Software · head to head
8th Wall vs Quill
The short version
- Only 8th Wall has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: 8th Wall platform shutdown as of February 2026, with hosted services ending; Quill quill.art, run by Smoothstep LLC, discloses no pricing anywhere on its own site (confirmed by direct fetch); Quill was originally a Facebook/Meta product and was handed to its creator Inigo Quilez in 2021 when Meta open-sourced the Quill file format and stopped supporting the original Oculus Store listing, so buyers today are dealing with a small independent studio rather than a large platform vendor.
- They diverge on capability: 8th Wall covers SLAM tracking, Quill covers VR illustration.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which 8th Wall and Quill actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 8th Wall
- SLAM tracking
- Image targets
- Face effects
- World tracking
- Three.js
- A-Frame
- Babylon.js
- PlayCanvas
Only in Quill
- VR illustration
- Animation timeline
- Layers
- Brushes
- FBX export
- Video export
- Alembic
- Vr support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
8th Wall
- VR Gaming
- AR Marketing
- Virtual Training
- 3D Visualization
- Immersive Experiences
Quill
- VR Gaming
- AR Marketing
- Virtual Training
- 3D Visualization
- Immersive Experiences
Both are used for vr gaming, ar marketing, virtual training, 3d visualization, immersive experiences, on those jobs the choice comes down to price and fit rather than capability.
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
8th Wall
- Platform shutdown as of February 2026, with hosted services ending
- WebAR performance limitations compared to native app AR experiences
- Requires internet connection for all AR experiences to function
- Limited browser support; Firefox and Safari do not support WebXR on desktop and mobile
Quill
- quill.art, run by Smoothstep LLC, discloses no pricing anywhere on its own site (confirmed by direct fetch); Quill was originally a Facebook/Meta product and was handed to its creator Inigo Quilez in 2021 when Meta open-sourced the Quill file format and stopped supporting the original Oculus Store listing, so buyers today are dealing with a small independent studio rather than a large platform vendor.
Pricing, plan by plan
8th Wall
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the 8th Wall review.
Quill
$24.99/one-time- Quill$24.99/one-time
- VR illustration
- Animation
- Export
Which should you pick?
Choose 8th Wall if
- You need slam tracking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web (WebXR), Mobile browsers, Open source (local deployment).
- You also want image targets.
Choose Quill if
- You need vr illustration.
- You work on Vr, Quest.
- You also want animation timeline.
Questions people ask
- Is 8th Wall or Quill better?
- Neither clearly leads. 8th Wall starts at Free and Quill at $24.99/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, 8th Wall or Quill?
- 8th Wall has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for 8th Wall and $24.99/one-time for Quill.
- Does 8th Wall or Quill run on more platforms?
- 8th Wall runs on Web (WebXR), Mobile browsers, Open source (local deployment). Quill runs on Vr, Quest.
- Can I use 8th Wall for free?
- Yes. 8th Wall has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Quill starts at $24.99/one-time.
- What is 8th Wall best used for?
- 8th Wall is most often used for vr gaming, ar marketing, virtual training, 3d visualization.
- What can 8th Wall do that Quill cannot?
- 8th Wall covers SLAM tracking, Image targets, Face effects, World tracking. Quill covers VR illustration, Animation timeline, Layers, Brushes.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
8th Wall: What is 8th Wall and how does it work?
8th Wall was a WebAR platform enabling AR experiences in web browsers without native app installation. As of February 2026, it transitioned to open source at 8thwall.org with free MIT-licensed technology.
Source8th Wall: Is 8th Wall still available?
The paid hosted platform shut down February 28, 2026. The core technology was released as open source at 8thwall.org. Existing published projects remain online until February 28, 2027, when all hosted content will be permanently deleted.
Source8th Wall: What licensing is available for 8th Wall?
8th Wall is now released under the MIT open source license at no cost for commercial use. Previously, commercial licensing started at $700 per month per project.
SourceRelated pages
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