Houdini vs ViaCAD
Houdini
sidefx.comViaCAD
punchcad.comSide by side
| Figure | Houdini | ViaCAD |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $7.92/mo | $5/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 21 | 15 |
| Spec score · 3D modeling software | 9.2 (#5) | 8.2 (#63) |
| Animation tools | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Novato, California, United States |
| Parametric modeling | Yes | Yes |
| Platform access | desktop | desktop |
| 3D print export | Yes | Yes |
| Render engine | both | both |
| Karma Rendering | Karma is used to render photorealistic images within Houdini's Solaris lookdev workflow. | ViaCAD Pro includes physically based rendering, HDRI lighting, ray-traced shadows, a material and decal library, and KeyShot LiveLinking. |
Plans
Houdini
- Houdini Core — Workstation perpetual$1,995 a month
- Houdini Core — Annual Upgrade Plan, workstation$1,095 a year
- Houdini Core — Local Access perpetual$2,995 a month
- Houdini Core — Annual Upgrade Plan, local access$1,639 a year
- Houdini Core — Annual rental, workstation$1,475 a year
- Houdini Core — Annual rental, local access$2,195 a year
- Houdini Core — Monthly rental, local access$370 a month
- Houdini FX — Workstation perpetual$4,495 a month
- Houdini FX — Annual Upgrade Plan, workstation$2,740 a year
- Houdini FX — Local Access perpetual$6,995 a month
ViaCAD
- ViaCAD 17 2D — Own it$129.99 a month
- ViaCAD 17 2D — 1-year term$59.99 a year
- ViaCAD 17 2D — 3-year term$159.99 a year
- ViaCAD 17 2D/3D — Own it$279.99 a month
- ViaCAD 17 2D/3D — 1-year term$119.99 a year
- ViaCAD 17 2D/3D — 3-year term$339.99 a year
- ViaCAD 17 Pro — Own it$599.99 a month
- ViaCAD 17 Pro — 1-year termPrice not published
- ViaCAD 17 Pro — 3-year termPrice not published
- ViaCAD 17 2D$59.99 a year
In their own words
Houdini
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.