Machine embroidery is a fun hobby, one that can even make you some extra cash if you’re looking to start a home business!

But…before you drop big bucks on an embroidery machine, ask yourself these important questions:

How Big Are Your Designs Going to Be?

In general, the bigger the sewing field – the more expensive the machine is. This can not be upgraded later. The size of your machine’s sewing field introduces a hard limit on your future projects, so choose wisely.

If you only want to do small pocket logos or monograms, then a cheap 4″x4″ machine could work for you. But, if you dream of creating large designs on sweatshirts or jackets, you’ll quickly become frustrated by this limitation.

I wouldn’t recommend buying anything under a 5″x7″, but if you want to save yourself the hassle of upgrading later, buy the biggest that you can afford.

What Are You Going to Embroider?

Home embroidery machines come in two types: flat-bed and free-arm. A flat-bed machine is very affordable, and it’ll work great on items that are, well, flat. Truthfully, the cheapest embroidery machine on the market will still create beautiful, albeit small, designs on things like t-shirts, towels, blankets, and quilting projects.

But, some items can be near impossible to embroider on a flat-bed machine. If you want to do professional custom hat embroidery, as you’d see in a retail store, you’ll need a free-arm machine AND a specialized accessory called a cap driver. Neither of which is cheap.

If you can afford a free-arm though, your possibilities for customization are nearly endless. Anything that fits under the needle, including hats, shoes, backpacks, socks, sleeves, and stuffed animals can be embroidered on with these machines.

Do You Need a Single or a Multi-Needle Machine?

The more affordable machines are all single needle. This means that you can only embroider with one color thread at a time. Once the machine is finished with that color, it will stop and prompt you to manually switch out the thread cone to the next color.

For personal use, this is fine. But, if you plan to use the machine for a home business the process can become time consuming. A multi-needle machine will allow you to load multiple thread colors at once which the machine will automatically utilize.

However, much like free-arm machines, multi-needle machines are also very expensive, and if you want a machine that combines both of those features, expect to pay somewhere in the ballpark of $10,000.

Have You Budgeted For Software?

While pretty much every modern embroidery machine will allow you to upload your own designs, you can’t just upload a JPEG and call it a day. Embroidery machines require their own specialized design files which must be created in a digitizing program, and while you’d think that paying hundreds, or even thousands of dollars for a machine would entitle you to some free software – you’d be wrong.

You’ll be hard pressed to find any embroidery machine that comes with digitizing software included. But, the truth is, you’re probably better off without it. Digitizing for embroidery is not easy. It takes a lot of work to get good at it, and honestly, in almost every case it’s easier and cheaper to just hire someone to create your custom embroidery design files for you.

Okay! Now that we’ve got that out of the way… these are the machines I’d recommend you take a look at. Each of these machines offers excellent bang for your buck and I’ve highlighted their most important features to make things easier!

The Brother PE900 is definitely the best value embroidery machine on the market. This new and improved version of the Brother PE800 offers a 5″ x 7″ embroidery field at a steal of a price, and it also comes with two cool new features, WiFi design transfer and automatic jump stitch trimming, a rare find for a machine at this price-point!

Brother, as always, offers embroidery enthusiasts fantastic quality and value for their money, and thanks to the brand’s popularity, there are tons of free tutorials on YouTube to help you learn to use the machine and get great embroidery results. This machine is a great pick for stitching large, stunning designs on shirts, denim jackets, hoodies, and even unstructured hats, as shown below.

I’d recommend this machine to any beginner who’s looking for an embroidery machine that’s both easy to use, capable, and affordable. But, keep in mind that this is a flat-bed machine, which will make it a no-go for things like sleeves or flex-fit hats.

You can get the PE900 with free shipping here.

If you’re looking for something with a larger embroidery area, the Janome 500E is your next stop! This excellent embroidery machine features a huge 7.9″ x 11″ embroidery area, making it the perfect choice for doing over-sized embroidery on sweatshirts or jackets.

With this machine you’ll also get great on-screen editing features, including tutorials built right into the on-board computer! Plus, unlike the PE900, this machine operates at a speedy 860 stitches per minute. This speed is also adjustable in case you need to embroider something more slowly. Why would you want your machine to work slower, you might ask? Operating at a slower speed is very handy if you plan to work with delicate threads, like metallics!

It also comes with some great quality of life features too. Such as automatic thread tension control and programmable jump thread trimming, which can be handy. You’ll also get Janome’s AcuStitch software for PC which has some cool editing functions for creating basic shapes and adding text to existing designs. But, this is not a digitizing software, so don’t buy the machine expecting to do full-scale digitizing like the above designs.

In any case, the real star of the show here is that huge embroidery area, and the fact that Janome just makes incredibly easy to use and high-quality machines. The software is just a fun bonus.

Need a free-arm embroidery machine at the best price? The Brother PRS100 is the cheapest cap driver capable machine you’ll find.

Yes, really. I wasn’t kidding when I said these machines are expensive! But, thanks to the machine’s free-arm and optional cap driver attachment, it’s well worth the price if you dream of running a home-based embroidery business.

You can embroider across the full face of hats, easily embroider on sleeves and socks, customize shoes, embroider on bulky bags, or even custom embroider stuffed animals as personalized gifts. Anything you can fit under the needle is fair game!

But, in addition to it’s increased creative possibilities, the PRS100 has many more useful features.

This includes being able to embroider at a speed of 1,000 stitches per minute, or you can tone things down with speed control when working with delicate threads or materials.

You’ll also get automatic thread tension, an automatic thread cutter, thread sensors, and a neat DropLight LED positioning marker. This is a cool little laser that helps you position the design where you want it to be on the garment.

Like most any product Brother sells, the PRS100 produces high-quality, beautiful embroidery, and is also incredibly easy to use. Below you can see the machine hard at work on a cute cap, and how even bulky bags are no problem for this multi-talented machine.

The only problem with the Brother PRS100? The cap driver is an added accessory and not included in the price. However, you can often get it for a deal at some stores when you buy the machine. In any case, the PRS100 is an exceptional machine, just make sure to adjust your budget for the cap driver if you are considering purchasing it to create custom hats, as seen above.

After a recent price drop, the Elna 940 is now the best deal in multi-needle embroidery machines! When compared to the Janome MB4, the Elna 940 is nearly identical, but if you opt for the machine with the less recognizable name – you’ll save yourself $1,000.

This four needle machine allows you to load four thread colors simultaneously without re-threading, making it a great choice for stitching bulk orders of logos or other repetitive tasks for your home business. It also features a sizeable 9.45″ x 7.88″ max embroidery area, which is large enough to do all kinds of great custom embroidery on jackets, bags, hoodies, and more.

You’ll also get some great quality of life features like an automatic thread cutter, with programmable jump thread trimming, thread sensors, monogramming functions, on-screen editing, and all the accessories you’ll need to get started with custom embroidery.

Thanks to its fantastic features and price point, this is a great pick if you’re looking to affordably start an Etsy custom embroidery business. However, you should keep in mind that this machine is a flat-bed. If you plan to sell hats, customize sleeves, or do anything similar, you should go for the Brother PRS100 instead!