Unity AR Foundation

Unified AR development framework for Unity

As of 30 August 2026, Unity AR Foundation is free to use. Unity AR Foundation is a cross-platform framework that allows developers to build AR applications once and deploy to multiple platforms. Softwr lists it under AR VR. Unity AR Foundation is made by Unity Technologies, launched in 2004, available on iOS, Android, VR and AR.

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Overview

What Unity AR Foundation does

Unity AR Foundation is a cross-platform framework that allows developers to build AR applications once and deploy to multiple platforms. It provides a common API for ARKit, ARCore, and other AR platforms within Unity.

What people use it for

VR Gaming
AR Marketing
Virtual Training
3D Visualization
Immersive Experiences

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 Unity AR Foundation.

Requires platform-specific plugins (ARCore, ARKit) to actually implement AR features
Performance varies significantly by device, with battery drain and heat generation on mobile
Emulators cannot accurately test AR experiences due to missing camera and sensor data
No WebXR support for browser-based AR experiences
Occlusion features show lower performance at 25-40 FPS compared to other features at 40-60 FPS
Limited access to latest platform-specific features compared to native ARKit or ARCore

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of Unity AR Foundation

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.

Unity AR Foundationvs
ARCore
ARCore: Google's native Android AR SDK providing direct access to Android-specific AR capabilities and latest features.
Unity AR Foundationvs
ARKit
ARKit: Apple's native iOS AR framework offering deep integration with iOS devices including LiDAR on newer iPhones.
Unity AR Foundationvs
8th Wall
8th Wall: Web-based AR platform enabling browser-based AR experiences without app installation, complementary to mobile-focused AR Foundation.
Unity AR Foundationvs
Lens Studio
Lens Studio: Snapchat's AR creation tool for building AR experiences on Snapchat, serving similar AR development use cases.
Unity AR Foundationvs
Niantic Lightship
Niantic Lightship: Location-based AR development platform optimized for outdoor AR experiences with location anchors.
Unity AR Foundationvs
Spark AR Studio
Spark AR Studio: Meta's AR creation tool for building effects for Instagram and Facebook, offering platform-specific AR capabilities.

Pricing

What Unity AR Foundation costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

Included with Unity Personal

Free

Free for individuals and small teams with under $200K revenue/funding
AR Foundation package included
Access to all core AR features

Included with Unity Pro

$185 /mo

Professional tier licensing
AR Foundation package included
All core AR features plus Pro-level support

Capabilities

Features

Plane detection
Image tracking
Face tracking
Point clouds
ARKit
Integration with ARKit
ARCore
Integration with ARCore
OpenXR
Integration with OpenXR
Magic Leap
Integration with Magic Leap
Ar support
Available on ar
Ios support
Available on ios
Android support
Available on android
Hololens support
Available on hololens

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.

Is Unity AR Foundation free?

Yes, AR Foundation is free and included with Unity. It is a package within the Unity engine, though you need a Unity license (available free for personal use with under $200K revenue).

Source

What platforms does AR Foundation support?

AR Foundation supports iOS (via ARKit), Android (via ARCore), visionOS, HoloLens 2 (via OpenXR), and Meta Quest (via OpenXR). Testing in the Unity Editor is available through XR Simulation.

Source

Do I need additional plugins to use AR Foundation?

Yes. AR Foundation is an abstraction layer and requires platform-specific plugins: ARCore XR Plugin for Android and ARKit XR Plugin for iOS. These plugins implement actual AR features using native SDKs.

Source

Can I test AR experiences in the Unity Editor?

AR Foundation supports XR Simulation in the Editor for early testing, but accurate AR testing requires real devices because emulators cannot replicate camera and sensor data accurately.

Source

Does AR Foundation support web-based AR?

No, AR Foundation does not support WebXR. Unity has stated there are no current plans to add WebXR support to AR Foundation. Web AR requires alternative solutions like 8th Wall.

Source

Behind it

Who makes Unity AR Foundation

Company: Unity Technologies
Based in: San Francisco, California
Founders: David Helgason, Nicholas Francis, Joachim Ante

Timeline