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Mari vs Substance 3D Designer

Mari logo

Mari

Software

3D painting for film and games

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Substance 3D Designer logo

Substance 3D Designer

Software

Node-based material authoring

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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; Substance 3D Designer as of a 1 January 2023 archived capture, Adobe Substance 3D Designer is not sold standalone; it requires the Substance 3D Collection subscription plan at US$49.99 per month
  • They diverge on capability: Mari covers High-resolution painting, Substance 3D Designer covers Node-based workflow.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mari and Substance 3D Designer actually diverge.

Attributes where Mari and Substance 3D Designer differ
AttributeMariSubstance 3D Designer
Founded19961982

Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), platforms (Windows, MacOS, Linux), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Substance 3D Designer

  • Node-based workflow
  • Procedural generation
  • PBR materials
  • Patterns
  • Filters
  • Custom nodes
  • MDL export
  • Painter

Both cover

  • Maya
  • 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 Substance 3D Designer
  • Handling very large multi-UDIM texture sets in a look development pipelinenot Substance 3D Designer

Substance 3D Designer

  • Material creationnot Mari
  • Procedural texturesnot 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

Substance 3D Designer

  • As of a 1 January 2023 archived capture, Adobe Substance 3D Designer is not sold standalone; it requires the Substance 3D Collection subscription plan at US$49.99 per month

Pricing, plan by plan

Mari

$29/month
  • Mari$1906/month
    • Full features

Substance 3D Designer

$29/month
  • Substance 3D Collection$49.99/month
    • All Substance apps

Which should you pick?

Choose Mari if

  • You need high-resolution painting.
  • You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
  • You also want udim support.
Mari review

Choose Substance 3D Designer if

  • You need node-based workflow.
  • You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
  • You also want procedural generation.
Substance 3D Designer review

Questions people ask

Is Mari or Substance 3D Designer better?
Neither clearly leads. Mari starts at $29/month and Substance 3D Designer at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mari or Substance 3D Designer?
Mari starts at $29/month and Substance 3D Designer at $29/month.
Does Mari or Substance 3D Designer 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 Substance 3D Designer is typically brought in for.
What can Mari do that Substance 3D Designer cannot?
Mari covers High-resolution painting, UDIM support, Procedural layers, Baking. Substance 3D Designer covers Node-based workflow, Procedural generation, PBR materials, Patterns. Both handle Maya, Windows support, MacOS support, Linux support.
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