Houdini vs ZBrush
Houdini
sidefx.com
ZBrush
maxon.netSide by side
| Figure | Houdini | ZBrush |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $7.92/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 21 | 7 |
| Spec score · 3D modeling software | 9.2 (#5) | 9.3 (#2) |
| Spec score · Game Texture Software | 8.8 (#2) | 8.5 (#7) |
| Spec score · 3D Design Software | 8.9 (#2) | 8.5 (#12) |
| Spec score · Game 3D Modeling Software | 8.8 (#4) | 8.5 (#13) |
| Spec score · Multimedia Software | 8.5 (#8) | 8.5 (#9) |
| Animation tools | Yes | Yes |
| Founded | 1987 | 1986 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany |
| 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. | Desktop includes advanced BPR rendering, render passes, raytraced ambient occlusion and a ZBrush-to-KeyShot bridge. |
| Sculpting tools | Yes | Yes |
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
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
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.
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.