Software · head to head
Mari vs Modo
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Mari the full annual licence is $1,289 paid annually, and a short term quarterly rental is $949 per quarter; Modo foundry announced on November 7, 2024 that it is winding down development of Modo after the Modo 17.1 release, with no further feature or maintenance releases anticipated
- They diverge on capability: Mari covers High-resolution painting, Modo covers Polygon modeling.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Mari and Modo actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), platforms (Windows, MacOS, Linux), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown), founded (1996).
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 Mari
- High-resolution painting
- UDIM support
- Procedural layers
- Baking
- Node graph
- Color management
- Maya
- Nuke
Only in Modo
- Polygon modeling
- Subdivision surfaces
- Sculpting
- UV tools
- Procedural modeling
- Rendering
- Animation
- MeshFusion
Both cover
- Floating licenses
- Windows support
- MacOS support
- Linux support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Mari
- Painting textures directly onto high complexity 3D assets for film and gamesnot Modo
- Handling very large multi-UDIM texture sets in a look development pipelinenot Modo
Modo
- Polygon and subdivision surface modelling for media and entertainment assetsnot Mari
- Look development and rendering of product and character modelsnot Mari
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Mari
- The full annual licence is $1,289 paid annually, and a short term quarterly rental is $949 per quarter
- The cheap $299 per year or $35 per month subscription is restricted to a single licence for people working alone or in small companies
- Node-locked and floating are separate licence types you must choose between
- All listed prices are before applicable taxes
- A separate non-commercial licence exists, so commercial use requires a paid tier
Modo
- Foundry announced on November 7, 2024 that it is winding down development of Modo after the Modo 17.1 release, with no further feature or maintenance releases anticipated
- Support continues only until each customer's current contract term expires
- Foundry does not guarantee that Modo will keep working on future operating system updates because no patches will be issued, and recommends customers migrate to alternative 3D workflows
- Perpetual licences keep working but receive no further updates, bug fixes or support
- The Modo forums closed in December 2024 and downloads, docs and the support knowledgebase were committed only until November 2025
Pricing, plan by plan
Mari
$29/month- Mari$1906/month
- Full features
Modo
$29/month- Indie$599/month
- Full Modo
- Revenue limit $100K
- Modo$1898/month
- Full commercial license
Which should you pick?
Choose Mari if
- You need high-resolution painting.
- You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
- You also want udim support.
Choose Modo if
- You need polygon modeling.
- You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
- You also want subdivision surfaces.
Questions people ask
- Is Mari or Modo better?
- Neither clearly leads. Mari starts at $29/month and Modo at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Mari or Modo?
- Mari starts at $29/month and Modo at $29/month.
- Does Mari or Modo run on more platforms?
- Both run on Windows, MacOS, Linux, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- What is Mari best used for?
- Mari is most often used for painting textures directly onto high complexity 3d assets for film and games, handling very large multi-udim texture sets in a look development pipeline. Of those, painting textures directly onto high complexity 3d assets for film and games and handling very large multi-udim texture sets in a look development pipeline are not what Modo is typically brought in for.
- What can Mari do that Modo cannot?
- Mari covers High-resolution painting, UDIM support, Procedural layers, Baking. Modo covers Polygon modeling, Subdivision surfaces, Sculpting, UV tools. Both handle Floating licenses, Windows support, MacOS support, Linux support.