Glowforge Pro vs xTool P2S: Which Desktop CO2 Laser Is Better in 2026?
How this comparison was made: from manufacturer specifications, current retailer listings, and owner reports — not side-by-side lab testing. Prices are typical U.S. ranges as of October 2026. Neither machine is in our shop yet; when that changes, this page gets updated and marked. See our disclosure.
Ask a room of makers which desktop CO2 laser to buy and these are the two names that come back. The Glowforge Pro is the established premium pick — the "appliance" of lasers. The xTool P2S is the challenger that undercuts it by roughly half on price while claiming more power. Both are enclosed CO2 machines that cut wood and acrylic and engrave almost anything organic. They differ in philosophy more than in physics, and that philosophy is what this comparison is really about: a polished, cloud-run appliance versus a more open, more powerful machine that trusts you with the controls.
Specifications, side by side
| Glowforge Pro | xTool P2S | |
|---|---|---|
| Laser | 45W CO2 | 55W CO2 |
| Work area | 19.5″ × 11″ | 23.6″ × 12.1″ |
| Passthrough | Yes (Pro slot) | Yes |
| Cameras | Single overhead camera | Dual 16MP cameras |
| Software | Glowforge app (cloud, browser) | xTool Creative Space (local) + LightBurn compatible |
| Internet required | Yes — every job | No |
| Rotary support | Not officially supported | Yes (rotary attachments available) |
| Autofocus | Yes | Yes (LiDAR-assisted) |
| Typical price | $6,000–$7,000 | $3,000–$3,500 |
Power and cutting
The P2S's 55W tube is a genuine, if modest, advantage: roughly 20% more power shows up as faster cuts on thicker stock and fewer two-pass jobs on 1/4″ plywood and acrylic. Both machines cut the standard maker diet — 3mm and 6mm plywood, cast acrylic, leather, MDF — without drama, and neither engraves bare metal (you need a fiber laser, or a marking spray, for that). If your work is mostly engraving rather than cutting, the power gap mostly disappears: engraving quality on both is excellent, limited more by artwork and settings than by the tube.
Software: the real decision
This is where the machines truly split, and for most buyers it matters more than the spec sheet.
Glowforge runs entirely in the cloud. You design anywhere, upload, and the machine phones home for every job. The interface is the friendliest in the industry and material settings for Glowforge's own Proofgrade line are automatic. The costs: no internet means no cutting, some design features live behind the optional Premium subscription, your files live in their ecosystem, and if the service ever goes away, so does your machine's brain. Owners are split — many love never thinking about settings; production shops tend to chafe.
xTool gives you Creative Space, free local software that's capable and improving, plus compatibility with LightBurn — the independent standard most laser operators already know. Everything runs offline. The trade-off is a slightly steeper first week: more settings visible means more settings to learn. For anyone who has used design software before, it's a non-issue by week two.
Cameras, placement, and batch work
Both machines use cameras to preview artwork on material — the feature that ruined everyone for laser-ing blind. The P2S's dual-camera setup adds a close-up view that makes small-item placement (tags, coasters, batch layouts of small parts) more precise, and owners doing production runs of small items cite it often. The Glowforge camera is wide-angle and simple, and perfectly adequate for the one-off project workflow the machine is built around.
Rotary and expandability
Tumblers and bottles are a real product category, and here it's one-sided: xTool sells rotary attachments for the P2S and supports them in software; Glowforge offers no official rotary path for the Pro. xTool also sells a riser base for taller objects and a conveyor feeder for batch work. Glowforge's expansion story is mostly materials — the Proofgrade ecosystem is convenient, if pricier per sheet than bulk suppliers.
True cost of ownership
- Upfront: the P2S typically costs $2,500–$3,500 less. That's a ventilation setup, a year of materials, and change.
- Subscriptions: Glowforge Premium is optional; the machine works without it, but some design features are gated. xTool charges nothing for software.
- Consumables: both use glass CO2 tubes that eventually wear out (lifespan is usage-dependent, commonly quoted in the low thousands of hours). Before buying either, check the current price and process for a replacement tube — it differs by brand and matters in year three.
- Materials: Proofgrade convenience costs more per sheet than the same plywood or acrylic from a bulk supplier, which the P2S happily cuts with manual settings.
Setup, support, and community
Both are heavy, two-person-lift desktop units that want a permanent bench near ventilation, and both take an afternoon — not an hour — to unbox, level, vent, and calibrate to first good cut. Support models differ with the philosophy: Glowforge support is centralized through the company, which keeps answers consistent but means the company is your only door. xTool leans on a combination of company support and an unusually large owner community, and because the P2S also runs LightBurn, years of independent tutorials, settings libraries, and forum knowledge apply to it directly. For a buyer who learns from communities and YouTube, that ecosystem is a practical advantage; for a buyer who wants one phone number, Glowforge's model is the comfort buy.
The verdict
For most buyers in 2026, the xTool P2S is the better value and the more capable machine: more power, a bigger bed, dual cameras, rotary support, offline software — at roughly half the price. The spec gap and the price gap point the same direction, which is rare.
The Glowforge Pro still wins for a specific buyer: schools, libraries, and owners who want the absolute simplest, most appliance-like experience and happily trade control and money for it. If the words "cloud-only" don't bother you and "it just works" is your top priority, the Pro's premium is buying something real.
Everyone else — especially anyone thinking about selling what they make — should read our guide to starting a laser engraving business and note that the money saved choosing the P2S funds the rest of the startup list. Still deciding whether CO2 is even your type? The beginner roundup covers the cheaper paths in.
Official product pages
Whichever machine ends up on your bench, it needs files worth cutting — our own designs are in TheUnrulyMaker shop on Etsy (our shop, not an affiliate link).