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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Blender

    Score9.3 out of 10
    N/ABlender is a free and open source 3D creation suite available in under the GNU General Public License. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing and 2D animation pipeline. Blender Cloud is a related service accessible via subscription, and is a training and content platform providing access to expertise from the Blender Institute for advancing one's use of Blender.

    $11.50

    per month

    Rhino

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ARobert McNeel and Associates headquartered in Seattle offers Rhinoceros 3D (or Rhino 3D), a 3D modeling and design application. Rhino can create, edit, analyze, document, render, animate, and translate NURBS curves, surfaces and solids, subdivision geometry (SubD), point clouds, and polygon meshes.

    $995

    one-time fee

    Pricing
    BlenderRhino
    Editions & Modules
    Blender Cloud Membership
    $11.50
    per month
    Rhino 3D for Windows & Mac
    $995
    one-time fee
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BlenderRhino
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Discount available for students and faculty.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BlenderRhino
    Considered Both Products
    Open Source
    No answer on this topic
    Robert McNeel and Associates
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    26 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    26 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    26 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    8 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    22 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    25 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    8 Answers
    Features
    BlenderRhino
    Computer-Aided Design Software
    Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Blender and Rhino 3D
    Feature
    Blender
    -
    Ratings
    Rhino 3D
    4.5
    1 Ratings
    45% below category average
    3D Modeling00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    2D Drafting00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
    Rendering and Visualization00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
    Parametric Design00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Collaboration and Sharing00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Compatibility with other software and formats00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Assembly Design00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Simulation and Analysis00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Documentation and Annotation00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Customization and Extensions00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BlenderRhino
    Small Businesses
    Autodesk Maya
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Onshape
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Navisworks
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Onshape
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Navisworks
    Score9.5 out of 10
    PTC Creo
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BlenderRhino
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.5
    (25 ratings)
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.5
    (4 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BlenderRhino
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Open Source
    Blender is an excellent tool for everything from simple to complex 3D animations, the creation of 3D images, etc. It performs excellently in all of these areas. In the realm of 3D modelling, animation and rendering, there is very little that Blender is not suited for.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Robert McNeel and Associates
    One of the main highlights of Rhino is the built-in visual programming system "Grasshopper". It is widely used for parametric architectural design, by a variety of world-class architectural offices. It is also very popular within architectural schools and universities. Its usefulness has increased a lot by having add-ins, plug-ins, scripts, and integrations with Revit and ARCHICAD for BIM workflows.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Open Source
    • Creating complex polygonal geometries is very easy in Blender.
    • Edit Mode and Sculpt Mode helps in creating non uniform surfaces for objects like rocks, surfaces, terrains etc.
    • Blender can use various external plugins to make it work in more smoother way. For example to import any 3d object one can use sketchfab plugin and easily import the free assets from web after logging in.
    • Blender has a better rendering engine known as Cycles, it is far more better than any other stock rendering engine which can generate realistic lightning, shadows and reflections.
    • The animations can easily be generated with blender animation toolbar and also it incorporate any other animations made in any other software.
    • The bone generation and its behavior of animations can be achieved easily in blender.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Robert McNeel and Associates
    • Parametric Modeling - Grasshopper allows for easy/rapid iterative process
    • White box renders display - looks great as a quick diagram export with no post-production required.
    • robust command prompts - rhino was originally made for industrial design and it flexes a lot of unique modeling commands that put it up there with SolidWorks
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Open Source
    • It's really a hard question, but it could be: a game engine. Older versions used to have it; I would use it to simulate machines game-like.
    • I'm struggling to find another one; maybe the fact that it is so powerful and has so many features that learning it can be daunting; better documentation WITH examples and/or a map of Blender capabilities would help to know where you are in terms of knowledge and the planning the roadmap to where you want to go.
    • Precision modeling. Coming from CAD and using Blender as part of my design workflow, I'd love to be able to model inside Blender as I model with CAD tools. At this moment, it's simply impossible.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Robert McNeel and Associates
    • Rhino has very limited sheet layout tools.
    • Grasshopper could be better integrated into the main interface.
    • Lack of backwards file compatibility can be frustrating.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Open Source
    Because while it's a pretty good piece of software, the default built-in commands, the interface layout, and certain functions aren't as logical in their way of being arranged and executed. This, of course, doesn't diminish its use or effectiveness in your field of work, but it is quite awkward at first. A big advantage is that Blender lets you customize the interface however you want as well as keyboard shortcuts and several general program parameters.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Robert McNeel and Associates
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Robert McNeel and Associates
    A majority of the support for Rhinoceros 3D does not come from the company itself, but from online forums and boards where other Rhinoceros 3D users outline their issues and solutions. The Rhinoceros 3D website does not offer much in-depth support and just outlines general how to's. At the same time, online forums allow for more specific issues to be addressed and solved by the Rhinoceros 3D community.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Open Source
    We've only used the consumer (non-pro) version of SketchUp, which we love, but is very limited in features and output capabilities compared to Blender. While Blender's learning curve is MUCH steeper than SketchUp, it feels like truly complete, professional design software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Robert McNeel and Associates
    It's hard to compare Rhino to other modeling software as Rhino is in a niche of its own. No other software (to my knowledge) is as customizable/programmable and has such a large community and such a large amount of free, open-source addons. Rhino (and Grasshopper) can be intimidating at first but once you get familiar with it and grow your toolbox with your own scripts, so much time will be saved
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Open Source
    • As it is a beginner-friendly software with increasing demand in the animation sector again, it positively impacts the business.
    • Except in some specific cases, no one will use Blender on their own at a professional level.
    • When I was a beginner, it took me a lot of time to learn, consequently designing the creation. But if we want to learn to master Blender, we can do it. As long as we have time and a lot of willpower, since, we repeat, it is not a simple program and hides thousands of tools and possibilities.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Robert McNeel and Associates
    • Right away Rhino3D is useful for simple and accurate 3D model import, repair and export all in a variety of formats.
    • Rhino3D is easy to use and learn. The time to productivity is very short with this modeling tool.
    • The price is low for the value received, a great investment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots