Software · head to head
ARCore vs Quill
The short version
- Only ARCore has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: ARCore aRCore limited to Android 7.0+, excluding older Android devices; 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: ARCore covers Motion tracking, Quill covers VR illustration.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which ARCore 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 ARCore
- Motion tracking
- Environmental understanding
- Light estimation
- Depth API
- Unity
- Unreal
- Android Studio
- Ar support
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.
ARCore
- 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.
ARCore
- ARCore limited to Android 7.0+, excluding older Android devices
- Requires integration with game engines or frameworks for most applications
- Cloud anchors rely on internet connectivity for shared AR experiences
- Performance varies significantly across different Android device capabilities
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
ARCore
Free- FreeFree
- Full SDK
- Cloud Anchors
- Geospatial API
Quill
$24.99/one-time- Quill$24.99/one-time
- VR illustration
- Animation
- Export
Which should you pick?
Choose ARCore if
- You need motion tracking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Android, iOS, Web.
- You also want environmental understanding.
Choose Quill if
- You need vr illustration.
- You work on Vr, Quest.
- You also want animation timeline.
Questions people ask
- Is ARCore or Quill better?
- Neither clearly leads. ARCore 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, ARCore or Quill?
- ARCore has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ARCore and $24.99/one-time for Quill.
- Does ARCore or Quill run on more platforms?
- ARCore runs on Android, iOS, Web. Quill runs on Vr, Quest.
- Can I use ARCore for free?
- Yes. ARCore has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Quill starts at $24.99/one-time.
- What is ARCore best used for?
- ARCore is most often used for vr gaming, ar marketing, virtual training, 3d visualization.
- What can ARCore do that Quill cannot?
- ARCore covers Motion tracking, Environmental understanding, Light estimation, Depth API. Quill covers VR illustration, Animation timeline, Layers, Brushes.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
ARCore: What platforms does ARCore support?
ARCore supports Android 7.0 (Nougat) and later on qualified Android phones. SDKs are also available for iOS, Unity, Unreal Engine, and Web (WebXR).
SourceARCore: What are the three core capabilities of ARCore?
ARCore provides motion tracking to monitor device position, environmental understanding to detect surfaces like floors and walls, and light estimation to analyze surrounding lighting conditions.
SourceARCore: Can developers build shared AR experiences with ARCore?
Yes, ARCore supports cloud anchors enabling multiple users to see the same virtual objects in the real world, enabling shared AR experiences.
SourceARCore: What programming languages does ARCore support?
ARCore supports Kotlin and Java for Android, C through Android NDK, and provides APIs for Unity, Unreal Engine, iOS, and Web platforms.
Source