CAD · head to head
V-Ray vs Zoo
Zoo
CAD
Cloud CAD with a scripting language and a geometry engine exposed as an API
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Zoo 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; Zoo the geometry engine runs entirely in Zoo's cloud and there is no offline mode, so an aircraft, a customer site with no guest wifi or an outage stops modelling work completely.
- They diverge on capability: V-Ray covers Ray tracing, Zoo covers KCL scripting.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which V-Ray and Zoo actually diverge.
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 Zoo
- KCL scripting
- Design Studio
- Design API
- Zookeeper agent
- Format conversion
- Open source client
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 Zoo
- Real time and ray traced rendering inside CAD and 3D applicationsnot Zoo
Zoo
- A hardware startup that wants part models reviewed in pull requests alongside firmwarenot V-Ray
- A software team generating thousands of parametric part variants programmatically rather than by handnot V-Ray
- A SaaS product that needs to render and convert customer CAD files without licensing a geometry kernelnot V-Ray
- An engineer who models occasional brackets and enclosures and does not want a four figure annual seatnot 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
Zoo
- The geometry engine runs entirely in Zoo's cloud and there is no offline mode, so an aircraft, a customer site with no guest wifi or an outage stops modelling work completely.
- STEP and SLDPRT import are still labelled experimental, which means the most common way of receiving a supplier or customer model is the least reliable path into the tool.
- Drawing production, GD&T and tolerance annotation are far behind SolidWorks, Creo and NX, so most users still need a second package to release a manufacturing drawing.
- Zookeeper is billed in reasoning minutes rather than per seat, so a team cannot forecast next month's bill from headcount the way it can with conventional CAD subscriptions.
- The open source label applies only to the Design Studio client; the kernel that does the modelling is closed and hosted, so forking the repository does not give you a product you can run yourself.
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
Zoo
Free- FreeFree
- Design Studio access
- About 20 minutes of Zookeeper reasoning per month
- Around $10 of API calls included
- Plus$20/month
- Roughly 400 Zookeeper minutes per month
- Pay as you go beyond the allowance
- Design Studio and API access
- Pro$99/month
- Unlimited Zookeeper reasoning
- Higher API allowance
- Priority support
Which should you pick?
Choose V-Ray if
- You need ray tracing.
- You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
- You also want global illumination.
Choose Zoo if
- You need kcl scripting.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, API.
- You also want design studio.
Questions people ask
- Is V-Ray or Zoo better?
- Neither clearly leads. V-Ray starts at $29/month and Zoo at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, V-Ray or Zoo?
- Zoo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for V-Ray and Free for Zoo.
- Does V-Ray or Zoo run on more platforms?
- V-Ray runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux. Zoo runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, API.
- Can I use Zoo for free?
- Yes. Zoo 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 Zoo is typically brought in for.
- What can V-Ray do that Zoo cannot?
- V-Ray covers Ray tracing, Global illumination, GPU rendering, CPU rendering. Zoo covers KCL scripting, Design Studio, Design API, Zookeeper agent.
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.
SourceZoo: Is Zoo the same company as KittyCAD?
Yes. KittyCAD renamed itself Zoo; the GitHub organisation is still KittyCAD and the scripting language KCL keeps the old initials.
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.
SourceZoo: Can I use Zoo without an internet connection?
No. The geometry engine is a cloud service, so Design Studio needs a live connection to model anything.
Zoo: Is Design Studio free?
There is a genuine free tier with a small monthly allowance of AI reasoning and API calls. Paid plans start at $20 per month.
Zoo: Can I replace SolidWorks with Zoo?
Not for drawing release, large assemblies or GD&T. Teams typically use Zoo for programmatic part generation and keep an established package for production documentation.
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- Zoo vs MicroSurvey CAD
- Zoo vs Creo
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- Zoo vs MoI (Moment of Inspiration)
- Zoo vs Nomad Sculpt
- Zoo vs nTop
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