Curvy 3D vs SculptGL

Curvy 3D is a Windows sketch-based sculpting program aimed at first-time 3D artists. Users draw profiles and curves to make rounded or organic forms, then refine surfaces with Inflate, Deflate, Pinch, Smooth and Flatten warp brushes. Adaptive subdivision adds mesh detail where needed while controlling triangle counts. The program supports manual retopology, multiresolution sculpting and voxel sculpting. Texture tools paint color, specular and bump maps in 3D views or on 2D textures. Image Inflate converts silhouettes or greyscale images into 3D models using heightmap, bubble, bevel or extrude styles. Models export as OBJ for rendering or animation in software such as Blender. The maker also describes use with Blender or Bryce and importing characters from Poser or Daz. Curvy 3D 5 is listed for Microsoft Windows and requires a DirectX 8.0-compatible 3D graphics card. Aartform offers a free 30-day demo; the Curvy 3D 5 plan is a one-time purchase with price varying by location. Aartform describes itself as an independent London game development studio founded in 2003, and directs questions to its forum.

SculptGL is a digital sculpting app that runs in a browser using WebGL and JavaScript. Its tools include Brush, Inflate, Smooth, Twist, and Drag, with undo and redo for edits. Vertex painting supports color, roughness, and metalness, and tools can use alpha textures. Multiresolution sculpting uses Catmull-Clark and Loop subdivision and retains changes when moving between levels. Voxel remeshing uses SurfaceNets to create quad-only meshes, while dynamic topology performs local subdivision and decimation in real time using triangles. Both methods delete UVs. SculptGL imports and exports OBJ, PLY, and STL files and reads vertex color. A standalone version is described as identical to the web app, with 32-bit and 64-bit Windows downloads; a Chrome extension is also available. The app is free and open source, with no paid plan or usage limits stated on the maker’s pages. Its repository says maintenance is limited to small fixes and was archived on January 17, 2026.