xTool S1 vs Glowforge Pro: which enclosed laser is worth it?

If you've narrowed your laser engraver search down to two machines, the xTool S1 and the Glowforge Pro come up constantly. They're both enclosed, both aimed at home and small studio use, and both have passionate communities. But they're built on completely different philosophies and the right choice depends heavily on what you actually plan to do with the machine.

The fundamental difference

The Glowforge Pro is a CO₂ laser. The xTool S1 is a diode laser. That one difference drives almost everything else about how the machines behave, what materials they handle best, and who they're right for.

CO₂ lasers use a gas tube that produces 10.6μm infrared light. This wavelength is absorbed by almost all organic and many inorganic materials, which is why the Glowforge cuts clear acrylic cleanly, handles fabric well, and marks glass. Diode lasers produce visible wavelength light (around 450nm for blue diodes) that passes through transparent materials rather than cutting them. The xTool S1 cannot cut clear acrylic.

Price

The xTool S1 20W starts around $800. The 40W version is around $1,200. The Glowforge Pro lists for around $6,000, though it's frequently discounted. That's a 5–7x price difference for the top configurations. The Glowforge also requires a monthly Premium subscription ($50/month or $500/year) for some features — that's another $500–$600 per year on top of the machine cost.

The xTool S1 has no subscription. You buy LightBurn once (~$60) and you're done. Over three years, the total cost of ownership difference is significant.

Software

This is where the two machines feel most different day-to-day. The Glowforge uses proprietary cloud-based software. Every job requires an internet connection. The camera-based alignment is genuinely good — you place your design over a live preview of what's on the bed and it's intuitive for beginners. But you're locked into Glowforge's ecosystem and their pricing decisions.

The xTool S1 works with LightBurn, which is the industry standard for laser software. If you ever change machines, your LightBurn skills transfer. You can work offline. The learning curve is steeper than the Glowforge app but the control is significantly deeper — you can set power curves, dithering modes, camera overlay, job origin, and much more.

Materials

Pass-through

The Glowforge Pro has a pass-through slot on both ends that lets you feed boards longer than the machine's internal bed. This is a real advantage for signs, long planks, and cutting boards that won't fit in a standard enclosed machine. The xTool S1 doesn't have a pass-through — its work area is fixed at 420×400mm (20W) or 498×319mm (40W).

Who each machine is for

The Glowforge Pro makes sense if you need to cut clear acrylic (packaging, display cases, awards), if you want the simplest possible software experience and are happy paying for it, or if you need the pass-through for long-format work. It's also the right choice if you're in a shared space where cloud-based work and simple operation matter more than deep control.

The xTool S1 makes more sense if you want LightBurn compatibility and the control that comes with it, if you plan to mark metals directly (anodized aluminium, coated steel), if you want a lower total cost of ownership, or if you're primarily working with wood and leather rather than acrylic. The 40W version is a genuine production machine for makers who know what they're doing.

Neither machine is wrong. They're built for different priorities. The settings database on this site has community-tested numbers for both — if you're trying to figure out whether a specific material you want to work with is covered, that's the fastest way to check.