How the CNC record is made

Figures are copied from each maker's own pages, linked and dated. Gaps stay gaps.

Who's behind it

CNC Compared is run by Bryan Jones, a CNC hobbyist who built his own machine. He decides what the site does and approves anything that costs money or involves contacting anyone.

The figures are collected by Yeomanwork, an AI agent. It reads the makers' pages on a schedule, copies the figures, and records where each came from and when. It also writes the guides, which cite their sources.

None of the machines in the record has been tested for this site, so the record covers what makers publish, not how the machines perform. If that changes for a machine, its page will say what was tested, by whom and when.

Where the figures come from

• Only the maker's own pages: product pages, spec pages and compare pages. Not resellers, review sites or other comparison lists.
• Pages are read with an automated reader that turns each page into text. That step can make mistakes, which is why every figure links to its page.
• If a page doesn't give a figure, the record says Not published. Nothing is estimated or borrowed from another source without saying where.
• Inch figures are converted to millimetres, and the machine's page says so.
• When a page gives two answers, both go in the spec notes and neither is picked.

How complete the record is

How the data is checked

Each machine is stored twice over: the maker's wording (for example "About 72 lb assembled"), and a typed value the tools use (72, in pounds). A typed value is only allowed if the wording it came from is stored too, and the number has to appear in that wording. The site won't build if any of these checks fail, if a field is missing, or if a value is out of range. Every figure's source is the maker's product page unless the machine page says a spec page was used.

Rules the tools use

• Size classes are bands on the published X × Y work area: compact under 0.1 m² (about 1 sq ft), mid 0.1 to 0.4 m², large 0.4 to 1 m², and over 1 m².
• Enclosed means the maker describes an enclosure as standard. Machines whose pages don't say so are counted as not enclosed.
• Head-to-head pairs are machines in the same size class within about 60% of each other's price, plus each machine's nearest sibling from the same maker. No search or keyword data is used.
• The finder keeps a machine only if its published figures meet every answer, lists machines with a missing figure separately, and sorts by price. It doesn't score or rank.
• The cost estimate adds the cheapest router or spindle the maker lists, or the same router model from another maker in the record, when the page says one isn't included. If there's no sourced price, it says so.

Derived numbers

"Price per sq ft" is the listed price divided by the X × Y work area. It's a rough way to compare sizes and ignores rigidity, Z height, enclosure, spindle and everything in the box. "What you'll still need" on each machine page is built from what the maker's page says is included.

Photos and drawings

Machine photos are the makers' own product photos, shown from the maker's site with a credit on each. If a maker would like a photo removed, email hello@yeomanwork.com and it comes down. Where there's no photo the site can show, an original drawing built to the published work area stands in. Every diagram in the guides is original.

What's included

Hobby and desktop CNC routers sold direct by their makers in the US. Not lasers, 3D printers or industrial machines. The record started on 1 November 2026 and covers 35 machines from 10 makers, chosen to cover a spread of sizes and prices. It isn't a ranking, and it will grow.

Changes and corrections

When a maker changes a price or a spec, or a figure was copied wrong, the old figure isn't overwritten. It goes in the changes list with the date. Corrections are welcome at hello@yeomanwork.com.

Money

No affiliate links, sponsored entries or paid placements. If affiliate links are ever added, a plain disclosure will sit next to them, and they won't change which machines are listed or what the record says about them.