If Blender doesn't quite cut it for you, don't fret, there are some great alternatives.
If you’ve ever tried your hand at 3D modeling, sculpting, animating, or rigging, then you’ve no doubt given Blender a go. It’s a powerful program with a huge range of features, but that doesn’t make it perfect by any means.
Whether you are looking for a program that can give you better control of a specific feature, or just wanting to see what similar alternatives are out there, there are plenty of reasons to want to search for something new.
Here are seven of the best alternatives to Blender.
First up on this list, we have Wings 3D. Wings 3D, much like Blender, is a free and open-source 3D modeling tool that you can use to create and animate models for just about any purpose you can imagine.
Unlike Blender, however, it has no animation or other functions. It is purely a 3D modeling tool. If you started using Blender because you wanted to make use of its animation, rigging, or motion pathing tools, then Wings 3D likely isn’t a good alternative for you.
If you’re looking for a powerful 3D modeler that many find easier to use than Blender, then Wings 3D is an excellent choice. The interface is simple to grasp and full of easy-access context menus you can reach with just a right-click. If you're just trying to learn how to get started with 3D modeling, then Wings 3D is a good choice, too.
The best thing Wings 3D has going for it, however, is its AutoUV facility. You can use this tool to cut and unfold an image of a model’s surface so that you can better paint and texture it. Blender has a similar tool, but you might just find that you get better results with the Wings 3D AutoUV tool.
Download: Wings 3D for Windows, Mac, and Linux (Free)
Next up we have Bforartists. If you’re looking for the most directly comparable tool on this list, then Bforartists would be just that, since it’s actually a fork of Blender.
Bforartists updates as Blender does, meaning that you can freely swap between the two. Any project you’re working on can be moved to Bforartists and back to Blender at any time, so there’s little reason not to give the swap a try and see how you like it.
The main differences between the two are in their approach to UI. The available tools are identical, but Bforartists focuses on a more streamlined and simpler-to-understand interface.
The approach here is less on hotkeys and more on menu navigation and mouse control, which is ideal if you’re just getting started or find it more intuitive to be working largely through your mouse instead of your keyboard.
Moreover, Bforartists has ample documentation in the form of its manual. Where Blender can often be esoteric or difficult to search through in big parts, Bforartists focuses its manual on the tools themselves and a structure that is more easily understandable.
Download: Bforartists for Windows, Mac, and Linux (Free)
If you’re wanting to move away from Blender in search of a better simulation, animation, and rendering solution, then Cinema 4D might just be the best option for you.
Cinema 4D has an impressive range of different options for modeling, animating, and more. The interface is a little simpler than Blender’s to get used to, and Cinema 4D supports a wide variety of tutorials and documentation to help you get used to working with the program.
If you’re looking for dynamic cloth and rope simulations, 3D models captured from pictures, or polygonal, parametric, and volume modeling, then Cinema 4D has you covered there.
Where Cinema 4D really stands out from Blender, however, is in its rendering. Near photo-realistic and impressively animated scenes can be made in Cinema 4D with minimal effort thanks to these impressive functions.
Download: Cinema 4D for Windows, Mac, and Linux (Subscription required, free trial available)
Next up is Maya. Maya is an ideal alternative to Blender if you’re really hoping to break into the industry as opposed to pursuing modeling, sculpting, or animating as a hobby.
Maya is seen as an industry-standard in many places, and though Blender is incredibly popular, there are still many situations where Maya will be the better option.
As for the software itself, Maya is an incredibly powerful rendering, animating, modeling, and sculpting tool. The UI is simple, clean, and many find it easier to use than Blender’s interface. The animation tools available with Maya often outpace what Blender can do, with faster playback and more intuitive editors being available. The sculpting tools are also phenomenal.
There's a lot of support for Maya in the form of tutorials thanks to its parent company Autodesk, which has even created another modeling software called 3DS Max, though knowing which 3D modeling software of the two is the right one for you can be a little tricky.
Maya, however, can be a little expensive to switch to if you’re just getting started or are a solo artist. This is an appreciable difference from Blender, which is entirely free.
Download: Maya for Windows, Mac, and Linux (Subscription required, free trial available)
If your goal is to create and customize human models in 3D, then Daz 3D will likely be the best fit for you. Unlike Blender, Daz 3D has an almost singular focus on modeling, altering, and perfecting human models to whatever specifications you desire.
Daz 3D is ideally an alternative to Blender if you’re using it as your primary 3D modeling tool with another, different tool as your main animator. Daz 3D can seamlessly export assets to most commonly used workspaces, including Blender if you so wish.
When it comes to the ease and simplicity of human 3D model creation, there’s no contest between Daz 3D and Blender. That being said, if you want to accomplish anything else, Blender is the clear choice.
Download: Daz 3D for Windows, and Mac (Free)
Blender has a suite of different VFX tools that may be the reason that you first used it. If you’re looking for an alternative designed for filmmaking, game development, and the motion graphics industry, then Houdini is worth checking out.
Houdini is also very proficient with its 3D modeling and animation tools, with a node-based approach that Houdini builds up for you behind the scenes to help simplify the animation process.
Where Houdini excels in relation to Blender, however, is in its complicated VFX and simulation toolkit. If you wanted to make highly realistic particle-based or dynamic simulations on a large scale, then Houdini is the better tool to do so.
Download: Houdini for Windows, Mac, and Linux (Free for personal use)
Finally, we have SketchUp. If you use Blender for architectural design or to create models for 3D printing, then SketchUp might just serve you better.
SketchUp is considered one of the most powerful architecture software programs in the world, and allows you to not only design buildings and environments easily—much as Blender does—it also has a variety of tools to optimize these designs. If you’re trying to make sustainable building designs or calculate building costs, SketchUp is designed with these features in mind.
Similarly, while you can use Blender for 3D printing, it isn’t its primary use case. Sure, you can easily learn how to make 3D printables in Blender, and the program does an admirable job with both due to its wide range of features and variety in functionality, but isn’t built with either at the forefront of its design philosophy.
Download: SketchUp for Windows, Mac, and Linux (Subscription required, free trial available)
As you can see, there is a wide range of alternatives to Blender that will let you achieve whatever it is that you’re looking to achieve. Whether you want to break into the animation industry, or are just looking for something a little more user-friendly, there’s a program out there for you.
Jack has been passionate about writing and tech all his life. He has studied BAs in both Philosophy and Software Engineering from the University of Melbourne and RMIT, respectively. He has spent the last year writing at MakeUseOf, where he can bring his expertise of the internet to others.
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