Best laser engraving and cutting software in 2026

First find your controller: most diode lasers use GRBL, most CO2 lasers use a Ruida controller, and fiber lasers usually use an EZCAD board. Then pick by computer. On Windows with a GRBL diode, LaserGRBL is free and fine. For the widest machine list on one laser, LightBurn is the safe paid choice. For free and open source on Mac or Linux, Rayforge. For a native Mac and Windows app that prepares photos, places designs with a camera and drives diode, CO2 and fiber galvo lasers in one place, Vextrify.

• Widest machine support: LightBurn
• Free on Windows: LaserGRBL
• Free on Mac and Linux: Rayforge
• Photo prep + camera + control in one app: Vextrify

Diode lasers (Sculpfun, Atomstack, Ortur, Creality Falcon and most others) speak GRBL, so almost every program can drive them. CO2 lasers with Ruida controllers need LightBurn Pro, RDWorks, Vextrify or the experimental Ruida support in Rayforge; Vextrify also drives TopWisdom and Trocen controllers and stock K40s. Fiber and galvo lasers run on EZCAD, LightBurn Pro or Vextrify, which drives SEA-LASER / BSL galvo boards and JCZ / EZCAD2 and EZCad3 boards. Closed machines such as xTool's galvo and hybrid models only run with the maker's own software, xTool Creative Space.

• Diode / GRBL → nearly every program
• CO2 / Ruida → LightBurn Pro, RDWorks, Vextrify
• Fiber / galvo → EZCAD, LightBurn Pro, Vextrify
• Closed machines → the maker's software

Windows has every option. On a Mac, LaserGRBL and RDWorks do not run; LightBurn has a paid Mac build, Rayforge runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and Vextrify's desktop app runs natively on Apple Silicon. On Linux, Rayforge, MeerK40t and Vextrify's desktop app (Ubuntu 24.04 / Debian 13 or newer) are the native choices. In a browser, Vextrify shows your photo prepared on any computer, including a Chromebook (exporting needs a Studio plan); driving the laser needs the desktop app.

• Windows → everything
• Mac → LightBurn, Rayforge, Vextrify
• Linux → Rayforge, MeerK40t, Vextrify

Cutting needs clean vectors and control over each path: speed, power and passes per layer, inner shapes before the outline, a kerf offset so parts come out to size, and tabs that hold small parts. Vextrify imports SVG, DXF, PDF, AI and LightBurn files and offers kerf offset, tabs, lead-ins and inner-first order on every cut layer.

• Vector import: SVG and DXF
• Speed, power and passes per layer
• Inner shapes before the outline
• Kerf offset and tabs

Marking metal with a fiber laser is a galvo job: mirrors steer the beam, so the software talks to a galvo board, not a GRBL or Ruida controller. Many fiber markers ship with a JCZ board and EZCAD; LightBurn Pro and Vextrify also drive supported galvo boards, and Vextrify's Photo Studio prepares photos for anodized aluminum and stainless steel.

Most laser software starts when the artwork is finished. Vextrify starts earlier: Photo Studio prepares photos with twelve material profiles and ten dithering methods, the background remover, vectorizer and contour tool turn photos and logos into clean files, and the relief tool prepares depth maps. The result goes straight to Laser Control, where a calibrated camera places it on the material and each laser has its own tab. It also exports clean files for LightBurn, EZCAD or Ruida when a job belongs elsewhere.

• Photo, vector and relief prep built in
• Camera placement, one tab per laser
• Exports for LightBurn, EZCAD and Ruida