The best Chromebooks for Cricut in 2023

Best chromebooks for cricut; three chromebooks on a red background
(Image credit: Google / Asus)

The best Chromebooks for Cricut ensure you can stay creative, and in most cases, will save you a little money. You can now use your Chromebook to design projects, work on uploading designs from websites and to help edit your final masterpiece; the laptops below are the best chromebooks for Cricut Design Space.

There are lots of different Cricut machines available, including the Maker 3, Joy and Explore 3; read my guide to the best Cricut machines to see what each does. Some Chromebooks work best with particular machines, just like they do with tablets. For example, the smaller Cricut Joy and a Chromebook are perfect bedfellows. Generally Chromebooks are cheaper than PC and Apple laptops and you can get the tech you really need to run Cricut Design Space – such as a touch screen, 2-in-1 design or fast web-browsing – for a lot less.

If you’re set on a Chromebook, then you’ll enjoy my guide to the best Chromebooks for Cricut users, where I've weighed up different factors that make a Chromebook ideal for use alongside a Cricut. I’ve looked at Chromebooks that come with styluses, the quality of the display, need for a touchscreen, compatibility with Cricut add-ons, and the battery life.

The best Chromebooks for Cricut available now

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A black Acer Swift Edge 16 laptop sitting on a garden table

(Image credit: Future / Ian Evenden)
The best high spec Chromebook for Cricut

Specifications

Weight: 1.1 kg
Dimensions: 1.4 x 35.6 x 24.2 cm
Screen: 16-inch, 4K UHD OLED (3840 x 2400)
Storage: 1TB
RAM: 16 GB
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7

Reasons to buy

+
Incredibly light weight laptop
+
Crisp and bright OLED display
+
Fast AMD processor

Reasons to avoid

-
Not a touchscreen

The Acer Swift Edge 16 is an superb Chromebook that can muster enough power and speed to handle almost all design tasks, so can easily handle Cricut Design Space. The extra power you get from the latest AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and 16GB of RAM means this can even handle more advanced design software, ensuring your crafting can really take off.

As well as its speed and flexibility the standout is the sharp and bright 16-inch, 16:10 OLED display that we loved in our Acer Swift Edge 16 review, finding it just as good for design tasks and 3D rendering as it is for 4K gaming (Chromebooks are good cloud-gaming laptops if you have Xbox Game Pass, Nvidia GeForce Now or Amazon Luna). The only downside is the lack of touchscreen, which I find good for digital crafting, but connect this to a drawing tablet and its perfect (read my Xencelabs Pen Tablet Small for an ideal companion tablet).

You can take the Acer Swift Edge 16 anywhere too, because it ways a mere 1.1kg and is incredibly slim. If, like me, you like to take your projects to a friend's house then this is ideal and the fact you can have dozens of tabs open with now slowdown is a real must if you like to design and browse for inspiration. This is a pricey option, and there are good PC laptops in the same price range, but if you're hooked on the ease of Chromebooks, this is an excellent one.

Acer Chromebook Spin 514 review; an open laptop on a wooden bench

(Image credit: Future)
The best all-round Chromebook for Cricut

Specifications

Weight: 1.37 kg
Dimensions: 23.5 x 30.06 x 1.69 cm
Screen: 14 inch Full HD IPS Touchscreen
Storage: 128GB flash memory
RAM: 4GB / 8GB
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 / AMD Ryzen 5

Reasons to buy

+
Solid 2-in-1 laptop and tablet
+
Fast AMD Ryzen 5 model
+
Large 16:9 ration FHD touchscreen

Reasons to avoid

-
Would be better with an SSD

The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 is the lower-specced cousin to the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (reviewed below), and while the Acer at No.2 on my list features a swift Intel i5 processor and SSD for speed, this AMD-powered 2-in-1 laptop is cheaper, has a larger 14-inch Full HD touchscreen and the quad-core Ryzen 5 processor delivers a slightly faster 3.7 GHz, making it a better Chromebook for Cricut.

In my Acer Chromebook Spin 514 review I found this to be a well made 2-in-1 laptop that can easily be turned from a laptop into a tablet; the hinges are solid and dependable. It can feel a little heavy in tablet mode, so you won't be sitting this into the Cricut Maker 3's tablet holder, but the touchscreen is accurate and vibrant and ideal for sitting next to your craft machine when in use.

This is a swift laptop and speeds through tasks, particularly when web browsing. The 16:9 ratio screen means there's room for multiple tabs and apps to be open at once, perfect for using Cricut Design Space while browsing for images, fonts and inspiration.

Acer Chromebook Vero 514 review; a laptop in a wooden table with its screen open

(Image credit: Future)
The best designer Chromebook for Cricut

Specifications

Weight: x
Dimensions: x
Screen: x
Storage: 128GB flash memory
RAM: 8 GB
CPU: Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7

Reasons to buy

+
Made from recycled materials
+
Fast Intel Core i5 model recommended
+
Adaptable and stylish Chromebook

Reasons to avoid

-
Not a touchscreen device

The Acer Chromebook Vero 514 is one of the newer Chromebooks on the market and has one big selling point: this is an eco-friendly laptop made from recycled sea plastic and OceanGlass, and it's a looker. Chromebooks can be a little dull but the Vero 514 is a swish laptop that will have you're friends asking questions the moment you pull it from a bag.

It's a little chunky compared to some Chromebooks and unlike the older Acer Chromebook 514 Spin above it can't fold into a tablet, so the lack of touch screen crafters could put some digital crafters off. However, the light grey chassis is covered with yellow and blue flecks and a tactile canvas-like texture that demands you hold it; it's almost warmer and more comforting than the cold silver of most Chromebooks.

The 14-inch Full HD display has a 100 percent sRGB rating, so it's nice and crisp. Inside is a decent Intel Core i3 CPU and 8GB of RAM, and a speedy 128GB SSD. It's just fast enough to handle most design tasks, and more than enough for Cricut Design Space. In my Acer Chromebook Vero 514 review I found it faster than a comparable Windows laptop, such as the Surface Go 3, and for a sub-$500 / £500 price point, it well worth consideration. But, I would recommend going for a slightly more expensive Intel Core i5 build, to guarantee speed and longer term use (there's also an Intel Core i7 model but this feels like overkill).

If you're looking for a fun Chromebook with a unique look and eco-friendly design that can handle most tasks, and is good for Cricut use, then the Acer Chromebook Vero 514 is a good choice.

The best Chromebooks for Cricut; a photo of the Acer Spin 713

(Image credit: Acer)

04. Acer Chromebook Spin 713

The best mid-range Chromebook for Cricut

Specifications

Weight: 1.37 kg
Dimensions: 23.5 x 30.06 x 1.69 cm
Screen: 13.3 inch Full HD IPS Touchscreen
Storage: 64GB / 128GB / 256GB SSD
RAM: 8GB / 16GB
CPU: Intel Core i5

Reasons to buy

+
2-in-1 laptop and tablet design 
+
Lot's of memory and storage
+
Large touchscreen, good for designing

Reasons to avoid

-
A little heavy for a Chromebook

The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is one of the newer Chromebooks on the market and as such has plenty of high-spec features that make this ideal for use with Cricut. Inside you get the excellent Intel i5, which delivers 2.4GHz of performance. This means multitasking is easy for this Chromebook.

There's also enough storage and RAM to save your designs natively and handle most tasks, with 64GB of SSD storage (can go up to 256GB) and 8GB of RAM, exceeding the minimum you need for using a Chromebook with Cricut.

The star here is the 13.5-inch touchscreen and 2-in-1 design of the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, which means you can flip it out to use as a tablet. It can be a little heavy but used in a table, and with an accurate and vibrant touchscreen, it's ideal for Cricut Design Space. An excellent all-round Chromebook that's ideal for craft designs, web browsing and more.

A photo of the Acer 314 Chromebook

(Image credit: Acer)

05. Acer 314 Chromebook - Touchscreen

The best budget Chromebook for Cricut

Specifications

Weight: 2.29 kg
Dimensions: ‎48.2 x 31.1 x 6.7 cm
Screen: 14 inch HD (1366 x 768) touchscreen
Storage: 64GB SSD
RAM: 4GB LPDDR4
CPU: Intel Celeron N4000

Reasons to buy

+
Affordable but excellent build quality
+
Long-lasting battery life
+
Accurate touchscreen 

Reasons to avoid

-
HD rather than Full HD display

The Acer Chromebook 314 represents everything we've come to expect from a top Chromebook, including speed and reliable performance at a budget price. The is the laptop I consider to be the best Chromebook for Cricut because you need a dependable workhorse, with a speedy CPU and large touchscreen for seeing you designs in detail.

I would rather it had a Full HD screen, instead its HD, 768p resolution. Which is fine for working out the finer details of your Cricut designs. For under $300 / £250 you expect some cutbacks, so there are large bezels to contend with. Yet, it's silver metallic casing feels nice to the touch; the Acer Chromebook 314 is solid and lightweight, and will take a bump or two.

Performance is good, and as speedy as you'd expect from a ChromeOS laptop. The 64GB memory is enough to store designs and reference images locally too. Every Chrome user gets free cloud storage too (my account is coming up to full after six years of use, so it's workable). 

If you're looking for an affordable workhorse laptop and don't want to pay too much,  the Acer Chromebook 314 is a good choice that will do for everyday Cricut use.

The best Chromebooks for Cricut; a photo of a laptop

(Image credit: Google)

06. Google Pixelbook Go

The best high-end Chromebook for Cricut

Specifications

Weight: 1.06 kg
Dimensions: 1.34 x 20.63 x 31.1 cm
Screen: 4K UHD, 13.3-inch LCD touchscreen
Storage: 64GB, 128GB or 256GB SSD
RAM: 8GB or 16GB
CPU: 8th Gen Intel M3, i5 or i7

Reasons to buy

+
Excellent battery life
+
Large and beautiful UHD display
+
Minimum 64GB SSD
+
Powerful for a Chromebook

Reasons to avoid

-
Overpriced for the tech

This Google Pixelbook Go is the brand's flagship Chromebook and while it may be pricier than others on my list, it does come with several brilliant features. With a great battery life (12 hours), a stellar performance from its Intel chips (up to an overpowered i7) and crystal clear UHD display, you'll be hard pressed to find a higher quality Chromebook that feels like a laptop.

Quite a high end Chromebook, the Google Pixelbook Go is perfectly compatible with Bluetooth and the Google Play Store, so using Cricut on this device shouldn’t be a problem for keen crafters. The LCD touch screen makes things really easy when it comes to designing, and the battery life means that those travelling about can keep their designs going on-the-go.

It's a little pricey to the point you may question why buy this over a Windows laptop or, say, an Apple iPad Air 5th gen. It also can't be used in a tablet mode, so despite the touchscreen you are still using it as a traditional laptop.

A photo of the HP Dragonfly Chromebook

(Image credit: HP)

07. HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook

The best expensive Chromebook for Cricut

Specifications

Weight: 1.2 kg
Dimensions: 11.59 x 8.73 x 0.65 inches
Screen: 13.5 inch QHD+ (2256 x 1504) touchscreen
Storage: 128GB - 256GB eMMC
RAM: 32GB
CPU: Up to 12th-gen Intel Core i7

Reasons to buy

+
Superb touchscreen display
+
Excellent performance
+
Excellent build quality

Reasons to avoid

-
Very high price

If money is no option then the HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook really is the laptop for you. This is a high-end configuration that can sit comfortably next to the best PCs and MacBooks for speed and power. It features up to 2th-gen Core i7 (i5 models are naturally more budget-friendly) and will easily outshine some PCs on the market.

It feels premium, as you would expect of a Chromebook that costs around $2,165 / £2,014.80 for the high-end spec (i5 models are around $250 / £200 less). The all-aluminium casing is sturdy, light and feels quality. The keyboard is backlit and accurate, and features a haptic touchpad – Apple knows how good this tech can be.

The large and sharp 13.5 inch screen is a good addition for crafters, and the fact it's touchscreen and comes packaged with the accurate HP pen stylus. This Chromebook features a number of high-spec security features too, such as a fingerprint reader, so it's good for crafters on the go or a multiple-account household.

The HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook is a high-end Chromebook that comes with a high-end price, and is really for those who have fully moved away from Windows and iOS and are looking for a Chromebook with power and reliability. If you're serious about using a Chromebook with Cricut, this is a great option. It's lower on the list not for quality but because it's a very expensive option, and the power isn't essential purely for Cricut.

The best Chromebooks for Cricut; ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5

(Image credit: ASUS)

08. ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5

The best large screen Chromebook for Cricut

Specifications

Weight: 1.95 kg
Dimensions: 35.76 x 24.08 x 1.85 cm
Screen: 15.6-inch Full HD, LED backlit touchscreen
Storage: 256GB SSD or 128GB SSD
RAM: 16GB
CPU: Intel Core i5 (or i3)

Reasons to buy

+
Large, glossy touch screen display
+
Powerful performance
+
Slim and eye-catching design

Reasons to avoid

-
The screen could be brighter

The ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 is another 2-in-1 Chromebook that can flip from laptop to tablet format, but this one makes my list because it's the best large-screen Chromebook around. With a clear and glossy 15.6-inch display that supports touch and stylus, this is an impressive Chromebook that is perfect for Cricut Design Space.

The screen is backed by a choice of either an Intel Core i5 or i3 chip and up to 256GB of fast SSD storage. In fact, the ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 performs excellently and manages to offer Windows-like specs in a Chromebook shell. This will handle multitasking with ease but it's that screen which continues to impress – it could be a little brighter, however, as it only has 250 nits of brightness.

The best Chromebooks for Cricut; a photo of the HP Chromebook x2 11

(Image credit: HP)
The best Chromebook for Cricut Joy

Specifications

Weight: 1.9 kg
Dimensions: 48.4 x 81.94 x 4.39 cm
Screen: 11-inch 2K touchscreen, 400 nits, 100% sRGB
Storage: 128GB flash storage
RAM: 8GB
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c

Reasons to buy

+
Vibrant 1440p QHD screen
+
Adaptable and clean design
+
Plenty of storage

Reasons to avoid

-
Not a 4K screen

The HP Chromebook x2 11 is an excellent little tablet Chromebook that comes with an attachable keyboard, stand and stylus. While its screen may not be 4K it is QHD and features a decent 400 nits of brightness and 100% sRGB. Being 11-inches is also a little small for many Cricut projects, but it's ideal for Cricut Joy's focus on card and sticker designs.

In fact, I had some issues getting Design Space to run smoothly on the HP Chromebook x2 11, despite it technically supporting the Android app. However it runs the Cricut Joy app perfectly. If you're looking to take your designs to a friend's house for some cards, making the HP Chromebook x2 11 is perfect.

The addition of 128GB of storage and the use of a stylus and keyboard helps too. In my HP Chromebook x2 11 review I found this to be an incredibly smooth and effortlessly enjoyable Chromebook to use, and its 11 hour battery life is ideal for a day of crafting.

The best Chromebooks for Cricut; a photo of the Lenovo 14e Chromebook 14

(Image credit: HP)

10. Lenovo 14e Chromebook Gen 2

The best cheap Chromebook for Cricut

Specifications

Weight: 1.45 kg
Dimensions: 1.77 x 32.5 x 22.3 cm
Screen: 14-inch LCD touchscreen
Storage: 4GB or 8GB SSHD
CPU: AMD A Series A9

Reasons to buy

+
Unique fold-out design
+
Water-resistant keyboard
+
Great battery life

Reasons to avoid

-
Lacks processing power

For a relatively decent price, those in the market for a Chromebook can get their hands on this Lenovo 14e Chromebook Generation 2, that comes with a superb keyboard – which many Chromebooks are lacking. 

Designed for those who work in a fast-changing environment, this Chromebook is tough and portable, and great for those who want to pick up their work and get going. With battery life that lasts all day, you won’t have to worry about this Chromebook shutting down mid-design.

Users have complained of the Chromebooks speakers not being the best quality, but they’re nothing less than what you would expect from a device not designed for music, and for this price. If you’re looking for a budget friendly Chromebook for Cricut use, then this Lenovo model offers many of the same features as the Google Pixelbook Go, but for a fraction of the price.

Do Chromebooks work with Cricut?

Yes but it's a little complex. Chromebooks use Chrome OS, a product of Google, and therefore aren't technically compatible with Cricut. But, some Chromebooks have a way around this. If your Chromebook is compatible with the Google Play Store, and has Bluetooth, then you can download the Android version of Cricut Design Space on the Google Play Store, and use your Bluetooth to connect. Most Chromebooks released in 2022 meet this criteria.

Which Cricut machine is best for Chromebook?

The smaller Cricut Joy is a perfect companion craft machine for Chromebook. It's small size makes it a nice and portable machine that fits in with how most people use their Chromebooks. Also, Cricut has a Joy Design Space app that works perfectly with all Chromebooks.

What do I need to consider when buying a Chromebook for Cricut?

There are a number of key things to think about when looking for the best Chromebooks for Cricut, I've highlighted the main factors below:

1. Processor
Chromebooks don't have a good reputation for processor power, they're browser-based computers that rely on the Cloud, generally. However newer Chromebooks now feature Intel i5 and i7 processors, as well as AMD Ryzen. Be sure to check for one of these.

2. RAM
These days most Chromebooks come with 4GB of RAM as a standard and this is the minimum you'll need. Many Chromebooks released in 2021 and 2022 will feature 8GB of RAM.

3. Storage
You'll need at least 32GB of storage to save your designs, though keep in mind on a Chromebook you can save everything to Google Drive cloud storage. Many Chromebooks now offer 128GB SSD storage, which good to look for.

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Ian Dean

Ian Dean is Digital Arts & Design Editor at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and leading video game title Official PlayStation Magazine. In his early career he wrote for music and film magazines including Uncut and SFX. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his love to bring the latest news on NFTs, video game art and tech, and more to Creative Bloq, and in his spare time he doodles in Corel Painter, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5. He's also a keen Cricut user and laser cutter fan, and is currently crafting on Glowforge and xTools M1.

With contributions from