The Best Open Source SketchUp AlternativesTop 3D Modelers and other similar apps like SketchUp
The best open source alternative to SketchUp is Blender. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to SketchUp and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to SketchUp are Sweet Home 3D, MakeHuman, LibreCAD and Wings 3D.
SketchUp alternatives are mainly 3D Modelers but may also be CAD Software or Interior Design Apps. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of SketchUp.- Free • Open Source
- 3D Modeler
- VFX Software
- 3D Animator
152 Blender alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Flathub
- PortableApps.com
- Haiku
- Steam
- Flatpak
Blender is the free and open-source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, video editing, and motion tracking.
- - Blender is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to SketchUp.
- - Blender is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to SketchUp.
Blender Features
Comments about Blender as a Alternative to SketchUp
naught101Good generic 3D modeller, but not as suited for quick space modelling.
46aronkvhIt's a bit complicated but way more powerful booleans, arrays. You can draw shapes just like in SU. Get comfortable with the snapping system. Try measureit-arch , archipack, cad-transform free addons for a similar experience. There is also construction lines for like 10USD which adds the ability to draw lines and rectangles.
2KariLHeggSketchup has useful features for designing houses, furniture and similar objects quickly. It has an intuitive, simplified CAD UX and you can easily add measurements of important parts. Blender is very complex and intended for 3D CGI, not quickly designing objects. I'm sure Blender has plugins for putting measurements in and so on but it has a huge learning curve.
1Sketch up is more geared for designing a table or a house. Blender seem more like creation a Pixar animated movie.
1ChangeMachineAnother comment says Blender is "God level complex". I'm gonna get hate for saying this, but I think "hell-level complex" is more like it. I respect that it's an amazing and powerful (insular) community-driven project, but intuitive and inviting it is not. Thus the fork "B for Artists", which seems promising.
1- Free • Open Source
- Interior Design App
- 3D Modeler
- CAD Software
66 Sweet Home 3D alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Solaris
Sweet Home 3D is a free interior design Java application that helps you draw the plan of your house, arrange furniture on it and visit the results in 3D.
- - Sweet Home 3D is the most popular Web-based alternative to SketchUp.
Sweet Home 3D Features
Comments about Sweet Home 3D as a Alternative to SketchUp
If you are looking for something related to home design, SweetHome3D is an excellent solution. But it is not a general purpose cad suite.
22Very easy to learn. Has a huge library of "furniture" and other assets developed and shared by users. Has 3D photo's and video virtual tours. May not be that great for detailed framing plans and elevations.
1Sketchup is far more generic and can be used for creating 3D printing models. Sweet Home 3D is a targeted application designed for laying out house designs.
37Its not general purpose, its to specific to be an alternative to virtually any other CAD program
5Not a general purpose CAD program
2- 50 MakeHuman alternatives
- Free • Open Source
- 3D Modeler
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
MakeHuman is an interactive modelling tool for creating realistic 3D human characters. These models can be exported to several computer graphics and animation platforms including Blender, Unity 3D, Unreal Engine, OpenSim and Second Life.
MakeHuman Features
Comments about MakeHuman as a Alternative to SketchUp
Completely different scope. SketchUp is a general modeller with a hard surface / architecture focus while MakeHuman is strictly for creating realistic human models.
3Makehuman makes 3D human models only whereas sketchup is intended for 3D objects like furniture or buildings.
0 - Free • Open Source
- CAD Software
- 3D Modeler
- Digital Painting Tool
109 LibreCAD alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- PortableApps.com
LibreCAD is an open source 2D CAD application for Windows, Apple and Linux. It is based on Qt, which is a leading cross-platform application and UI development framework.
LibreCAD Features
Comments about LibreCAD as a Alternative to SketchUp
Good 2D drawing, has isometrics as well, reads DXF but isn't an alternative to a 3D CAD software assembling blocks. FreeCAD is better but a difficult to make the parts.
2LibreCAD is a 2D CAD software. Sketchup is a 3D software.
36LibreCAD is only a 2D CAD software
0Librecad is a 2D program.
0Not 3D. Otherwise, fine program.
6- 56 Wings 3D alternatives
- Free • Open Source
- 3D Modeler
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Wings 3D is a subdivision modeler inspired by Nendo and Mirai from Izware.
It is possible to assign materials, vertex color, UV coordinates and textures, but there will be improvements in those features before Wings goes 1.0.
There is no support in Wings for doing animations.
Wings 3D Features
Opinions about Wings 3D as a Alternative to SketchUp
BRL-CAD is a powerful cross-platform open source solid modeling system that includes interactive geometry editing, high-performance ray-tracing for rendering and geometric analysis, image and signal-processing tools, a system performance analysis benchmark suite, libraries for...
BRL-CAD Features
Comments about BRL-CAD as a Alternative to SketchUp
The manner in which you draw a shape, enter dimensions, and push/pull a flat plane shape are the most similar to the SketchUp workflow of any 3D/CAD program I have used.
-5- 26 GLC_Player alternatives
- Free • Open Source
- 3D Modeler
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
GLC_Player is a software used to view 3D models (COLLADA 3DXML OBJ 3DS STL OFF and COFF format are supported) and to navigate easily in these models. With the album management, capture and multi-capture capabilities, HTML export and navigation possibilities, GLC_Player is the...
GLC_Player Features