Is Cricut Venture really just an Explore 3 on steroids or much more than that? How can this large smart cutting machine change your hobby and improve your crafting? Let's dive into various reviews of this 24-inch cutter and see if you need this giant in your crafts room.
Because of the high cost of the Cricut venture, weighing all the pros and cons before spending $600+ or $700 on this beautiful dream is best.
Cricut Venture
This commercial beauty was released in July 2023. It is considered a top of the line Cricut machine, but only for some crafters. While Venture can help you bring your hobby to a commercial level, it has limited features, and often, a cheaper Maker or Maker 3 can work much better for your needs so it's best to learn all its features and possibilities before your purchase.
This 24-inch cutter is indeed the most expensive Cricut up-to-date. It is also the biggest among the company's cutting machines ever released (as of 2025). Available in an elegant light blue color, this wide-format professional cutting machine supports over 100 materials and can print vinyl rolls up to 75 feet (22.8 m) long. It runs at commercial speeds and can cut, score, write, and foil. Like the Explore and Maker series, Cricut Venture needs the Design Space app to do your projects. It seems pretty similar to Explore machines, just way bigger and much faster (it operates in a completely different way), but it does not offer as many features as Maker machines.
Cricut Venture Cost
Brand new Cricut Venture as a standalone cutting machine is usually priced at $699 or $799, but its cost can go down to $599 during holiday sales ($549 for Access subscribers during Black Friday and Christmas sales in 2024). Plus, add taxes and a protection plan, and your budget will grow by another $150 to $200. Still, this won't be your final Cricut Venture cost.
Since Design Space is a desktop app, you need a laptop, desktop PC, Mac, tablet, or a good phone to run your Cricut Venture. If you own one already, you save yourself a lot of money. If you don't, plan to spend another $500+ on this.
Besides, the basic Cricut Venture price can significantly increase if you choose to bundle your machine with a stand, a mat, and other supplies and materials. The bundles start at $649 and go up to $849 during sales. You cannot save on extras because this 24-inch cutter does not support your regular Explore and Maker 12x12 mats, 12-inch or 13-inch vinyl, and other crafting supplies you might already have stocked in your crafts room. It needs its own mat, supplies, tools, and even a stand.
Cricut Venture Stand
A docking stand for the most expensive Cricut can be purchased separately or in a bundle. On its own, it is priced at $349.
Venture Stand features a slack design, four wheels with safety locks, catch baskets, and built-in support for Smart Materials. There are two hooks to hold the big mats while not in use, too.
Can you live without the Cricut Venture docking stand? You absolutely can by placing the big machine on the edge of your table (it needs space above and below to cut and perform other functions). However, it's much more comfortable to get the stand and use it with materials up to 75 feet long because this accessory will hold everything secured and not let your beautiful projects touch the floor. Even though this accessory looks roomy, it won't take up that much space. Unlike Maker, Joy, and Explore families that need extra space behind them for the mats to go through (up to 24 inches depending on your machine and mat size), Venture won't need feet of extra room behind or in front of it because it works at a 45-degree angle (you'll learn more about it below).
Cricut Venture Mat
A large cutting machine requires large Cricut Venture mats. You can find a variety of them on the official website, featuring light, standard, and strong grip options at 24 x 28 inches and 24 x 12 inches (yes, if you have your Explore or Maker mats at this particular size, you can use them instead).
At good times, a 24 x 28 inches Cricut Venture mat is priced at $14.99, and a smaller 24 x 12 inches one costs $12.99. The prices can change.
Cricut Venture Projects
Since this smart cutting machine can cut, score, write, and foil, it does look like a steroid version of the Explore series. It's bigger and faster, and it lets you work on more significant projects such as giant posters, big paper flowers, wall decals, etc., saving a lot of time and energy.
Your Cricut Venture projects can be similar to your Explore machine projects. You can use expensive cardstock 24 x 28 inches and 13 x 25 inches for larger one-piece cuts or regular cardstock size placed side by side on the oversized mat for multiple-piece cuts (ensure your images don't overlap).
You can use Smart Vinyl (25 inches by up to 75 feet long) or regular materials with a mat. Everything depends on how big you want your craft to be. Stay creative, and keep your imagination free. Reuse the same patterns and designs if you want; just upscale them when needed to create bigger cards, posters, signs, decals, and other things.
Read also: 10 Best Tools for Cricut Beginners.
How Venture Works
No matter what projects you do with Venture, it will feel different from using Explore or Maker. Unlike them, this smart machine doesn't cut flat. It cuts at a 45-degree angle. To hold your project at this angle, Venture uses two arms at its bottom and top. If your project is too heavy, you can add a special Y-shape tool to the top hand to hold it securely (releasing is as simple as pushing a button), but a special docking stand would hold your rolls of vinyl and let the machine cut easier.
Working with giant pieces of cardstock and vinyl that can be pretty heavy can remind you of a real battle. To prevent warping and other potential fails, Cricut added a special vacuum system that activates as soon as you load materials into Venture (it has a sensor for this). It's a wonderful solution!
It's interesting that unlike with other Cricuts, you load vinyl and cardstock from Venture's top (not bottom) and remove the final cut, foil, or score from its bottom. A 45-degree angle, the new working process, and a cutting blade that helps you cut your materials simplify crafting and make this new 24-inch cutter a wonderful addition to your room.
The Venture setup is very similar to other machines from Cricut. You'll need the Design Space application installed on your desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or phone. It is fast to connect Cricut Venture via a USB-C cable or wirelessly. Ensure to select your machine in the list of available machines in the application, and begin writing, scoring, cutting, and foiling.
Read also: How to Cut and Score on Explore Air 2.
Cricut Venture Reviews
So, is this awesome-looking 24-inch cutter worth its price? According to different Cricut Venture reviews, this machine is a great addition to a crafts room, especially for hobbyists who love crafting a lot and going big in size with their projects.
You will love this smart cutting machine if you can afford Venture, its unique and expensive stand, an additional mat (at least one), Smart Vinyl designed specifically for this giant, and other materials and tools. If you want to extend your business or turn your hobby into a business project and wish to make paper and vinyl projects wider than 12 inches and longer than 24 inches (or cut way faster all your files in bulk), this can be a great upgrade.
Hobbyists who are well-familiar with Explore Air 2 and newer Explore 3 will feel friendly with Cricut Venture. It feels like a big brother in the Explore family that got a different last name because of its size, speed, way of work, and capabilities. It cuts very accurate (some assure that it's the most accurate cutting machine among the company's line) on high speeds.
Based on Cricut Venture reviews by long-time crafters, they love how simple this 24-inch cutter is to operate, but they still can't imagine their lives without the Maker series. Why? No matter how wonderful Venture sounds and how it can simplify the life of a small business by cutting vinyl and cardstock pieces in bulk, unlike Makers, it cannot deboss, engrave, and cut all types of fabric or chipboard. It is limited to one type of blade supporting vinyl, cardstock, bonded fabric, and stencils only.
Enthusiasts who love to save money on materials by choosing cheaper third-party vinyl over Smart Materials offered by Cricut share a trick. Since you are limited to your 24 x 28 inches mat when not using Smart products, you can tape several mats and use longer rolls of vinyl to cut with your Venture. It does the trick on Explore Air 2 and Maker that don't support Smart Materials, and it can be your workaround with the bigger 24-inch cutter.
Considering various Cricut Venture reviews, will you get one for yourself this year?
FAQ
What does a Cricut Venture do?
Just like other Cricut machines, the new and bigger Venture can cut, score, foil, and write/draw helping you to craft beautiful projects from vinyl, paper, and stencils.
Can my Cricut Venture cut regular vinyl?
It absolutely can. Venture works with similar types of materials as Explore family machines, cutting regular vinyl, Smart materials, cardstock, and stencils, just in much bigger sizes.
Can Cricut Venture engrave?
No, Venture does not engrave. It lacks some features of the Maker family, like engraving, debossing, and cutting fabric.
Where to find the Cricut Venture projects?
You can find many beautiful Cricut Venture projects on Digital Art Dreams. Follow your heart and craft lovely embellishments, invitations, paper cards, posters, wall decals, window decorations, and other things using your machine and our high-quality SVG files.