Daz 3D vs ZBrush
Daz 3D
daz3d.com
ZBrush
maxon.netSide by side
| Figure | Daz 3D | ZBrush |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $5.75/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 7 |
| Spec score · 3D modeling software | 9.1 (#10) | 9.3 (#2) |
| Company legal name | Daz's current pages identify the company as DAZ Productions, Inc. | The legal imprint identifies the maker as Maxon Computer GmbH. |
| Documentation | The documentation center separates tutorial-oriented user guides from a reference guide covering product features and technical details. | The official help system includes feature overviews, getting-started material, a user guide, scripting references and release notes. |
| Founded | LinkedIn lists Daz 3D as founded in 2000. | 1986 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | LinkedIn lists Daz 3D headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. | Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany |
| Integrations | The official site lists Bridges for Blender, Maya, Unreal, Unity, 3ds Max and Cinema 4D, and a Roblox exporter. | GoZ connects ZBrush with Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D and other supported applications. |
| Rating on Capterra | The opened Capterra review page displayed individual Daz Studio reviews and scores, but did not expose a product-wide rating and review count in the accessible page content. | 4.7 out of 5 from 37 reviews. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.2 out of 5 from 14 reviews; the displayed seller profile includes reviews for Hexagon, so the total should not be treated as Daz Studio-specific. | 4.7 out of 5 from 104 reviews. |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 2.4 out of 5 from 59 reviews. | 2.4 out of 5 from 25 reviews. |
| Rendering | Daz Studio includes NVIDIA Iray rendering and supports physically based lighting and materials, according to its product page. | Desktop includes advanced BPR rendering, render passes, raytraced ambient occlusion and a ZBrush-to-KeyShot bridge. |
| Self-hosting | The opened Daz pages describe desktop installation and content management but do not state a self-hosted server deployment option. | Maxon distributes ZBrush through the Maxon App or website and requires a MyMaxon login for access, with no self-hosted deployment described. |
| Support | The Daz help center provides system requirement and installation help articles and a route to submit support requests. | Maxon provides a support center with knowledge-base articles, ticket support, installers, requirements, release notes, training and community forums. |
| System requirements | The published requirements article lists Windows and Mac, but dates from 2017 and names legacy operating-system versions, so it may not describe current supported configurations. | Minimum Windows requirements include 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, 4 GB RAM, 8 GB disk space, OpenGL 3.3 and Vulkan 1.1 support. |
Plans
Daz 3D
- Daz+$69 a year
- Daz Premier$199 a year
- Daz BaseFree
- Daz+$8.99 a month
- Daz Premier$18.98 a month
ZBrush
- ZBrush for iPad Free PlanFree
- ZBrush for iPad SubscriptionPrice not published
- ZBrush for iPad SubscriptionPriced on request
- ZBrush DesktopPrice not published
- ZBrush DesktopPriced on request
- ZBrush for iPad$33.25 a month
- ZBrush$399 a year
In their own words
Daz 3D
Daz Studio is 3D software for creating characters, scenes, images, and animation, available for macOS, Windows, and the web. Its Genesis creator supports rigged figures, mix-and-match clothing and hair, and morphing between figure shapes. The Daz store contains tens of thousands of premade models and assets, including environments, props, wearables, textures, shaders, lighting, and animation kits. Daz identifies Genesis 9 as its latest figure platform and describes it as enabling billions of combinations. For movement and rendering, Daz Studio uses dForce for cloth and hair simulation with the NVIDIA Iray render engine; the maker also describes a Filament-enabled viewport and render engine for real-time rendering and animation. Bridges transfer content to Blender, Unreal, Unity, Cinema 4D, Maya, and 3ds Max. Daz cautions that its Blender bridge may not be compatible with the latest Daz Studio version. Daz Base is free and includes Daz Studio, Starter Essentials content, free monthly Legacy content, and cross-platform exporters. Daz+ costs $69 a year, while Daz Premier costs $199 a year and includes Premier tools and content while membership is active.
ZBrush
ZBrush is a 3D sculpting and modeling application with desktop and iPad offerings. Its listed tools include sculpting, parametric modeling, animation, rendering and 3D print export. Desktop is listed for Windows and macOS, while a separate supported-platform list also includes Linux. The desktop plan includes ZBrush for iPad and advanced sculpting, modeling, rendering and export tools. Rendering is described as hybrid, with GPU and animation rendering and denoising. Listed workload areas include CPU and GPU rendering, ray tracing, shader execution and geometry processing. Other listed capabilities include rotoscoping, 3D camera tracking, custom test profiles and CLI or automation support. The listed result export formats are none documented, and results are not saved as a file. Headquarters are listed as both Bad Homburg vor der Höhe and Friedrichsdorf, Germany; the maker is listed as founded in 1986.