Anvil UI vs mcblend

Anvil UI is a web-based visual editor for Minecraft Bedrock JSON UI. It loads a resource pack’s JSON UI files, textures, namespaces, and dependencies so users can build interfaces on a canvas without writing JSON. Changes render instantly in a preview that reproduces anchors, nine-slice elements, fonts, and bindings. The editor supports panels, grids, sliders, scroll views, custom renderers, inheritance, interactive states, bindings, and Bedrock animations. Users can create Server Forms, Chest UIs, HUDs, or custom screens from a blank page or template, then save buttons, cards, and menus in a reusable library. The Free plan costs nothing, billed forever, with unlimited UI projects, the full visual editor, live Bedrock preview, and three cloud packs. Creator costs €12 a month, billed monthly, and adds JSON, PNG, and payload exports, full JSON code, premium updates, and up to 50 cloud packs. Founder's Lifetime costs €249, paid once, billed one time, with Creator features forever and up to 100 cloud packs.

mcblend is a free, open-source Blender add-on for creating and modifying Minecraft Bedrock Edition models. It imports and exports entity and attachable models, including cubes and polymeshes. For animation, it exports keyframes and poses, and can bake animations into Minecraft format, including work using inverse kinematics and constraints. It can also turn Blender camera movement and field-of-view animation into JavaScript data for Minecraft Script API cutscenes and scripted camera playback; additional game logic is needed to apply that data to a player's camera.

The add-on arranges UV coordinates for cube faces and can create a template texture. Polymeshes use Blender's regular texturing features. It also draws on Blender's rigging and physics tools and can set up rigid bodies automatically. Installation uses a ZIP downloaded from GitHub releases and added through Blender's Add-ons preferences; the documentation instructs users to install Blender 5.2. Models must use exactly one armature, with each cube or polymesh as a separate object parented to armature bones. Polymeshes are experimental in Minecraft and may not remain supported. Updates require removing the old add-on and installing a new version.