About Plasticity
Plasticity is a 3D modeling and CAD program with a focus on creative workflows, and it is used for areas such as vehicle design, industrial design and video game art. It is built around NURBS modeling for hard-surface objects, producing accurate solids and smooth surfaces. The program runs on macOS (Intel and M-series), Windows and Linux, and it is sold without a subscription.
Its toolset centers on direct editing, which lets users push, pull and adjust existing geometry without a history tree. Other highlights include curvature-aware fillets, live dimensions that update geometry instantly, Boolean operations with watertight results, and XNURBS surface blending for smooth connections between irregular shapes, which is limited to the Studio edition. Plasticity positions itself as a complement to history-based parametric CAD tools rather than a replacement. A 30-day free trial is available.
Key features
- NURBS solid and surface modeling
- Direct editing without a history tree
- Curvature-aware fillets and edge control
- Live dimensions that update geometry
- Boolean operations on dense geometry
- XNURBS surface blending in Studio edition
Good fit for
- →Modeling vehicle and industrial design concepts
- →Creating hard-surface assets for games
- Tags
- 3d-modeling
- nurbs
- cad
- hard-surface
- industrial-design
- linux
- macos
- windows
Plasticity: questions and answers
- What is Plasticity used for?
- Plasticity is 3D solid and surface modeling software for macOS, Windows and Linux, sold without a subscription and aimed at artistic hard-surface design. It is a good fit for modeling vehicle and industrial design concepts, and creating hard-surface assets for games.
- How much does Plasticity cost?
- Plasticity is a paid product with no free plan. Sold without a subscription; a 30-day free trial is available.
- Is Plasticity open source?
- No. Plasticity is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Plasticity include FreeCAD and Blender.
- What are some alternatives to Plasticity?
- Plasticity competes with Rhino, Shapr3D and Moi3D. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Plasticity alternatives.
Open-source alternatives to Plasticity
See all
FreeCAD
3D & CAD
Official source code of FreeCAD, a free and opensource multiplatform 3D parametric modeler
LGPL-2.1vs SolidWorks★ 34k
Blender
3D & CAD
Official mirror of Blender
OSSvs Autodesk Maya★ 21k
OpenSCAD
3D & CAD
OpenSCAD - The Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller
OSSvs Autodesk Fusion★ 10k
PrusaSlicer
3D & CAD
G-code generator for 3D printers (RepRap, Makerbot, Ultimaker etc.)
AGPL-3.0vs Simplify3D★ 9.4k
LibreCAD
3D & CAD
LibreCAD is a cross-platform 2D CAD program. It can read DXF/DWG, and write DXF/DWG/PDF/SV
OSSvs AutoCAD★ 6.4k
KiCad
3D & CAD
This is an active mirror of the KiCad development branch, which is hosted at GitLab (updat
GPL-3.0vs Altium Designer★ 3k
SaaS alternatives to Plasticity
See all
Rhino
3D & CAD
NURBS-based 3D modelling software for design and architecture
SaaS
Shapr3D
3D & CAD
3D CAD modeling app for iPad, Mac and Windows
SaaS
Moi3D
3D & CAD
Easy-to-use 3D modeling software for NURBS and design work
SaaS
Autodesk Fusion
3D & CAD
Cloud CAD, CAM and simulation tool for product design
SaaS
SketchUp
3D & CAD
3D modelling software for architecture, interiors and woodworking
SaaS
AutoCAD
3D & CAD
2D and 3D CAD drafting software from Autodesk
SaaS

