Surface Labs vs Texel
Surface Labs
surfacelabs.app
Texel
texel.artSide by side
| Figure | Surface Labs | Texel |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 2 |
| Spec score · 3D Texturing Software | 8.4 (#4) | 8.1 (#10) |
| PBR channels | The tool supports albedo, normal, roughness, metallic, ambient-occlusion and height material maps. | Supported channels include albedo, roughness, metallic, normal, height, ambient occlusion and emission. |
| Support | Support is offered by email plus Discord, itch.io and the public GitHub repository. | The terms page lists an email address for general questions and another for security reports. |
| What it does | Surface Labs is a node-based procedural application for creating textures and PBR materials. | Texel is a browser-based collaborative 3D texturing studio for VFX and game teams. |
Plans
In their own words
Surface Labs
Surface Labs is a node-based application for building procedural textures and materials by connecting operations in a graph. Its node library includes generators, filters, blends, transforms, normals, channel operations, and math nodes. A GLSL editor supports custom nodes that compile to the native Rust engine; the maker says most nodes render in under 2 ms. Desktop authoring supports up to 8192 × 8192 in 32-bit float, while iPadOS and Android are capped at 4096 × 4096. A headless command-line tool can evaluate graphs and export textures for batch work and CI. The built-in MCP server lets compatible assistants inspect and edit projects, render nodes, and export textures. It is opt-in, binds to loopback, requires a generated token, and rejects non-local Origins, but file arguments can access files available to the user account rather than staying within a project directory. A portable project file bundles materials, subgraphs, images, fonts, a preview model, and export settings. Surface Labs is free while in early access; its iPad build is distributed through TestFlight, where builds expire on the usual 90-day cycle.