Brother Scan and Cut vs Cricut Maker

Brother Scan and Cut vs Cricut Maker

Brother and Cricut are one of the best craft cutting machines till date. Both are tough competitors and have a large users pool. Brother Scan and Cut has turned a lot of heads after it released its ScanNCut 2. Some people call it the best in business. But Cricut is also in line to be one of the best as it also has a bunch of devices under its belt.

Both are quiet when it comes to cutting, which is a clear sign of sound engineering. Both have some storage area available. The point is that it is quite difficult to choose one. As both are well equipped with cutting edge features.

It is a big decision to buy a craft cutting machine. You have several choices and they all have unique features. So, it is a tough decision to make. Your choice will depend a lot on what specific type of crafts you want to create.

For you to make a clear cut decision, we will discuss features and characteristics of both the Brother Scan and Cut vs Cricut Maker in detail. So, you can choose exactly what you want based on your needs.

So, here we go!!!

First we will discuss both briefly and then there will be feature wise comparison:

Cricut Maker:

A lot of people prefer Cricut Maker because of it is super easy to use. Let’s be honest, who wants to spend endless hours just to learn the features anyway. And other reason is its drag and drop feature which makes craft cutting easier than ever before.

It has the best accuracy levels when cutting even the thinnest of vinyl sheet. Cricut maker is recommended both for beginners as well as advanced crafters. It has a vast handling that is up to 100+ different materials. Bu upgrading to 2X speed, you can get things done pretty quickly.

In the money department, you save a lot as it has most affordable ones present in the market currently. Moreover, it has a ridiculously slick design.

Brother ScanNCut:

To our surprise, Brother ScanNCut is the one and only vinyl cutting machine that has a built in scanner. This feature allows to hand create shapes rather than buying them.

Like Cricut Maker, it is also super easy to use. And it is considered one of the best for birthday gift cards and stickers. It was basically built for hobbyists and crafters. It is not considered as a heavy machine as it is used for lightweight tasks.

Brother Scan and Cut vs Cricut Maker features:

Size:

Both have same size when compared side to side on a table. Their sizes are quite similar and you might think that both have same weight. But that’s not the case here. Cricut is clearly heavier than Brother Scan and Cut 2, when lifted above. Although, Cricut needs more space as it has 2 doors.

Designing custom Designs:

Both have different working approaches. Cricut has a cloud based software called design space. While Brother on the other hand, Brother cutting machine comes with a built in scanner for processing real world images.

Auto Blade:

Brother has a top tier Auto Blade, and it can’t get better than that. Because the attention to detail is just other worldly. While Cricut lacks in the auto Blade department, as it does not have one.

Internet Connectivity:

When using Scan and Cut 2, you don’t need any computers at all. Isn’t that great? You can sit down and just use it with the built in designs, or a flash drive with designs, or scan designs from scanner. You can send designs wirelessly from your machine to your computer.

While, Cricut lacks in this department as you can only use Cricut when online. Any cartridges that you bought for previous models of Cricut have to be linked online to the machine. And one more thing, you have to be connected to the Internet in order to buy designs from Cricut image library.

The Brother cutting device allows you to edit, crop, resize and edit anything on its LCD. Weighing the pros and cons related to Internet Connectivity, we would say that if you have an internet connection, then Cricut is the way to go. While, on the other hand if you don’t have a stable internet connection, then Brother would be the preference.

Software:

Each cutting machine has their own proprietary software. The big winner in this category is Brother Scan N Cut, mainly because you don’t have to pay a monthly fee to use the software. Cricut is requiring users to purchase Cricut Access for $9.99 per month. That is $119.88 per year!! IMAGINE ALL THE VINYL YOU COULD BUY WITH THAT!

Dual carriage:

This impressive feature is present in Cricut, while Brother does not have this feature. The dual carriage speeds up the overall process, thus saving you a lot of time. Basically, Cricut has two holsters and you can choose two distinct tools for it. It runs on its own once you have set up everything.

Unfortunately, brother does not have this amazing feature. So, technically speaking you have to be close to the machine until the project is finished.

It is a must have feature because it gives you the leverage of time. Once you use this feature, it becomes addictive to an extent.

Noise Production Levels:

Almost all the craft cutting devices are loud. Some are less loud and some are more when compared. Cricut is not loud but it does make some sound. As discussed before, Cricut has 2X speed option, by the means of which it can double its working speed.

Final Verdict:

To sum it all, we have to say that both devices are tough competitors. Brother ScanNCut has its own pros and cons and same is the case with Cricut Maker. If you have internet connectivity issues and want to go for budget friendly device, then Brother ScanNCut is the one on any given day. But, with some more budget comes much better and cutting edge features. And that would be Cricut Maker.