appleseed vs Maxwell Render
appleseed
appleseedhq.netMaxwell Render
maxwellrender.comSide by side
| Figure | appleseed | Maxwell Render |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 6 |
| Spec score · 3D Rendering Software | 8.2 (#6) | 7.9 (#17) |
| Integrations | The maker lists native integrations for Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, Blender, and Gaffer. | Official integrations include Rhino, SketchUp, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, ArchiCAD, form·Z and Maya, plus Maxwell Studio. |
| Support | The maker recommends its Discord server or user forum for most questions and says private email may receive a slower response. | Commercial Maxwell products include free support, while the demo page says downloading the demo does not include technical or installation support. |
Plans
Maxwell Render
- Maxwell 5 Nodes — 5-node pack$245, paid once
- Maxwell 5 plugin — Nodelocked$595, paid once
- Maxwell 5 Studio — Nodelocked$595, paid once
- Maxwell 5 Studio — Floating$795, paid once
- Maxwell | Bundle — Nodelocked$845, paid once
- Maxwell | Bundle — Floating$995, paid once
In their own words
appleseed
appleseed is a free, open source rendering engine for animation and visual effects, built around physically based global illumination. It is designed for individuals and small studios and runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Rendering methods include unidirectional path tracing, stochastic progressive photon mapping, light tracing, progressive and interactive rendering, and spectral rendering. For shading, it supports Open Shading Language and on-the-fly shader compilation. Production tools include motion blur, AOVs, Cryptomatte, adaptive sampling, denoising, and resumable render checkpoints. Native integrations are listed for Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, Blender, and Gaffer. It works with OBJ geometry and image formats including OpenEXR, TIFF, HDR, PNG, JPEG, and PSD. Developers can use C++ and Python APIs or extend the engine with external C++ plugins. The listed plan costs nothing and is under the MIT license. The download page lists version 2.1.0-beta, released September 21, 2019.
Maxwell Render
Maxwell Render has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.