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Houdini
Procedural 3D animation and VFX
As of 30 August 2026, Houdini has a free plan and paid plans start at $29/month. Houdini is a 3D animation software developed by SideFX, known for its procedural generation capabilities and powerful VFX tools used in film and games. Softwr lists it under CAD. Houdini is made by SideFX, launched in 1987, available on Windows, macOS, Linux.
Overview
What Houdini does
Houdini is a 3D animation software developed by SideFX, known for its procedural generation capabilities and powerful VFX tools used in film and games.
What people use it for
- Procedural 3D modelling and environment generation
- Visual effects simulation for pyro, fluids, cloth and rigid bodies
- Building reusable procedural assets for a studio pipeline
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Houdini.
- Houdini Indie at $299 per year requires annual gross revenue under $100K USD
- Houdini Indie cannot be used in the same pipeline as commercial versions of Houdini
- Houdini Indie and Apprentice save to their own .hipnc file format, which commercial Houdini pipelines do not share
- The free Apprentice edition is non commercial, caps render resolution at 1920x1080 and watermarks output images
- Houdini Indie ships with only 2 render tokens
- Full DOP level simulation node access requires Houdini FX at $4,495 per workstation; Core at $1,995 exposes only SOP level pre built simulation assets
- Extra render tokens cost $195
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Houdini
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- HoudinivsEnscape
Enscape: Real-time rendering plugin
- HoudinivsFreeCAD
FreeCAD: Open-source parametric 3D CAD modeler
- HoudinivsKeyShot
KeyShot: Real-time 3D rendering and animation
Pricing
What Houdini costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Apprentice
Free
- Learning version
- Non-commercial
Indie
$269 /mo
- Revenue limit $100K
Core
$1,995 /mo
- Full commercial
FX
$4,495 /mo
- Full + simulations
Capabilities
Features
Procedural modeling
VFX
Simulations
Particle systems
Pyro FX
Ocean tools
Rigging
Rendering
Maya
Integration with Maya
Unity
Integration with Unity
Unreal Engine
Integration with Unreal Engine
Nuke
Integration with Nuke
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
How much does SideFX Houdini cost?
SideFX Houdini pricing is not published on their website. Specific prices for commercial, educational, and non-commercial licenses must be obtained by adding items to your cart or contacting SideFX sales directly.
SourceWhat license types does Houdini offer?
Houdini offers Commercial licenses (Houdini Indie for under $100K USD annual revenue, Houdini Core, Houdini FX, Houdini Engine), Non-Commercial licenses (Houdini Apprentice free, Houdini Education for Students and Schools), Rental options, and Annual Upgrade Plans. Volume-based discounts are available for Houdini Engine.
SourceIs Houdini available for free?
Yes. Houdini Apprentice is available free for non-commercial use. Houdini Education licenses are also available for students and schools at no cost.
SourceAre volume discounts available for Houdini?
Yes. Volume-based discounts are available for Houdini Engine licenses. Rental and Annual Upgrade Plan pricing have been adjusted as of Houdini 21.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Houdini
- Company
- SideFX
- Based in
- Toronto, Canada
Keep looking
Where to go from Houdini
- Houdini alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Houdini pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Houdini badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All CAD softwareThe full category
- Best CAD softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best CAD software for
Compare Houdini with
- LightWave 3D
- KeyShot
- V-Ray
- FreeCAD
- Enscape
- Arnold
- Mari
- Creo
- ANSYS Fluent
- COMSOL Multiphysics
- Substance 3D Designer
- ZBrush
- Bentley iTwin Capture Modeler
- Inventor
- ANSYS Fluent
- Arnold
- Inventor
- Mudbox
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Houdini, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Houdini
Houdini alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Houdini pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Houdini
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Houdini badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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