Softwr

CAD · head to head

V-Ray vs RealityScan

V-Ray logo

V-Ray

CAD

Professional 3D rendering software

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
RealityScan logo

RealityScan

CAD

The photogrammetry engine formerly called RealityCapture, free below a one million dollar revenue line

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only RealityScan has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: V-Ray licences are subscription only with no perpetual option listed for any product; 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: V-Ray covers Ray tracing, RealityScan covers Photogrammetric reconstruction.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which V-Ray and RealityScan actually diverge.

Attributes where V-Ray and RealityScan differ
AttributeV-RayRealityScan
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionFree below a revenue threshold, then per seat per year
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, MacOS, LinuxWindows
Founded1997Unknown

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 V-Ray

  • Ray tracing
  • Global illumination
  • GPU rendering
  • CPU rendering
  • Materials
  • Lighting
  • VR output
  • Scene intelligence

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.

V-Ray

  • Photorealistic rendering for architecture and product visualisationnot RealityScan
  • Real time and ray traced rendering inside CAD and 3D applicationsnot RealityScan

RealityScan

  • A two-person heritage survey practice under the revenue threshold that can now run professional photogrammetry at no licence costnot V-Ray
  • A film or games asset team scanning props and environments at very high image counts where processing speed decides the schedulenot V-Ray
  • A survey firm combining terrestrial laser scans with drone photography and needing both aligned in a single reconstructionnot V-Ray
  • A construction reality-capture operator producing meshes for Unreal-based client visualisation from the same source imagerynot V-Ray

Where each one falls short

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

V-Ray

  • Licences are subscription only with no perpetual option listed for any product
  • Subscription terms renew automatically
  • Cloud rendering runs on separately purchased credits, with the Pro tier at $25.30 a month for 1,000
  • Enterprise pricing requires contacting sales

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

V-Ray

$29/month
  • V-Ray Solo$60/month
    • 1 workstation
    • 5 render nodes
  • V-Ray Premium$80/month
    • Multiple apps
    • Cloud credits

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 V-Ray if

  • You need ray tracing.
  • You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
  • You also want global illumination.
V-Ray review

Choose RealityScan if

  • You need photogrammetric reconstruction.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want laser scan fusion.
RealityScan review

Questions people ask

Is V-Ray or RealityScan better?
Neither clearly leads. V-Ray starts at $29/month and RealityScan at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, V-Ray or RealityScan?
RealityScan has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for V-Ray and Free for RealityScan.
Does V-Ray or RealityScan run on more platforms?
V-Ray runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux. RealityScan runs on Windows.
Can I use RealityScan for free?
Yes. RealityScan has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. V-Ray starts at $29/month.
What is V-Ray best used for?
V-Ray is most often used for photorealistic rendering for architecture and product visualisation, real time and ray traced rendering inside cad and 3d applications. Of those, photorealistic rendering for architecture and product visualisation and real time and ray traced rendering inside cad and 3d applications are not what RealityScan is typically brought in for.
What can V-Ray do that RealityScan cannot?
V-Ray covers Ray tracing, Global illumination, GPU rendering, CPU rendering. RealityScan covers Photogrammetric reconstruction, Laser scan fusion, Ground control points, Texturing and unwrapping.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

V-Ray: What is included in Chaos software subscriptions?

All Chaos subscriptions include free support, access to a large community of professionals, continuous updates, and a 14-day money-back guarantee. Annual subscriptions save 45% versus monthly billing. Use of AI credits voids the refund right.

Source
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.

V-Ray: Does Chaos offer enterprise pricing?

Yes, Chaos provides enterprise pricing plans for teams with more than 10 licenses. Enterprise customers should contact the Chaos sales team directly for custom pricing quotes tailored to their specific needs.

Source
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.

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.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on V-Ray

More on RealityScan

Keep looking

Other head to heads