Brother scan n cut would be my choice, can scan any applique shape in , sizzix and accuquilt are llimited to their dies and sizes, good in their own respects for multiple cutting of quilts fast, but not necessarily great for intricate art applique like the scanncut. With the scanncut you can also cut regular quilt blocks of multiple sizes but it will be slower than with the accuquilt/sizzix however you will not be limited in size. splice you are limited to their card and would be the last choice on the spectrum. I have sizzix and scanncut and see more diversity in scanncut, but I have a small sizzix and very few dies due to cost can see it costing more than the scanncut in the long run due to how expensive the dies can be. Cricut explore you can probably do the same as the scanncut, however with the original cricut even with new deep blade and multiple settings the cuts were never clean. Don't know if the explore has better cutting power fabric wise. I have know that those with the silhouette and scanncut prefer the scanncut for fabric, and my dealer said the only thing the silhouette did better was the rhinestones which the scanncut just came out with an add on for that recently . With so many machines it really makes it a hard choice. I do suggest if you get the scanncut ignore the recommended settings and start small and work your way up in pressure because many cut through mats on recommended settings. I suggest joining the yahoo or facebook scanncut groups, prefer the facebook ones. I joined one for about 6 month before my purchase to see how everyone was liking them and what type of fabric projects they were doing before getting mine because I was either gonna get that or a serger with my bonus and finally decided on the scanncut and don't regret my decision