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Best Cricut For Stickers (2022): Designing and Cutting Stickers With a Cricut Machine

Designing and cutting custom stickers with Cricut can be more than just for fun. You can pick a niche and design stickers to sell and turn your hobby into something profitable. If you’re in the market for a Cricut cutting machine for this purpose, the best Cricut for stickers overall is the Cricut Explore Air 2 as it can cut a wide range of materials at an attractive price point. However, if you want something portable, the best portable Cricut for stickers is the Cricut Joy. We hone in on their features and show you some of the best Cricut sticker projects that you can try.

The Best Cricut for Stickers: Cricut Explore Air 2 & Cricut Joy

ModelBest Cricut For Stickers Overall:
Cricut Explore Air 2
Best Portable Cricut for Stickers: Cricut Joy
 Cricut Explore Air 2Cricut Joy
PriceCheck Price

at Cricut.com

Check Price

at Cricut.com

Dimensions
(LDH)
22.17″ x 7″ x 5.0″8.4″ x 5.5″ x 4.25″
Weight21 lbs3.9 lbs
Best ForVersatility and speed
Cutting bigger vinyl projects
Portability
Cutting Smart Vinyl without a mat
Cutting long vinyl projects
Max Cutting Area12″ x 24″4.25″ x 6.5″
Cutting VersatilityCuts 100 materialsCuts 50+ materials
Print and CutYesNo, Only draw and cut
Tool HolderDoubleSingle
Material DialYesNo
Mat-less CuttingNoYes
SoftwareDesign SpaceDesign Space
Upload Own DesignYesYes
Tool StorageYesNo
ConnectivityBluetoothBluetooth
ColorsBlue, Cherry Blossom, Matte Black, Twilight, Mint, Persimmon, RoseWhite/Turquoise

Overall Best Cricut for Stickers: Cricut Explore Air 2

The Cricut Explore Air 2 can cut a wide range of vinyl materials for stickers and boasts Cricut’s Print Then Cut feature. It also has a Fast Mode and a 12″ x 24″ cutting area.

best cricut for stickers cricut explore air 2
With a large 12″ x 24″ cutting area, your Cricut can cut more stickers on one go

The Cricut Explore Air 2 is the best Cricut for stickers as it can cut a wide range of vinyl materials with excellent precision and quality. While it’s not as powerful as the Cricut Maker, its 400-gram cutting power is more than enough for cutting stickers. In addition, it can cut up to 100 types of materials, including card stocks, faux leather, and more. Its Fast Mode lets you cut materials twice as fast as the other Cricut Explore cutting machines, too. Another reason why the Explore Air 2 is the best Cricut for stickers is its attractive price point considering powerful features and versatility.

Another unique and practical feature of the Cricut Explore Air 2 that sticker-makers will love is the Cricut Print Then Cut. Using Design Space, you can print your sticker sets and designs using a regular InkJet printer on printable vinyl. Then, you can load the sticker vinyl on your Explore Air 2 where it will detect the edges of your designs and cut around them individually. You can even change the bleeding settings as preferred. As Cricut Inks and Pens can be costly when they add up, having the option to use a regular InkJet printer offers significant savings.

Print stickers using a regular printer and let Cricut cut it precisely for you.

Since the Cricut Explore Air 2 has a large 12″ x 24″ cutting area, you can print and cut bigger vinyl sticker sheets. This, paired with Fast Mode, lets your Cricut cut stickers efficiently so you can spend more time designing and marketing your stickers. The Cricut Explore Air 2 further comes with two tool holders so you don’t have to keep changing tools from drawing to cutting. For the organization-conscious crafters, this Cricut offers a tool holder on the side and a tool storage tray at the bottom.

What’s in the box

When you get the Cricut Explore Air 2 for cutting your sticker projects, the following tools are included with the cutting machine:

  • Cricut Premium Fine Point Blade and Housing
  • Cricut 12″ x12″ LightGrip Adhesive Cutting Mat (Great for cutting Cricut Vinyl and HTV),
  • Black Fine Point Pen
  • Access to Design Space, Cricut’s design software
  • Free 2-week trial to Cricut Access, Cricut’s vast library of fonts, images, and designs

Best Portable Cricut for Stickers: Cricut Joy

If you’re after cutting longer sticker projects and want a more mobile machine, the Cricut Joy is the Cricut for you. Its Draw Then Cut feature is also useful for sticker projects.

The Cricut Joy can draw your designs and cut them afterwards

While the Cricut Explore Air 2 is the best Cricut for sticker projects for its versatile features and attractive price tag, it is not exactly compact and mobile. If you want the best Cricut for stickers that you can easily carry everywhere, get the Cricut Joy. The Joy is the latest cutting machine from Cricut. Apart from its portability, among its highlighted features include the ability to cut continuous long projects (up to 20-feet long) even without a cutting mat.

Cricut released a line of Cricut Joy Smart Materials that allows you to cut stickers mat less. You can design on Design Space and feed the Smart Vinyl on your Cricut Joy directly from the roll. If you want to use your existing vinyl sticker materials, you can easily do so using the mat that comes with the cutting machine. You can design your stickers using Design Space and draw them using the compatible Cricut Joy Pens. Once done, it can cut your individual stickers for you easily.

best cricut for vinyl stickers cricut joy

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Smart Vinyl lets the Cricut Joy cut vinyl directly from the roll

While it is the best portable Cricut for stickers, the Cricut Joy comes with limitations due to its size. Unlike the Cricut Explore Air 2 that has a 12″ wide cutting area, the Cricut Joy can only cut up to 4.25-inch projects. This is something to consider when choosing a Cricut for designing and cutting your stickers. However, if you need the stickers for your labeling or organization business, the Cricut Joy is an excellent option for you.

Best Cricut Ideas for Sticker and Vinyl Sticker Projects

Here are some of the best Cricut sticker projects to inspire you to get started

1. Let the Cricut Joy draw and cut your stickers using the Smart Writable Vinyl and the Cricut Joy Pens

Labeling is made easier using Cricut Joy as you can easily carry the cutting machine to your pantry and cut the stickers you need there. If you want more colors in your stickers, there are also other Cricut Pen colors to choose from such as red, blue, green, and more.

2. Use Cricut to up your planner game with these custom sticker sheets

The Cricut Print Then Cut feature was used for this planner sticker project. This feature simply opens up a world of planner sticker customization possibilities. Print any design you want on a printable vinyl and the Cricut Explore Air 2‘s intelligent sensors will cut around the individual sticker designs for you. You can also cut planner inserts using your Cricut Explore Air 2.

3. More cute Cricut planner stickers

best cricut for stickers cricut explore air 2 (4)

There are numerous Cricut compatible printable stickers like this one on Etsy if you want something quicker. The cute sticker planner set on the left is from PlanSoCute while the holiday-themed sticker set on the right is from ThreeLittleMonkeysDI.

4. Use stickers to customize things around the home

Cricut and Design Space offer a vast library of free designs, whether you want to cut smaller stickers or bigger ones to decorate your wall.

5. Design and cut niche-specific stickers using your Cricut

This sticker from ShortsAndLemons’ Etsy shop can be printed on a printable sticker vinyl or Iron-On Vinyl (also known as HTV or Heat Transfer Vinyl). If you further want to turn your sticker-making hobby into something profitable, you can start by designing and cutting stickers for a specific niche you like. Since Cricut’s Explore Air 2 has a wide cutting area and Fast Mode, you can cut stickers in a shorter time.

Summary

These are the best Cricut cutting machines for stickers that are a worthwhile purchase

The Cricut Explore Air 2 is undoubtedly the best Cricut for stickers as it can cut printable sticker vinyl or sticker paper with impressive quality and speed. The Print Then Cut feature lets you design and cut an array of designs for your stickers, too. Its price point is also hard to beat when you get it while it’s on sale. Meanwhile, if you’re after creating simple stickers while on the go, the Cricut Joy is the best portable Cricut for stickers you can get. In addition to its portability, its mat-less feature for Smart Vinyl materials makes the Cricut Joy a very beginner-friendly cutting machine.

FAQs

๐Ÿ“Œ Which Cricut cutting machine is best for stickers?

The Cricut Explore Air 2 is the best Cricut for stickers overall while the Cricut Joy is best for making stickers while on the go.

๐Ÿ“Œ Can Cricut machines make stickers?ย 

Yes, and you can use different types of materials for making stickers with your Cricut machine. You can use the Cricut Printable Sticker Paper and a wide range of vinyl for either the Cricut Maker or Explore Air 2. As for the Cricut Joy, its Smart Writable Vinyl and Smart Vinyl allow you to cut stickers for labels or decals mat-less.ย 

๐Ÿ“Œ How do you make homemade die-cut stickers?

You can use Cricut’s Print Then Cut feature. This lets you print your designs on a Printable Sticker Paper using a regular printer. Cricut will then cut around the individual sticker designs for you (see no. 2 above).

๐Ÿ“Œ How do you make colored stickers with Cricut?

Same as above, you can upload your designs and print them using a regular InkJet printer. Cricut’s Print Then Cut feature will automatically detect the lines around your stickers and cut around them according to your preferred settings.

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Rhodaline Escala-Phelps

Former Managing Editor and Team Leader at Compare Before Buying. Writer and researcher passionate about food, people, product comparisons, culture, and current events.