilities and width should be looked upon.
The reviews do mater and make sure you know that the cons do not affect the overall quality when it comes to choosing the best die cutting machine.
You should now which materials can the die cutting machine can work on.
The software included should give you access to hundreds of designs and it should be hassle-free.

Our Pick

Top Pick: Silhouette Cameo Starter Bundle
Silhouette Cameo Starter Bundle is our best die cutting machine in which the cutting mat measures 12 in x 12 in. It has 2 high quality cutting blades and you get over 10,000 designs available from the Silhouette Online Store and there is no internet connection required for this die cutting machine.

In addition, you can create your own designs or choose from 50,000 pre-designed preset shapes and also, you can download for free for 1 whole month on the Silhouette Design store. This machine is also available in vinyl bundle, vinyl kit with PixScan, Cameo bundle, heat transfer bundle, roll feeder bundle and vinyl with PixScan bundle.

The belts are made from superior quality material and include the Silhouette Studio software so you can make your own graphics and use computer fonts. It also comes with a metallic sketch pen pack to use. It is able to cut about 100 materials or more including cardstock, fabric, vinyl and paper as well as heat transfer and the blades are from high quality material.

The max cutting width is 12 inches and you can even use it without the mat for rolled material cutting. It also features a very precise cutting technology as it has a touch screen that is fully backlit and in LCD to keep the navigation as easy as possible. The cross cutter at the back helps to feed materials directly from any roll and furthermore, there is a storage compartment that is ready to use for extra cutters and blades or other things.

Overall, the Silhouette Cameo is great for vinyl decor, custom apparel, cards, scrapbooking, print and cut materials and others. The Silhouette machine comes with 2 cutting blades, 2 cutting mats, a wall plug-in and USB cord, a C, a pen tool that is easy to pick up and 4 metallic sketch pens.

In addition, it is light weight and easy to carry around and with easy to use software, the quality of cut is excellent. Adding to that, the cutting mat allows you to easily peel the paper with very small residue left. It has a very useful cross cut tool at the back of the paper and weighs 11.1 lbs. It has overall dimensions of 11 in x 24 in x 11 in and coated in white color finish. Being manufactured and distributed by Silhouette, it is under a 1 year warranty for parts and labor.

Who Else Likes It?

The Silhouette Cameo Starter Bundle is the ultimate DIY machine and you get tons of downloadable designs. It has a very simplistic design and it has easy to use interchangeable parts. It is also very useful for die cutting and also in sketching.

Flaws but Not Dealbrakers

The only known flaw about this die cutting machine is that it is not as quiet as other expensive die cutting machines and the mat is a bit sticky but only if you use paper as a card. However, these flaws are not deal breakers.

Step-up Pick

Silhouette CAMEO Starter Bundle Vinyl Kit
The Silhouette CAMEO Starter Bundle Vinyl Kit which includes glitter pens is our step-up pick. It comes with a download card for up to 10 vinyl designs as the vinyl starter kit contains premium vinyl x 4 sheets, measuring 9 in x 24 in (colors included are dark pink, black, leaf green and white).

It comes with a starter guide and it also includes a Silhouette hook and a scraper. The starter guide can handle vinyl, sketch, heat transfer, paper and print & cut. In addition, it includes a vinyl kit and what’s more, you get 100 exclusive designs from Silhouette. It is ready to be used with a PixScan mat and furthermore, there is a vinyl trimmer blade that is easy to use as well as a scraper tool and also comes with a hook tool.

It comes with a cutting blade and it has other optional tools. There is also an instructional DVD included for various ideas and designs and there is a premium transfer paper that measures 10 feet. In addition, the software is compatible for Windows XP and Vista or higher as well as Mac OS X 10.5.8 or higher and the cutting blade measures 12 in x 12 in and is a PixScan mat. Furthermore, the glitter pen set that comes with various colors including black, blue and green.

The power cord used is for 110V or 240V and it also includes a USB cord and it has overall dimensions of 11 in x 11 in x 24 in weighing in at 12.2 lbs. It has been manufactured and distributed by Silhouette and in addition, the PixScan mat measures 8.5 in x 11.5 in.

Budget Pick

Cricut Explore Air Wireless Cutting Machine
For our budget pick, we chose the Cricut Explore Air Wireless Cutting Machine which includes apps that are cloud based for iPhone, iPad, PC or Mac so you can easily sync projects between the devices, which is ideal for office settings and business purposes. This wireless cutting is very useful and you can easily cut your own images and upload them for free.

There is also an easy Smart Set dial for setting up the material type and in addition, the images you can upload can be saved or accepts the following file formats: JPG, BMP, GIF, DXF, SVG and PNG. It is great for choosing a variety of designs because there are over 50,000 images, fonts and projects from the online library.

This cutting machine allows cutting of over 60 kinds of materials from leather, vellum, etc. and is a great die cutting machine for DIY projects and crafting. It also has a Bluetooth feature so you can cut via wireless sources from your iPhone, Mac, PC or iPad. It can easily work on vinyl, leather, iron-on material or paper.

This die cutting machine has a dual carriage when it comes to cutting, scoring or writing in an easy one-step action and there is also a Free Cricut Design Space software and app for the iPad. In addition, it is compatible to all current Cricut cartridges and furthermore, it also has storage compartments that are integrated with the body of the die cutting machine.

The Cricut Explore Air Wirelessis also available in explore air bundle, with essential tools, explorer one, explorer one bundle and a Mother’s Day bundle as well as a One Value Bundle. All in all, this die cutting machine is ideal for making decorations, banners, party favors and invitations and many other DIY gifts for weddings, birthdays, etc. as it makes clean cuts whether on big or small material.
The Explore Air Wireless Die Cutting Machine is coated in white finish. Bearing overall dimensions of 25 in x 9 in x 10 in, it weighs 19.4 lbs and is manufactured and distributed by Cricut.

Die Cutting Machine with a Tote Bag

Cricut Explore Air Machine Bundle
With this die-cutting machine, you can save in a variety of image formats, including GIF, JPG, PNG, SVG, BMP and DXF. In addition, it has an easy to use interface for its iPad app and online software and what’s more, the dual carriages allow you to cut and write as well as score.

It includes a gray tote bag for carrying supplies and it comes with an adhesive vinyl as well as a transfer paper. In addition, there is a way to easily set the material setting because of its smart set dial and you can download up to 100 images from its online store. Furthermore, it has a Bluetooth feature in which you can easily cut via wireless method and you can use it to cut adhesive vinyl, iron on materials, paper, burlap, felt and light weight leather.

To add to its features, the storage bag has easy handles for portability and it includes a USB cord, a power cord, a 12 in x 12 in standard grip mat, a cardstock sample and a user’s manual. It also includes up to 50 free project ideas and it comes with a German carbide blade that is premium quality. One more thing to add is that it also includes an accessory adapter and it comes with transfer paper.

The Cricut Bundle includes 8 sheets of vinyl and has overall dimensions of 11 in x 11 in x 26 in. It 18.6 lbs and is manufactured and distributed by Cricut. This is a handy die-cutting machine for your transport needs.

Best Die Cutting Machine with Rhinestone Kit

Brother ScanNCut2 Home Hobby Cutting Machine
For those who love making rhinestone designs, the Brother ScanNCut2 Home Hobby Cutting Machine is a great deal to consider. This scan and cut die cutting machine also features a rhinestone trial kit for making creative rhinestone designs.

It has a large LCD display at 4.85 inches that is 30% larger than its old model and has great touch screen capabilities and furthermore, it is the perfect home, hobby or business cutting machine and it can be ready for connection with PCs and wireless networks and it can also be stand-alone with the application.

You can access and use over 7 built-in fonts and 600 designs and also, it comes with a built-in scanner with up to 300 DPI and RBG color recognition – this allows you to create your own designs through high quality scanning. In addition to that, there is a cloud-based web app that allows you to cut, design and edit your work with downloadable cut files and ready-made projects as it has VG data readability so you can use your art files in your library.

The Brother ScanNCut2 uses a German carbide blade that has a design quality from Japan to enhance and ensure precision cutting and what’s more – its LCD touch screen display is non-glare. The specifications: the scan area is 12 in x 12 in and the mat area is 12 in x 24 in and both the cutting area width and scanning area width measure 11.7 inches and it weighs 13.2 lbs as it has overall dimensions of 22 in x 10 in x 10 in. The ScanNCut2 Cutting Machine is manufactured and distributed by Brother.

Best Touch Screen Die Cutting Machine

Silhouette Cameo 2 Touch Screen Machine
The Silhouette Cameo 2 Touch Screen Machine is an ideal touch screen die-cutting machine. It uses a touch screen interface and includes a sketch pen set that comes with transfer paper.
In addition, it has 2 full rolls of vinyl and also comes with a starter guide. There is a PixScan mat included and furthermore, the starter guide covers topics on sketching, heat transfer, vinyl, print and cut and paper. Its cutting mat measures 12 in x 12 in dimensions and the sketch pen set amounts to 24 pieces. The full vinyl roll is colored black (there is also a full white roll and a transfer paper) and measures 6 ft x 12 in and also, there are 2 precision cuttin blades included for your convenience.

The Cameo 2 Touch Screen comes with a hook tool as well as a vinyl trimmer and a scraper tool and also, it uses a 110V to 240V power cord. Furthermore, for connectivity, it uses a USB cord and for the software, the required OS is Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 or Mac OS X 10.5.8 and above. Designing has never been so hassle-free because with the Cameo 2, you get 100 exclusive Silhouette designs.

You can also have 1 free subscription for one month in the Silhouette store with downloads and this machine is ideal for fabric, vinyl, cardstock and paper cutting up to 12 in x 10 ft. The pen replacement activates sketching feature and in addition, you can save your logos, designs and artworks and easily register and cut material. For those who are wondering, it is PixScan compatible.
The Cameo 2 Machine has overall dimensions of 11 in x 11 in x 24 in and it weighs 13.1 lbs. and being manufactured and distributed by Silhouette, it has a 1 year warranty.

Die Cutting Machine with Metallic Pens

Silhouette Cameo 2 Starter Bundle
For those who want a metallic pen set with their die-cutting machine, they should opt for the Silhouette Cameo 2 Starter Bundle that is manufactured and distributed by Silhouette America and includes a vinyl starter kit and has metallic pens x 4 in white, silver, bronze and gold.
This machine package comes with an online class as well as a starter guide and in addition, the vinyl kit comes with 4 premium vinyl sheets, in white, black, leaf green and dark pink, all measuring 9 in x 24 in. The kit also contains 10 ft transfer paper with premium grade and furthermore, comes with scraper, hook and a download card for 10 vinyl designs. It also includes an instructional DVD, guide and idea booklet and comes with a PixScan mat that measures 12 in x 12 in.
As for the dimensions, the cutting mat measures 12 in x 12 in and the cutting blade are accompanied by the vinyl trimmer blade. The cool thing is that you get a 1 month Silhouette design store subscription to downloads for free as it has over 100 designs exclusive to Silhouette.
The software is compatible to Mac OS X 10.5.8 and above and Windows XP and above as it uses a USB cord and uses a power cord from 110 volts to 240 volts. It has touch screen capabilities and can easily work on fabric, cardstock, vinyl and paper as it allows for pen sketch function as well as wireless control.
Having up to 12 in x 10 ft of material which can be used, the Silhouette Bundle has overall dimensions of 24 in x 11 in x 11 in, 12.3 lbs of weight and is under a 1 year warranty.

Best Scanner and Die Cutting Machine

Brother ScanNCut CM100DM with Built-in Scanner
The Brother ScanNCut CM100DM with Built-in Scanner is an ideal scanner + cutter at the same time. It also has a version with a starter bundle and the CM250.
The scanning and cutting size is as wide as 11.7 inches and in addition, it has over 600 in-house designs and you can add and scan anything from your own designs. You can easily can anything – from photos to logos to handmade drawings and the scanner is at 300 DPI so it is standard but very high quality.

It can be used for home, hobby or business scanning and cutting and it can easily convert your scan data to cut data. This machine is ideal for clothing, home decor, wall decor, scrapbook projects, jewelry, pillows, greeting cards and fabric designs or for the inner DIY designer in you. Take note that it is a standalone machine that is super light weight and does not require a PC to run.
You can easy to cut any type of material and it also has a background scan feature and a welding feature for combining patterns. It has on-screen editing and what’s more – you can even scan to a USB flash drive without much hassle! One better thing to consider is that it has space saving functions that are fit to page.

The Brother CM100DM also includes a stylus, a spatula, 2 fabric support sheets that are adhesive and high tack, 2 iron-on contact sheets and some blades and mats and is quite easy to assemble. Equipped with a great user interface, it is easy to cut fabric with the machine. It has overall dimensions of 10 in x 10 in x 22 in and it weighs 12.9 lbs and is manufactured and distributed by Brother.

Best Heat Transfer Kit Included Die Cutting Machine

CAMEO Starter Bundle Heat Transfer Kit
Heat transfer DIY makers will definitely enjoy the CAMEO Starter Bundle Heat Transfer Kit. Being manufactured and distributed by Silhouette, this contains a heat transfer kit and what’s more, it has a starter guide as well as metallic pens.

It comes with a PixScan mat and 2 cutting blades and it also comes with a ruler, scraper, spatula tool, hook tool and a microfiber cloth. This machine bundle includes an easy to pick up pen and a vinyl trimmer blade as the metallic pen has the colors of white, silver, gold and bronze. The cutting mat measures 12 in x 12 in and there are over 10 heat transfer designs included with the download card.

The machine comes with an instructional DVD and guide and in addition, the smooth heat transfer material measures 9 in x 12 in and comes in sheets of 3, all in various colors such as dark pink, teal and black as well as white and yellow (flocked). Its touch screen capability is at its best and overall, this is a great machine for making shirts and soft merchandise.

The CAMEO Heat Transfer Kit uses a power cord of 110V to 240V and comes with a USB cord. The software runs on Mac OS X 10.5.8 or higher or Windows XP, Vista and above and you get a 1 month Silhouette store subscription with over 100 designs exclusive to Silhouette. This machine has overall dimensions of 11 in x 24 in x 11 in as it weighs 12.2 lbs. It can cut up to 12 in x 10 ft and being PixScan compatible, it is subject to a 1 year warranty.

Best Embossing Die Cutting Machine

Silhouette Curio Digital Crafting Machine
The Silhouette Curio Digital Crafting Machine is a great embossing machine and cutting machine all at the same time. Having overall dimensions of the base is 12 in x 8.5 in, this machine comes with an embossing bundle that is great for all of your embossing needs.
Being manufactured and distributed by Silhouette, it is coated in white finish and the cutting mat and embossing mat both measure the same as the base and large tray. The score and emboss paper measure 5 in x 7 in at 10 sheets and there are also 10 sheets measuring 8.5 in x 11 in as it comes with two emboss tools – wine emboss and wide emboss, along with the cutting blade.

What’s more is that the machine bundle was created by Swing Design as the embossing mat measures 8.5 in x 6 in as well as the cutting mat. The overall dimensions of 24 in x 15 in x 13 in and it weighs 16.6 lbs. It has 3 methods of embossing any material: print & emboss, score & emboss and path emboss as you can even use materials that have a 2 mm thickness as long as it has 5 mm clearance and furthermore, you can even use it for etching and stippling.

The Competition

Die cutting machines are very expensive but other machines did not pretty much make it to our list simply because they lacked in power of cutting, software capabilities, durability and how easy to use it, especially if you want to use them for DIY crafting and business use.

Other Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do you choose a great die cutting machine?
A: According to Ebay , you should consider the type and make sure it is functioning well. In picking die-cutting machines, the embossing should be great and also, it must have maintenance-free features. The die cutting must be great overall and the shape must be precise. The compatibility must also be observed, especially if you own a Mac OS computer or system. In addition, the die cutting machine must be durable.

Q: Any tips on maintenance on die cutting machines?
A: According to Schwabe, you must make sure you grease the machine’s fittings and keep a regular visual inspection schedule and general cleaning and change the oil as needed.

Wrapping It Up

Our best die-cutting machine, the Silhouette Cameo Starter Bundle is our pick because it is not just a die cutting machine for one purpose but for a multitude of purposes for various projects and such.