Gweike Cloud Pro vs Glowforge Pro | Best Alternative

Gweike Cloud Pro is a 50W CO2 laser cutter & engraver, that became available in the year 2022. The laser cutter has successfully created market hype to gather the necessary attention of laser enthusiasts and crafters. Experts are even comparing the Gweike Cloud Pro with the Glowforge Pro as the best budget alternative.

The Gweike Cloud Pro has been amazing with engraving Tumblers & Leather along with 400+ materials like the X-tool D1 pro & OMTech.

This write-up contains an in-depth review of the Gweike Cloud Pro along with a necessary comparison to the GLowforge.

Gweike Cloud Pro – Key Takeaways

These are highlights of the Gweike Cloud Pro which also acts as the key decision makers for someone who intends to buy a laser cutter and engraver.

• Gweike Cloud Pro is 50-watt CO2 laser cutter which means that the user can cut and engrave almost every material except aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, and copper.
• This laser engraver is 3.4 times faster than Xtool D1 Pro.
• Offers a precession rate of up to 0.0001 inches which concludes the power of tiny spot marking ability.
• So far, Gweike Cloud Pro is the fastest laser engraver of 2022 compared to Glowforge. The engraving speed is 600 mm/second which seems to be an industrial-grade performance.
• It also features 3 axes linear guide rail for better maneuvering of the laser head.
• Supports more than 400 materials and also recognizes them like what Glowforge used to do.
• This is a desktop laser cutter and is accessible through USB & Wifi; however, no smartphone app is there to control it.
• Gweike Cloud Pro can be controlled through Lightburn which was a big limitation for Glowforge users.
• There is a 5-megapixel HD camera to oversee the laser engraving performance but, the Glowforge had one extra camera for spot marking.
• The in-built camera can directly read the handmade design and convert it into an engravable file without any manual edits. This was missing when we tested OMTech laser cutters earlier.

2023 Updates

Followings are updates that Gweike has brought in 2023:

• Air assist is now built-in with the Gwike cloud pro
• An emergency stop button has been added as an extra measure of safety precautions
• Operating noise has been reduced by 9 decibels
• A ruler has been added to the honeycomb bed so that the crafters can have measuring benefits from the camera
• Machine sealing has been improved that directly affects in reducing noises
• Camera functions and other operating bugs have been updated that offers a better laser engraving & cutting experience

Check Price & Other Insights

• Gweike laser engraver can print at a resolution of Upto 1000 DPI at full power. This is great when someone is in need of high-contrast engraving output. However, there might be edge burns to soft materials.
• The Pro model comes with double rotary attachments which enables the laser head to work on uneven materials such as tumblers & Yeti mugs.
• There would be 18 months of warranty along with 30 days no reason refund facility which takes the laser cutter into the biggest appealing position in the market.
• The noise would be as max as 70 decibels. (20% lower than the OMTech laser cutters)
• Gweike is FDA certified and hereby comes with HEPA filter & duct fan. This laser engraver is fully enclosed so the risk of toxic fumes is lesser than the open version of Xtool D1 Pro & AtomStack S20 Pro.
• There is a built-in cooler that helps the laser beam reduce heat substantially without air assistance.
• Gweike also allows pass-through which helps the user to feed extra material for larger engraving.
• The work area of Gweike Cloud Pro is 20.08 inches by 11.8 inches which is slightly smaller than the Glowforge but the pass-through removes the bed limitation by a smaller extent.
• Lastly, the bottom drawer helps to clean the cutting & engraving dust quite easily which was missing in the Glowforge.

How can Gweike Cloud Pro be the Glowforge alternative?

Gweike Cloud Pro offers almost every feature like Glowforge pro at even 50% price of what Glwoforge is asking for. Besides, Gweike also offers additional features which make it the best alternative to Glowforge Pro.

Better Laser Power & Larger Work Area

Gweike Cloud Pro has more power than the Glowforge Pro. With up to 50W of power, Gweike Cloud Pro can cut through thicker materials and engrave deeper than Glowforge Pro (50W). Additionally, Gweike Cloud Pro has a wider working area of 24“x16“, while Glowforge Pro only offers a working area of 20“x12“.

Bigger Material Compatibility

Another advantage of Gweike Cloud Pro is its compatibility with a wider range of materials. It can work with wood, acrylic, leather, fabric, paper, and other materials. In contrast, Glowforge Pro is limited to cutting and engraving wood, acrylic, leather, and paper.

Offline Software Availability

Additionally, Gweike supports Lightburn, an offline control software compatibility that is unavailable for Glowforge users. This is a big differentiating factor since Glowforge users always need to rely on online servers which limit their usage.

Pullout Drawer is a plus

Also, Gweike Cloud Pro comes with a pullout drawer for dust removal, which is an extra advantage that is also unavailable on the Glowforge laser engravers. It also supports Pass-through and the price is significantly lower than the Glowforge pro, which is a huge differentiating factor.

Better Cutting Speed than the Glowforge

Gweike Cloud Pro has a faster cutting speed than Glowforge Pro. Gweike Cloud Pro can reach up to 500 mm/s, while Glowforge Pro maxes out at 300 mm/s.

Overall, Gweike Cloud Pro offers more power, a larger working area, more materials compatibility, and faster cutting speed than Glowforge Pro.

Gweike Cloud Pro Vs Glowforg Pro (Comparison)

During the entire article, we have related Gweike Cloud Pro with the Glowforge Pro as needed. However, this comparison summary would surely help the users to make their decisions easily.

Comparing Opinion

Glowforge is a premium brand and has already experienced thousands of customers. Glowforge’s customer community is significantly larger than what Gweike currently has. The direct impact is that one of the Glowforge users will have access to thousands of creative works & their tricks.

Gweike Cloud is well-known in the industrial fiber laser cutting sector but comparably new to the consumer market. Their customer community is smaller than Glowforge.

If you compare both then Gewike would surely be your choice because it is available at almost half of the price of what Glowforge is asking for Glowforge Pro.

Other than that, people having no problem with their budget can afford Glowforge Pro as it’s already a proven product with good customer feedback.

Negative sides of Gweike Cloud Pro

• Doesn’t have any mobile app
• There has been limited information on whether their desktop applications run smoothly on Mac / Linux.
• Smaller customer forum
• Doesn’t allow any batch processing
• Doesn’t have a smartphone application to control or oversee the laser engraving activities.

Negative Sides of Glowforge Pro

• Premium Brand with Expensive price
• The working bed is not removable and slightly smaller than the Gweike Cloud Pro
• The air filter is very expensive
• Technically, if Glowforge runs out of the market someday then the users won’t be having access to their laser engravers since they have been relying on third-party servers just for not having any offline control software.

In-depth Review (Gweike Cloud Pro)

In this section, we will focus on just everything about Gweike Cloud Pro. We took records from unboxing to laser cutting & engraving and also surveyed 17 laser engraving enthusiasts for better insights.

Overall, this laser cutter is a masterpiece and ultimately a Glowforge killer. Considering the price, built quality, speed, precision, and other qualitative factors – Gweike stood a few steps ahead of Glowforge Pro.

For crafters and laser enthusiasts, Gweike is going to offer the fastest payback compared to other brands.

Review Outcome

Gweike is an excellent laser cutter with proven cutting & engraving results. From the price/quality assessment, Gweike Cloud Pro would surely be considered as the Glowforge Killer since the price of Gweike is almost half of Glowforge Pro.

Gweike did excellent with cutting speed, engraving resolution, and 3 linear rails with rotary & air assist. However, we found that Glowforge’s image recognition is fairly better than Gweike’s except for the other issues.

Alternatively, Gweike’s air filter is much cheaper than the Glowforge, and also the materials are budget-friendly.

Company Strength

Gweike Cloud is the first CO2 maser engraver targeted at the consumer market but the company is not new. Gweike is an old & experienced company mainly specialized in fiber laser cutting for a few years. Their fiber lasers are industrial-graded and had more than 90% positive customers rating so far.

From this point of view, we can easily have trust in the Gweike governance and product quality.

Unboxing Process

Overall, the packaging of Gweike Cloud Pro was better than OMTech. The package came with the laser cutter, air filter, and starter material kit. The material pack contained MDF, cardboard, and plywood along with acrylic material.

Overall, the unboxing took around 10 minutes and the installation took another 12 minutes to get the machine ready for work.

Build Structure

Overall, Gweike Cloud Pro is made up of solid steel sheets which offered the laser cutter an extra advantage over the Glowforge Pro. Even the Glowforge is made up of premium plastic, customers are preferring to buy Gweike cloud pro for its sturdiness and appearance.

The top glass is premium scratch resist. However, the lifting is not automatic. ALso, there is a protective cover on the inner camera which can easily be removed for cleaning & maintanance purpose.

There is much more such as a 3 linear rail for easing out the cutting process and plenty of other technical advantages.

Work Bed

The working bed of Gweike Cloud Pro is 20.08 inches by 11.8 inches which are slightly smaller than the Glowforge but the pass-through removes the bed limitation by a smaller extent.

There is a honeycomb bed that offers great airflow to the CO2 laser head. Also, such beds help increase the laser engravers’ life by keeping specks of dust away. The honeycomb bed also offers quick passage to the smoke generated from the laser burns and helps engraved material free from black smoke marks and edge burns.

If you are an intermediate user or the material is damaged, the honeycomb bed will restrict laser beam reflection and save you from further accidents.

When compared to Glowforge Pro – the bed size is larger in Gweike since the Glowforge offers 38″ x 20.75″ x 8.25″ of working area.

The Pullout Drawer

We really loved the Gweike Cloud Pro’s pullout drawer. It saves the dust coming from the honeycomb bed and you can easily open it to clean the residue. The safety features are also well integrated so that the laser machine wouldn’t run if the drawer is open.

The drawer is super flexible and doesn’t make any noise. Overall, it’s a great fit when compared to Glowforge Pro.

Laser Engraving Speed

The Gweike Cloud Pro is significantly faster than the Glowforge Pro. We have tested the engraving accuracy with various images and Gweike’s performance was not bad.

Here’s an engraving example of Gweike Cloud Pro. The engraving settings were as follows:

• Power – 50%
• Speed – 15,000 mm/minute
• Resolution – 300 DPI

Similarly, we carried the same engraving test for both Gweike & Glowforge pro. The Engraving settings were as below:

• Power – 40%
• Speed – 20,000 mm/minute
• Resolution – 200 DPI

And, here’s what we have got –

Result: Gweike took 11.13 minutes which was 2 minutes lesser than the Glowforge pro at the same settings for both of the laser engravers. (Source)

Here’s a comparison of laser cutting speed by different laser cutters:

Laser Cutting Experiments

As said earlier the 3-axis linear rail helps the laser head to cut smoothly with better accuracy.

We have tested some of the laser cuts at 60% power and here’s what we got:

Furthermore, the different focus settings also help the Gweike laser cutter to run extremely easily. For example, the laser head can cut sharply at even 40% power with a speed of 12,000 mm/minute.

Here’s an example:

However, a significant edge burn is noticed when above 80% power is used to cut plywood. This is most common for all laser cutters but for the GWeike, the reason could be something else.

If you notice the in-built camera set up for both the Gweike & Glowforge, the Glowforge has one additional camera to set a tiny focus on cutting objects. That was the biggest value addition by Glowforge for the customers’ community.

So, what’s the summary then?

• The Gweike Cloud Pro can achieve 600 mm/s on the X-axis but,
• The cutting speed is lesser on the Y-Axis because of the heavier laser head movement on the same Axis.

Noise Level

The company claims that the Gweike Cloud Pro has as max as 70 DB sounds. In reality, the claim remains true and the laser cutter doesn’t make much noise like other cheap brands.

We also found that the Glowforge is a bit noisier than the Gweike. The reason could be having a double fan inside.

Similarly, an industrial-grade in-build cooler helps the Gweike to be more silent than the Glwoforge.

Does 70 DB sound adversely affect your health?

The University of Michigan did research on the sound generated from different sources and identified the maximum tolerable point. As per the research the maximum tolerable point by a human is 85 decibels so, Gweike Cloud Pro cannot be considered as a noisy laser cutter & engraver.

Here’s a comparison of noise produced by other laser cutters & engravers:

The Camera

Gweik Cloud comes with a 5-megapixel in-built camera like Glowforge. The main purposes of the camera are to –

• Oversee what’s happening inside the machine and,
• Convert any handmade drawings or visuals into engravable drawings so that no additional manual actions are needed.

The main difference with the Glowforge is that the Glowforge has one additional camera for focusing. We have already written about this issue in earlier section and shown how this affects cutting accuracy.

Also, the camera has a protective shield so that it stays safe during the laser cutting work and you can also remove/replace it in need.

Rotary Attachments

The Gweike Cloud Pro comes with a double rotary attachment which helps to engrave round-shaped objects such as tumblers & Yeti mugs. Also, the rotary attachments work smoother due to the triple linear rail gear which ensures smoothness & better precision.

You may also read about some other challenges of Tumbler engraving with a CO2 laser engraver.

You just need to do a small thing if the rotary is needed for any cylindrical shape engraving.

• Remove the honeycomb since this is placed for the flat material
• Plug in the rotary kit
• Flip the control switch of rotary
• On the Y axis – align the available arrows. That’s it.

Furthermore, Glowforge Pro doesn’t come with any Rotary attachment and its work bed is fixed.

Just remember one thing –

If your tumbler has a coat outside then it is ready to put into the engravers but, if it is plain stainless steel then you need to paint or coat the cup with tempera paint or laser marking spray before engraving.

You can always remove the temporary paint after the job is done.

For more: follow these tumbler engraving steps.

Internal Cooling System

Gweike comes with an in-built internal cooling system which reduces indoor temperature significantly. Though the Glowforge features an air assist kit and exhaust, the industrial-grade internal cooling mechanism helped Gweike a lot especially in reducing noise.

This cooling kit also directly affects the performance of the laser tube in terms of speed, power efficiency & precision. (We will illustrate that later)

Linear Rail & Air Exhaust

The Gweike Cloud Pro features an industrial-grade linear rail system which enables better maneuvering of the laser head. The third linear rail significantly affects the focus adjustment of the laser head which dramatically improves the accuracy of the laser cuts.

Similarly, these linear rails also help the laser cutters to work with a maximum speed of 600 mm/s which is amazing.

On top of that, The  Gweike Cloud Pro laser engraver comes with an air filter & duct fan that blows the harmful smoke and dusts away like the Glowforge. However, the air filter price of Glowforge is much higher than what Gweike offers.

Currently, Glowforge Pro offers Z-Axis of 0.5 to 2 inches whereas the Gweike’s Z-Axis performance is far above than that.

Software Compatibility

The Gweike Cloud Pro runs on both the Gweike CLoud software and the Lightburn. The great value addition was that the Glowforge didn’t allow the machine to be controlled by light burn and this is why the Gweike has gathered enough customers’ attention.

Also, there is a similarity between Gweike & the Glowforge.

Both cameras can read handmade drawings and export them as engravable drawings with no additional hassle.

Here’s an example of how the camera reads the drawing and exports it as a readily workable file.

Online Software

Apart from Lightburn, Gweike Cloud Pro can be controlled through the Gweike Cloud online program which is quite similar to Glowforge’s online platform. From the point of user-friendliness, both Gweike and Glowforge’s online cloud program is very useful and handy.

However, there is a big limitation of Glowforge.

Glowforge does not have any offline desktop app that puts loyalty under pressure.

There are several benefits of running the laser engraver through an online platform:

• The data is synchronized on a real-time basis so the technical support team holds track of the users’ behavior.
• Cloud program is lightweight and doesn’t put pressure on computers’ memory.
• Offers wider access to Chromebook users.
• Just an internet connection is the only requirement to access that.

The disadvantages are:

• Any sort of internet disruption can damage the entire workflow substantially

How Glowforge users are affected due to not having any offline software?

Technically, if Glowforge runs out of the market someday then the users wont be having access to their laser engravers since they have been relying on third party server just for not having any offline control software.

Customers’ Experience with Gweike Cloud Pro

Gathering every possible information from the customers’ end is a difficult job. Till today,  we noticed a total of 37 sales on Gweike’s website and among them, only one customer shared a negative opinion.

We assume that the Z Axis problem was due to an assembly error or any technical lack. However, this is good to see that Gweike’s support team has addressed the issue.

Plywood Cutting & Engraving Test

We have tested some laser cutting activities with Gweile Cloud Pro and made some amazing works with Plywood. The process was fast and mostly accurate. We used 40% power, 600 mm/minute speed for the cutting process.

In our opinion, the automatic Z-Axis adjustment eases the cutting job much. It worked great along with the 6 mm focal distance with the Plywood.

Here’s what we did –

During the hardwood-cutting tests, we observed the followings:

• The 4mm pine took 600 mm/minute for one pass
• The 5 mm pine wood had 600 mm/minute with 3 passes
• And the results are almost the same for both Oak & Beech.

Glass Engraving with Gweike Cloud Pro

Engraving with glass is a challenging job, especially if you are unaware of the variety of laser power. Using too much laser power might damage the glass totally.

We always recommend using not more than 40% of the laser power to engrave over any glass.

Here’s a project that one of your experts did with Gweike Cloud Pro

This is amazing. Isn’t it?

Leather Cutting & Engraving

The Gweike Cloud did a great job while working with the leather. Even though we feared the edge burn, thanks to the internal cooling system kept the risk away.

We used processed leather with 30% laser power and the finishing.

Leather is a natural subtract that is very sensitive to fire. Due to this fact, the edge of the leather often burns while the engraving is in progress.

Here are some techniques that help in reducing the edge-burning issue:

• A thinner lens reduces the risk of edge burning. We prefer a spot size of around 0.1 mm to ease this issue. However, a spot size of 0.2 mm is also good for engraving leather but not more than that.
• While engraving over leather, set a low-pressure air assist to reduce the risk of nozzle overheating

Acrylic Cutting Experiment

Cutting acrylic with Gweike Cloud Pro is total fun. One thing we would surely love to mention is that the Air assist helps a lot while cutting any acrylic material. You can use a 0.1 mm focal length and 40% laser power for a smoother cut.

It all depends on the design and how will you organize the job.

The best thing would you notice is the contribution made by the honeycomb that blows all the dust & smoke away to the pull drawer.

Common Problems of a Laser Engraver

It is equally important to understand the common problems someone may encounter while using a laser cutter or a laser engraver. If you know the common troubleshooting practices, then life will be much easier.

These are the 8 most common problems you may face while using a laser cutter:

• The laser tube may not emit light properly
• The laser linning may go wrong
• Laser temperature may be inconsistent with the direction & requirement
• Engraving depth may not be appropriate
• The engraved font might be different than the design
• The lens may get damaged
• There might be a carving error
• Or, the machine would result automatically.

For details, follow our last article on common errors & solutions.

Laser Cutting Safety Practices

These are the best safety practices while using a laser cutter.

Follow these safety checklists and stay safe with your family members:

• Never try to leave the laser cutter unattended.
• Avoid placing any flammable objects nearby.
• Ensure fire fighting equipment is in place.
• Do not alter the safety system of your laser cutter.
• Always prefer using a fully enclosed laser cutter.
• Ensure wearing safety glasses.
• Avoid looking directly at the laser beam.
• Wait till the material is cooled down.
• Prefer using recommended material.
• Enable the exhaust system always.

Conclusion

If you are a budget customer then Gweike can be an excellent deal as the experts are marking the Gweike as the Gwloforge killer. There is no doubt that Gweike would last for a long time and offer quick payback.