Hunyuan3D ranks #6 of 9 in our ai 3d generation models testing. free, self-hostable, genuinely good pbr materials — and licensed nowhere in the eu, the uk or south korea..
74/100
the best open-weight output here by some distance, under a licence that simply does not apply where a large share of its likely users live.
why people look for an alternative
−licence excludes the eu, the uk and south korea entirely
−commercial licence required above 1m monthly active users
−outputs may not be used to train other models
−triangle output with no native quad or rigging
stay with Hunyuan3D if real pbr material synthesis in 2.1, unique among open weights is the thing you care about most — nothing below beats it on that.
#1 in ai 3d generation models · quad topology at chosen face densities, full pbr maps, and characters delivered in t-pose so rigging just works.
89/100
verdictthe closest thing here to production-ready output straight from generation — held back only by a terms page that returns 404 when you go looking for the free tier's rights.
Rodin vs Hunyuan3D
Hunyuan3D
Rodin
price
free (self-hosted)
$30/mo
free tier
yes
yes
price
free (self-hosted)
$30/mo
commercial rights
excluded in eu, uk, south korea
paid: any use; free: unverified
topology
triangle mesh
quad at 18k/50k, or triangle
pbr textures
full pbr model in 2.1
full map set
rigging
none native
t-pose output, no auto-rig
switch forgame and product pipelines where the asset has to survive import into an engine without a cleanup pass.
pros
+quad topology at selectable 18k or 50k face densities
+full pbr map export, not baked colour
+characters output in t-pose or a-pose for rigging
+five export formats including usdz and stl
cons
−terms page returns 404 — free-tier rights unverifiable
−no native auto-rigging, only rig-friendly posing
−$30/mo entry is the highest of the saas tools here
#2 in ai 3d generation models · generates parametrically rather than by diffusion, so clean topology and uvs come free — and reselling costs $50.
86/100
verdictthe strongest production story in the category because it sidesteps the problem rather than cleaning up after it — with resale rights gated behind the top tier.
Sloyd vs Hunyuan3D
Hunyuan3D
Sloyd
price
free (self-hosted)
$15/mo
free tier
yes
yes
price
free (self-hosted)
$15/mo, $50 to resell
commercial rights
excluded in eu, uk, south korea
paid only; resale at pro
topology
triangle mesh
clean by construction
pbr textures
full pbr model in 2.1
claimed, unconfirmed
rigging
none native
full auto-rig, animated glb
switch forgame developers who want assets that import cleanly and arrive already rigged.
pros
+parametric generation gives clean topology by construction
+automatic uv unwrapping and lod generation
+genuine auto-rigging with animated glb export
+free tier allows one generation a day to evaluate
cons
−free tier is personal use only, no commercial rights
#3 in ai 3d generation models · six export formats and a real rigging pipeline — after you pay for the remesh step that makes the geometry usable.
84/100
verdictthe most complete toolchain here — generate, remesh to quads, auto-rig, export to six formats — with the honest caveat that step one alone gives you triangle soup.
Meshy vs Hunyuan3D
Hunyuan3D
Meshy
price
free (self-hosted)
$20/mo
free tier
yes
yes
price
free (self-hosted)
$20/mo
commercial rights
excluded in eu, uk, south korea
free: cc by 4.0; paid: full
topology
triangle mesh
triangles, quads via remesh
pbr textures
full pbr model in 2.1
textures yes, map set unconfirmed
rigging
none native
auto-rig documented
switch forteams wanting the widest format coverage and an auto-rig workflow in one tool.
pros
+six export formats including 3mf for printing
+remesh tool converts to quads with face-count control
+documented character auto-rigging workflow
+100 free credits a month
cons
−raw generation output is triangle soup
−usable topology requires a separate credit-consuming step
−free-tier output needs attribution even when sold
#4 in ai 3d generation models · plain mit with no caps, no territories and no conditions — and output that needs a whole pipeline behind it.
81/100
verdictthe only genuinely unrestricted licence in this ranking — no revenue cliff, no excluded countries, no field-of-use limits — attached to the least finished output.
TRELLIS vs Hunyuan3D
Hunyuan3D
TRELLIS
price
free (self-hosted)
free
free tier
yes
yes
price
free (self-hosted)
free (self-hosted)
commercial rights
excluded in eu, uk, south korea
unrestricted (mit)
topology
triangle mesh
mesh from gaussians, likely triangles
pbr textures
full pbr model in 2.1
baked colour only
rigging
none native
none
switch fordevelopers who need unrestricted licensing above all and can build the rest themselves.
pros
+plain mit — the only unrestricted licence here
+no revenue cap, territory limit or training restriction
+polygon reduction control on export
+free and self-hostable with no vendor relationship
cons
−baked colour textures, no pbr map separation
−glb export only — no fbx, obj or usdz
−no rigging or animation support at all
−needs a full external pipeline to reach production
#5 in ai 3d generation models · the cheapest capable paid tier here — and on the free tier, tripo keeps the model you generated.
78/100
verdictthe best-value paid plan in the category with a genuinely useful post-process api — and the bluntest free-tier ownership clause of anything here.
Tripo vs Hunyuan3D
Hunyuan3D
Tripo
price
free (self-hosted)
$13.93/mo
free tier
yes
yes
price
free (self-hosted)
$13.93/mo
commercial rights
excluded in eu, uk, south korea
paid only; tripo owns free output
topology
triangle mesh
not documented
pbr textures
full pbr model in 2.1
separate post-process step
rigging
none native
skeletal setup + retargeting
switch forpipelines that want generation and post-processing exposed as separate api stages at a low monthly cost.
every tool on this page went through the same test as Hunyuan3D — same tasks, same order, scored the same way. the comparison tables are the figures from that testing, not vendor spec sheets.