Cricut Accessories: The Complete Guide

You open your Cricut box, fire up Design Space, and immediately fall into a rabbit hole of accessories — wondering if you need all of them or if half of it is just upselling.

Here's the short answer: a few Cricut-branded accessories are genuinely worth the price, most materials can be bought off-brand without any drama, and one thing you should never cheap out on is blades. Keep reading and I'll break it all down by category so you can spend smart.

EasyPress vs Heat Press: Which to Get

If you're doing any heat transfer vinyl projects, you need consistent, even heat. An iron doesn't cut it — hot spots and uneven pressure lead to peeling HTV within a few washes.

The Cricut EasyPress 2 (available in 9x9 and 12x10 inch sizes) is genuinely excellent for home crafters. It heats up in about 60 seconds, holds a precise temperature, and gives you a flat, even press every time. For small projects like shirts, tote bags, and baby onesies, it's hard to beat.

EasyPress Mini

The EasyPress Mini is a niche tool. It's designed for curved, small, or hard-to-reach surfaces: shoes, hats, stuffed animals, small pockets. If those project types come up regularly for you, it earns its keep. If you're mostly doing flat fabric projects, skip it.

Non-Cricut Heat Press Options

A 15x15 inch clamshell or swing-away heat press from a brand like Fancierstudio or PowerPress runs $80–$150 on Amazon and gives you more surface area than the EasyPress 2. If you're making a high volume of shirts or selling your work, a full-size press is actually the smarter investment. The EasyPress wins on portability and ease of use — the off-brand heat press wins on workspace coverage and price per square inch.

Honestly, if I had to pick one for a beginner doing occasional projects, I'd go EasyPress 2. But if you're cranking out 20 shirts for a school event, borrow or buy a full press.

Blades: Always Buy Cricut Brand

This is the one category where going off-brand will frustrate you. Third-party Cricut blades — especially the fine point and deep point blades — have real quality control issues. You'll get inconsistent cuts, tearing on delicate materials, and a blade that dulls faster than it should.

Cricut blades aren't cheap, but a genuine Cricut Fine Point Blade lasts through hundreds of cuts before it needs replacing. A bad third-party blade might ruin a project in its first week. When you factor in wasted vinyl and lost time, the $8–$12 price difference disappears fast.

If you want to understand which blade does what, the Cricut Blade Types guide breaks down every option and when to use each one. Short version: stick to Cricut-branded blades. Every time.

Mats: When Off-Brand Works Fine

Unlike blades, cutting mats are one area where off-brand options hold up just fine. Cricut mats are good, but a 2-pack of compatible mats from Amazon for $12–$15 will give you the same grip and last a similar number of uses — around 25–40 cuts before the stickiness starts fading, which is about what you'd get from a Cricut mat at the same stage.

The key things to look for in any mat: the right grip level for your material (LightGrip for paper, StandardGrip for vinyl, StrongGrip for thicker materials), and the correct size for your machine. A 12x12 mat works for most Cricut Explore and Maker projects.

If you're new and building out your supply kit, the Cricut Supplies for Beginners list covers exactly what to grab first without overloading your cart.

The Bright Pad: Worth It?

The Cricut Bright Pad is a light pad designed to help you see cut lines when weeding vinyl. It's genuinely useful — especially with intricate designs, small lettering, or dark-colored vinyl where the cut lines are hard to spot.

The honest truth: it's priced at around $49–$59, and you can find a comparable light pad on Amazon for $15–$20. The Cricut version is well-made and has a clean design, but the function is identical to cheaper alternatives. If you weed a lot of complex designs regularly, any light pad will improve your workflow. You don't need the Cricut-branded one to get the benefit.

If you're just starting out, skip it for now. Add it later once you know you're doing detailed work that makes weeding a pain.

Specialty Tools Worth Knowing About

A few Cricut specialty tools are worth having in your kit, depending on what you make.

Scoring Stylus and Scoring Wheel

If you make cards, boxes, envelopes, or any folded paper projects, the Cricut Scoring Stylus (for Explore machines) or Scoring Wheel (for Maker machines) is legitimately useful. It scores fold lines cleanly and automatically. No tool from Amazon does this the same way. Worth buying if you do paper crafts regularly.

Engraving Tip

The Cricut Engraving Tip is a QuickSwap tip for the Maker and Maker 3. It engraves into metal blanks, aluminum sheets, and leather. If you make personalized metal keychains, dog tags, or aluminum ornaments, it opens up a whole product category. If not, it's easy to skip.

Card Mat Accessories

The Cricut Card Mat is designed for use with the Cricut Joy and works specifically with Cricut's insert card system. It's a clever little setup for making layered cards quickly. If you own a Joy and make cards regularly, it's a fun add-on. Otherwise, not relevant to your setup.

For a fuller look at what tools actually earn a spot in your workspace, the Must-Have Cricut Tools guide cuts through the noise and tells you what experienced crafters actually reach for.

What to Save Money On

Here's the good news: the materials you'll buy most often are also the ones where off-brand works perfectly well.

• Vinyl: Oracal 651 and Siser Easyweed are industry favorites that cost less than Cricut brand and perform just as well — often better for outdoor or detailed work.
• HTV (Heat Transfer Vinyl): Siser, StyleTech, and ThermoFlex Plus are all trusted third-party brands used by professional crafters. No need to buy Cricut Infusible Ink or Cricut HTV exclusively.
• Transfer Tape: Generic transfer tape from Amazon works fine for most vinyl projects. The Cricut brand version is fine, but you can buy a 12-inch roll of off-brand tape for a fraction of the cost.
• Weeding Tools: A basic weeding tool set from Amazon ($8–$12) does the same job as pricier branded options. A hook tool, a scraper, and a spatula are all you really need.
• Cutting Mats: As covered above, compatible off-brand mats work well and save real money over time.

The pattern is consistent: buy Cricut where precision and machine compatibility matter (blades, specialty tips, scoring tools), and buy off-brand where the material just needs to exist and do its job (vinyl, tape, mats, weeding tools).