LightWave 3D vs ZBrush
LightWave 3D
lightwave3d.com
ZBrush
maxon.netSide by side
| Figure | LightWave 3D | ZBrush |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £450/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 10 | 7 |
| Spec score · 3D modeling software | 8.6 (#29) | 9.3 (#2) |
| Spec score · Game 3D Modeling Software | 8.7 (#8) | 8.5 (#13) |
| Documentation | Documentation includes online 2025 and 2020 manuals plus a downloadable 3,600-plus-page 2020 manual PDF. | The official help system includes feature overviews, getting-started material, a user guide, scripting references and release notes. |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Headquarters | England, UK | Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany |
| Integrations | The Unreal Engine Bridge transfers objects, instances, textures, animations, camera moves, and lights in real time. | GoZ connects ZBrush with Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D and other supported applications. |
| Licensing | The 2025 licence is software-driven for Windows 64-bit and macOS, and a hardware dongle can be requested but is not required. | The EULA grants a limited license and states that Maxon retains intellectual-property rights, so ZBrush is proprietary rather than open source. |
| Rating on Capterra | 3.8 out of 5 from 4 reviews | 4.7 out of 5 from 37 reviews. |
| Rating on G2 | 3.9 out of 5 from 29 reviews | 4.7 out of 5 from 104 reviews. |
| Rendering | LightWave 2025 includes RiPR, a GPU-assisted preview display mode, and Octane Render uses the 2024.1 API. | Desktop includes advanced BPR rendering, render passes, raytraced ambient occlusion and a ZBrush-to-KeyShot bridge. |
| Support | The documentation directs users to support, bug-report and feature-request email addresses and community forums. | Maxon provides a support center with knowledge-base articles, ticket support, installers, requirements, release notes, training and community forums. |
| Trial | The product page lists a LightWave 2024 30-day trial at £0.00. | Maxon offers a 14-day trial through the Maxon App, including ZBrush and the full Maxon One suite. |
| What it does | LightWave 3D is desktop graphics software for 3D modelling, animation and visual effects used in film, television, games, print and visualisation. | ZBrush is a digital sculpting, modeling and painting application built around virtual-clay workflows. |
Plans
LightWave 3D
- New LightWave 2025 Licence£795 a month
- LightWave 2025 Upgrade - LightWave 2024 users£450 a month
- LightWave 2025 Upgrade - LightWave 2023 or earlier users£550 a month
- 30-day trialFree
- LightWave 2025 Upgrade — LightWave 2024 users£450, paid once
- LightWave 2026 upgrade from 2025£450, paid once
- LightWave 2025 Upgrade — LightWave 2023 or earlier users£550, paid once
- LightWave 2026 upgrade from 2024 or earlier£550, paid once
- LightWave 2025 licence£795, paid once
- New LightWave 2026 licence£795, paid once
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
LightWave 3D
LightWave 3D has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
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.