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Media · paid tool

Cinema 4D alternatives

3D modelling, animation, and motion graphics application.

Vendor
Maxon
List price
from $109/mo
Free alternatives
3

Free alternatives

Highest score first. The score weighs licence openness, repository activity, traction, feature coverage, and cost; factors without data are left out and the rest are reweighted.

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Activity and popularity use repository metadata; without it, the overall score decides.

Platform
Pricing model

  1. Blender

    86.4/100

    3D modelling, animation, rendering, and video editing in one suite.

    Licence
    GPL-3.0
    Platforms
    macos, windows, linux
    Self-hostable
    No
    Repo activity
    Not available
    Last verified
    October 24, 2026
    Why this rank
    FactorPointsWeight
    Licence opennessGPL-3.0 licence (open); not self-hostable31.845.5%
    Repository activityNo repository metadata; activity unavailable (not enough data)—0%
    PopularityNo repository metadata; traction unavailable (not enough data)—0%
    Feature coverage13 of 13 curated capability tags covered36.436.4%
    Costfree pricing model18.218.2%

    Points add up to the score. Factors without data are left out and the remaining weights are renormalised.

  2. Bforartists

    84.9/100

    Blender fork with a revised interface for artists and animators.

    Licence
    GPL-3.0
    Platforms
    macos, windows, linux
    Self-hostable
    No
    Repo activity
    Last release July 29, 2026
    GitHub stars
    814
    Last verified
    October 24, 2026
    Why this rank
    FactorPointsWeight
    Licence opennessGPL-3.0 licence (open); not self-hostable17.525%
    Repository activityLast activity 0 day(s) before 2026-10-262525%
    Popularity814 GitHub stars12.420%
    Feature coverage13 of 13 curated capability tags covered2020%
    Costfree pricing model1010%

    Points add up to the score. Factors without data are left out and the remaining weights are renormalised.

  3. Houdini Apprentice

    49/100

    Free procedural 3D and VFX tools for non-commercial learning.

    Licence
    Free tier
    Platforms
    macos, windows, linux
    Self-hostable
    No
    Repo activity
    Not available
    Last verified
    October 24, 2026
    Why this rank
    FactorPointsWeight
    Licence opennessFree tier licence (free-tier); not self-hostable6.445.5%
    Repository activityNo repository metadata; activity unavailable (not enough data)—0%
    PopularityNo repository metadata; traction unavailable (not enough data)—0%
    Feature coverage12 of 13 curated capability tags covered33.636.4%
    Costfreemium pricing model9.118.2%

    Points add up to the score. Factors without data are left out and the remaining weights are renormalised.