In the field of oil and gas drilling engineering, tight sandstone strata are one of the strata that are difficult to drill. The V-axe-shaped cutter has a good effect in crushing tight sandstone strata. However, there were few studies on its specific structural parameters and rock-breaking performance in tight sandstone formations. To further explore its structural parameters and rock-breaking performance, this paper studies the rock-breaking performance of a V-axe-shaped PDC cutter in tight sandstone formation by combining experiments with finite element simulation. Mechanical tests show that the compressive strength is high, with values of 130.3 MPa, 223.3 MPa, and 271.6 MPa under confining pressures of 0/15/30 (MPa), respectively, with the condition of 0.02 mm/min loading rate. Rock lithology tests that the sandstone in this formation has strong abrasiveness. The penetration ability should be considered when evaluating the rock-breaking performance of cutting cutters. The results show that the V-axe-shaped PDC cutter mainly uses shear, extrusion, and point load to break rock together. It has a stronger ability and stability to attack the rock. With a 100° V-shaped angle (α) and 140° Axe-shaped angle(β) has the best rock-breaking property. The back-rake angle of the cutter can reduce cutter vibration and significantly improve PDC bit rock-breaking efficiency. The optimal rock-breaking back-rake angle of the V-axe-shaped cutter is 20° in dense sandstone formations. With the increase of wear height(0–3 mm), the synthetical mechanical specific energy (MSE) is reduced by 11.53%, 6.30%, 10.30%, and 33.28%, respectively, compared with the conventional cutter. The tests indicate that the rock-breaking efficiency of the V-axe-shaped PDC cutter is 12.9% higher than that of the conventional PDC cutter. The application of V-axe-shaped cutters on the bit is expected to improve the rock-breaking efficiency and footage of PDC bit in tight sandstone formations and realize the development of low-cost and high-benefit oil and gas resources.