Software · head to head
Quill vs ARKit
The short version
- Only ARKit 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.; ARKit iOS-only platform, not available for Android or other operating systems
- They diverge on capability: Quill covers VR illustration, ARKit covers World tracking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Quill and ARKit 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 ARKit
- World tracking
- Face tracking
- Body tracking
- LiDAR support
- RealityKit
- Reality Composer
- SceneKit
- 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
ARKit
- 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.
ARKit
- iOS-only platform, not available for Android or other operating systems
- Location-based AR accuracy limited to 3-5 meters, insufficient for precise applications
- Cannot handle very fast motion capture
- Accuracy varies with lighting conditions and surface characteristics
- Requires iOS 11 or later and specific device hardware
Pricing, plan by plan
Quill
$24.99/one-time- Quill$24.99/one-time
- VR illustration
- Animation
- Export
ARKit
Free- FreeFree
- Full SDK
- Documentation
- Sample code
Which should you pick?
Choose Quill if
- You need vr illustration.
- You work on Vr, Quest.
- You also want animation timeline.
Choose ARKit if
- You need world tracking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, visionOS.
- You also want face tracking.
Questions people ask
- Is Quill or ARKit better?
- Neither clearly leads. Quill starts at $24.99/one-time and ARKit at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Quill or ARKit?
- ARKit has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $24.99/one-time for Quill and Free for ARKit.
- Does Quill or ARKit run on more platforms?
- Quill runs on Vr, Quest. ARKit runs on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, visionOS.
- Can I use ARKit for free?
- Yes. ARKit 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 ARKit cannot?
- Quill covers VR illustration, Animation timeline, Layers, Brushes. ARKit covers World tracking, Face tracking, Body tracking, LiDAR support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
ARKit: Is ARKit free to use?
Yes, ARKit is free to use. It is included in Apple's iOS SDK and requires only Xcode and a Mac to start building AR apps. There are no licensing fees or subscription costs.
SourceARKit: What iOS devices support ARKit?
ARKit is supported on iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro models, and the latest iPad models. It requires iOS 11 or later. Apple Vision Pro also supports ARKit with enhanced capabilities through visionOS.
SourceARKit: Can ARKit work offline?
ARKit can function offline for tracking and scene understanding since these operations run locally on the device. However, multiplayer AR features and cloud-based object detection require internet connectivity.
SourceARKit: Does ARKit integrate with game engines?
Yes, ARKit integrates with Unity through the Unity ARKit Plugin and with Unreal Engine. Developers can also use it with Metal, SceneKit, and Apple's RealityKit framework.
SourceARKit: What are ARKit's limitations with location-based AR?
ARKit's location-based positioning has accuracy limitations. Image-based positioning is primarily useful in urban areas, and beacon-based navigation provides accuracy of 3-5 meters, which is insufficient for precise AR applications requiring 1-meter accuracy or better.
Source