# Cricut Venture vs Maker 4

Source: https://bladeandmat.com/blog/cricut-venture-vs-maker-4
Published: 2026-10-09
Publisher: Blade & Mat

**Short answer:** The Cricut Venture is a 24-inch cutter built for volume vinyl, iron-on and sticker work. The Maker 4 is a 12-inch-class machine that cuts more material types, including wood, leather and fabric with the knife and rotary blades. Buy the Venture when wide designs or long production runs are your daily work; keep a Maker 4 when variety matters more than width.

This page is for shop owners and serious hobbyists who sell decals, shirts or stickers and wonder whether a 24-inch machine would pay for itself. The Cricut Venture is not in the product listings we draw from, so it is described here from Cricut's widely published positioning and has no product link. The listed 24-inch craft cutter we can point to is the Silhouette Cameo Pro, which we use as the closest listed alternative. The Maker 4 specs come from its listing. You will see where width saves time, where it does not, and which materials stay Maker jobs.

## What each machine is for

The **Maker 4** is Cricut's do-everything home machine. Its listing says it works with 300+ materials, including leather, wood, vinyl, iron-on and cardstock, and that it cuts, draws, foils, scores, engraves, debosses and perforates. It offers print then cut with most inkjet printers. It is a 12-inch-class machine, so mats and Smart Materials are about a foot wide.

The **Cricut Venture** is Cricut's wide-format machine, about twice the cutting width of the Maker. It is aimed at people who cut the same vinyl, iron-on or sticker material all day. It uses Design Space like every Cricut and cuts Smart Materials without a mat. It is not a replacement for the Maker's adaptive tool system: Cricut does not list the knife or rotary blade for the Venture, so wood, leather and unbacked fabric remain Maker work.

## Spec table from the listings

Because the Venture has no listing in our data, the table compares the Maker 4 with the Silhouette Cameo Pro, the closest listed 24-inch craft cutter. Both columns use only listing facts.

|  | Cricut Maker 4 (B0DTQBZ3J3) | Silhouette Cameo Pro MK-II (B0DQ9QS2LY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cut width | Not stated in listing (12-inch-class mats) | Up to 24 inches |
| Long cuts | Matless vinyl and HTV in sampler | Up to 60 feet with auxiliary rollers |
| Materials | 300+ including leather and wood | Paper, faux leather and more |
| Tools | Cuts, draws, foils, scores, engraves, debosses, perforates | Dual-powered carriage, heat pen for foil, embossing tool, AutoBlade 2 |
| Print then cut | Yes, most inkjet printers | Not stated in listing |
| In the box | Fine point blade, LightGrip mat, pen, weeder, sampler | Roll feeder, 24x24 mat, AutoBlade 2, pen adapter |
| Listed price | $329.00 | $499.99 |

Maker 4 and the closest listed 24-inch cutter

Note: If you specifically want the Venture, check Cricut's official spec page for current width, speed and tool support before you buy.

## When 24 inches actually saves time

Width pays off in three cases. First, single designs wider than about 11 inches, such as large wall decals, yard signs or adult hoodie back prints. On a 12-inch machine you split them into pieces and line them up by hand. Second, ganging: putting many small decals side by side across the width so one pass produces a whole order. Third, long runs from rolls, where you load once and walk away.

Width does not help much if your orders are small cards, stickers on letter paper or one-off shirts. In that case the cut time is short anyway, and most of the time goes to weeding and pressing. A second 12-inch machine can be a better buy than one wide one, because two jobs can run at once. Our [vinyl shirt business equipment](https://bladeandmat.com/blog/vinyl-shirt-business-equipment) page covers that side of a shop setup.

## Materials that stay on the Maker

The Maker's knife blade cuts basswood up to 2.4 mm, chipboard up to 2 mm and tooling leather up to about 2.4 mm, with a strong grip mat taped down and the multiple passes Design Space sets. The rotary blade cuts unbacked fabric and felt on the pink fabric grip mat. These are the jobs a 24-inch vinyl-focused cutter is not built for.

If your shop sells leather earrings, wood ornaments or fabric appliqués alongside decals, you still need a Maker even after buying a wide machine. See our [cut settings finder](https://bladeandmat.com/tools/cut-settings-finder) for starting points by material and blade, and [how to cut wood with Cricut](https://bladeandmat.com/blog/how-to-cut-wood-with-cricut) for knife blade work.

## A wide craft cutter vs a vinyl plotter

Once you look at 24-inch machines, roll-fed vinyl plotters from Siser, USCutter and others enter the picture. They often cost less per inch of width, run long rolls with pinch rollers, and use sign software. They do not run Design Space and they focus on vinyl and HTV. Our [craft cutter vs vinyl plotter](https://bladeandmat.com/blog/craft-cutter-vs-vinyl-plotter) comparison covers that choice, and [Silhouette Cameo Pro vs Cricut Venture](https://bladeandmat.com/blog/silhouette-cameo-pro-vs-cricut-venture) compares the two 24-inch craft cutters directly.

[Vinyl cutters for a small business](https://bladeandmat.com/best/best-vinyl-cutter-for-small-business)

## How to decide

1. List your top five products by sales. Note the widest design in each.
2. If more than one of them is wider than a 12-inch mat, a 24-inch machine saves splicing.
3. If any of them are wood, leather or unbacked fabric, keep or buy a Maker.
4. If you already use Design Space and Cricut Smart Materials, the Venture keeps the same workflow; if you prefer desktop software, consider the Cameo Pro or a plotter.
5. Price the materials too. Wide machines use wide rolls, and the cost per sheet changes.

## Frequently asked questions

**Can the Cricut Venture cut wood like the Maker 4?** Cricut does not list the knife blade for the Venture. Wood, chipboard and leather remain Maker jobs.

**Does the Venture use Design Space?** Yes. It runs on the same Design Space app as the Maker 4, so existing projects and fonts carry over.

**Is the Silhouette Cameo Pro the same size as the Venture?** Both are 24-inch craft cutters. The Cameo Pro listing gives up to 24 inches of width and long cuts up to 60 feet.

**Do I need a 24-inch cutter to start a shirt business?** No. Many shirt sellers start on a 12-inch machine. Width becomes useful when back prints and bulk decal orders become regular work.

## Gear guides for this topic

- https://bladeandmat.com/best/best-vinyl-cutter-for-small-business
- https://bladeandmat.com/best/best-cricut-machine
- https://bladeandmat.com/best/best-silhouette-cameo