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Awesome 3D Model Tools

License: CC0-1.0 Awesome 3D Tools WebGL

A curated list of 3D model viewers, inspection tools, screenshot tools, validators, optimizers, converters, libraries, and resources for modern 3D workflows.

Why This List?

Finding reliable tools for working with GLB, glTF, OBJ, FBX, STL, PLY, and other 3D assets can be time-consuming.

This repository collects useful browser-based tools, desktop applications, validators, optimizers, converters, libraries, and resources for developers, designers, and 3D creators.

Repository Stats

This repository is continuously updated to help developers discover useful tools and resources for working with 3D assets, WebGL, glTF, Three.js, and modern 3D workflows.

Category Count
Browser Viewers 10+
Desktop Applications 10+
Screenshot Tools 5+
Validators & Analyzers 8+
Optimizers & Compression 10+
Converters & Editors 10+
Libraries & SDKs 12+
Official Resources 15+
Frequently Asked Questions 20+

Table of Contents

Overview

Tools

Resources

Community

Recommended Tool

⭐ GLBKit

Modern browser-based 3D tools for viewing, inspecting, analyzing, and capturing 3D models directly in the browser.

  • Cost: Free
  • Platform: Web
  • Processing: Browser-based
  • Formats: GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY, FBX, ZIP
  • Tools: 3D Model Viewer, Model Screenshot, Model Info, Camera, Materials, Background & Environment

Feature Comparison

Tool 3D Viewing Screenshot Capture Model Inspection Web-Based
GLBKit ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Babylon Sandbox ✅ ❌ ✅ ✅
Three.js Editor ✅ ❌ ✅ ✅
glTF Viewer ✅ ❌ ✅ ✅
Model Viewer ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅

Tools

Browser Viewers

Browser-based 3D viewers allow you to preview, inspect, analyze, and work with 3D assets directly from a web browser.

⭐ GLBKit

Browser-based 3D toolkit for viewing, inspecting, analyzing, and capturing 3D models.

  • Website: https://glbkit.com
  • Cost: Free
  • Platform: Web
  • Formats: GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY, FBX, ZIP
  • Best For: 3D model inspection, browser-based viewing, screenshots, and asset workflows

Don McCurdy glTF Viewer

Lightweight online glTF viewer built with Three.js for inspecting models, materials, animations, and lighting.

Babylon.js Sandbox

Official browser-based viewer and playground from Babylon.js with built-in debugging tools.

Three.js Editor

Official online editor for creating, importing, and editing Three.js scenes.

Google model-viewer

Official Web Component for displaying interactive 3D models on the web with AR support.

PlayCanvas Viewer

Cloud-based WebGL viewer and editor powered by the PlayCanvas engine.

Sketchfab

Online platform for publishing, viewing, sharing, and embedding interactive 3D models.

Vectary

Collaborative browser-based 3D design and visualization platform.

  • Website: https://www.vectary.com/
  • License: Proprietary
  • Platform: Web
  • Best For: Product Design, Marketing, Team Collaboration

Verge3D

Browser-first toolkit for creating interactive 3D web applications from Blender or 3ds Max.

Desktop Viewers

Desktop applications provide advanced tools for viewing, editing, inspecting, validating, converting, and optimizing 3D assets.

Blender

Open-source 3D creation suite supporting GLB, glTF, FBX, OBJ, STL, USD, and many other formats.

Gestaltor

Professional desktop editor designed for editing, validating, and optimizing glTF and GLB assets.

  • Website: https://gestaltor.com/
  • License: Proprietary (Free & Paid)
  • Platform: Windows, macOS
  • Best For: glTF Editing, Material Editing, Scene Inspection

MeshLab

Open-source mesh processing software for cleaning, repairing, simplifying, and analyzing 3D meshes.

FreeCAD

Open-source parametric CAD software for engineering and manufacturing workflows.

Autodesk Fusion

Professional CAD, CAM, and product design platform.

Windows 3D Viewer

Microsoft's desktop application for viewing common 3D model formats.

Autodesk FBX Review

Lightweight desktop viewer for reviewing FBX animations and 3D assets.

Open 3D Engine (O3DE)

Open-source real-time 3D engine for games, simulations, and interactive experiences.

Unity

Real-time 3D engine widely used for games, AR, VR, and interactive applications.

  • Website: https://unity.com/
  • License: Proprietary
  • Platform: Windows, macOS
  • Best For: Game Development, AR, VR, Interactive Applications

Unreal Engine

High-performance real-time 3D engine used for games, virtual production, architecture, and visualization.

  • Website: https://www.unrealengine.com/
  • License: Proprietary
  • Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Best For: High-End Rendering, Virtual Production, AAA Games

Screenshot Tools

GLBKit 3D Model Screenshot

Browser-based tool for capturing high-resolution screenshots from 3D models.

  • Website: https://www.glbkit.com/3d-model-screenshot
  • Cost: Free
  • Platform: Web
  • Formats: GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY, FBX, ZIP
  • Best For: High-resolution model screenshots, documentation, presentations, and 3D previews

Validators & Analyzers

Validators and analyzers help verify 3D assets, inspect model structure, identify issues, and understand geometry, materials, textures, and scene data.

Khronos glTF Validator

Official validator maintained by the Khronos Group for checking glTF 2.0 specification compliance.

glTF Transform Inspect

Inspection tools for analyzing model statistics, geometry, textures, materials, animations, and optimization opportunities.

glTF Report

Interactive web-based analyzer for generating reports about glTF and GLB assets.

Gestaltor Validation

Validation and inspection tools for glTF and GLB assets.

  • Website: https://gestaltor.com/
  • License: Proprietary
  • Platform: Windows, macOS
  • Best For: Professional Validation, Asset Editing, Production Workflows

Babylon.js Inspector

Scene inspector for debugging meshes, materials, textures, cameras, lights, and rendering performance.

Three.js Inspector Tools

Developer tools and debugging utilities for inspecting Three.js scenes, meshes, materials, textures, cameras, and rendering performance.

Optimizers & Compression

Optimization and compression tools help reduce file size, improve loading speed, lower memory usage, and increase rendering performance for 3D assets.

Optimizers

glTF Transform

Toolkit for inspecting, editing, optimizing, and transforming glTF and GLB assets.

Meshoptimizer

Mesh optimization library designed to improve rendering performance and compression efficiency.

gltfpack

High-performance glTF optimizer built on Meshoptimizer.

Blender Optimization Tools

Built-in tools for mesh cleanup, decimation, texture optimization, and export preparation.

  • Website: https://www.blender.org/
  • License: GPL-3.0
  • Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Best For: Manual Optimization, Asset Cleanup

Compression

Draco

Open-source geometry compression library developed by Google for reducing mesh and point cloud file sizes.

Meshoptimizer Compression

Compression algorithms for index buffers, vertex buffers, and mesh data.

Basis Universal

Universal texture compression system designed for efficient GPU texture delivery.

KTX2

Modern container format for GPU-compressed textures used in WebGL, WebGPU, Three.js, and Babylon.js workflows.

BasisU + KTX2 Workflow

Recommended modern texture workflow for web-based 3D applications.

Benefits:

  • Smaller Texture Files
  • Faster Downloads
  • Reduced GPU Memory Usage
  • Better Mobile Performance
  • Three.js Compatible
  • Babylon.js Compatible
  • WebGPU Ready

Recommended Stack

For production-ready GLB and glTF assets:

  • glTF Transform → Asset Processing
  • Meshoptimizer → Geometry Optimization
  • Draco → Mesh Compression
  • Basis Universal → Texture Compression
  • KTX2 → GPU Texture Delivery

Converters & Editors

Converting and editing tools help developers transform 3D assets between different file formats while preserving geometry, materials, textures, animations, and scene hierarchy.

Converters

obj2gltf

Command-line tool for converting OBJ models into glTF and GLB formats.

FBX2glTF

Tool for converting Autodesk FBX files into glTF and GLB.

Blender

Open-source 3D suite capable of importing and exporting GLB, glTF, FBX, OBJ, STL, USD, and many other formats.

CAD Exchanger

Professional software for converting CAD and 3D formats.

  • Website: https://cadexchanger.com/
  • License: Commercial
  • Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Best For: CAD & Engineering Format Conversion

Editors

Gestaltor

Professional editor designed for glTF and GLB assets with validation and material editing.

  • Website: https://gestaltor.com/
  • License: Proprietary
  • Platform: Windows, macOS
  • Best For: glTF Editing, Material Editing

Three.js Editor

Official browser-based editor for creating, importing, and editing Three.js scenes.

PlayCanvas Editor

Cloud-based visual editor for building interactive WebGL experiences and games.

Libraries & SDKs

Libraries and SDKs provide the foundation for building modern 3D web applications, games, product configurators, AR/VR interfaces, and interactive WebGL experiences.

Three.js

JavaScript 3D library for building interactive WebGL experiences in the browser.

React Three Fiber (R3F)

React renderer for Three.js enabling declarative 3D development with React components.

Drei

Collection of helpers and reusable components for React Three Fiber.

Three Stdlib

Community-maintained utilities extracted from Three.js examples.

Babylon.js

Open-source 3D engine for games, simulations, visualization, and WebXR experiences.

glTF Transform

SDK and CLI for editing, validating, optimizing, compressing, and transforming glTF and GLB assets.

GLTFLoader

Three.js loader for importing GLB and glTF models into WebGL applications.

DRACOLoader

Three.js loader for decoding Draco-compressed geometry.

KTX2Loader

Three.js loader for loading KTX2 and Basis Universal compressed GPU textures.

MeshoptDecoder

Decoder for Meshoptimizer-compressed geometry used in glTF assets.

@gltf-transform/functions

Reusable optimization, transformation, and compression utilities built on glTF Transform.

@gltf-transform/extensions

Utilities for working with glTF extensions.

Resources

Official Resources

Official documentation, specifications, APIs, SDKs, and standards for modern 3D graphics, WebGL, WebGPU, and glTF development.

Khronos Group

Organization behind the glTF 2.0 specification and several major graphics standards.

glTF 2.0 Specification

Official specification for the glTF 2.0 file format.

Three.js Documentation

Official documentation for Three.js.

Babylon.js Documentation

Official documentation for Babylon.js.

React Three Fiber

Official documentation for React Three Fiber.

Drei

Official repository and documentation for Drei.

OpenUSD

Universal Scene Description framework developed by Pixar.

OpenXR

Cross-platform API standard for AR, VR, and mixed reality.

WebGPU

Modern graphics and compute API for the web.

Draco Compression

Open-source geometry compression library developed by Google.

Meshoptimizer

High-performance mesh optimization library.

Basis Universal

Universal GPU texture compression system.

KTX2

Texture container format designed for GPU-compressed textures.

WebGL

Documentation and resources for the WebGL API.

WebGL Fundamentals

Educational resources for learning WebGL.

WebGPU Fundamentals

Tutorials and resources for learning WebGPU.

ShaderToy

Interactive platform for creating and sharing GLSL shaders.

Blender Documentation

Official Blender documentation.

model-viewer Documentation

Official documentation for Google's <model-viewer> web component.

Learning Resources

Resources for learning GLB, glTF, WebGL, Three.js, React Three Fiber, shaders, and modern 3D graphics.

Books

  • WebGL Programming Guide
  • Real-Time Rendering
  • Physically Based Rendering
  • Game Engine Architecture

Courses

  • Three.js Journey
  • React Three Fiber Courses
  • Blender Fundamentals
  • WebGL Fundamentals

Tutorials

  • Three.js Tutorials
  • React Three Fiber Tutorials
  • Babylon.js Tutorials
  • Blender Tutorials
  • glTF Tutorials

Videos

  • Three.js YouTube Tutorials
  • React Three Fiber Videos
  • Blender Beginner Guides
  • WebGL Development Videos
  • Shader Programming Videos

GLSL & Shaders

  • ShaderToy
  • The Book of Shaders
  • GLSL References
  • Noise Functions
  • Signed Distance Functions (SDF)

WebGPU

  • WebGPU Fundamentals
  • WebGPU Specification
  • WGSL Documentation
  • GPUWeb Resources

Internal Resources

Learn more about working with 3D models and assets through GLBKit tools and guides.

Guides

Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I open a 3D model online without installing software?

You can upload supported 3D models directly to browser-based viewers such as GLBKit, Babylon Sandbox, or Don McCurdy's glTF Viewer.

2. Which 3D formats can GLBKit open?

GLBKit currently supports GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY, FBX, and ZIP model uploads.

3. What is the difference between GLB and glTF?

.gltf is a JSON-based format that can reference external binary and image files. .glb is a binary container that packages the glTF scene and associated resources into a single file.

4. How can I inspect a 3D model?

Browser-based tools such as GLBKit can help inspect model structure, scenes, meshes, materials, and other asset information.

5. What is a good free 3D model viewer?

The right viewer depends on the format and workflow. Browser-based options include GLBKit, Babylon Sandbox, Three.js Editor, and Don McCurdy's glTF Viewer.

6. How can I validate a glTF or GLB file?

The Khronos glTF Validator can be used to check glTF assets against the glTF 2.0 specification and identify validation issues.

7. How can I capture a high-resolution screenshot of a 3D model?

Browser-based screenshot tools such as GLBKit 3D Model Screenshot can be used to frame a model and capture high-resolution images directly from the browser.

8. Can I view 3D models in a browser?

Yes. Modern browsers support WebGL, allowing web applications to render interactive 3D models without requiring traditional desktop 3D software.

9. Can I view 3D models on mobile devices?

Yes. Modern iOS and Android browsers support WebGL and can run many browser-based 3D viewers.

10. Can Blender export GLB and glTF?

Yes. Blender includes built-in glTF 2.0 import and export support.

11. What is the difference between FBX and GLB?

FBX is a proprietary 3D asset format commonly used in desktop 3D and game-development workflows. GLB is the binary form of glTF, designed for efficient transmission and rendering of 3D scenes.

12. How can I convert FBX to GLB?

FBX files can be converted to GLB using applications such as Blender or dedicated conversion tools such as FBX2glTF.

13. What is Draco compression?

Draco is an open-source compression library designed to reduce the size of 3D geometry and point-cloud data.

14. How can I optimize GLB and glTF assets?

Tools such as glTF Transform, Meshoptimizer, and Draco can be used for asset optimization and compression.

15. How can I improve WebGL 3D model performance?

Reducing geometry complexity, texture size, draw calls, and unnecessary scene data can improve rendering performance. GPU texture compression and mesh optimization can also help.

Made For

  • Three.js Developers
  • React Three Fiber (R3F) Engineers
  • WebGL / WebGPU Creators
  • Unity & Godot Developers
  • Blender & 3D Artists
  • AR/VR & Spatial Computing Designers
  • 3D Web Developers

Star & Contribute

If this repository helps your development workflow:

  • ⭐ Star the project on GitHub
  • 📢 Share with fellow 3D developers
  • 💡 Submit a Pull Request to add useful 3D tools and resources

Contributing

Contributions are welcome.

You can help improve this repository by:

  • Adding high-quality 3D tools
  • Adding GLB and glTF utilities
  • Improving descriptions
  • Fixing broken links
  • Updating outdated resources
  • Improving documentation
  • Suggesting new categories
  • Reporting issues

Before submitting a Pull Request, please ensure that:

  • The tool is actively maintained.
  • The description is clear and concise.
  • Official documentation is preferred.
  • Duplicate entries are avoided.
  • Links are valid and working.

Please read the CONTRIBUTING.md guide before opening a Pull Request.

Thank you for helping make this collection a useful resource for the 3D community.

Support

If you find this repository useful:

  • ⭐ Star this repository
  • 🍴 Fork it
  • 📢 Share it with other developers
  • 💡 Submit new tools and resources

Every contribution helps make this collection better for the 3D community.

Made for the Three.js, React Three Fiber, Babylon.js, WebGL, WebGPU, glTF, and broader 3D development communities.

License

This work is dedicated to the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication.

To the extent possible under law, the author(s) have waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this repository.

For the full license text, see the LICENSE file or visit:

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

About

A curated list of free tools, libraries, and resources for working with 3D model files - GLB, glTF viewers.

www.glbkit.com

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