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CAD · head to head

RealityScan vs Substance 3D Designer

RealityScan logo

RealityScan

CAD

The photogrammetry engine formerly called RealityCapture, free below a one million dollar revenue line

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Substance 3D Designer logo

Substance 3D Designer

CAD

Node-based material authoring

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only RealityScan has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: RealityScan the free tier is bounded by company revenue rather than by usage, so a business crossing one million US dollars of turnover acquires a per-seat cost overnight for software its workflow now depends on; 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: RealityScan covers Photogrammetric reconstruction, Substance 3D Designer covers Node-based workflow.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where RealityScan and Substance 3D Designer differ
AttributeRealityScanSubstance 3D Designer
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelFree below a revenue threshold, then per seat per yearsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindowsWindows, MacOS, Linux
FoundedUnknown1982

Identical on both: 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 RealityScan

  • Photogrammetric reconstruction
  • Laser scan fusion
  • Ground control points
  • Texturing and unwrapping
  • Command line interface
  • Unreal Engine path
  • Component alignment control

Only in Substance 3D Designer

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

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

RealityScan

  • A two-person heritage survey practice under the revenue threshold that can now run professional photogrammetry at no licence costnot Substance 3D Designer
  • A film or games asset team scanning props and environments at very high image counts where processing speed decides the schedulenot Substance 3D Designer
  • A survey firm combining terrestrial laser scans with drone photography and needing both aligned in a single reconstructionnot Substance 3D Designer
  • A construction reality-capture operator producing meshes for Unreal-based client visualisation from the same source imagerynot Substance 3D Designer

Substance 3D Designer

  • Material creationnot RealityScan
  • Procedural texturesnot RealityScan

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

RealityScan

  • The free tier is bounded by company revenue rather than by usage, so a business crossing one million US dollars of turnover acquires a per-seat cost overnight for software its workflow now depends on
  • New perpetual licences are no longer sold, so an organisation that deliberately avoided subscription software has no route in; existing perpetual holders keep their version but stop receiving updates unless they accept the current terms
  • It is Windows only and needs an NVIDIA CUDA capable GPU, which excludes macOS studios and makes the real cost of adoption a workstation purchase rather than a licence
  • The rename from RealityCapture to RealityScan in 2025 means tutorials, forum answers and third party pipeline documentation are split across two names and several licensing regimes, and much of it is now wrong about price
  • The interface assumes photogrammetry knowledge; alignment failures, control point placement and reconstruction region setup are not guided, so a team without an experienced operator produces poor models quickly rather than good ones slowly

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

RealityScan

Free
  • Free tierFree
    • For individuals and companies with annual revenue under 1,000,000 USD
    • Full application, no metered input charges
    • Epic account required
  • RealityScan seat$1250/year
    • Required once annual revenue exceeds 1,000,000 USD
    • Per seat, per year
    • Commercial use without output restrictions
  • Unreal Engine subscription$1850/year
    • Per seat per year
    • Includes RealityScan and Twinmotion
    • For teams that also need Unreal Engine for non-game commercial use

Substance 3D Designer

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

Which should you pick?

Choose RealityScan if

  • You need photogrammetric reconstruction.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want laser scan fusion.
RealityScan 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 RealityScan or Substance 3D Designer better?
Neither clearly leads. RealityScan starts at Free 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, RealityScan or Substance 3D Designer?
RealityScan has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for RealityScan and $29/month for Substance 3D Designer.
Does RealityScan or Substance 3D Designer run on more platforms?
RealityScan runs on Windows. Substance 3D Designer runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
Can I use RealityScan for free?
Yes. RealityScan has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Substance 3D Designer starts at $29/month.
What is RealityScan best used for?
RealityScan is most often used for a two-person heritage survey practice under the revenue threshold that can now run professional photogrammetry at no licence cost, a film or games asset team scanning props and environments at very high image counts where processing speed decides the schedule, a survey firm combining terrestrial laser scans with drone photography and needing both aligned in a single reconstruction, a construction reality-capture operator producing meshes for unreal-based client visualisation from the same source imagery. Of those, a two-person heritage survey practice under the revenue threshold that can now run professional photogrammetry at no licence cost and a film or games asset team scanning props and environments at very high image counts where processing speed decides the schedule are not what Substance 3D Designer is typically brought in for.
What can RealityScan do that Substance 3D Designer cannot?
RealityScan covers Photogrammetric reconstruction, Laser scan fusion, Ground control points, Texturing and unwrapping. Substance 3D Designer covers Node-based workflow, Procedural generation, PBR materials, Patterns.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

RealityScan: Is RealityCapture still called that?

No. Epic rebranded it to RealityScan with version 2.0 in 2025. It is the same engine and the same team.

RealityScan: Who gets it free?

Individuals and companies with annual revenue under one million US dollars. Above that, a seat is 1,250 US dollars per year.

RealityScan: Can I still buy a perpetual licence?

Not for new purchases. Existing perpetual licences remain valid for the version owned, with updates only under the current terms.

RealityScan: Does the free version restrict output?

No output metering or watermarking; the restriction is on who qualifies, based on company revenue, not on what you export.

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