Alternatives to Adobe Substance 3D Painter
A commercial 3D painting application for applying textures, materials and masks to 3D models in real time. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Adobe Substance 3D Painter
A commercial 3D painting application for applying textures, materials and masks to 3D models in real time.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Adobe Substance 3D Painter.
ArmorPaint
A stand-alone application for physically based texture painting on 3D models, running on the GPU.
ArmorPaint is open source, adds a Linux build and live-link plugins for Blender, Unreal and Unity, but has fewer tutorials and a smaller user base.
3DCoat
A 3D application for voxel sculpting, retopology, UV mapping, PBR texture painting and rendering.
3DCoat combines texture painting with sculpting, retopology and UV mapping, runs on Linux as well, and offers a free learning mode, but needs a commercial licence for production.
Marmoset Toolbag
All-in-one 3D application for texture baking, texturing, painting and real-time rendering.
Marmoset Toolbag combines baking, texturing and ray-traced or raster rendering in one paid application, without needing an Adobe account, but it does no modeling.
Blender
The free 3D creation suite: modelling, sculpting, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and video editing.
Blender is free and open source with texture painting alongside modelling and rendering, though its painting tools sit inside a much larger program with a long learning curve.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Adobe Substance 3D Painter as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Material Maker
An open-source node-based tool for authoring procedural PBR materials and textures for game engines.
Adobe Substance 3D Painter paints materials directly onto models with real-time preview and layers, but it is paid, closed source, requires an Adobe account and runs only on Windows and macOS.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Adobe Substance 3D Designer
Node-based tool for authoring procedural 3D materials, patterns, image filters and environment lights.
ZBrush
Sculpt detailed digital models using brush-based tools.
Adobe Substance 3D Modeler
A 3D sculpting and modelling app for Windows that works on the desktop and in VR.
Maya
Industry-standard 3D modeling and animation suite for film, TV and games.
Nomad Sculpt
Sculpt and paint 3D models with a touch-oriented modeling application.
