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CAD · head to head

3D-Coat vs Altium 365

3D-Coat logo

3D-Coat

CAD

Digital sculpting for game artists

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Altium 365 logo

Altium 365

CAD

Cloud workspace for Altium Designer PCB projects, now inside Renesas

From
$1990/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 3D-Coat specific pricing not disclosed on website; Altium 365 the 1,990 US dollar Altium Develop entry price is capped at five authors in total, so a growing team hits a forced migration to Agile Teams with unpublished pricing exactly when headcount is rising.
  • They diverge on capability: 3D-Coat covers Voxel sculpting, Altium 365 covers Shared workspace.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which 3D-Coat and Altium 365 actually diverge.

Attributes where 3D-Coat and Altium 365 differ
Attribute3D-CoatAltium 365
Starting price$29/month$1990/year
Pricing modelone-timePer user per year
PlatformsWindows, MacOS, LinuxWeb, Windows, Cloud, On-premise
Founded2007Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (CAD).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in 3D-Coat

  • Voxel sculpting
  • Surface sculpting
  • Retopology
  • UV mapping
  • Texture painting
  • PBR materials
  • Smart materials
  • Baking

Only in Altium 365

  • Shared workspace
  • Managed components
  • Browser review
  • Unlimited workspace users
  • MCAD CoDesigner
  • Manufacturing portal
  • Requirements Portal
  • BOM Portal

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

3D-Coat

  • Voxel sculpting from a digital clay blocknot Altium 365
  • Retopology of high-density sculpts into production meshesnot Altium 365
  • UV mapping and PBR texturingnot Altium 365
  • Preparing print-ready models for 3D printingnot Altium 365
  • Node-based material authoring on the GPUnot Altium 365

Altium 365

  • A hardware startup where two engineers draw boards but eight people need to review them, avoiding eight CAD seatsnot 3D-Coat
  • A team handing fabrication and assembly data to a contract manufacturer as a versioned release rather than a zip of Gerbersnot 3D-Coat
  • A company running board and enclosure design in parallel and needing bidirectional geometry exchange with mechanical CADnot 3D-Coat
  • A buyer checking component lifecycle and availability against the live BOM before a design is frozennot 3D-Coat

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

3D-Coat

  • Specific pricing not disclosed on website
  • 3DCoatPrint free version limited to 40K triangles on export
  • Requires contacting sales or visiting store for pricing details

Altium 365

  • The 1,990 US dollar Altium Develop entry price is capped at five authors in total, so a growing team hits a forced migration to Agile Teams with unpublished pricing exactly when headcount is rising.
  • Add-on portals are expensive per seat; BOM Portal has been quoted at around 1,999 US dollars per user per year and MCAD CoDesigner at around 499, so the real cost of a working configuration is well above the headline.
  • It is tied to Altium Designer; there is no meaningful use of the platform for teams designing in KiCad, OrCAD or Allegro, which makes it a lock-in decision rather than a tooling one.
  • Renesas acquired Altium in 2024, and a semiconductor manufacturer owning the design tool used to select competing semiconductors is a conflict some buyers will want addressed in writing before uploading a library.
  • Repeated repackaging, from Altium 365 Standard and Pro tiers to Altium Develop and Agile Teams, has made renewal comparisons difficult and customers have found their previous tier no longer maps to anything on the price list.

Pricing, plan by plan

3D-Coat

$29/month
  • Amateur$99/month
    • Non-commercial use
  • Professional$379/month
    • Full commercial license
  • Floating$568/month
    • Network licensing

Altium 365

$1990/year
  • Altium Develop$1990/year
    • One Altium Designer author licence
    • One workspace for shared projects and libraries
    • Unlimited workspace users for review, comment, tasks and BOM access
  • Altium Agile Teams$undefined/year
    • For teams beyond five ECAD authors
    • Extended workspace governance and administration
    • Quoted, no published price
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • On-premise or private cloud workspace server
    • Formal ECO and lifecycle governance
    • Quoted, no published price

Which should you pick?

Choose 3D-Coat if

  • You need voxel sculpting.
  • You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
  • You also want surface sculpting.
3D-Coat review

Choose Altium 365 if

  • You need shared workspace.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Cloud, On-premise.
  • You also want managed components.
Altium 365 review

Questions people ask

Is 3D-Coat or Altium 365 better?
Neither clearly leads. 3D-Coat starts at $29/month and Altium 365 at $1990/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, 3D-Coat or Altium 365?
3D-Coat starts at $29/month and Altium 365 at $1990/year.
Does 3D-Coat or Altium 365 run on more platforms?
3D-Coat runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux. Altium 365 runs on Web, Windows, Cloud, On-premise.
What is 3D-Coat best used for?
3D-Coat is most often used for voxel sculpting from a digital clay block, retopology of high-density sculpts into production meshes, uv mapping and pbr texturing, preparing print-ready models for 3d printing. Of those, voxel sculpting from a digital clay block and retopology of high-density sculpts into production meshes are not what Altium 365 is typically brought in for.
What can 3D-Coat do that Altium 365 cannot?
3D-Coat covers Voxel sculpting, Surface sculpting, Retopology, UV mapping. Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, Managed components, Browser review, Unlimited workspace users.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

3D-Coat: Is there a free version of 3D Coat?

Yes, 3D Coat offers multiple free options. 3DCoatPrint is a special free version designed for 3D print-ready models, limited to 40K triangles on export. Additionally, a 30-day unlimited trial is available for the full version.

Source
Altium 365: Is Altium 365 free with Altium Designer?

A workspace is included with a current subscription, but the higher tiers, extra authors and the add-on portals are chargeable. The unlimited non-author users are genuinely included.

3D-Coat: What is the 30-day trial period for 3D Coat?

3D Coat provides a 30-day trial with unlimited learning resources. The trial grants full access to all tools needed to create production-ready, fully textured 3D models.

Source
Altium 365: What does it cost?

Altium Develop starts at about 1,990 US dollars a year for one author plus a workspace, with extra authors at 995 US dollars each up to four more. Larger teams are quoted.

3D-Coat: Does 3D Coat offer specialized versions?

Yes, 3D Coat offers 3DCoatTextura as a specialized version focused on texturing and rendering at a more affordable price than the full 3DCoat version.

Source
Altium 365: Who owns Altium now?

Renesas Electronics completed its acquisition of Altium in 2024. Altium 365 is therefore a Renesas-owned platform.

Altium 365: Can I keep design data on my own servers?

Yes, through the Enterprise on-premise workspace server, but that is a quoted product and most of the newer portal features assume the hosted platform.

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