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CAD · head to head

Altium 365 vs ZBrush

Altium 365 logo

Altium 365

CAD

Cloud workspace for Altium Designer PCB projects, now inside Renesas

From
$1990/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
ZBrush logo

ZBrush

CAD

Industry standard for digital sculpting

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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Develop entry price is capped at five authors in total, so a growing team hits a forced migration to Agile Teams with unpublished pricing exactly when headcount is rising.; ZBrush subscription model required; no perpetual licence option available
  • They diverge on capability: Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, ZBrush covers Digital sculpting.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Altium 365 and ZBrush actually diverge.

Attributes where Altium 365 and ZBrush differ
AttributeAltium 365ZBrush
Starting price$1990/yearOn request
Pricing modelPer user per yearsubscription
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Cloud, On-premiseWindows, macOS, iPadOS
FoundedUnknown1986

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 Altium 365

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

Only in ZBrush

  • Digital sculpting
  • Dynamesh
  • ZRemesher
  • PolyPaint
  • Live Boolean
  • Sculptris Pro
  • UV Master
  • High polygon handling

What people use each for

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

Altium 365

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

ZBrush

  • Digital character and creature sculptingnot Altium 365
  • High-polygon organic form designnot Altium 365
  • Texture painting and PolyPaint worknot Altium 365
  • Game asset creation and 3D modellingnot Altium 365

Where each one falls short

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

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.

ZBrush

  • Subscription model required; no perpetual licence option available
  • iPad version requires separate subscription to ZBrush for iPad

Pricing, plan by plan

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

ZBrush

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the ZBrush review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Altium 365 if

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

Choose ZBrush if

  • You need digital sculpting.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, iPadOS.
  • You also want dynamesh.
ZBrush review

Questions people ask

Is Altium 365 or ZBrush better?
Neither clearly leads. Altium 365 starts at $1990/year and ZBrush at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Altium 365 or ZBrush?
Altium 365 starts at $1990/year and ZBrush at On request.
Does Altium 365 or ZBrush run on more platforms?
Altium 365 runs on Web, Windows, Cloud, On-premise. ZBrush runs on Windows, macOS, iPadOS.
What is Altium 365 best used for?
Altium 365 is most often used for a hardware startup where two engineers draw boards but eight people need to review them, avoiding eight cad seats, a team handing fabrication and assembly data to a contract manufacturer as a versioned release rather than a zip of gerbers, a company running board and enclosure design in parallel and needing bidirectional geometry exchange with mechanical cad, a buyer checking component lifecycle and availability against the live bom before a design is frozen. Of those, a hardware startup where two engineers draw boards but eight people need to review them, avoiding eight cad seats and a team handing fabrication and assembly data to a contract manufacturer as a versioned release rather than a zip of gerbers are not what ZBrush is typically brought in for.
What can Altium 365 do that ZBrush cannot?
Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, Managed components, Browser review, Unlimited workspace users. ZBrush covers Digital sculpting, Dynamesh, ZRemesher, PolyPaint.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

ZBrush: What is included in a ZBrush subscription?

Every ZBrush subscription includes ZBrush on desktop, iPad, and Windows on Arm devices with premium features, rendering with Redshift, ZBrush Classroom, and Cineversity training.

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.

ZBrush: Is there a free trial available?

Yes. Download the Maxon App to start your 14-day free trial. Every trial includes ZBrush and the full Maxon One suite.

Source
Altium 365: Who owns Altium now?

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

ZBrush: Can I use ZBrush on multiple devices?

ZBrush licensing is dual platform, so you can run on desktop and iPad simultaneously or switch between them at any time.

Source
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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