What is 3D Slicer used for?

3D Slicer is free, open-source desktop software for visualizing, segmenting, registering and analyzing medical and other 3D images. It is a good fit for medical image research and analysis, surgical planning and image-guided navigation, and preparing segmentations for 3D printing or deep learning.

Is 3D Slicer open source?

Yes. 3D Slicer is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at Slicer/Slicer and is written mainly in C++.

Yes. 3D Slicer is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.

Can I self-host 3D Slicer?

Yes. 3D Slicer can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What are some alternatives to 3D Slicer?

Similar open-source tools in the Photos & Images category include Napari, ImageJ and Immich. SaaS products in the same category include imgix, 100xglow and 500px.

Is 3D Slicer actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to 3D Slicer was on 2 October 2026. The project has 2.6k stars on GitHub.

3D Slicer: open-source photos & images

About 3D Slicer

3D Slicer is a free, open-source software package for visualization and image computing. It is used for processing, segmenting, registering and analyzing medical, biomedical and other 3D images and meshes, and for planning and navigating image-guided procedures. It is built to run natively on Windows, Linux and macOS, with a focus on clinical and biomedical applications.

The project describes three sides: desktop software for advanced image computing challenges, a development platform for building and deploying custom research and commercial solutions with open-source tools, and a community of users and developers. The code is C++ and Python, built on Qt, VTK and ITK. Example uses on the website include image segmentation with the Segment Editor, AI-assisted segmentation and surgical navigation.

A large ecosystem of extensions covers specialized areas, such as image-guided therapy, radiation therapy, diffusion MRI, craniofacial analysis, astronomy data and radiomics. Documentation, training material, a community forum and a developer guide are available from the project website, and license details are provided in the repository's License.txt file.

Key features

Segmentation with the Segment Editor module
Image registration and analysis
AI-assisted segmentation tools
3D visualization of medical images and meshes
Extension ecosystem for specialized fields
Python scripting and C++ development platform

Good fit for

→Medical image research and analysis
→Surgical planning and image-guided navigation
→Preparing segmentations for 3D printing or deep learning

Built with: C++; Python
Tags: medical-imaging; 3d-slicer; segmentation; image-processing; vtk; itk; neuroimaging; python

3D Slicer: questions and answers

What is 3D Slicer used for?: 3D Slicer is free, open-source desktop software for visualizing, segmenting, registering and analyzing medical and other 3D images. It is a good fit for medical image research and analysis, surgical planning and image-guided navigation, and preparing segmentations for 3D printing or deep learning.
Is 3D Slicer open source?: Yes. 3D Slicer is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at Slicer/Slicer and is written mainly in C++.
Is 3D Slicer free?: Yes. 3D Slicer is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.
Can I self-host 3D Slicer?: Yes. 3D Slicer can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What are some alternatives to 3D Slicer?: Similar open-source tools in the Photos & Images category include Napari, ImageJ and Immich. SaaS products in the same category include imgix, 100xglow and 500px.
Is 3D Slicer actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to 3D Slicer was on 2 October 2026. The project has 2.6k stars on GitHub.