# Alternatives to Blender

The open source 3D suite that won.

Blender ranks #1 of 13 in 3D modeling software, with an Alt Score of 73. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 9 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/blender/
Category: 3D modeling software

## Where Blender stands out

- **Sculpting** — 3 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Animation & rigging** — 4 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: 3D artists, animators, VFX and motion-graphics professionals, game asset creators, and hobbyists who want a full production pipeline without paying for commercial software licenses.
- **What you get**: A complete 3D creation suite covering modeling, sculpting, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging and animation, physics simulation, VFX and compositing, camera/motion tracking, and a built-in video sequence editor. It ships with both the Eevee real-time and Cycles path-tracing renderers, plus a Python API for scripting and community add-ons. It's free, open-source (GPL), and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- **How it works**: You build a scene by adding and shaping 3D objects (mesh modeling or sculpting), then apply materials and textures, rig and animate them, and light the scene, before rendering stills or animation sequences with Eevee or Cycles; the compositor and video editor can then combine and finish the output.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [3ds Max](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/3ds-max.md) | 64 | Proprietary | Windows |
| 2 | [Fusion 360](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/fusion-360.md) | 64 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Web |
| 3 | [Rhino](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/rhino.md) | 64 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 4 | [Cinema 4D](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/cinema-4d.md) | 60 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 5 | [Maya](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/maya.md) | 60 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 6 | [Onshape](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/onshape.md) | 60 | Proprietary | Web |
| 7 | [ZBrush](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zbrush.md) | 60 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS |
| 8 | [FreeCAD](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/freecad.md) | 50 | LGPL-2.1 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 9 | [Shapr3D](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/shapr3d.md) | 46 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Web |
| 10 | [SketchUp](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/sketchup.md) | 42 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Web, iOS |
| 11 | [OpenSCAD](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/openscad.md) | 32 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 12 | [Plasticity](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/plasticity.md) | 32 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| 3D modeling software checklist | Blender | 3ds Max | Fusion 360 | Rhino | Cinema 4D | Maya |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription | Subscription | One-time | Subscription | Subscription |
| Starts at | ? | ? | $680/year | €995 one-time | ? | ? |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows | Windows, macOS, Web | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Parametric modeling | ? | ? | Yes | Partial | No | No |
| Sculpting | Yes | Partial | ? | ? | Yes | Partial |
| Rendering engine included | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Animation & rigging | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes |
| CAD formats (STEP, IGES) | No | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? |
| One-time purchase option | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Free for hobby use | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Plugins ecosystem | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| GPU rendering | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Simulation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Blender. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: GPL-3.0 — <https://www.blender.org/about/license/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “All the components that together make Blender are compatible under the newer GNU GPL Version 3 or later. That is also the license to use for any distribution of Blender binaries.”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://www.blender.org/features/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite.”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux — <https://www.blender.org/features/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Blender is cross-platform and runs equally well on Linux, Windows, and Macintosh computers.”
- **Status**: active — <https://www.blender.org/download/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Blender 5.1 focuses on refinement, bug fixes, and a few key upgrades.”
- **Sculpting**: Yes — <https://www.blender.org/features/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Digital sculpting tools provide the power and flexibility required in several stages of the digital production pipeline.”
- **Rendering engine included**: Yes — <https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/eevee/introduction.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “EEVEE materials are created using the same shader nodes as Cycles, making it easy to render existing scenes.”
- **Animation & rigging**: Yes — <https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/getting_started/about/index.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline: modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, motion tracking and video editing.”
- **CAD formats (STEP, IGES)**: No — <https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/files/import_export/index.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Blender offers a wide range of file formats (e.g. ABC, USD, OBJ, FBX, PLY, STL, etc.) that can be used to import and export.”
- **One-time purchase option**: No — <https://www.blender.org/about/license/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Free to Use. Free to Change. Free to Share. Free to Sell Your Work.”
- **Free for hobby use**: Yes — <https://www.blender.org/about/license/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “You are free to use Blender, for any purpose”
- **Plugins ecosystem**: Yes — <https://extensions.blender.org/about/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The Blender Extensions platform is the online directory of free and Open Source extensions for Blender.”
- **GPU rendering**: Yes — <https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/cycles/gpu_rendering.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “GPU rendering makes it possible to use your graphics card for rendering, instead of the CPU.”
- **Simulation**: Yes — <https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/physics/introduction.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Blender’s physics system allows you to simulate a number of different real-world physical phenomena.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/