Is Mari or Redshift better?

Neither clearly leads. Mari starts at Free and Redshift at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Mari or Redshift?

Mari has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mari and $29/month for Redshift.

Does Mari or Redshift run on more platforms?

Both run on Windows, MacOS, Linux, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Mari for free?

Yes. Mari has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Redshift starts at $29/month.

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 Redshift is typically brought in for.

What can Mari do that Redshift cannot?

Mari covers High-resolution painting, UDIM support, Procedural layers, Baking. Redshift covers GPU rendering, Out-of-core rendering, Proxy system, AOVs. Both handle Maya, Floating licenses, Windows support, MacOS support.

CAD · head to head

Mari vs Redshift

Mari

CAD

3D painting for film and games

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Redshift

CAD

World's first fully GPU-accelerated biased renderer

From: $29/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Mari has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
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; Redshift no specific pricing amounts published on product page
They diverge on capability: Mari covers High-resolution painting, Redshift covers GPU rendering.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mari and Redshift actually diverge.

Attributes where Mari and Redshift differ
Attribute	Mari	Redshift
Starting price	Free	$29/month
Free tier	Yes	No
Founded	1996	2014

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), platforms (Windows, MacOS, Linux), 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 Mari

High-resolution painting
UDIM support
Procedural layers
Baking
Node graph
Color management
Nuke
Katana

Only in Redshift

GPU rendering
Out-of-core rendering
Proxy system
AOVs
Motion blur
Production shading
3ds Max
Cinema 4D

Both cover

Maya
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 Redshift
Handling very large multi-UDIM texture sets in a look development pipelinenot Redshift

Redshift

3D rendering and visualizationnot Mari
GPU-accelerated ray tracingnot Mari
Multi-GPU rendering up to 8 GPUs per machinenot 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

Redshift

No specific pricing amounts published on product page
Only 14-day free trial duration mentioned; no longer-term free tier
Must contact sales team for subscription cost details

Pricing, plan by plan

Mari

Free

Individual Subscription$86/month
- Solo artists or small companies
- $689 per year alternative billing
Team Subscription$null/year
- Node-locked or floating licenses
- Annual payment
Team Rental$949/quarter
- Short-term access
- Node-locked or floating licenses

Redshift

$29/month

Redshift$45/month
- Full GPU rendering
Maxon One$149.91/month
- Redshift + C4D + ZBrush

Which should you pick?

Choose Mari if

You need high-resolution painting.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
You also want udim support.

Mari review

Choose Redshift if

You need gpu rendering.
You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
You also want out-of-core rendering.

Redshift review

Questions people ask

Is Mari or Redshift better?: Neither clearly leads. Mari starts at Free and Redshift at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mari or Redshift?: Mari has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mari and $29/month for Redshift.
Does Mari or Redshift run on more platforms?: Both run on Windows, MacOS, Linux, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Mari for free?: Yes. Mari has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Redshift starts at $29/month.
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 Redshift is typically brought in for.
What can Mari do that Redshift cannot?: Mari covers High-resolution painting, UDIM support, Procedural layers, Baking. Redshift covers GPU rendering, Out-of-core rendering, Proxy system, AOVs. Both handle Maya, Floating licenses, Windows support, MacOS support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Mari: What is Mari's pricing?

Individual Subscription costs $689 per year or $86 per month. Team Subscription costs $1,289 per year. Team Rental costs $949 per quarter for short-term access. Both subscriptions support node-locked or floating licenses.

Source

Redshift: What is included with a Redshift subscription?

Redshift Subscription includes all integration plugins and capability for multiple instances up to 8 GPUs on a single computer. Specific features beyond rendering engine not detailed in public pricing documentation.

Source

Mari: Does Mari offer a free trial?

Mari offers a free 30-day trial with unrestricted access to help users evaluate the software before purchasing.

Source

Redshift: How long is the Redshift trial period?

Redshift offers a 14-day free trial for users to evaluate the software before purchase commitment.

Source

Mari: Does Mari offer student pricing?

Yes, Mari offers free or discounted access to all Foundry products for students, as well as free non-commercial licenses for learning and exploration.

Source

Redshift: Where can I find Redshift pricing details?

Specific pricing is available through Redshift store access or by contacting the sales team directly. Pricing amounts are not listed on the public product page.

Source

Mari vs Redshift

Mari

Redshift

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Mari

Only in Redshift

Both cover

What people use each for

Mari

Redshift

Where each one falls short

Mari

Redshift

Pricing, plan by plan

Mari

Redshift

Which should you pick?

Choose Mari if

Choose Redshift if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Mari

More on Redshift

Keep looking

Other head to heads