Houdini vs Spline

Houdini is SideFX’s procedural 3D creation system for film, television, games, motion graphics, virtual reality and synthetic-data work. Its workflow stores actions in nodes connected as networks, and supports sharing workflows and custom digital assets with colleagues. Tools cover modeling, sculpting, animation, parametric modeling, character rigging, rendering and 3D-print export. Houdini FX adds simulation tools for fluids, destruction, pyro effects, grains and cloth. KineFX supports character rigging and animation, alongside tools for hair, fur, feathers, muscles and cloth. Karma renders images in the Solaris look-development workflow, while PDG distributes tasks, handles dependencies and creates datasets for machine-learning and AI applications. Houdini runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The free Apprentice version is for non-commercial learning and personal projects; its renders are capped at 1920x1080 and carry a watermark. SideFX lists perpetual licenses, annual upgrades, rentals, subscriptions and education licenses. Listed paid pricing starts at $299/yr, though individual options have different terms and prices.

Spline is a 3D design platform with sculpting, animation, parametric modeling, real-time rendering, AI editing, motion, and a built-in render engine. It can export 3D-print files and ship experiences to the web, Apple, and Android. Integrations include Webflow, Framer, Wix Studio, HTML/JS, React, Next.js, Swift, and Kotlin. The free plan costs $0.00 per month and includes limited personal files, unlimited viewers, watermarked web exports, and Spline Library access. Paid plans add export and higher-resolution options. Hobby costs $15.00 per month billed annually with 2,000 monthly credits; Pro costs $30.00 per month billed annually with 3,000 credits; and Max costs $70.00 per month billed annually with 10,000 credits. Enterprise has custom pricing and can provide private teams, centralized licensing and billing, SAML Single Sign-On, code and self-hosted exports, priority support, onboarding, and training. Enterprise customers can request a trial. Spline lists ISO 27001 and SOC 2 compliance.