Software · head to head
Quill vs ARCore
The short version
- Only ARCore has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Quill quill.art, run by Smoothstep LLC, discloses no pricing anywhere on its own site (confirmed by direct fetch); Quill was originally a Facebook/Meta product and was handed to its creator Inigo Quilez in 2021 when Meta open-sourced the Quill file format and stopped supporting the original Oculus Store listing, so buyers today are dealing with a small independent studio rather than a large platform vendor.; ARCore aRCore limited to Android 7.0+, excluding older Android devices
- They diverge on capability: Quill covers VR illustration, ARCore covers Motion tracking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Quill and ARCore actually diverge.
Identical on both: 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 Quill
- VR illustration
- Animation timeline
- Layers
- Brushes
- FBX export
- Video export
- Alembic
- Vr support
Only in ARCore
- Motion tracking
- Environmental understanding
- Light estimation
- Depth API
- Unity
- Unreal
- Android Studio
- Ar support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Quill
- VR Gaming
- AR Marketing
- Virtual Training
- 3D Visualization
- Immersive Experiences
ARCore
- VR Gaming
- AR Marketing
- Virtual Training
- 3D Visualization
- Immersive Experiences
Both are used for vr gaming, ar marketing, virtual training, 3d visualization, immersive experiences, on those jobs the choice comes down to price and fit rather than capability.
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Quill
- quill.art, run by Smoothstep LLC, discloses no pricing anywhere on its own site (confirmed by direct fetch); Quill was originally a Facebook/Meta product and was handed to its creator Inigo Quilez in 2021 when Meta open-sourced the Quill file format and stopped supporting the original Oculus Store listing, so buyers today are dealing with a small independent studio rather than a large platform vendor.
ARCore
- ARCore limited to Android 7.0+, excluding older Android devices
- Requires integration with game engines or frameworks for most applications
- Cloud anchors rely on internet connectivity for shared AR experiences
- Performance varies significantly across different Android device capabilities
Pricing, plan by plan
Quill
$24.99/one-time- Quill$24.99/one-time
- VR illustration
- Animation
- Export
ARCore
Free- FreeFree
- Full SDK
- Cloud Anchors
- Geospatial API
Which should you pick?
Choose Quill if
- You need vr illustration.
- You work on Vr, Quest.
- You also want animation timeline.
Choose ARCore if
- You need motion tracking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Android, iOS, Web.
- You also want environmental understanding.
Questions people ask
- Is Quill or ARCore better?
- Neither clearly leads. Quill starts at $24.99/one-time and ARCore at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Quill or ARCore?
- ARCore has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $24.99/one-time for Quill and Free for ARCore.
- Does Quill or ARCore run on more platforms?
- Quill runs on Vr, Quest. ARCore runs on Android, iOS, Web.
- Can I use ARCore for free?
- Yes. ARCore has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Quill starts at $24.99/one-time.
- What is Quill best used for?
- Quill is most often used for vr gaming, ar marketing, virtual training, 3d visualization.
- What can Quill do that ARCore cannot?
- Quill covers VR illustration, Animation timeline, Layers, Brushes. ARCore covers Motion tracking, Environmental understanding, Light estimation, Depth API.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
ARCore: What platforms does ARCore support?
ARCore supports Android 7.0 (Nougat) and later on qualified Android phones. SDKs are also available for iOS, Unity, Unreal Engine, and Web (WebXR).
SourceARCore: What are the three core capabilities of ARCore?
ARCore provides motion tracking to monitor device position, environmental understanding to detect surfaces like floors and walls, and light estimation to analyze surrounding lighting conditions.
SourceARCore: Can developers build shared AR experiences with ARCore?
Yes, ARCore supports cloud anchors enabling multiple users to see the same virtual objects in the real world, enabling shared AR experiences.
SourceARCore: What programming languages does ARCore support?
ARCore supports Kotlin and Java for Android, C through Android NDK, and provides APIs for Unity, Unreal Engine, iOS, and Web platforms.
Source