Sketchfab is excellent at what it was built for: hosting, showcasing and selling 3D models to a community of artists. But a lot of people arrive at Sketchfab wanting something different — a fast way to send a client or customer a link that opens a product in augmented reality on their phone. That is a narrower job, and Sketchfab is not optimised for it.
This is an honest look at the alternatives, including where Sketchfab still wins.
What people actually want when they search for a Sketchfab alternative
Talking to designers, e-commerce teams and 3D freelancers, the same handful of frustrations come up repeatedly:
- The AR experience is buried. Getting from a Sketchfab page to a working AR view takes more taps than most customers will bother with.
- Pricing scales for creators, not businesses. The paid tiers are designed around portfolio features and downloads rather than commercial AR delivery.
- The viewer is branded and busy. Sending a client a page surrounded by community features and related models is not a clean client presentation.
- No QR code workflow. Retail, print and packaging use cases need a scannable code, not just a URL.
If none of those bother you, Sketchfab is a strong choice and you can stop reading. If several of them do, keep going.
The main options
ARView
Built specifically for the AR link use case. You upload a GLB and immediately get three things: a short AR link, a downloadable QR code, and an iframe embed snippet. The link opens Apple Quick Look on iPhone and Google Scene Viewer on Android automatically, so the recipient goes straight into AR without a landing page in between.
The free tier allows three uploads with AR links, QR codes and view tracking. Pro is five dollars a month for unlimited uploads, permanent hosting and removal of the small ARView badge. There is no community layer, no marketplace and no download store — it does one job.
Best for: e-commerce, interior designers, product teams and freelancers who need to send AR links to non-technical people.
With ARView the flow is: upload file → copy link → send to client → they tap it → product appears in their room. There is no account required on the viewer's side and no intermediate page. That reduction in friction is the entire point of the tool.
Google model-viewer (self-hosted)
Google's open-source web component is what most AR platforms are built on, including large parts of the ecosystem. You can use it directly for free by hosting your own GLB files and adding a script tag to your page.
This is genuinely the cheapest option and gives you total control. The trade-off is that you handle hosting, file optimisation, QR generation, analytics and the iOS USDZ conversion yourself. For a developer with an afternoon spare it is a good route. For a designer who wants to send a client a link this afternoon it is not.
Best for: developers who want full control and are comfortable with hosting and build tooling.
Vectary
Vectary is a browser-based 3D design tool that also offers AR sharing. Its strength is that you can model and edit in the same place you publish, which suits teams who are creating assets rather than just distributing them.
The free tier is limited and AR features generally sit behind the paid plans. If you need design and AR in one tool it is worth evaluating; if you already have finished GLB files it is more platform than you need.
Best for: teams doing 3D design and AR publishing together.
MyWebAR
A dedicated WebAR platform with a broader feature set including image tracking and marker-based AR, not just surface placement. If your use case involves scanning a printed image or product label to trigger an experience, this category of tool is what you need.
Pricing starts higher than the simpler options because the feature set is wider. For plain product-in-room AR it is more than most people require.
Best for: marketing campaigns needing image tracking or complex AR interactions.
Adobe Aero
Aero is aimed at designers building AR scenes and narratives rather than single-product viewers. It integrates well with the Adobe ecosystem and is strong for storytelling and layered experiences.
It is less suited to the simple case of putting one product in a customer's living room from a link on a product page.
Best for: creative teams building interactive AR scenes inside Adobe workflows.
Side-by-side comparison
| Platform | Free AR links | QR codes | Embed widget | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARView | Yes (3 models) | Yes, free | Yes, free | $5/mo |
| Sketchfab | Yes | No | Yes | $15/mo |
| model-viewer | Self-hosted | Build it | Yes | Free |
| Vectary | Limited | No | Limited | $19/mo |
| MyWebAR | Limited | Yes | Yes | $24/mo |
| Adobe Aero | Yes | No | Limited | CC plan |
Pricing reflects publicly listed plans at time of writing. Verify current details on each provider's site, as plans change.
Where Sketchfab is still the right answer
It would be dishonest to pretend Sketchfab does not win in several situations:
- Selling 3D models. The store and community are a genuine distribution channel that none of the alternatives replicate.
- Portfolio presence. If you want other 3D artists to discover your work, that audience is already there.
- Format flexibility. Sketchfab accepts a very wide range of source formats and handles the conversion for you.
- Rich material editing. The in-browser material and lighting editor is more capable than most alternatives.
The decision is less about which platform is better and more about which job you are doing. Showcasing 3D work to a 3D audience is a different problem from getting a product into a customer's living room.
How to choose
A short decision path that covers most cases:
- You want to sell or showcase 3D models to other artists → Sketchfab.
- You want customers or clients to view a product in AR from a link → ARView or similar dedicated AR link tools.
- You are a developer who wants full control and no vendor → Google model-viewer, self-hosted.
- You need image tracking or campaign-style AR → MyWebAR or a comparable WebAR platform.
- You are designing the 3D assets as well as publishing them → Vectary or Adobe Aero.
Trying it without committing
All of these have free tiers or trials, and switching costs are low because GLB is a portable format. Export your model once and you can test it across several platforms in an afternoon.
If your priority is simply getting a working AR link in front of a customer today, the free AR viewer takes about sixty seconds from file to shareable link, with no signup for the first upload.