Pencil vs Rhino 3D
Pencil
pencildesign.coRhino 3D
rhino3d.comSide by side
| Figure | Pencil | Rhino 3D |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $39/mo | $95/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 14 |
| Spec score · Jewelry Design Software | 8.5 (#5) | 8.8 (#2) |
| Headquarters | The trademark owner address is 150 W 25th St, Suite 1004, New York, NY 10001. | The company lists its Seattle, Washington office at 146 N Canal Street, Suite 320. |
| Support | The Professional plan includes priority support, while the Pencil Shop plan includes a dedicated account manager. | Support resources include forums, telephone, email, live chat, tutorials, training classes and community sites, with support included in purchase price. |
| What it does | Pencil is a browser-based AI platform for designing production-ready 3D jewelry and selling configurable products online. | Rhino is a 3D CAD application for creating, editing, analyzing, documenting, rendering, animating and translating NURBS, SubD, point-cloud and mesh geometry. |
Plans
Pencil
- FreeFree
- Professional$39 a month
- Pencil Shop$199 a month
- Pencil Shop Pro$499 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
Rhino 3D
- Commercial — Rhino 8 single concurrent user$995 a month
- Commercial — Rhino 8, 10 concurrent users$9,950 a month
- Commercial — Rhino 8, 50 concurrent users$49,750 a month
- Commercial upgrade — Rhino 8 single concurrent user$595 a month
- Student or faculty — Rhino 8 single user$195 a month
- Student or faculty upgrade — Rhino 8 single user$95 a month
- School — Rhino 8, 30-user lab$975 a month
- EvaluationFree
- Rhino 8 EvaluationFree
- Rhino 8 Educational Single User$195, paid once
In their own words
Pencil
Pencil is a browser-based AI design and commerce platform for jewelry, connecting product design, manufacturing files, and online shopping experiences. Design tools include editable templates, stone settings, custom 2D and 3D uploads, AI-generated 3D elements, and advanced parameters. Designs can be downloaded as production-ready 3D STL files. The Professional plan includes an e-commerce and product photo generator, and the Design page says users can create studio-quality product photos. Pencil Shop adds ring and pendant website builders, lead capture, quoting, live pricing, and add-to-cart tools; configurators can be deployed on platforms such as Shopify and Wix through an app integration. Enterprise includes headless API access for making existing products configurable, along with custom tools, parametric templates, wholesale markup tools, and a custom-trained AI design agent. The free plan has 0 AI credits and a three-design limit. Professional costs $39 a month, Pencil Shop costs $199 a month, and Pencil Shop Pro costs $499 a month. Enterprise pricing is custom.
Rhino 3D
Rhino 3D is desktop software for Windows and macOS with listed capabilities for parametric modeling, animation, rendering, and 3D print export. The commercial Rhino 8 single concurrent-user license is listed at $995 a month, billed as a permanent license that does not expire. Licenses for 10 and 50 concurrent users are listed at $9,950 a month and $49,750 a month, respectively, also as permanent licenses. Student or faculty and school options are listed, with educational-status or school-licensing requirements. Commercial and student or faculty upgrade options are available, though evaluation versions cannot be upgraded. A free evaluation license costs nothing and lasts 90 days; saving and plugins stop working after that period. The listing describes Rhino 3D as paid while also indicating a free plan and free trial. Its maker is listed as founded in 1980 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA.