So you’re thinking about buying your first laser cutter. Welcome — and take a breath, because this is one of those purchases where the internet will happily talk you into spending three times what you need to.
Here’s the good news: you don’t need to understand every spec on a product page to make a smart choice. You need to know roughly what you want to cut, how much space and money you actually have, and which of a handful of trade-offs matter to you. That’s it.
This guide focuses on 20W diode lasers — the sweet spot for most people starting out, and honestly where a lot of hobbyists happily stay forever. They’re affordable, they’ll cut and engrave plywood, basswood, leather, and more, and they won’t demand a dedicated room or a five-figure budget. I’ll walk through what “20W” really means (spoiler: the marketing numbers are a little generous), what you can realistically cut, what it costs new versus secondhand, and which upgrades are actually worth your money later rather than on day one.
No brand loyalty here, no affiliate-driven “buy this now” pressure — just what real reviewers and real owners have found when they put these machines to work, laid out so you can pick the right one the first time.
Diode, CO2, or Fiber — What’s the Difference?
If you’ve spent five minutes researching laser cutters, you’ve probably seen these three terms thrown around like everyone’s supposed to already know what they mean. Here’s the short version.
Diode lasers are the type most beginners land on, and the focus of this guide. They’re compact, air-cooled, don’t need a dedicated exhaust setup to get started, and are the cheapest way into the hobby by a wide margin. They’re great with wood, leather, cardboard, and other organic materials — less great with metal and, in most cases, unable to cut clear or reflective materials like clear acrylic at all.
CO2 lasers are the traditional “serious hobbyist” choice. They use a gas-filled tube instead of a diode, need water cooling and proper ventilation, and cost meaningfully more — but they cut faster, cut thicker material, and handle a wider range of materials including acrylic. If you outgrow a diode laser, this is usually where you land next.
Fiber lasers are a different animal entirely — built for marking and engraving metal, not cutting wood or organic materials. If your project list is mostly stainless steel tumblers or metal tags, fiber is worth its own research; for anyone cutting wood-based projects (like French cleat panels), it’s not the right category and I won’t cover it further here.
For most people starting out — especially if wood is the main material — a diode laser gets you cutting and learning for the least money and the least hassle, which is exactly why this guide zeroes in on the 20W diode class rather than trying to cover all three types at once.
The Five Most Talked-About 20W Diode Models
Rather than trying to cover every 20W diode laser on the market, I’m focusing on the five that come up again and again in reviews, forums, and buyer’s guides right now — call it the “most talked about” list rather than a definitive ranking:
- xTool S1 20W
- Sculpfun S30 Pro Max 20W
- AtomStack A20 Pro V2
- Longer RAY5 20W
- Twotrees TTS-20 Pro
Price: What Do They Actually Cost?
Before going deeper into feature-by-feature differences, here’s the baseline: the cheapest current US price for each model, direct from the official brand site (or Amazon where that’s the primary US listing), including shipping.
One thing worth knowing upfront — nearly every brand in this space runs permanent “sale” pricing against an inflated list price. Treat the discount percentage as marketing, not a real deal signal; the sale price is the real price.
- AtomStack A20 Pro V2 — $329 (Amazon, free shipping)
- Twotrees TTS-20 Pro — $399 (free US shipping)
- Longer RAY5 20W — $449.99 (free US shipping, excludes HI/AK/PR)
- Sculpfun S30 Pro Max 20W — $479.99 (free US shipping)
- xTool S1 20W — $1,219 (free shipping on orders over $89)
Four of the five cluster tightly between $329 and $479.99. The xTool S1 is the outlier at $1,219 — more than double the next-closest machine. That’s not really a “20W diode” price comparison at that point so much as a different product tier: the S1 is enclosed, has a larger bed, and is more polished overall, so it’s competing on those things rather than on price. Worth calling out clearly for readers so they understand why it costs so much more before I get into whether that’s worth it.
The Five Machines, One at a Time
xTool S1 20W — $1,219
Work area: 19.6″ × 12.6″ (498×319mm)
What you get: Fully enclosed — the only enclosed machine on this list — which is the main reason for the price gap. Bundles vary; the basic bundle includes honeycomb and air assist.
Software: xTool’s own app (XCS) natively, with LightBurn support — though xTool notes LightBurn, as third-party software, doesn’t cover every feature XCS does.
Speed: 600mm/s
The takeaway: You’re paying more than double the next machine for enclosure, polish, and safety features baked in — not for more cutting power. Right pick if enclosure-and-done matters more to you than price.
Second-hand Market: xTool is pushing their 40W version of this machine now, so the 20W S1 shows up secondhand fairly often on Facebook Marketplace and eBay for around $1,000 — a couple hundred dollars less than buying new.
Sculpfun S30 Pro Max 20W — $479.99
Work area: 370×360mm standard, expandable to 900×370mm or 900×890mm with extension kits
What you get: Open frame. Air pump included; honeycomb bed and enclosure sold separately.
Software: LightBurn (with air-assist control support) and LaserGRBL, Windows/Mac.
Speed: No official top-speed figure published; Sculpfun markets the air-assist system as “5x faster than airless” cutting rather than quoting a max mm/s.
The takeaway: The expandable bed is the standout feature here — if you think you’ll want to cut oversized panels later, this is the one built for that from the start.
Second-hand Market: I’ve spotted these secondhand on Facebook Marketplace and eBay fairly regularly — worth a search before buying new, especially if you want the expandable bed without paying full price for it.
AtomStack A20 Pro V2 — $329
Work area: 400×365mm
What you get: Open frame. No air assist and no honeycomb bed included — budget an extra $25–$45 for a compatible air pump.
This machine is also available in a Pro Bundle pack that includes Air Assist and a honeycomb bed – This bundle costs $449
Software: LightBurn, LaserGRBL, plus AtomStack’s own PC and mobile apps.
Speed: Rated 400mm/s, though realistic working speed for quality engraving is more like 50–100mm/s.
The takeaway: The cheapest entry point on this list, but the “hidden cost” is air assist you’ll want almost immediately — factor that into the real price before comparing it to the others.
Second-hand Market: These also turn up secondhand on Facebook Marketplace and eBay from time to time, though less often than the pricier models — check both before committing to a new one.
Longer RAY5 20W — $449.99
Work area: 17.3″ × 17.3″ (440×440mm)
What you get: Open frame. The “Ultimate Bundle” includes air assist, honeycomb bed, and a rotary roller for cylindrical objects — check which bundle you’re buying, since not all RAY5 listings include all three.
Software: LightBurn and LaserGRBL, with a built-in camera for LightBurn positioning.
Speed: 400mm/s — cuts 15mm pine or 8mm dark acrylic in a single pass.
The takeaway: Best accessory-inclusion story on this list if you land the Ultimate Bundle — effectively a full starter kit in one box.
Second-hand Market: I’ve seen these pop up on Facebook Marketplace and eBay too, usually from people who upgraded to a bigger machine — a reasonable place to look if you don’t need the warranty that comes with buying new.
Twotrees TTS-20 Pro — $399
Work area: 418×418mm
What you get: Open frame. Comes with air assist pump and hose, plus a honeycomb bed and protective steel plate — unusually well-equipped for the price.
Software: LightBurn and LaserGRBL, with built-in WiFi for wireless control via software, browser, or phone.
Speed: 500mm/s — one of the fastest-rated machines here.
The takeaway: Best “everything included” value on the list — air assist and honeycomb alone would cost $50–$80 extra on some competitors.
Second-hand Market: I didn’t find one of these machines on Facebook Marketplace, but it may be worth having a look around the second-hand listing sites if you’d like a cheaper machine.
Secondhand Market
Craigslist listings are hyper-local and don’t stay live long, so they’re not a reliable snapshot to cite here — one listing I found had already been taken down minutes after I found it. eBay is a better source: nationally searchable, listings persist, and it gave me real comparisons.
For a middle ground between new-at-full-price and secondhand-from-a-stranger, xTool and Sculpfun both run official refurbished programs — factory-refurbished units sold direct with a 6-month warranty. These could be worth checking out.
Upgrades Worth Adding Once You’re Hooked
Most of these machines ship bare-bones — open frame, no enclosure, often no air assist. That’s fine for your first few projects (to begin with, I just used some aluminium foil to protect my bench), but once you’re a few months in and starting to push the machine harder, here’s where people typically spend their next dollars, roughly in the order they tend to matter.
Software
The stock apps that ship with these machines range from “fine” to “actively frustrating.” You can download and use LaserGRBL for free.
LightBurn is the de facto upgrade almost everyone in this hobby eventually makes — better nesting, more control over cut settings per material, and it works across brands, so your skills carry over if you ever switch machines.
It’s worth checking LightBurn compatibility before you even buy, since it varies by brand.
Enclosures
An open-frame diode laser throws light and fumes into your workspace. An enclosure isn’t just about tidiness — it’s the single biggest safety upgrade you can make, and most insurance/renters’ situations are happier with one too. You’ve got two paths: buy a purpose-built enclosure, or build your own — if you’re thinking of building your own, this video shows how I built mine.
Air assist
A jet of air at the cutting point that blows smoke and debris out of the beam path as you cut. Without it, cuts get scorched, edges char more, and thicker material struggles to cut cleanly in one pass. Some machines above include it stock; for the ones that don’t, it’s usually the very first accessory purchase.
Honeycomb beds
Replaces the stock slatted bed with a honeycomb panel that supports material evenly, minimizes back-reflection burn marks on the underside of your workpiece, and lets airflow move freely under a cut for cleaner results. Cheap, easy swap, noticeably better cut quality.
Bigger bed / rails
Some of these machines support extension kits — longer rails and a bigger bed — for cutting larger panels in one pass instead of piecing smaller cuts together. Worth it if you’re regularly hitting the size ceiling of your stock bed (cutting full cleat panels is a good example of a project that benefits); not worth it if you’re mostly doing smaller engraving work.
More powerful laser head
Several brands sell higher-wattage replacement modules that bolt onto the same frame — effectively letting you upgrade from 20W to 30W+ without replacing the whole machine. This is the upgrade path that makes buying into a modular system (like the Sculpfun or xTool ecosystems) worth the extra cost up front, versus a closed machine where the laser itself isn’t swappable.
So Which One Should You Buy?
Everything above gives you the facts — price, cutting area, software, what’s actually in the box. But at some point you have to just pick one, and that decision comes down to a few honest trade-offs: how much you want to spend up front, whether you value an enclosure enough to pay double for it, and how much you trust yourself to actually use this thing.
That last one matters more than people admit. Here’s my honest take: if this is your first laser, go secondhand.
Here’s my thinking.
First, you save real money — sometimes 20% or more, as I found above, though check the brand’s current price first since that discount isn’t guaranteed on every model.
Second, and more important: if it turns out laser cutting isn’t for you — and it genuinely isn’t for everyone, plenty of people buy one, use it twice, and it ends up at the back of a cupboard or gathering dust on a shelf — you can resell it and get most of your money back, rather than eating the full cost of something new.
And third, if you’re like me and it turns out you use it constantly, upgrading later is easy: sell the secondhand starter machine, and put that money toward something bigger and better suited to how much you’re actually using it.
Buying new only really makes sense if you already know you’re going to use it a lot, or you specifically want the warranty and support that comes with day-one ownership. For everyone else weighing it up for the first time, let the machine prove itself to you before you spend full price on it.
About the Author
Alan is a maker, woodworker, and creator of the Neat French Cleat system. After years of trial and error (and a few walls that didn’t quite work), he developed a modular approach to French cleat storage that prioritizes efficiency, aesthetics, and real workshop workflows.
Find more plans, videos, and workshop organization tips at neatfrenchcleat.com