{
    "products": [
        {
            "slug": "houdini",
            "name": "Houdini",
            "kind": "app",
            "website": "https://www.sidefx.com/",
            "page": "https://listme.name/software/houdini",
            "tagline": "Procedural 3D software for VFX, animation and game pipelines",
            "summary": "Houdini is procedural 3D software from SideFX for modeling, rigging, animation, VFX, lighting and rendering in film, TV, advertising and game pipelines. It runs on 64-bit Windows 11, Apple Silicon Macs and several Linux distributions, and is licensed as Commercial, Indie or Education, with a free trial.",
            "developer": "SideFX",
            "platforms": [
                "windows",
                "macos",
                "linux"
            ],
            "pricing": "paid",
            "price_note": "Commercial, Indie and Education licences; free trial",
            "free_to_use": false,
            "open_source": false,
            "strengths": [
                "Procedural workflow across modeling, animation and VFX",
                "Indie licence for artists below set revenue or funding limits",
                "Runs on Windows, Apple Silicon Macs and Linux"
            ],
            "limits": [
                "Intel Macs are not supported in Houdini 22",
                "Commercial licences are paid, and Indie has revenue and funding limits"
            ],
            "checked": "2026-10-10",
            "connected_to_publisher": false,
            "overview": "Houdini is procedural 3D software from SideFX, which describes it for modeling, rigging, animation, VFX, look development, lighting and rendering in film, TV, advertising and video game pipelines. The site lists Houdini Engine and the Karma renderer as separate products that work alongside it.\n\nHoudini 22 runs on 64-bit Windows 11, on Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 11 or later, and on several Linux distributions, including Ubuntu 22.04 and later. Intel Macs are not supported. Licences are Commercial for studios and artists doing commercial work, Indie for artists making less than $100K USD or working with less than $1 million USD in funding, and Education for non-commercial use. A free trial is offered. Houdini suits artists who need procedural control across a production pipeline, and it is less suited to hand sculpting, where ZBrush in this list is the closer tool."
        },
        {
            "slug": "zbrush",
            "name": "ZBrush",
            "kind": "app",
            "website": "https://www.maxon.net/en/zbrush",
            "page": "https://listme.name/software/zbrush",
            "tagline": "Digital sculpting and 3D painting software from Maxon",
            "summary": "ZBrush is a digital sculpting application from Maxon for organic and hard-surface 3D models, with painting, texturing and rendering tools. It is sold as a subscription that covers desktop and iPad use. It runs on Windows, including Windows on Arm, on macOS and on iPadOS.",
            "developer": "Maxon",
            "platforms": [
                "windows",
                "macos",
                "ipados"
            ],
            "pricing": "subscription",
            "price_note": "Subscription covers desktop and iPad licences",
            "free_to_use": false,
            "open_source": false,
            "strengths": [
                "Sculpting and painting in one application",
                "One subscription covers desktop and iPad",
                "Runs on Windows on Arm"
            ],
            "limits": [
                "Subscription pricing",
                "Narrow focus on sculpting and 3D painting"
            ],
            "checked": "2026-10-10",
            "connected_to_publisher": false,
            "overview": "ZBrush is built around sculpting, which the vendor describes as working with digital clay. Its page lists character and creature sculpting, hard-surface and polygon modeling, painting and texturing, and rendering as uses. The audience it names includes character artists, concept artists, product designers, illustrators moving into 3D, and film, VFX and games studios.\n\nEvery ZBrush subscription includes ZBrush on desktop, iPad and Windows on Arm, and the licence is dual platform, so one user can run it on desktop and iPad at the same time. The current release named on the page is ZBrush 2026.2.1. Because sculpting is its core, it is narrower than Blender, which covers animation and general 3D work."
        }
    ],
    "differences": [
        "Only Houdini runs on Linux.",
        "Houdini: paid. ZBrush: subscription."
    ],
    "shared_rankings": [
        {
            "list": "3d-modeling-software",
            "name": "3D modeling software",
            "page": "https://listme.name/best/3d-modeling-software",
            "of": 10,
            "results": [
                {
                    "product": "houdini",
                    "rank": 3,
                    "score": 86.5,
                    "verdict": "Procedural 3D software for film, TV and game pipelines on 64-bit Windows 11, Apple Silicon Macs and Linux. The Indie licence applies only under revenue or funding limits, and it suits pipeline work more than hand modeling like ZBrush.",
                    "best_for": "Procedural VFX and game pipelines",
                    "spec": {
                        "platforms": "Windows, macOS (Apple Silicon), Linux",
                        "open_source": false,
                        "cost": "Paid licences; Indie tier; free trial"
                    }
                },
                {
                    "product": "zbrush",
                    "rank": 5,
                    "score": 85,
                    "verdict": "A sculpting specialist that runs on desktop and iPad under one subscription, with painting and rendering tools. It is narrower than Blender and suits organic and hard-surface models rather than CAD.",
                    "best_for": "Digital sculpting of organic 3D models",
                    "spec": {
                        "platforms": "Windows, macOS, iPadOS",
                        "open_source": false,
                        "cost": "Subscription"
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "ranks_higher_in_closest_shared_list": "houdini",
    "page": "https://listme.name/compare/houdini-vs-zbrush",
    "json": "https://listme.name/api/v1/compare/houdini-vs-zbrush.json",
    "notes": [
        "Scores are editorial and only comparable inside one list. Products with connected_to_publisher true receive a disclosed ranking lift: https://listme.name/methodology"
    ],
    "source": "https://listme.name",
    "license": "Free to read and cite with attribution to listme.name.",
    "docs": "https://listme.name/developers"
}