Best free 3d modeling software for 3d printing

The 3D community is growing rapidly the recent years, there are more and more providers offering 3d modeling software for free.

Some 3d modeling software are easy to use with a friendly interface, but can’t make complex stuff. In contrast, some software are complicated and they may take you a reasonable amount of time to get along with. But if are well versed with these software, you can make incredible stuff.

If you are a new 3d printing user, you may be confused about choosing a good and free 3d modeling software to start making your own 3d models. You would go to a website that offers free STL files like Thingiverse or CULTS3D and get an STL file for 3D printing. However, if you are proficient in using a 3d modeling software, you can create designs that are more tailored to your needs.

To assist you in choosing the best 3d modeling software, I have compiled a list of the 10 most popular free 3D modeling software. I have tried all the software on this list, so I hope my real experience with these software could help you make the best decision.

Criteria for choosing a free 3d modeling software

There are many things to consider when choosing a free 3D modeling software, however, here are the most important factors that you should keep in mind:

• Feature: Does the software offer enough features for your requirements.
• Ease of use: how easy is the software to use? what skill-level you need to use the software.
• Cost: Most of the software in this list are completely free. Some software offers a basic feature-set for “free” with “premium” upgrades available for a fee. I also review their premium features so you can decide if the premium features are worth or the free version is enough for you.
• Community: Are there active communities for the software? This is important as, during the use of the software, you may want to go somewhere to ask questions or to look for tutorials on a specific part.
• Type of software: There are mainly 2 types of 3d printing software: Web-based and Standalone software. Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages, so you will have to take this into consideration.

Top 11 best free 3D modeling softwares

I have created a table for your quick reference, you can have an overview on some key points of each software. If you prefer to get into the detail of each software, then go to the next section. Here’s the overview table

Tinkercad

>Website: https://www.tinkercad.com/

Skill level	Beginner to advanced level
Cost	Free
Community	Very big and active community, Youtube tutorials, Forums, Facebook group
Type of software	Web-based
Pros	Easy to use, big community, many tutorials and lessons Must have for STEM teachers
Cons	– Web-base program so it won’t work without internet – Lack of advanced features

Tinkercad is a free web-based 3d modeling software by Autodesk – a giant in 3d software industry – with some well-known products like Autocad, Maya, 3d Max. The software is currently the most popular 3d modeling software with a community of 35 million users.

Tinkercad did a good job of optimizing the user interface. Although this is a web-based software, which means some features are limited. The first time open the software, there’s a step-by-step tutorial designed as a series of lessons that help you easily under the basic functions of Tinkercad.

The model Shape library contains thousand prebuilt shapes, you can easily find the shape you want and modify these shapes as you want.

For example, here’s how I create a hole in an object

You can also save shape to your own library to make the shape reusable. The software also allows users to import 3d design, it supports STL, OBJ, SVG file types with file sizes up to 25mb. Here’s an example when I import the 3d Lithophane design I make in this tutorial

You can export the design to OBJ, STL, GLTF, and SVG (for laser-cutting).

Tinkercad also connects with many 3d printing services, you can send your design directly to start 3d print.

Tinkercad is also a perfect software for teaching 3d printing, you can send the design to various online teaching platforms.

Blender

>Website: https://www.blender.org/

Skill level	Intermediate to advanced level
Cost	Free
Community	Very big and active community, Lots of youtube and website tutorials
Type of software	Standalone program
Pros	Support most of the advanced features for 3d modeling Strong rendering feature Lots of documentation Constantly update
Cons	– Web-base program so it won’t work without internet – Not easy to use at first

Blender is a professional open-source 3d modeling software. The software has many more features compared to other 3d modeling software. This software may not the best choice for beginners, but is ideal for users who want to design complex 3d models. You will have full control over everything with this software.

You can create your own 3d design from scratch like this

Or import STL file download from internet by using Import function. Blender supports a wide range of file formats (e.g. OBJ, FBX, 3DS, PLY, STL, etc.)

One of the most favorite features of Blender is rendering. Rendering is the process when software calculates the light, material, Geometry, Textures, Background to create the photorealistic image or animation. Here’s how a 3d design looks after rendering with Blender.

Blender support Cycles, Eevee and Workbench rendering engines, despite your requirements, you can select which engine to be used to render the object.

As open-source software, you can add many addons to Blender to tailor the software as your requirements. There are thousands of official addons and Community addons to choose from.

For 3d-printing, Blender uses polygonal modeling, which does not seem to be the best way to design printable parts. However, Blender has a dedicated add-on – Mesh-3d printing toolbox. The addon assists to fix a non-manifold model, transforming the model into a manifold model that is printable.

MatterControl

>Website: https://www.matterhackers.com/store/l/mattercontrol/sk/MKZGTDW6

Skill level	Beginner to advanced level
Cost	Free (Opensource)
Community	Small community.
Type of software	Standalone program
Pros	Easy to use for beginner Free Cloud Library Standalone software, not require internet. An all-in-one software, covering every feature needed for 3d Printing, from design to slice, printing Ability to convert 2d image to 3d object
Cons	– Although Mattercontrol is open-source software, there are not many addons like Blender. – Not easy to use at first – To get support or pro features, you need to purchase Premium plan – Lack of tutorial on Youtube or other websites.

MatterControl is a free 3d modeling and slicer software and by Matterhacker, a 3d printing retailer with a wide range of 3d printing products from software to hardware, filament, resin…

MatterControl is a free, open-source, all-in-one software package that lets you design, slice, organize, and manage your 3D models. Since the software is made by a 3d printing company, MatterControl has a friendly user interface and all functions are designed for 3d printing.

This is a kind of all-in-one solution for 3d printing. You can design a 3d object from scratch, or tweak a premade 3d model downloaded from the internet (like Thingiverse). After that, you can slice the model directly in MatterControl. Finally, you can connect your 3d printer to MatterControl and start 3d printing your object.

Here’s how we slice an object in MatterControl.

MatterControl also offers advanced features like editing G-Code with Terminal, we have to show the terminal window first.

You can also save your design to their Cloudlibrary, which is provided for free after signing up for an account.

You can find most of the tutorials for using Mattercontrol on their Forum, wiki page and support page. Compared to Blender, there’s not many tutorial on youtube or other websites.

Meshmixer

>Website: https://www.meshmixer.com/

Skill level	Beginner to advanced level
Cost	Free (Opensource)
Community	Small community.
Type of software	Standalone program
Pros	Standalone software, not require internet. Strong repair function to fix manifold 3d model for 3d printing Hollowing and support generation work very well.
Cons	The software is no longer in development and will not be supported by Autodesk The standard shape library is limited The sculpting tools is not as good as other tool at the moment Slow remeshing time.

Meshmixer is a free 3d modeling software by Autodesk. Although the tool is no longer in development (which means there’s be no update in the future), Meshmixer is still a good choice for 3d modeling.

Meshmixer operates on triangle meshes, you can append objects, create new objects, or subtract object

Meshmixer contains many types of brushes to sculpt., you can customize models as clay in real-time using different tools.

One of the most loved functions of Meshmixer is the Auto-repair function. The function will quickly inspect and repair the model, then convert it into a watertight model to 3d print.

Here’s an example of the auto-repair function in Meshmixer:

Another interesting feature is smoothing 3d objects. Some models you download from the internet may not be smooth, making it hard to 3d print. Here’s how you can fix it with Meshmixer

For 3d printing, you can export the design to STL file and use a slicer program to generate support, or you can create support directly in Meshmixer.

Meshmixer Analysis tool contain many useful actions, for example. you can check object’s thickness and quickly select the sections that fit the values as below:

Meshmixer was first released in 2009 and although there are many new software for  it was very popular till now. You can find many tutorials on Youtube as well as many other websites. Here are official Help and Forum of Meshmixer:

• HELP: https://help.autodesk.com/view/MSHMXR/2019/ENU/
• FORUM: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/meshmixer/bd-p/6013

Fusion 360

>Website: https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview

Skill level	Beginner to advanced level
Cost	Free/Paid
Community	Big community.
Type of software	Standalone program
Pros	Standalone software, not require internet. All-in-one software for 3d printing Free for non-commercial use. Powerful, intuitive tools. Great for hobbyists, 3d printing, non-commercial projects. Many tutorials and videos on internet
Cons	The free version is limited to 3-axis machining Steep learning curve for users without CAD experience Consume a lot of Ram on your PC

Fusion360 is a product by Autodesk, the maker of Meshmixer which I already mentioned in this article. Fusion360 is the next generation of Meshmixer with a completely new interface and more features.

Compared to Meshmixer, the developers of Fusion360 also make it easier to use for new users. There are 2 versions of Fusion360: Paid and free. The free version is for personal use, lacking some features.

Here’s a quick glance at Fusion360 features:

When hovering on any features on Fusion360, you will get a quick helpful explanation about the function.

Fusion360 also operates on triangle meshes, just like Meshmixer. The interface is pretty easy to use even it’s the first time you touch this software.

The create sketch function allows to create 2d draw on the surface, after you can use extrude tool to make 3d object from the sketch

Here’s an example of how we make a hole in an object

Besides 3d modeling features, you can also render the object and make animation in Fusion360. There are many textures, materials, scenes in the render setting. You can move materials from the Material Editor to objects using a drag-and-drop operation.

After finishing the design, you can either export the 3d model into an STL file or send the design to 3d print utilities. Fusion360 supports PrintStudio, Preform, and Cura.

With the latest version of Fusion360, you can also slice the object. There are many Machines in the library. You can change print settings, create support, configure infill like many other 3d slicers software

This is preview of slicing in Fusion360

Fusion360 can be difficult to use at first, but once you get familiar with its features => it will become a great modeling software for 3d printing.

Freecad

>Website: https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview

Skill level	Intermediate to advanced level
Cost	Free (Opensource)
Community	Big and great community.
Type of software	Standalone program
Pros	Standalone software, not require internet. Friendly GUI Completely free and opensource. Many tutorials and videos on internet
Cons	Not for beginner or hobbyist users Steep learning curve for users without CAD experience Slow rendering process, sometimes the software software gets crashed when working on projects with large datasets

Freecad was first released in 2002, it’s one of the most popular CAD software.

Freecad provide a workbench with many powerful tools for crafting a 3d model

One of the most Freecad’s most prominent features is 2D sketching, you can draw a 2d sketch from a draft, then turn it into a 3d model precisely.

If you know how to code in Python, you can take advantage of Freecad to create complicated 3d models, as FreeCAD is built from scratch to be totally controlled by Python scripts.

There’re many things you can do with FreeCad for 3d printing, for example: create a solid model from design

FreeCAD is not made for beginner, but if you have experience in using CAD software, or if you have Python coding skills => This software should be a perfect choice.

DesignSpark Mechanical

>Website: https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/mechanical-software

Skill level	Beginner to advanced level
Cost	Free and Paid
Community	Medium-sized community. Many helpful tutorials on youtube and DesignSpark website
Type of software	Standalone program
Pros	Standalone software, not require internet. Friendly GUI Completely free and opensource. Many tutorials and videos on internet
Cons	Not for beginner or hobbyist users Steep learning curve for users without CAD experience Slow rendering process, sometimes the software software gets crashed when working on projects with large datasets

DesignSpark Mechanical enables users to create 3d designs and tweak them for 3d printing. The software comes with a friendly interface, even if you are a beginner who never worked with CAD software before.

Every function has a quick tooltip, explaining what it’s for.

The pull function allows users to make 3d model from a 2d sketch (the software use Pull instead of Extrude to make it more friendly to new users)

The software is very intuitive, complex features are also simplified, creating convenience for users. For example, here’s how you create Twist effect with “Blend” tool.

All you need to do is select a point from an object, then choose which point to connect to on another object. After that, use the Blend tool will do the rest as below:

Exporting files for 3d printing is easy with Export Options

Despite the lack of advanced CAD features, DesignSpark Mechanical is still a very good choice for designing and processing 3d models for 3d printing.

Sketchup

>Website: https://www.sketchup.com/

Skill level	Beginner to advanced level
Cost	Free and Paid
Community	Big & very active community. Many helpful tutorials on youtube and Sketchup help page
Type of software	Standalone & Web-based program
Pros	Standalone software, not require internet. Friendly interface Easiest to learn and even master Lots of tutorials and videos
Cons	Best features are available in paid version only Pro version is expensive Moving objects can be a little difficult to toggle. It’s hard to easily connect different points.

Sketchup is a 3D modeling software for architects, engineers, game developers, filmmakers, or maybe those who don’t know anything, can use it to design simple models. Fast, simple, easy are the 3 words best describe this 3D modeling software.

Sketchup has 2 versions: Paid and Free. Here’re the main differences between the 2 versions

To use this software for free, you have 2 options:

• Free forever web-based version with limited features,
• 31-day free trial of the pro version (after the 31-day period, you must upgrade to continue using Sketchup with your current account, or signup for a new 31-day trial with a new email)

Here’s a quick comparison between Web-based version and Desktop version (free trial)

Web-based version – Can’t import STL file, only jpg, png, spk file is allowed – No Outliner, Custom Materials, Solid Tools – No Extensions – Require internet – Watermarked

Desktop version – Can import almost all file 3d file types – Outliners, Custom Materials and Solid tools are available – Many helpful extensions – Standalone program, not require internet – No watermark

The most noticeable feature that is not available in Sketchup’s web-based version is Solid Tools. This is an important 3d modeling feature for 3d printing. Solid Tools contains Subtract, Trim, Split, Intersect, Union, Outer Shell. These tools are essential to improve productivity and speed up your process and workflow.

In the Sketchup pro version, you can quickly download and import 3d designs from 3dwarehouse, a massive online 3D repository with a wide variety of professional and diverse 3d designs.

For both web-based version and pro-version, Sketchup provides a friendly interface with animated tooltips of every feature, guiding users on how to use the feature properly. Here’s an example:

Sketchup’s community and help library are great. Besides the tutorials on Sketchup’s help page, there are many useful Sketchup videos from the community on Youtube. When facing a problem with Sketchup, you can find your answer very quickly.

Sketchup is very suitable for those who are starting to learn and familiarize themselves with 3D modeling.

Wings3D

>Website: http://www.wings3d.com/

Skill level	Advanced level
Cost	Free
Community	Big & very active community. Many helpful tutorials on youtube and Sketchup help page
Type of software	Standalone program (open-source)
Pros	Free Standalone software, not require internet. Easiest to use compared to Blender
Cons	Non-friendly and outdated interface No software support, small community UV mapping system is not intuitive

Wings 3D has been developed since 2001. The software is written in Erlang, an open-source programming language distributed by Ericsson.

The software interface may not look as modern and fancy as other software like Tinkercad, Sketchup, but it contains all the essential features for 3d modeling.

Wings 3D offer a range of essential 3D modeling tools that help you create accurate models with lifelike details, using traditional polygonal 3D modeling techniques combined with mapping tools.

Unlike other software, you can access Wing3d’s 3d modeling features from the right-click menu.

Wings 3D supports many common image formats such as BMP, JPG, PNG, TGA, and TIF, and allows importing objects such as STL, NDO, 3DS, AI, LWO, OBJ, PS, EPS,…

Although quite difficult to use and the interface is quite outdated, Wing3d is a good choice if you are looking for a free 3d modeling software. Personally, I think Wing3d is a suitable free option to experience before moving to more professional software like Blender.

Vectary

>Website: https://www.vectary.com/

Skill level	Beginner to intermediate level
Cost	Free & Paid version
Community	Small community.
Type of software	Web-based program
Pros	The free version contains all essential features for 3d modeling. Easy to use, friendly GUI. Great tool for prototyping
Cons	Lack of document, knowledge base The program is not based on precise measurements, this does not make Vectary an ideal program for professional engineers. Slow render

Vectary is a web-based 3d modeling program, the software has a friendly and minimalism interface.

Although the software has both free and paid version, the free version of Vectray contains almost every essential features for 3d modeling. Here’s the difference between the 2 versions:

You may notice that if you are a hobbyist or a beginner 3d user, the free version is completely enough to work with.

Vectary offers many tools to quickly transform your 3d model.

You can Bend, Twist, Taper, Skew, Stretch, Spherify, Noice, Simplify objects. Here’s an example how I use Bend function on my 3d Cat. The right panel allows you to tweak the action like changing angle, direction.

Vectary supports drag and drop 3d files to import object, supporting fbx, glTf, obj, dea, hdr, jpg, png, SVG file extensions.

Another useful feature of Vectary is the ability to set materials for 3d objects. Here’s an example of how I transformed my 3d cat into a purple glass cat:

Vectary does not offer a tool to draw 2d sketch, then transform to 3d object. However, you can easily do that if you spend some time on the software. Here’s an example on how to transform a 2d bottle into a 3d bottle with Vectary

Overall, Vectary is a good choice to get familiar with 3d modeling, there are many tutorials as well as documents using Vectary on youtube.

Clara.io

>Website: https://clara.io/

Skill level	Beginner to intermediate level
Cost	Free & Paid version
Community	Small community.
Type of software	Web-based program
Pros	Real-time sharing and collaboration are awsome for teamwork 3d character creation and animation are very good Easy to use, friendly GUI.
Cons	Lack of document, knowledge base Slow render time The software focus on animation, lacking advanced feature for 3d modeling

Clara.io is one of the most powerful cloud-based 3d modeling software. Clara.io allows users to create complicated 3d objects, create beautiful photorealistic renderings.

You can find every tool for 3d modeling on the left panel.

You can also create beautiful Animation with Clara

Although the most powerful features of Clara.io are in the animation section, the 3d modeling features are also great and completely meet the basic 3d modeling design needs.

Wrapping up

So in short, what software should you choose?

• If don’t have a strong PC, I recommend using web-based 3d modeling software like Tinkercad, Vectary…
• If you prefer standalone software as it does not require internet, consider using standalone software like Blender, Sketchup…

In case you are not a casual user, I recommend using paid 3d modeling software rather than free ones. There are many features missing in free software, and normally you will have no support from software providers.

If you still cannot decide which free 3d modeling software to start with after going through my top 11 free 3d modeling software reviews => please drop a comment below to tell me your requirements. I will be happy to help!