Glowforge Review: Still Worth Buying After the Restructure?
Glowforge sells direct, not on Amazon, and went through a restructuring in late 2025. What that means for buyers, and the CO2 laser we would buy instead.
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Glowforge sells its lasers direct, through its own shop. It is not on Amazon, so the score and product links on this page are for the xTool P2S, the closest equivalent you can buy there. This page is about the Glowforge itself.
What Glowforge got right
Glowforge made desktop CO2 lasers approachable. Its machines run from a web browser. A camera in the lid shows the bed, and you drag the design onto the material. Proofgrade materials are coded so the machine sets its own power and speed. For a beginner who has never heard of power, speed and passes, nothing else was as easy to start with.
The current line runs from the Spark and Aura, which are diode machines, to the Plus HD and Pro HD CO2 machines. The Pro HD has a 45W CO2 tube and a passthrough slot.
What changed in 2025
In November 2025 Glowforge went through an assignment for the benefit of creditors, a US state-level alternative to bankruptcy. Co-founders Dan Shapiro and Mark Gosselin bought the brand, hardware platform, software and manufacturing rights with their own money, and the company continues with a team of about 20 former employees.
This page is not a discontinued notice. The company is trading and machines are still sold. But the restructure matters more for Glowforge than it would for most tool brands, because of how its software works.
The cloud question
Glowforge’s software runs in Glowforge’s cloud. The machine needs Wi-Fi and Glowforge’s servers to work. That is what makes it simple, and it is also the risk: if the servers stop, the laser stops. A smaller company that has just been through restructuring is a fair reason for a buyer to weigh that more heavily than before.
What to buy instead
The xTool P2S is the closest equivalent on Amazon:
- More power. A 55W tube against the Pro HD’s 45W.
- Same workflow. Camera placement on screen.
- Local software. xTool Creative Space and LightBurn run on your computer.
It is heavier, and less beginner-friendly out of the box. But its usefulness does not depend on one company’s servers.
If you want a diode instead (the Spark/Aura end of the range), the xTool S1 is the enclosed diode we would start with.
What works
- The xTool P2S, our pick in its place, cuts clear acrylic and thick hardwood with a 55W tube - more power than any Glowforge
- The P2S runs its software locally, so a lost internet connection or a vendor outage does not stop the machine
- Dual cameras give the same drag-and-drop placement that made Glowforge famous
What doesn't
- The P2S is heavier and needs more setup than a Glowforge: about 45 kg, with an exhaust hose to run
- Glowforge's own beginner experience - its browser software and material catalogue - is still the most polished in the category