CAD · head to head
Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler vs RealityScan
Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
CAD
Photogrammetry engine formerly sold as ContextCapture, now inside Bentley's iTwin line
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
RealityScan
CAD
The photogrammetry engine formerly called RealityCapture, free below a one million dollar revenue line
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only RealityScan has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler the rename from ContextCapture is more than cosmetic: licensing moved into Bentley's subscription and consumption model, and existing perpetual users should confirm what a renewal converts to before assuming continuity of cost.; RealityScan the free tier is bounded by company revenue rather than by usage, so a business crossing one million US dollars of turnover acquires a per-seat cost overnight for software its workflow now depends on
- They diverge on capability: Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler covers Aerial triangulation, RealityScan covers Photogrammetric reconstruction.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler and RealityScan actually diverge.
| Attribute | Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler | RealityScan |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | Free |
| Pricing model | quote | Free below a revenue threshold, then per seat per year |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Windows, Cloud | Windows |
Identical on both: 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 Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
- Aerial triangulation
- Dense mesh reconstruction
- Point cloud fusion
- Orthophoto and DSM output
- 3D Tiles and 3MX export
- Distributed processing
- Retouching and editing
- Georeferencing and control
Only in RealityScan
- Photogrammetric reconstruction
- Laser scan fusion
- Ground control points
- Texturing and unwrapping
- Command line interface
- Unreal Engine path
- Component alignment control
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
- A highway authority reconstructing a corridor from drone imagery for design work in OpenRoadsnot RealityScan
- A survey firm delivering city-scale textured meshes to a municipal client for planning and visualisationnot RealityScan
- An engineering consultancy fusing terrestrial laser scans with drone photography of a bridge for condition assessmentnot RealityScan
- A team publishing streamable 3D Tiles of a construction site so stakeholders can view it in a browsernot RealityScan
RealityScan
- A two-person heritage survey practice under the revenue threshold that can now run professional photogrammetry at no licence costnot Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
- A film or games asset team scanning props and environments at very high image counts where processing speed decides the schedulenot Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
- A survey firm combining terrestrial laser scans with drone photography and needing both aligned in a single reconstructionnot Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
- A construction reality-capture operator producing meshes for Unreal-based client visualisation from the same source imagerynot Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
- The rename from ContextCapture is more than cosmetic: licensing moved into Bentley's subscription and consumption model, and existing perpetual users should confirm what a renewal converts to before assuming continuity of cost.
- Consumption-based entitlements make the cost of a large reconstruction hard to predict in advance, which is awkward when you are quoting a fixed-price deliverable to a client.
- The desktop engine is Windows only and reconstruction is compute-hungry, so meaningful throughput needs either serious workstation hardware or paid cloud processing.
- Bentley does not publish a plain rate card and pricing varies by region, reseller and existing agreement, so two firms buying the same thing can pay very different amounts.
- Value compounds inside the Bentley ecosystem, and a firm whose design work happens in Autodesk or Esri tools pays for a positioning it will not use while getting the same mesh a cheaper standalone photogrammetry package would produce.
RealityScan
- The free tier is bounded by company revenue rather than by usage, so a business crossing one million US dollars of turnover acquires a per-seat cost overnight for software its workflow now depends on
- New perpetual licences are no longer sold, so an organisation that deliberately avoided subscription software has no route in; existing perpetual holders keep their version but stop receiving updates unless they accept the current terms
- It is Windows only and needs an NVIDIA CUDA capable GPU, which excludes macOS studios and makes the real cost of adoption a workstation purchase rather than a licence
- The rename from RealityCapture to RealityScan in 2025 means tutorials, forum answers and third party pipeline documentation are split across two names and several licensing regimes, and much of it is now wrong about price
- The interface assumes photogrammetry knowledge; alignment failures, control point placement and reconstruction region setup are not guided, so a team without an experienced operator produces poor models quickly rather than good ones slowly
Pricing, plan by plan
Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
On request- iTwin Capture Modeler$undefined/year
- Subscription entitlement through Bentley licensing
- Consumption charged against Bentley Keys on some agreements
- Reality Modeling WorkSuite bundles Modeler with reality data management
RealityScan
Free- Free tierFree
- For individuals and companies with annual revenue under 1,000,000 USD
- Full application, no metered input charges
- Epic account required
- RealityScan seat$1250/year
- Required once annual revenue exceeds 1,000,000 USD
- Per seat, per year
- Commercial use without output restrictions
- Unreal Engine subscription$1850/year
- Per seat per year
- Includes RealityScan and Twinmotion
- For teams that also need Unreal Engine for non-game commercial use
Which should you pick?
Choose Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler if
- You need aerial triangulation.
- You work on Windows, Cloud.
- You also want dense mesh reconstruction.
Choose RealityScan if
- You need photogrammetric reconstruction.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Windows.
- You also want laser scan fusion.
Questions people ask
- Is Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler or RealityScan better?
- Neither clearly leads. Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler starts at On request and RealityScan at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler or RealityScan?
- RealityScan has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler and Free for RealityScan.
- Does Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler or RealityScan run on more platforms?
- Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler runs on Windows, Cloud. RealityScan runs on Windows.
- Can I use RealityScan for free?
- Yes. RealityScan has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler starts at On request.
- What is Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler best used for?
- Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler is most often used for a highway authority reconstructing a corridor from drone imagery for design work in openroads, a survey firm delivering city-scale textured meshes to a municipal client for planning and visualisation, an engineering consultancy fusing terrestrial laser scans with drone photography of a bridge for condition assessment, a team publishing streamable 3d tiles of a construction site so stakeholders can view it in a browser. Of those, a highway authority reconstructing a corridor from drone imagery for design work in openroads and a survey firm delivering city-scale textured meshes to a municipal client for planning and visualisation are not what RealityScan is typically brought in for.
- What can Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler do that RealityScan cannot?
- Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler covers Aerial triangulation, Dense mesh reconstruction, Point cloud fusion, Orthophoto and DSM output. RealityScan covers Photogrammetric reconstruction, Laser scan fusion, Ground control points, Texturing and unwrapping.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler: Is ContextCapture discontinued?
The name is. The product continues as iTwin Capture Modeler within Bentley's iTwin family.
RealityScan: Is RealityCapture still called that?
No. Epic rebranded it to RealityScan with version 2.0 in 2025. It is the same engine and the same team.
Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler: Does it still support a perpetual licence?
New buyers should expect subscription or consumption-based entitlements. Confirm the exact conversion path if you hold an older perpetual licence.
RealityScan: Who gets it free?
Individuals and companies with annual revenue under one million US dollars. Above that, a seat is 1,250 US dollars per year.
Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler: Can it process laser scan data as well as photographs?
Yes. It fuses point clouds with imagery in a single reconstruction.
RealityScan: Can I still buy a perpetual licence?
Not for new purchases. Existing perpetual licences remain valid for the version owned, with updates only under the current terms.
Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler: Do I need other Bentley software to use it?
No, output formats are usable elsewhere, but the commercial and workflow case is strongest if you already run MicroStation or OpenRoads.
RealityScan: Does the free version restrict output?
No output metering or watermarking; the restriction is on who qualifies, based on company revenue, not on what you export.
Related pages
More on Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
More on RealityScan
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