Not sure if “Everything Else” is the right place for this, or maybe “Beyond the Manual.” Be warned that the advice I am about to give is about machines that may lack the safety features, warranty coverage, and support that you get from Glowforge. That said…
There are other “hobby grade” machines available for less money, with some tradeoffs, mainly complexity of setup, missing safety features, and zero technical support.
Search ebay for “K40” and you can find any number of suppliers for this inexpensive generic 40W CO2 laser design. The tradeoffs are that you will have to invest time in setting up software to control them, and you may even want to upgrade the control electronics. These machines generally have a knob for controlling the laser power, although these can be converted to use a PWM circuit for software control. You also need to provide clean, distilled water for the cooling pump, which uses an external reservoir, and you need to make sure the water stays cool. These machines may lack other safety features, like door interlock switches, but these can be added with minimal effort. I own two K40s.
The less expensive models have a smaller working area than the Glowforge, which could be a dealbreaker. But you can get one for less than $400, so you can easily afford several backup machines for the cost of a GF Basic. If you spend a bit more, there is a common 60 Watt variant with a larger cutting area.
You would have more of a time investment in setting these up (at least for the first one) but once you get the process worked out, you have similar capability and no dependence on a working internet/wifi connection.
The other option for some kinds of work is to look at solid state lasers. In recent years, the power output from these tiny laser modules has increased dramatically. You can get a basic kit with a 20 Watt UV laser for around $200, although these are open frame systems that require much more care to operate safely. UV lasers can cut some woods, but have more trouble with glue so are not as good with plywood or MDF. For engraving, they work very well. I have several of these machines, with power anywhere from 1/2 Watt up to 20 Watts, and cutting areas up to about 36 inches square.
Solid state lasers are very small, and can be cooled with a simple fan - no liquids are used anywhere. Search for “BX20” on ebay for a small desktop model. These machines come with a simple USB control board and can run open source GRBL firmware. I have built enclosures for mine to avoid problems with the beam reflecting or scattering into the room. The open frame puts these into a different class of device, and you should check your local bylaws and wear eye protection at all times.
With the hobby grade machines, you will need to buy control software. I use Lightburn, which is a very reasonably-priced package that has similar capabilities to the Glowforge user interface, but runs locally on your computer.
These hobby machines generally do not have lid cameras for aligning your work, although Lightburn allows you to add a webcam. You also do not get the “magic” of Proofgrade material barcoding, but for a business you would probably be bulk sourcing non-PG materials anyway.
There are definitely tradeoffs to using these low-end hobby machines, mainly in terms of missing safety features and increased software configuration time. But once you have gone through that process once, setting up additional machines is straightforward.
The main benefits of Glowforge is that you have a simple out-of-box experience and you can get technical support from a real company. The hobby grade stuff is much cheaper, but you have to invest more time in setup and configuration. Depending on your technical ability and willingness to do more initial setup, this could be a viable backup plan.
