How is this ar vr ranking decided?

Mechanically. The 20 approved ar vr listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.

How much does ar vr software cost?

Across the 20 ar vr tools listed here, paid plans start between $5.99 and $3,499 a month, with a median entry price of $274.50. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $3,499 a month (Apple Vision Pro). 12 of 20 also publish a $0 plan.

What is the cheapest ar vr software?

9 of the 20 tools listed here cost nothing at all. Among the ones that charge, Immersed has the lowest published entry price at $5.99 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.

Is there free ar vr software?

Yes, 12 of 20 tools in this category publish a plan priced at $0. 9 of them are free outright, with no paid tier above. A tool is only counted as free here when it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence, or a starting price of zero, a free trial does not count.

What features should ar vr software have?

Judging by what vendors put in their own published pricing tiers, the most frequently named capabilities in this category are export (2 of 17 tools that publish plan detail), full sdk (2) and social features (2). Treat those as the category baseline. Anything named by only one vendor, such as adobe integration or beyond 2 features plus, is a differentiator rather than a standard, so it is worth deciding whether you need it before it narrows your shortlist to one.

How is ar vr software usually billed?

free (5), freemium (5), one-time (4), subscription (3), counted across the 20 listings on this page. The distinction that costs money is per-seat versus flat: a per-user plan at the same headline price scales with your headcount and a flat subscription does not. 2 of 20 tools also keep at least one tier unpriced and sold by quote.

What does ar vr software actually cover?

The 20 tools on this page do not describe themselves the same way. The subject tags they carry most often are ar (6), collaboration (4), metaverse (4), vr (4), enterprise (3). That spread is the honest answer to what the category means in practice: it is not one product shape, and two tools filed under ar vr may overlap on very little.

How many pricing tiers do ar vr tools offer?

17 of 20 tools here publish a plan breakdown, and the median one has 1 tiers. 3 of 20 publish three or more. More tiers is not generosity, it usually means the capability you are buying for sits two rungs above the advertised price, so price your shortlist at the tier that contains it.

How many ar vr tools are listed on Softwr?

20 approved ar vr listings appear on this page, including AltspaceVR, Apple Vision Pro, ARCore, ARKit. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/ar-vr, which ranks the same set by published rating.

AR VR · ranked shortlist

Best AR VR software in 2026

20 approved ar vr listings, ordered by published rating with the method stated below rather than assumed.

Tools ranked: 20
Entry price range: $5.99-$3,499
Publish a $0 plan: 12 of 20

How this ranking is derived

The sort key

Published rating, highest first. Ties break on the number of ratings behind the score, then on product name so the order never depends on what the API happened to return first. That is the whole rule, there is no weighting, no score of our own, and nothing paid: no sponsored slot runs on these pages.

Where the ratings come from

No listing in this set carries a rating, so the order falls back to name. Those scores are aggregated from public sources rather than collected here, Softwr hosts no reviews of its own, which is also why no rating on this page is marked up as ours in structured data.

What the pool is

Approved ar vr listings, capped at 20 per page; 20 came back for this one. It is not the whole market, and a tool being absent means we hold no record of it rather than that it failed a test. The unranked full set is on the ar vr category page.

The ranking

Each entry lists why it sits where it sits, drawn from its own published rating and pricing.

#1
AltspaceVR
Highest rated here
Social VR platform for events and meetups
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
Billing
free
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
social-vr, events, microsoft, metaverse
AltspaceVR breakdown Compare with Apple Vision Pro
#2
Apple Vision Pro
Revolutionary spatial computing device
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $3,499 a month, with no free plan.
Billing
one-time
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
spatial-computing, ar, vr, apple
Apple Vision Pro breakdown Compare with ARCore
#3
ARCore
Google's platform for building AR experiences
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
Billing
free
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
ar, android, google, framework
ARCore breakdown Compare with ARKit
#4
ARKit
Apple's framework for iOS AR development
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
Billing
free
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
ar, ios, apple, framework
ARKit breakdown Compare with Babylon.js
#5
Babylon.js
Powerful 3D engine for the web with WebXR
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
Model not published
Tags
webgl, 3d, JavaScript, microsoft
Babylon.js breakdown Compare with Bigscreen
#6
Bigscreen
Watch movies and hang out in VR
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $1,019 a month, with no free plan.
- 2 published tiers, topping out at $1,219.
Billing
one-time
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
social-vr, entertainment, movies, streaming
Bigscreen breakdown Compare with Engage VR
#7
Engage VR
VR platform for education and enterprise
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
education-vr, training, Enterprise, events
Engage VR breakdown Compare with Frame VR
#8
Frame VR
Browser-based VR for collaboration and events
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
webvr, collaboration, events, browser
Frame VR breakdown Compare with Glue
#9
Glue
VR collaboration platform for enterprise teams
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $50 a month.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
3 tiers
Tags
enterprise-vr, collaboration, meetings, Remote Work
Glue breakdown Compare with Gravity Sketch
#10
Gravity Sketch
VR 3D design tool
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
4 tiers
Tags
vr, design, concept, immersive
Gravity Sketch breakdown Compare with Horizon Worlds
#11
Horizon Worlds
Meta's social metaverse platform
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
Billing
free
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
metaverse, social-vr, meta, worlds
Horizon Worlds breakdown Compare with HTC Vive
#12
HTC Vive
Premium VR hardware and software ecosystem
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $1,099 a month, with no free plan.
Billing
one-time
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
vr, Enterprise, premium, headset
HTC Vive breakdown Compare with Immersed
#13
Immersed
Work from anywhere in VR
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $5.99 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
vr-productivity, Remote Work, virtual-desktop, quest
Immersed breakdown Compare with Instagram AR Effects
#14
Instagram AR Effects
Creative AR effects for Instagram Stories and Reels
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
Billing
free
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
ar, social, instagram, filters
Instagram AR Effects breakdown Compare with Lens Studio
#15
Lens Studio
Create AR experiences for Snapchat and beyond
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
Billing
Model not published
Tags
ar, development, snapchat, lenses
Lens Studio breakdown Compare with Magic Leap 2
#16
Magic Leap 2
Enterprise AR headset for transformative experiences
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $3,299 a month, with no free plan.
Billing
Model not published
Tags
ar, Enterprise, spatial-computing, headset
Magic Leap 2 breakdown Compare with Masterpiece VR
#17
M
Masterpiece VR
Collaborative 3D sculpting in VR
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $9.99 a month, with no free plan.
Billing
subscription
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
vr-sculpting, collaboration, 3d-modeling, creative
Masterpiece VR breakdown Compare with Medium by Adobe
#18
Medium by Adobe
Sculpt in VR with intuitive tools
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $9.99 a month, with no free plan.
Billing
subscription
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
vr-sculpting, 3d-art, adobe, creative
Medium by Adobe breakdown Compare with MeetinVR
#19
MeetinVR
Premium VR meetings for business
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $35 a month.
Billing
subscription
Published tiers
3 tiers
Tags
enterprise-vr, meetings, business, collaboration
MeetinVR breakdown Compare with Meta Quest
#20
Meta Quest
All-in-one VR headset platform for immersive experiences
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $499 a month, with no free plan.
Billing
one-time
Published tiers
1 tier
Tags
vr, headset, gaming, mixed-reality
Meta Quest breakdown

What ar vr software costs

Counted from the published pricing of the 20 listings on this page. A tool counts as free only where it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence or a starting price of zero.

Cheapest paid plan: $5.99Immersed
Median entry price: $274.50across 10 priced
Dearest entry price: $3,499Apple Vision Pro
Publish a $0 plan: 12of 20

Paid ar vr plans in this set start anywhere from $5.99 a month for Immersed to $3,499 for Apple Vision Pro. The median entry price across the 10 tools that publish one is $274.50, half of them start below that figure and half above it.

12 of 20 publish a $0 plan, and 9 of those charge nothing at all. 7 tools have no free tier of any kind.

2 of 20 keep at least one tier unpriced and sold by quote, which in practice means the number you end up paying at the top end is not on this page or on theirs.

Immersed pricing Apple Vision Pro pricing Apple Vision Pro plans

How these vendors bill

The billing model each of the 20 ar vr listings publishes, counted. Two tools at the same headline price are not the same purchase if one of them charges per seat.

free: 5
freemium: 5
one-time: 4
subscription: 3

Separately, 2 of 20 publish at least one tier with no price attached. Those are sold by quote, so the top of the ladder is negotiable, and unknowable, until you talk to sales.

What comes as standard, and what you pay extra for

Every capability named in a published pricing tier by any of the 17 ar vr tools here that break their plans down, counted once per vendor. This measures what vendors choose to advertise as a selling point, not everything the software does, an absence below is silence, not a missing feature.

Named most often

Export , 2 of 17
Full SDK , 2 of 17
Social features , 2 of 17
World creation , 2 of 17

Named by fewer

Nothing else is named by more than one vendor, beyond the list on the left, no two of these tools describe their tiers the same way.

Named by exactly one vendor: Adobe integration, Beyond 2 features plus, Enterprise features, Mixed reality passthrough, Public events, Unlimited file storage. Those are differentiators rather than table stakes.

What “AR VR” covers in practice

The subject tags that recur across these 20 listings, with the number of tools carrying each. A category label is a filing decision; this is the closer read of what is actually filed under it.

ar6
collaboration4
metaverse4
vr4
Enterprise3
events3
headset3
social-vr3
apple2
creative2
enterprise-vr2
framework2

Carried by a single tool: 3d, android, development, gaming, JavaScript, professional, studio, vr-productivity. If one of those is the reason you are here, the category page is the wrong lens, go straight to that product.

How to choose between them

Four things the numbers above should change about your shortlist.

Start with the free tiers if there are enough of them

12 of 20 ar vr tools here publish a $0 plan, which is enough to run a real trial without a purchase order. A free tier is worth more than a free trial when you are evaluating: a trial expires on the vendor's schedule, a free plan expires when you outgrow it. The thing to check before you commit is which of the capabilities below sit above the free line, starting with export, the single most frequently named capability in this category's published tiers.

Read the spread before you read the features

$5.99 to $3,499 is a $3,493.01 spread on entry price alone, and a spread that wide is never about polish, it is about who the vendor built for. Tools at the bottom of this ladder are priced for one person or a small team; tools near $3,499 are priced for a department with a procurement process. Decide which of those you are before you compare capability, or you will shortlist four tools that were never competing for the same buyer.

Check which tier you actually land on

3 of 20 tools here publish three or more tiers, and the median vendor in this category ships 1 of them. The advertised price is the first rung, and the things teams tend to need, export, full sdk, social features, are named in higher plans far more often than in entry ones. Price your shortlist at the tier that contains what you need, not at the tier on the pricing page's left edge.

The billing model matters more than the headline number

This category splits across 4 billing models: free on 5 listings, freemium on 5, and 2 other arrangements across the rest. A per-user price and a flat subscription at the same headline figure are not the same purchase, the first one grows with headcount and the second does not. Multiply by your real team size before you compare two numbers side by side.

Compare ar vr tools directly

Every pairing below is a full comparison: the same checklist applied to both, so a gap in one is a gap in the other.

Go straight to the numbers

Build your own comparison See the shortlist instead

Questions people ask about ar vr software

Answered from the listings on this page, and nowhere else.

How is this ar vr ranking decided?: Mechanically. The 20 approved ar vr listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.
How much does ar vr software cost?: Across the 20 ar vr tools listed here, paid plans start between $5.99 and $3,499 a month, with a median entry price of $274.50. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $3,499 a month (Apple Vision Pro). 12 of 20 also publish a $0 plan.
What is the cheapest ar vr software?: 9 of the 20 tools listed here cost nothing at all. Among the ones that charge, Immersed has the lowest published entry price at $5.99 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.
Is there free ar vr software?: Yes, 12 of 20 tools in this category publish a plan priced at $0. 9 of them are free outright, with no paid tier above. A tool is only counted as free here when it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence, or a starting price of zero, a free trial does not count.
What features should ar vr software have?: Judging by what vendors put in their own published pricing tiers, the most frequently named capabilities in this category are export (2 of 17 tools that publish plan detail), full sdk (2) and social features (2). Treat those as the category baseline. Anything named by only one vendor, such as adobe integration or beyond 2 features plus, is a differentiator rather than a standard, so it is worth deciding whether you need it before it narrows your shortlist to one.
How is ar vr software usually billed?: free (5), freemium (5), one-time (4), subscription (3), counted across the 20 listings on this page. The distinction that costs money is per-seat versus flat: a per-user plan at the same headline price scales with your headcount and a flat subscription does not. 2 of 20 tools also keep at least one tier unpriced and sold by quote.
What does ar vr software actually cover?: The 20 tools on this page do not describe themselves the same way. The subject tags they carry most often are ar (6), collaboration (4), metaverse (4), vr (4), enterprise (3). That spread is the honest answer to what the category means in practice: it is not one product shape, and two tools filed under ar vr may overlap on very little.
How many pricing tiers do ar vr tools offer?: 17 of 20 tools here publish a plan breakdown, and the median one has 1 tiers. 3 of 20 publish three or more. More tiers is not generosity, it usually means the capability you are buying for sits two rungs above the advertised price, so price your shortlist at the tier that contains it.
How many ar vr tools are listed on Softwr?: 20 approved ar vr listings appear on this page, including AltspaceVR, Apple Vision Pro, ARCore, ARKit. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/ar-vr, which ranks the same set by published rating.

Keep reading

Neighbouring categories

Adjacent in the same taxonomy, not a ranking.

How this ranking is derived

The sort key

Where the ratings come from

What the pool is

The ranking

AltspaceVR

Apple Vision Pro

ARCore

ARKit

Babylon.js

Bigscreen

Engage VR

Frame VR

Glue

Gravity Sketch

Horizon Worlds

HTC Vive

Immersed

Instagram AR Effects

Lens Studio

Magic Leap 2

Masterpiece VR

Medium by Adobe

MeetinVR

Meta Quest