So you already own the hardware and put down around $200 to start your small business. You maybe have made that back and are excited because your crafts have become so much easier. And now Cricut drops this bomb on you. You won’t be able to use their software to make unlimited designs. This will impact how much a small business can use the hardware without having to pay a premium.
Cricut has announced that in order to create unlimited designs that will export to your machine you need to pay extra monthly.
Also, soon we will be making changes that affect members who use the free Design Space app without a Cricut Access plan. Every calendar month, these members will be allowed to upload up to 20 personal images and/or patterns. Members with a paid Cricut Access plan will have unlimited uploads. All members, with or without a paid plan, will keep their existing uploads in Design Space.
Cricut Blog for March
How will this affect me?
That means that while you will be able to print what you already have saved, they will limit the amount of creative work you can add to it. So you can only successfully design and print 20 new things a month if you don’t have an access plan.
The access plan allows you to access fonts and images for a reduced price. So they’re not even giving you free things they’re making you pay a premium. Along with the cost of that the cost of some of the paper that you use with the machine is very high. And you almost need to pay for it because knock offs and lower quality materials just don’t work as well.
If you’re a hobbyist you may not upload that many personal images a month. But for those that use it for a business this can be quite hindering.
“Any project created within Design Space with images or fonts found in Design Space can be modified and do not count as a personal image upload. If users want to use images from other applications, such as a .jpg or .png, and upload those images to Design Space, that counts as a personal image upload.”
Gizmodo
Many users find images of popular cartoons and then choose to have them sliced up for their products. This is where it could get complicated because most of the images used then incorporate the upload of a jpg.
How much will it cost and when will it happen?
So far there is no word on when this new model will be in place. When it does they are going to be selling monthly subscriptions for $10 and yearly for $96 at the lowest tier. You can view the current Cricut Access Plans available here.
UPDATE
Click here to read an official statement from Cricut.
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