The best laptops for Cricut makers: get the most out of Cricut Design Space
As keen crafters, we've picked out the best laptops for Cricut makers – all tested to handle the brand's software.
You don’t need the priciest or most powerful laptop to get the best out of your Cricut machine. What matters more is having at least 8GB of RAM, a decently speedy processor to handle Cricut’s more advanced features, and a good-quality display so you can clearly see your designs come to life. We've taken all that into consideration, and balanced it with price, to draw up this guide to the best laptops for Cricut machine.
We’re big Cricut enthusiasts ourselves, with hands-on experience using most of the brand’s machines and its software, Cricut Design Space, across a variety of laptops. Right now, our top recommendation is the Asus Vivobook Pro 15 OLED: it packs in serious performance and a stunning OLED display, all at a wallet-friendly price.
Meanwhile if you're shopping around for a Cricut machine as well, check out our guides to the best Cricut machines and the best Cricut alternatives.
Quick list
We'll start with brief overviews of our picks. Scroll down for our full comparisons.
An Intel i9 processor, OLED display and NVIDIA GPU for around $1,200 / £1,000? What's not to love? The specs are more than you need for Cricut, but this is a great value future-proof buy.
Read more below
Want something more affordable than our number one pick? This laptop offers reliable performance without a high price: a great choice for Cricut users seeking a large screen.
Read more below
Here's the cheapest laptop for Cricut we can recommend today. The Acer Swift 3 delivers good everyday performance for Cricut Design Space at a low price, making it our top budget pick.
Read more below
We're impressed with how much this laptop packs into its sleek, compact magnesium frame. It only weighs 1kg, which makes it a great choice for Cricut users who are working on the move.
Read more below
We found the Surface Laptop 7's gorgeous 3:2 touchscreen display ideal for creating projects in Cricut Design Space, as it provides more vertical space than traditional 16:9 screens.
Read more below
The Surface Pro 9 flips between laptop and tablet for the best of both worlds. It fits nicely on top of the Cricut Maker 3 or Cricut Explore 3, and even the base configuration runs Design Space nicely.
Read more below
The best laptops for Cricut in full
The best laptop for Cricut overall
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You want a mid-size laptop: A laptop of this size provides a good amount of space for design work while still being relatively portable.
✅ You want a machine capable of general creative work: With dedicated graphics and a colour-accurate screen, this has us covered for everything from Cricut designs to photo editing.
✅ You want a good balance between specs and price: We think this laptop is fantastic value for the specs provided.
❌ You want a touchcreen laptop: Scroll down further for our pick of the best touchscreen options for Cricut.
❌ You're on a budget laptop: We think this laptop offers phenomenal value, but it provides more power than necessary for Cricut and there are cheaper options on our list.
🔎 Asus Vivobook Pro 15 OLED is our top pick for Cricut since we think it provides the ideal balance between price and specs on one hand and size and portability on the other. It can easily handle much more demanding programs than Cricut Design Space, and the screen provides great contrast and accuracy for creative work. ★★★★½
Need to know: Vivobooks occupy the mid-range of Asus's laptop lineup. They're aimed at users who want the specs for creative work without the power and price tag the brand's professional ProArt Studiobooks. The Asus Vivobook Pro 15 OLED delivers great value as a surprisingly powerful and adaptable laptop for its mid-range price point.
Design and build: We loved the overall premium feel of this laptop. It feels strong and has a sleek metal lid and nice details like a webcam privacy shield and a fingerprint scanner on the power button. The OLED display boasts 2.8K resolution, a refresh rate of 129Hz, and 600nits of HDR peak brightness, which makes it possible to work on Cricut designs outdoors on a sunny day. It's also Pantone-validated to meet industry standard levels of colour fidelity, so you can rest assured that you designs should look like how they'll really come out.
Performance: We were impressed with the colour coverage, brightness and contrast of the OLED screen, which we found made our designs look very clear and vivid. The internals are impressive too. We tested the configuration with an AMD Ryzen processor and Nvidia Geforce RTX 4060. Suffice it to say that we had no problem at all creating Cricut projects in Adobe Illustrator and importing them to Design Space.
Pricing: We were very impressed with the specs and performance on offer for a laptop that's priced at under $1,500. The specs are more than you need to run Cricut's software, but the laptop is such great value that we think it's a sensible buy to ensure you're futureproofed for other kinds of creative work that might need to do if you intending on making crafting a business, from design to photo and video editing.
Read more: Asus Vivobook Pro 15 OLED review
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Design and build | Strong and sleek. | ★★★★★ |
Performance | Great OLED screen and good GPU. | ★★★★★ |
Pricing | Great value for the specs. | ★★★★ |
The best mid-price laptop for Cricut
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You prioritise portability: At just 1.8kg and 0.7 inches thick, this laptop won't weigh you down.
✅ You need all-day battery life: The huge battery means you can work on Cricut designs for extended periods without a plug socket.
✅ You want touch capabilities: The optional touchscreen makes manipulating designs in Cricut Design Space more intuitive.
❌ You want something small: It's lightweight for a 16-incher, but still on the bulky side.
❌ You want the absolute cheapest: Our number 3 pick is lower in price.
🔎 HP Pavilion 16 strikes an excellent balance between portability and screen size, making it ideal for Cricut crafters who want to work comfortably without being tied to a desk. While not the most powerful laptop in its class, it offers more than enough capability to run Cricut Design Space smoothly along with comfortable ergonomics and impressive battery life. ★★★★
Need to know: The HP Pavilion line sits in the mid-range of HP's laptop portfolio, offering reliable performance without the premium price of their higher-end Spectre or Envy models. The Pavilion 16 is a good choice for Cricut users who want a large screen without sacrificing portability.
Design: Despite its 16-inch screen, this laptop remains surprisingly portable at just 1.8kg. The chassis feels sturdy with minimal flex in the lid or keyboard deck. The 16-inch WUXGA display offers a resolution of 1920 x 1200 with a 144Hz refresh rate, providing smooth visuals when scrolling through complex Cricut designs. The touchscreen option (available on some configurations) adds valuable functionality for Design Space users who prefer direct manipulation of their designs.
Performance: In our testing, the Intel Core Ultra 7 processor handled Cricut Design Space with ease, even when working with complex multi-layer designs. The optional Nvidia GeForce MX570 A graphics card provides adequate power for design work, though it's not the most powerful in its class. Where this laptop truly shines is in its balance of performance and battery life—you can work on crafting projects for extended periods without needing to recharge.
Price: Starting at £699.99, the HP Pavilion 16 offers good value for Cricut crafters. While you could find more raw power for the same price, the combination of comfortable ergonomics, large screen, and portability make it a compelling choice. We recommend considering the touchscreen configuration for the added convenience when working in Design Space.
Learn more in our full HP Pavilion 16 review.
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Design and build | Lightweight yet sturdy with excellent ergonomics | ★★★★ |
Performance | Handles Cricut Design Space well with strong battery life. | ★★★★ |
Pricing | Good value for crafters prioritising comfort and portability. | ★★★★ |
The best budget laptop for Cricut
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You're on a tight budget: This laptop delivers reliable performance for Cricut Design Space at a low price.
✅ You need portability: At just 1.19kg, it's one of the lightest options available.
❌ You work with complex designs: The integrated graphics might struggle with intricate multi-layered SVG files in Cricut Design Space.
❌ You do professional design work alongside crafting: The colour gamut, while good (100% sRGB), doesn't fully cover AdobeRGB or P3 standards required for professional design work.
🔎 Acer Swift 3 strikes an excellent balance between affordability and functionality for budget-conscious Cricut enthusiasts. While it won't win any performance contests, it provides everything needed to run Cricut Design Space smoothly while offering impressive battery life. ★★★★
Need to know: The Acer Swift line represents the company's mainstream ultraportable offering, designed to deliver good everyday performance at accessible price points. The Swift 3 specifically balances performance needs with affordability, providing essential capabilities without unnecessary premium features.
Design and build: The Swift 3 sports a sturdy aluminium chassis that feels more premium than its price suggests. At just 1.19kg, it's exceptionally portable for crafters on the move. The 14-inch Full HD display offers impressive brightness (320 nits) and colour accuracy (100% sRGB coverage), ensuring your Cricut designs look true to life. While the 16:9 aspect ratio might feel slightly outdated compared to newer 16:10 displays, it provides plenty of workspace for Design Space.
Performance: The AMD Ryzen 7 processor combined with 16GB of RAM provides smooth performance for Cricut Design Space and basic design tasks. In our testing, the laptop handled standard Cricut projects with ease, including basic SVG imports and editing. Where it does show limitations is with complex, multi-layered designs or when running multiple creative applications simultaneously. The integrated Radeon graphics, while adequate for Cricut work, won't support intensive 3D modelling or advanced video editing alongside your crafting projects.
Pricing: Available for around £549.99 (often discounted), the Acer Swift 3 represents exceptional value for Cricut enthusiasts who need reliable performance without breaking the bank. While there are more powerful options available, few match this combination of portability, battery life and performance at this price point.
Read more: Acer Swift 3 review.
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Design and build | Lightweight aluminium construction with good keyboard. | ★★★★ |
Performance | Capable for Cricut but limited for advanced design work. | ★★★ |
Pricing | Excellent value for budget-conscious crafters. | ★★★★★ |
The best laptop for Cricut for portability
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You want a super portable laptop: The Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED is light and compact, and battery life is excellent.
✅ You're OK with a smaller screen: The bright OLED screen is the best we've experienced on a laptop of this size, but some will prefer more space to work with.
✅ You don't need a dedicated GPU: A dedicated graphics card isn't necessary for Cricut, but it's desirable if you're also doing heavy video editing.
❌ You want more working space: If you find the interface cramped on design software you may want a larger screen unless you plan to use an external monitor.
❌ You're looking for value: This isn't the most expensive on our list, but it costs more than the Vivobook Pro 16 above and MacBook Air.
❌ You need a dedicated GPU: While it's not at all necessary for Cricut, you might want a dedicated graphics card if you also edit video.
🔎 Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED is the best compact laptop we've tested. It has more than enough power for Cricut work, and the OLED screen provides excellent colour accuracy and contrast. However, the Vivobook above offers more laptop for less money. ★★★★½
Need to know: Zenbooks are Asus's premium range of laptops. They're not specifically aimed at designers, but we think this sleek compact device is an excellent option for those who want a more portable laptop for Cricut.
Design and build: We were impressed with how much the ASUS Zenbook S 13 Flip OLED packs into its sleek, compact magnesium frame. It only weighs 1kg, which makes it a great choice if you're working on the move, for example at craft fairs and other locations. We found the chiclet keyboard and trackpad to be comfortable to use despite the compact size. Note that there are now legacy USB-A and HDMI ports, so you'll need adapters if those connectivity types are critical for you. However, we appreciated the two Thunderbolt 4 ports for super speedy connectivity.
Performance: With integrated graphics, this laptop doesn't match our first choice for power, but, as we said, you really don't need that much power to run Cricut's software. That said, while the lack of a dedicated graphics card doesn't matter at all for Cricut alone, it may dissuade those who also do more complex video editing work to promote their craft business.
We found the 13.3-inch OLED touch display to be bright and vivid, with great Pantone-certified colour coverage (we got 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut and 113% of sRGB). We tested 14 hours of battery life, further backing up the case for the portability of this device.
Pricing: The ZenBooks S 13 is a little on the expensive side when you consider that it's smaller and less powerful than the Vivobook above. It's also more expensive than the MacBook Air on our list. However it makes up for that with a premium look and feel and the best screen we've used on such a compact laptop. We think it's the ideal option for Cricut users who want a portable but highly capable laptop for using on the move.
Read more: Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED review
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Design and build | Super light and compact. | ★★★★★ |
Performance | Good all-round performance and colour coverage. | ★★★★ |
Pricing | Relatively expensive for its size. | ★★★ |
The best touchscreen laptop for Cricut
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You want precision with touch controls: The high-resolution touchscreen provides exceptional accuracy when manipulating designs in Cricut Design Space.
✅ You value screen quality: The bright display with 98% sRGB coverage ensures your designs look vibrant and true.
✅ You work for extended periods away from power: The battery life means you can craft all day without worrying about charging.
❌ You're on a tight budget: This premium device comes with a premium price tag.
❌ You want to connect lots of devices: The limited port selection might be frustrating.
🔎 Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 excels as a touchscreen option for Cricut enthusiasts who value precision and a premium experience. Its bright, colour-accurate display in the productivity-friendly 3:2 aspect ratio provides ample space for design work. ★★★★½
What you need to know: The Surface Laptop represents Microsoft's vision for premium laptops, competing directly with Apple's MacBook line. The Surface Laptop 7 specifically introduces Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processor, bringing ARM-based computing to Windows with impressive performance and efficiency benefits.
Design and build: At 1.66kg, it's not the lightest option on our list, but it remains highly portable for a 15-inch device. The standout feature is undoubtedly the gorgeous 3:2 touchscreen display, which provides more vertical space than traditional 16:9 screens—a significant advantage when working in Cricut Design Space's interface. With a measured brightness of 573 nits and excellent colour reproduction (98% sRGB), your designs will appear vibrant and accurate.
Performance: The Snapdragon X Elite processor delivers impressive performance for creative tasks, with our testing showing it handles Cricut Design Space with remarkable smoothness. Complex SVG imports and multi-layered designs posed no challenge, with the system remaining responsive even when working with intricate projects. The 32GB RAM configuration provides ample headroom for multitasking, allowing you to run Cricut Design Space alongside design applications without slowdown. While the integrated Adreno GPU isn't designed for intensive 3D work, it's more than capable for the 2D design tasks common in Cricut crafting.
Pricing: Starting at £1,049, the Surface Laptop 7 is a big investment. However, for crafters who value touchscreen precision and plan to use their laptop for design work beyond Cricut, the extra cost delivers tangible benefits in screen quality, performance, and battery life. The comprehensive warranty and Microsoft's reputation for build quality also add value to the package.
Read more: Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 review
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Design and build | Premium construction with exceptional touchscreen | ★★★★★ |
Performance | Smooth operation with excellent battery | ★★★★ |
Pricing | Premium priced but corresponding quality | ★★★★ |
The best 2-in-1 laptop for Cricut
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You can't choose between a tablet and laptop: The Surface Pro gives you both: a Windows tablet that can connect to a keyboard to also function like a laptop.
✅ You want a portable device: With or without the keyboard, the device is light and portable.
✅ You want a touchscreen: The touchscreen feels smooth and responsive with the Surface Slim Pen 2.
❌ You want a larger screen and keyboard: Some people may find the 13in screen a bit small for working in design software. And the keyboard takes a bit of getting used too.
❌ You won't use tablet mode or touchscreen: If you don't need the 2-in-1 flexibility, you could get a traditional laptop for less money.
🔎 Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is a powerful and flexible tablet-cum-laptop. We like the ability to use the touch display in a Cricut machine's tablet slot and then attach the keyboard cover when needed. ★★★★
Need to know: The Surface Pro 9 is a hybrid device designed to offer the best of both a laptop and tablet. On it's own, it's basically a high-end tablet that runs windows and has it's own kickstand, but you can buy an optional Type Cover to dock it and effectively turn it into a compact laptop. Since it has Windows OS, you can run Cricut Design Space and all the usual desktop software programs, with the convenient portability of touchscreen handheld use when needed.
Design and build: We found that the Surface Pro 9 works well in both it guises. As a tablet, it's about the size of an iPad Pro in depth (not the new 2024 models) and the perfect size to fit into the tablet slot on top of the Cricut Maker 3 and Cricut Explore 3. The touchscreen means that you can use the Surface Slim Pen 2 (not included) to draw by hand in vector design software like or to navigate the interface. That said, we highly recommend getting the Type Cover, since Windows isn't great for navigating entirely by touch all of the time. Note that there are only two USB-C ports, no audio jack and no card reader, so you'll need to use a dock or Bluetooth if you require more connectivity.
Performance: The Intel i5 and i7 models have enough power to run design software such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW. Photoshop also runs well and despite the lack of dedicated graphics, and we were even able to do video editing relatively smoothly in our tests. The less powered ARM SQ3 version of the device is more problematic. It runs Design Space just fine, but struggles with more demanding software. The advantage of the SQ3 is extra battery life and 5G connectivity, but if you're working from home on Cricut projects, I'd suggest the Intel i5 model, or the i7 if you also want to use heavier software.
Pricing: The Surface Pro 9 is relatively expensive at full price, especially when you consider that you'll probably want to buy the Type Cover and the Surface Slim Pen as well if you want to make full use of its portability. However, we see quite frequent discounts of up to around $300, which we think make it well worth considering.
Read more: Surface Pro 9 review
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Design and build | Flexible 2-in1 form factor. | ★★★★★ |
Performance | Excellent performance. | ★★★★ |
Pricing | Relatively expensive, but there are often deals about. | ★★★ |
The best premium laptop for Cricut
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You want versatility in one device: The innovative hinge design lets you use it as a standard laptop, in 'stage mode' for presentations, or as a touchscreen tablet.
✅ You like to use a stylus: The Surface Pen integration and responsive touchscreen make it ideal for precision work in Cricut Design Space.
❌ You're on a budget: This is a premium-priced device with a steep entry point that's hard to justify for casual crafters.
❌ You need all-day battery life: Battery performance is disappointing for a premium device.
🔎 Surface Laptop Studio 2 is a premium creative workstation that excels for Cricut users thanks to its versatile form factor and responsive touchscreen. The ability to transition between laptop, stage, and studio modes makes it exceptionally well-suited for design work. ★★★★
What you need to know: The Surface Laptop Studio 2 represents Microsoft's vision for creative professionals who need flexibility without compromise. Building on the original Surface Laptop Studio released in 2021, this updated model retains the innovative three-position display while upgrading internals to include 13th Gen Intel processors and more powerful graphics options.
Design and build: The Studio 2 features an impressively engineered design with smooth chamfered corners and a premium aluminium chassis that feels robust in daily use. Its standout feature is the innovative hinge mechanism that allows the screen to be positioned in three distinct modes: laptop, stage (angled at 45 degrees), and studio (flat tablet-like position). At 1.8kg it's slightly heavier than comparable laptops, but this weight contributes to its solid, premium feel. The keyboard is comfortable with good key travel, and the large, responsive trackpad adds to the overall quality experience.
Performance: For Cricut Design Space users, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 delivers excellent performance that makes designing projects a breeze. Even the base model with an Intel Core i5 and integrated graphics handles the software smoothly, whilst the higher-spec versions with dedicated NVIDIA GPUs provide headroom for more demanding creative applications if you're working across multiple platforms. The 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling through designs incredibly smooth, and the touchscreen paired with the Surface Pen (sold separately) provides a natural way to interact with your designs.
Pricing: Starting at £2,069, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 represents a significant investment. Whilst this places it firmly in premium territory, the combination of versatility, build quality, and performance makes it a justifiable expense for professional creators who will leverage its unique capabilities. However, casual Cricut users may find better value in less expensive alternatives that still meet the technical requirements for Design Space.
Read more: Surface Laptop Studio 2 review
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Design and build | Innovative 3-position display with premium materials | ★★★★★ |
Performance | Excellent for Design Space, good for more demanding applications | ★★★★ |
Battery life | Premium price point | ★★★ |
Also tested
The above laptops are our top picks for use with Cricut machines, but there are plenty of other contenders that have passed across our testing bench. Below are some other laptops that almost made this list, which you may also want to consider for use with Cricut makers.
MacBook Pro M3 14-inch
The entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro is cheaper than in the past, still with the benefits of a sleek chassis and a fabulous screen. It's still more than you need for Cricut, but it's a solid long term investment. The starting point is $1,599 / £1,699, but we have seen discounts of up to $150.
Read our 4.5-star review
Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED
This is a niche machine and way more than you need for Cricut software, but the second display can be handy for things like displaying customer orders and design progress. The price is surprisingly reasonable, starting at $1,599 / £1,999 with the ASUS Pen 2.0 included.
Read our 5-star review
How to choose the best laptop for Cricut
What's the best laptop for Cricut Explore Air 2, Cricut Maker 3, Cricut Explore 3, and other Cricut machines? The good news is that the minimum requirements are met by a wide range of Windows laptops and MacBooks, including many budget models. If you're really short of cash, be aware that you don't actually need a laptop to run Cricut's Design Space. You can use a smartphone or tablet instead.
However, there are two reasons why you might want to go for one of the more expensive laptops on the market. Firstly, because it’s going to provide a better computing experience in general. And secondly, because some of the more advanced Cricut features, such as Offset, are not supported with the minimum system requirements but require higher system specs, such as Windows 10 64-bit. Higher specs may also be needed if you do design work in other software, such as Illustrator, or if you make videos to promote your craft business.
How we test
Laptops are complex and extremely varied, so numerous capabilities need to be tested, prodded and assessed. Cricut isn't the most demanding application, but a good screen is still important, with brightness, contrast, colour coverage and pixel density all on the list.
Touch responsiveness including support for input pens is also key, with the number of pressure levels supported always an important factor. Next up we assess overall form factor, portability and build quality, which in this context means everything from conventional clamshell laptops to 2-in-1s and tablet convertibles with detachable keyboards and even foldable laptops.
You absolutely don't need an epic 16-core CPU or powerful graphics chip for Cricut, but we test laptops to ensure a decent baseline of both GPU and processor performance.
Connectivity is another key element for any laptop, which means looking out for features like Thunderbolt tom ensure plnty of bandwidth, USB-C for univrsal connectivity and the specification of wireless interfaces. Good battery life is of course always desirable for any portable drawing device.
We also assess ergonomics, build and usability, including keyboard quality, chassis rigidity, trackpad response and more to build up a practical picture of how well a laptop performs in the real world rather than merely benchmarks. That said, we do run a series of benchmark tests on all laptops we get in for review, which will be different based on the intended use for them. All the laptops in this guide have been run through the following tests (provided the OS is compatible for each one):
• Cinebench R23/2024 - this assesses the performance of a computer's CPU and GPU using real-world 3D rendering tasks
• Geekbench 5/6 - this tests the CPU's processing power, both by using a single core for a single task at a time as well as all the CPU's core to see its ability to multitask
• PCMark 10 - this test assesses a computer’s ability to run all everyday tasks from web browsing to digital content creation, testing app launch speeds, 3D rendering and even battery life
FAQs
What kind of laptop do you need for a Cricut?
All of the devices in our pick of the best laptops for Cricut meet the system requirements for the devices' software and then some. However, if you choose a different laptop, make sure it meets the basic Cricut system requirements below. Note that if it’s a Windows laptop, it must be running a full version of Windows, as opposed to Windows S mode.
For Windows:
- Operating system: Windows 8 or later
- CPU: Intel Dual-Core or equivalent AMD processor
- RAM: 4GB
- Free disk space: 2 GB free disk space
- Connectivity: USB port or Bluetooth connection
- Display: 1024px x 768px screen resolution
For Mac:
- Operating system: macOS 10.15 or later
- CPU: 1.83 GHz
- RAM: 4GB
- Free disk space: 2GB
- Connectivity: USB port or Bluetooth connection
- Display: 1,024px x 768px screen resolution
Do Chromebooks work with Cricut?
No, but also yes. Chromebooks use Chrome OS rather than Windows or MacOS, and Cricut Design Space will not run directly on Chrome OS. However, there is a way around that. If your Chromebook is compatible with the Google Play Store, and has Bluetooth, then you can download the Android version of Cricut Design Space on the Google Play Store, and use your Bluetooth to connect. Most Chromebooks released since 2022 meet this criteria.
If you'd rather get a Chromebook for your crafting, see our best Chromebooks for Cricut guide.
Can you use a Cricut without a computer?
Yes, you can; there's a free Cricut Design Space app for Android and both iOS and iPadOS devices. As we're about to explain though, we'd recommend opting for a laptop instead.
Is a laptop or tablet better for Cricut?
Both from a software perspective and for function, using a laptop is a better course of action when it comes to designing for Cricut makers. Not only is the app software far more limited than the laptop version, but it's just a lot handier to have the functionality of a laptop for fine details or when connecting to an external monitor.
Do I need to use Cricut Design Space?
Technically yes, the Cricut Design Space program is required in order to operate your Cricut machine. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that you need to do all your designing work on it – it's perfectly possible to create your designs in Photoshop, Canva or whichever program suits you best, and then import them into Cricut Design Space as a final step.
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Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.
- Tom MayFreelance journalist and editor
