Alternatives to MagicaVoxel
A free voxel editor and path-traced renderer that makes good-looking blocky art with almost no learning curve. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
MagicaVoxel
A free voxel editor and path-traced renderer that makes good-looking blocky art with almost no learning curve.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as MagicaVoxel.
vengi
Voxel art suite with an editor, a format converter and a thumbnailer.
vengi is open source under MIT and runs on Linux too, and its converter reads MagicaVoxel files, though its editor is less polished and has no built-in path tracer.
Goxel
Create 3D artwork from colored voxel blocks.
Goxel is an open source GPL-3.0 voxel editor for Windows, macOS and Linux, with layers and several export formats, but it has no path-traced renderer.
VoxelShop
Voxel editor for building blocky models and exporting them for games and rendering.
VoxelShop is open source and exports Collada, OBJ, PLY and sprite sheets for games, but it is a Windows-focused Java build with quiet development.
Also worth comparing
These listings name MagicaVoxel as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Asset Forge
Block-based tool for assembling 3D models and 2D sprites for games from pre-made parts.
MagicaVoxel is a free voxel editor with a built-in path tracer for Windows and macOS, but it has had no release since 2021 and is voxel art only.
Crocotile 3D
A desktop tool for building low-poly 3D models and environments by placing 2D tiles in 3D space.
MagicaVoxel is a free voxel editor with a built-in path tracer on Windows and macOS, replacing tiles with voxels, but it has not been updated since 2021.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Blockbench
A low-poly 3D model editor built for pixel-art textures, with dedicated formats for Minecraft Java and Bedrock.
Blender
The free 3D creation suite: modelling, sculpting, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and video editing.
Dust3D
Modeller that builds 3D meshes from simple shapes instead of vertex-by-vertex editing.
