Cricut Explore 5 Review

The Cricut Explore has always been the sensible one. Not the tiny travel-friendly option, not the monstrous machine that looks like it could cut through a kitchen benchtop, but the dependable middle child that most people could buy, understand, and actually use without needing a second mortgage or an engineering degree.

Now we have the Cricut Explore 5, and for the first time in a long time, it feels like Cricut has taken that familiar formula, pulled it apart, and rebuilt it with a very different attitude.

This is not just a light refresh with a new colour and a few software-friendly buzzwords slapped on the box. The design has changed, the tool setup has changed, the pen system has changed, and even the way Cricut is positioning the machine feels different. It arrives less like a luxury crafting gadget and more like a deliberate attempt to make the Cricut world easier, cheaper, and more approachable for people who just want to start making things without buying half the craft aisle first.

That sounds brilliant. And in some ways, it is.

But the Cricut Explore 5 is also one of those products where progress arrives wearing slightly mismatched shoes. Some changes make perfect sense. Others feel like they were decided in a meeting where nobody owned an old Cricut pen, had a shedding dog, or enjoyed the simple pleasure of not swapping tools halfway through a project.

So, is this the beginning of a smarter, more affordable Cricut era, or has the Explore line taken a small but irritating step backwards? After spending time with it, I’d say the answer is annoyingly somewhere in the middle.

What You Actually Get in the Box

The Cricut Explore 5 currently arrives as part of an Essentials Bundle, and for once, the word “essentials” is not doing the usual marketing tap dance. This is not just a machine with a cable, a blade, and a polite suggestion that you now go and spend another $150 on accessories. Cricut has actually packed in a very usable starter kit.

Inside the box, you get the main machine, of course, but also a surprisingly healthy spread of tools and materials to get you going straight away. That includes:

• Cricut Explore 5 machine
• Fine point blade
• Scoring tool
• Scraper
• Spatula
• Weeding tool
• Double sided universal pen
• Full size paper trimmer
• 12 x 12 light grip mat
• Card mat for making two cards at once
• Smart iron on
• Transfer tape
• Smart vinyl
• Cardstock
• Printable vinyl
• Insert cards

That is a lot. More importantly, it is the right kind of lot. These are not random bits thrown into the box so the bundle looks bigger on a product page. They are the things you will actually use when starting out, especially if you are new to Cricut and have no idea what a weeding tool is, why transfer tape matters, or why cutting mats somehow become part of your personality after a while.

The inclusion of both tools and materials makes a massive difference. You can unbox the Explore 5 and start making actual projects almost immediately, rather than staring at it like it’s a very expensive printer with commitment issues. For beginners, that matters. Buying your first cutting machine can be confusing enough without having to decode which blade, mat, vinyl, card pack, pen, and mysterious scraping object you need before you’ve even made your first wonky decal.

I also like that Cricut includes a proper paper trimmer. It sounds boring, because it is, but it is also extremely useful. Crafting is full of glamorous things like colours, patterns, decals, cards, iron on designs and personalised gifts, but somewhere in the middle of all that you still need to cut a straight line. The paper trimmer does that job properly, and it belongs in the box.

The bundle also helps soften the price. You are not just buying a machine and then immediately falling into an accessory pit. You are getting enough to try vinyl projects, card projects, printable vinyl, and iron on designs without needing to assemble a craft survival kit from scratch.

That said, there is one small cloud floating over this otherwise cheerful box of bits. Some of the included parts reflect Cricut’s newer direction, particularly around blades and pens, and not every change is perfect. The double sided pen is clever, but it also points toward a new pen system that may annoy anyone with a drawer full of older Cricut pens. We will get to that later, because yes, there is a rant forming.

For now though, the box itself is genuinely strong. As a starter bundle, it does exactly what it should. It gives you the machine, the tools, the mats, and enough materials to actually make something before buyer’s remorse has had time to kick the door in.

Design Overhaul, Bold or Odd

The Cricut Explore 5 does not look like the Explore machines that came before it. This is not one of those lazy redesigns where a brand changes the curve of a button and expects applause. Cricut has properly changed the shape, layout, and feel of the machine, and the result is certainly different.

Whether it is better is where things get complicated.

The most obvious change is the lid, or rather, the lack of the old lid. Previous Cricut Explore machines had that familiar fold-up top section, which made the machine feel enclosed and tidy when not in use. The Explore 5 has moved away from that setup and now uses a front door design instead.

That does bring a few practical advantages:

• It needs less vertical clearance
• It may fit better on shelves or under cabinets
• It feels a little more modern at first glance
• It simplifies the overall opening mechanism

In theory, that sounds like a win. Not everyone has a sprawling craft room with endless bench space, mood lighting, and perfectly labelled vinyl drawers. Some people are working from a desk, dining table, bookshelf, spare bedroom, or one chaotic corner of the house that also contains wrapping paper, receipts, and a glue gun last seen in 2021.

So yes, a lower-profile design makes sense.

But then there is the slot.

When the front door is closed, there is still a large opening across the top of the machine, and I cannot pretend to love it. It gives the Explore 5 a slightly unfinished look, as though someone got distracted halfway through designing the roof. More importantly, it feels like a dust trap waiting to happen.

This is where the machine starts to feel less premium than older Cricut models. Those machines had a neat, closed-up quality to them. The Explore 5 looks more exposed. You can see more of the internal workings, and while that might not bother everyone, it does make the whole thing feel a little less polished.

For everyday use, that open slot could become annoying because it is exactly the sort of place that collects:

• Dust
• Pet hair
• Paper fibres
• Tiny craft debris
• General household nonsense

And if you have a dog or cat that sheds like it has a personal vendetta against clean surfaces, this could get old quickly.

Storage has changed too. Older Explore machines had more organised built-in storage, including a handy tool cup and better compartmentalisation. The Explore 5 still has storage in the front door, but it feels more like a general dumping zone than a carefully thought-out system.

That may not matter if, like many crafters, you already have drawers, baskets, tubs, pegboards, or an entire craft corner slowly taking over your home. But if you actually used the built-in storage on previous Cricut machines, you will notice the difference.

The redesign is not a disaster. The machine still looks clean, simple, and friendly enough on a desk. It is also probably easier to fit into tighter spaces, which is genuinely useful. But it does feel like Cricut traded some of its old premium neatness for something cheaper and more exposed.

That is the odd thing about the Explore 5. It looks new, but not necessarily more refined. It feels like a redesign driven by practicality and cost, rather than pure user experience. Some of it works. Some of it makes me want to ask, quite loudly, why nobody thought to cover the giant opening on top.

So, bold or just odd?

Honestly, a bit of both.

Tools, Blades and the Slightly Annoying Changes

This is where the Cricut Explore 5 starts doing that deeply irritating thing where a product improves in one area, then quietly makes another area worse and hopes nobody notices.

Let’s start with the blade. Depending on which version lands in your box, you may get the familiar fine point blade setup, where the blade can be replaced inside the existing housing. That is the one long-time Cricut users will know. Simple, sensible, and not trying to reinvent the wheel with a wheel that costs more to replace.

But some users may receive Cricut’s newer one-piece blade system, where the housing and blade are replaced together. I can see the thinking behind it. For absolute beginners, it is easier. There is less fiddling, less confusion, and fewer tiny sharp parts to deal with.

The problem is, it also feels more wasteful.

The older system made sense because:

• You could keep the housing
• You only replaced the blade itself
• It created less unnecessary waste
• It was familiar to existing Cricut users
• It felt more economical over time

The newer one-piece approach is cleaner and more beginner-friendly, but it also has that faint whiff of “we’ve made this simpler, and also possibly more expensive for you later.” Which, naturally, is not my favourite fragrance.

Then there is the scoring tool. And this one is more annoying.

On previous Cricut Explore machines, scoring was handled by a stylus that sat where the pen goes. That meant the machine could score and cut in the same pass. It was neat. It was clever. It worked. Nobody was standing around wishing it involved more tool swapping.

With the Explore 5, the scoring tool now goes where the blade goes. That means you cannot score and cut at the same time. The machine has to do one job, pause, and then ask you to swap the tool before it continues.

In real terms, that means:

• Insert scoring tool
• Let the machine score the project
• Wait for it to pause
• Remove the scoring tool
• Insert the blade
• Continue the cut

Is this the end of the world? No.

Is it a backwards step? Absolutely.

It makes simple projects feel just that little bit more fiddly, especially cards, folded paper crafts, packaging, and anything else that relies on clean score lines before cutting. It is not difficult, but it is less convenient than before, and that is the part I struggle with.

Because this is not some wild experimental feature Cricut was bravely attempting for the first time. The old way already existed. It already worked. Taking something that was simple and making it slightly more annoying is not innovation. It is like replacing a door handle with a small puzzle.

The rest of the tool kit is much easier to like. The included scraper, spatula, and weeding tool are exactly the kind of accessories you actually need. They are not glamorous, but they are useful. The weeding tool will quickly become your best friend if you are working with vinyl, while the scraper and spatula are everyday essentials for removing materials and keeping mats usable.

For beginners, the included tools are a genuine win because they remove a lot of guesswork. You are not left wondering what to buy first. The basics are already there, including:

• A tool for lifting projects from the mat
• A tool for clearing and smoothing materials
• A tool for weeding vinyl
• A scoring tool for folds and card projects
• A blade for standard cutting jobs

So the Explore 5 is not poorly equipped. Far from it. The bundle itself is strong.

The issue is that some of the changes feel like Cricut has made the machine easier for new users while making it slightly more irritating for people who already know how these machines should work. Beginners may not notice. Existing users absolutely will.

And that is the strange thing about the Cricut Explore 5. It gives you plenty in the box, but it also asks you to accept a few compromises that did not need to be there.

Pens, Compatibility Chaos

Now we arrive at the pen situation, and frankly, this is where the Cricut Explore 5 starts poking long-time users directly in the ribs.

Cricut has introduced a new universal pen system with the Explore 5. The new pen included in the box is double sided, which is genuinely useful. One end gives you a pen tip, the other gives you a marker tip, so you have a bit more flexibility straight away without needing to swap between separate accessories every five minutes.

That part I like.

The new pen is:

• Double sided
• Easy to insert
• More versatile than a single-tip pen
• Likely designed to work across future Cricut machines
• A sensible idea in theory

The issue is not the new pen itself. The issue is what happens to the old ones.

If you already own Cricut pens from an earlier Explore machine, they do not properly fit the Explore 5. They sit loosely in the holder, wobble around, and are basically useless unless you have an adapter. That would be annoying at the best of times, but it becomes especially irritating because the adapter does not appear to be included in the box.

And that feels ridiculous.

Cricut users are not exactly known for owning one pen and calling it a day. If you have been using these machines for a while, there is a very good chance you have built up a small plastic forest of pens, markers, colours, metallics, and specialty options. Then along comes the Explore 5 and says, “Lovely collection. Shame if it suddenly didn’t work.”

That is not progress. That is how you make people sigh loudly at their craft table.

The frustrating part is that Cricut clearly seems to be moving toward a more unified accessory system, which makes sense. A universal pen that works across multiple machines is a good idea. It could make buying accessories simpler, reduce confusion, and give future Cricut users a more consistent experience.

But the transition feels clumsy.

A better approach would have been obvious:

• Include the new double sided pen
• Include an adapter for older Cricut pens
• Clearly explain compatibility on the box
• Let existing users keep using what they already own
• Make the new system feel like an upgrade, not a penalty

Instead, the Explore 5 creates this awkward middle ground where new users will probably be fine, while existing users may feel like they have been mildly betrayed by a pen holder.

That sounds dramatic, but only until you remember how many Cricut owners already have drawers full of accessories. These are not free throwaway extras. People bought them. They expected to keep using them. And when a new machine breaks that compatibility without including the simple fix in the box, it leaves a bad taste.

For beginners, this may not matter at all. If the Cricut Explore 5 is your first machine, the included universal pen works nicely and gives you enough to start drawing, writing, and decorating projects straight away.

For existing Cricut users, though, this is one of the most annoying changes on the machine.

The new pen system may be the future, and it may even be a better future eventually. But right now, it feels like arriving at a lovely new house and discovering the front door only opens if you buy another key.

Performance and Real World Use

After all the grumbling about design choices, tool swapping and pen drama, here comes the slightly awkward part. The Cricut Explore 5 actually works well.

Annoying, isn’t it?

For all its odd decisions, the machine does what it is meant to do. It cuts, it draws, it handles basic projects without throwing a tantrum, and it feels approachable enough for someone who is just getting started. Once you stop staring at the strange open slot on top and actually make something, the Explore 5 becomes much easier to like.

In everyday use, it feels suited to the sort of projects most people will actually make, including:

• Vinyl decals
• Iron on designs
• Greeting cards
• Paper crafts
• Stickers
• Labels
• Simple home organisation projects
• Personalised gifts

That is the important thing. Most Cricut users are not trying to perform delicate craft surgery on rare imported material under laboratory conditions. They want to make cards, decals, labels, shirts, party bits, school projects, gifts, and maybe the occasional “live laugh love” sign that nobody asked for but someone’s aunt will absolutely adore.

For those jobs, the Explore 5 is perfectly capable.

Cutting performance is solid. It handles the kind of materials included in the bundle well, and the machine feels easy enough to set up and use once you are inside Cricut Design Space. The included card mat is especially handy, because it lets you make cards quickly and gives beginners a very satisfying first project. There is something reassuring about making a finished card within minutes of unboxing the machine. It makes the whole thing feel less intimidating.

The load-and-go setup is also a nice touch. Rather than pressing multiple buttons and feeling like you are launching a small aircraft, you load the material and the machine gets on with the job. It is simple, and simple is good.

The real world experience is helped by the fact that the bundle gives you enough to experiment straight away. You are not limited to one sad test cut on a scrap of paper. You can try a few different project types and get a proper feel for what the machine can do.

That said, it is not completely drama-free.

Some users have reported issues when using the pen and blade together, where the blade can drag while the pen is drawing. That is obviously not ideal, because nobody wants a beautifully written card that looks like it has been attacked by a tiny mechanical raccoon. It does not seem to affect everyone, but it is worth knowing about, especially if you plan to use writing and cutting together often.

For basic projects, though, the Explore 5 gets the job done.

It is not the most premium-feeling Cricut machine ever made, and it does not always feel like an upgrade over the machines that came before it. But in terms of practical output, it delivers clean, usable results. And at the end of the day, that matters more than whether the machine has the design elegance of a luxury appliance.

The biggest strength here is accessibility. The Explore 5 feels like it has been built for people who want to start crafting without turning the entire process into homework. It is not perfect, but it is friendly. And for a lot of beginners, that may be enough.

So yes, performance is good.

Not thrilling. Not revolutionary. Not the sort of thing that makes you burst into applause and frighten the dog. But good. Solid. Usable. Dependable.

Which, for a Cricut machine, is still the main point.

Pricing and Value, A Shift in Strategy

This is where the Cricut Explore 5 starts to make more sense. Not completely, because it still has the occasional habit of making you stare at it and mutter, “Why?” But from a value point of view, Cricut is clearly trying something different here.

The Explore 5 is not being presented as some precious, high-end craft machine for people with an entire room dedicated to vinyl, colour-coded drawers, and a suspiciously large collection of blank tote bags. It feels more like Cricut is trying to pull the price down and make the whole thing less intimidating for people who simply want to start making things.

And honestly, that is a smart move.

The bundle pricing matters because you are not just getting the machine. You are getting a proper starter setup with mats, tools, materials, a paper trimmer, and enough bits in the box to actually make something straight away. That changes the value equation quite a lot.

For beginners, the value comes from not having to immediately buy:

• Extra cutting mats
• Basic weeding tools
• A scraper or spatula
• A paper trimmer
• Starter vinyl
• Iron-on material
• Cardstock
• Insert cards
• Transfer tape

That is important, because the true cost of a cutting machine is never just the machine. It is the accessories. The tools. The materials. The extra packs you suddenly need because you decided, foolishly, that making one personalised label would be a quick and cheap hobby.

It never is.

So by including a decent starter kit, Cricut has made the Explore 5 feel more approachable. You can buy it, unbox it, and start making projects without instantly entering the terrifying world of “recommended accessories,” which is where budgets go to be quietly murdered.

There is also a clear sense that Cricut is trying to respond to the current market. People are more careful with money now. A machine that costs less, includes more, and promises a lower entry point is going to make a lot more sense than one that expects you to spend heavily before your first project has even loaded.

That said, the lower price does come with a feeling that some corners have been trimmed. The redesign does not feel as premium as older Explore machines. The open slot on top makes the whole thing seem less neatly finished. The storage feels less thoughtful. The scoring setup is more fiddly. And the pen compatibility issue is the sort of thing that makes existing Cricut owners wonder whether value for new users has come at the expense of convenience for loyal ones.

So the value depends very much on who you are.

If you are buying your first Cricut, the Explore 5 bundle looks genuinely appealing because it gives you:

• A lower-cost entry into the Cricut system
• Most of the basic accessories you need
• Enough materials to try different project types
• A machine that is simple to start using
• A less overwhelming first crafting experience

If you already own a Cricut Explore 3 or Explore 4, the value is much harder to see. You probably already have tools, mats, blades, pens, and materials. You may also have a machine that does some things more conveniently, particularly when it comes to scoring and accessory compatibility.

In that case, the Explore 5 does not feel like an obvious upgrade. It feels more like a reset. Cricut is aiming it at new buyers rather than trying to tempt every existing user into replacing what they already have.

And that might be the whole point.

The Cricut Explore 5 feels like the start of a more affordable Cricut era. Less glossy, less premium, but more accessible. That is not automatically a bad thing. In fact, for a lot of people, it may be exactly what they need.

But value is not just about price. It is about what you gain, what you lose, and how many times you have to stop mid-project to swap a tool while wondering if the old machine had it right all along.

On that basis, the Explore 5 is good value for beginners, but a far less convincing upgrade for anyone already living happily in the Cricut ecosystem.

Should You Buy the Cricut Explore 5

The Cricut Explore 5 is not a machine I would tell everyone to rush out and buy. It is not one of those easy recommendations where you can point at it and say, “Yes, that one, done.” It is more complicated than that, which is annoying, because craft machines should really be less dramatic than this.

If you are brand new to Cricut, the Explore 5 makes a pretty strong case for itself. The bundle gives you a proper starting point, the machine is easy enough to use, and you can make real projects straight out of the box without needing to buy a trolley full of accessories. For anyone looking to make cards, vinyl decals, labels, stickers, iron-on designs, personalised gifts, or the sort of crafty little things that suddenly make every jar in the pantry need a custom label, it does the job well.

That is really where this machine makes the most sense. It is for the person who wants to get into Cricut without immediately drowning in mats, blades, tools, pens, vinyl rolls, transfer tape, and all the other mysterious extras that somehow turn a simple purchase into a full financial event. With the Explore 5 bundle, you have enough in the box to start making things straight away, which is exactly how a beginner machine should feel.

But if you already own a Cricut Explore 3 or Explore 4, I would not bother upgrading.

Not because the Explore 5 is bad, but because it does not feel better enough. In some areas, it actually feels less convenient. The scoring tool swap is fiddlier than before, the pen compatibility issue is frustrating, and the new design does not feel as polished or neatly enclosed as previous Explore machines. If you already have a machine that works, along with your own collection of pens, tools, mats and blades, the Explore 5 does not give you a strong enough reason to start again.

For existing users, it feels less like an upgrade and more like a sideways shuffle with a few loose ends. You may gain a newer machine, but you also inherit some compromises that simply did not need to be there. The most obvious one is the pen situation, because nobody wants to discover that the drawer full of accessories they have spent money on suddenly needs an adapter that should have been included in the first place.

The most obvious buyer is the beginner. Someone who wants a Cricut, does not already own a mountain of accessories, and likes the idea of opening one box and being able to make something that same day. For that person, the Explore 5 is genuinely appealing. It is also a reasonable choice for casual crafters who only want a machine for occasional projects, school labels, cards, party pieces, simple home organisation, or the odd personalised gift.

But if you are a more serious crafter, or someone already deep in the Cricut ecosystem, this machine may leave you slightly cold. It works, yes. It cuts well, yes. But it does not have that premium, beautifully considered feel Cricut has often done so well in the past.

So, should you buy the Cricut Explore 5?

If it is your first Cricut, yes, it is worth considering.

If you already own a recent Explore machine, no, not really.

The Cricut Explore 5 is capable, affordable, and beginner-friendly, but it is also compromised. It feels like Cricut is beginning a new chapter, one focused more on value and accessibility than polish and refinement. That may be the right move for the market, but it also means this machine arrives with a few irritating little trade-offs.

In the end, the Explore 5 is not a disaster. It is not a triumph either. It is a decent machine with a good bundle, some clever thinking, and a handful of decisions that make you want to stare out the window for a moment and wonder why companies keep fixing things that were not broken.