The best 3D design software for creating interactive web experiences depends on which job you need done. To make the 3D, use Spline or Vectary in the browser, or Blender on the desktop. To host a finished model, use Sketchfab. To tell a story with the model that people click through and you can measure, use Encelade.
Most lists rank these tools against each other as if they did the same thing. They don’t. A web experience built around a 3D model needs three things: the model, a place for it to live on the web, and a story that tells the viewer what they are looking at and why it matters. This guide covers the best tool for each, and where each one stops.
Table of Contents
- An interactive 3D experience is three jobs
- 1. Make the 3D: Spline, Vectary, Blender and Three.js
- 2. Host or embed it: Sketchfab
- Sketchfab vs Vectary vs Spline for embedding 3D on a website
- 3. Tell a story with it: Encelade
- All six tools compared
- How to choose
- Frequently asked questions
An interactive 3D experience is three jobs
Before you compare tools, decide which of these you are missing. Many teams already have one or two.
| Job | What you end up with | Best tools |
|---|---|---|
| Make the 3D | A model or a scene, with materials, lights and motion | Spline, Vectary, Blender, Three.js |
| Host or embed it | A viewer on a web page that people can rotate and zoom | Sketchfab, or the embed built into Spline and Vectary |
| Tell a story with it | A sequence of pages around the model, with the words, the numbers and a next step | Encelade |
The third job is the one that gets skipped. A model that spins on a page is a demo. It becomes an experience when the pages around it tell the viewer what they are looking at, why it matters, what it costs, and what to do next.
1. Make the 3D: Spline, Vectary, Blender and Three.js
These tools create the model or the scene. Pick by who is doing the work: a designer, a 3D artist or a developer.
Spline: best for designers who want 3D on the web fast
Spline is a 3D design tool that runs in the browser, with a whole team able to work in the same file. You model, light and animate a scene, add interactions with states and events, and publish it as a public link, an embed, or code for React, Next.js, Three.js or plain JavaScript. It feels closer to a design tool than to traditional 3D software, so a product or web designer can get a result without a 3D background.
Where it stops: Spline makes the scene. It doesn’t write the page around it. The free plan puts a Spline logo on web exports, and AI generation needs a paid plan; see Spline’s pricing.
Vectary: best for product configurators and AR
Vectary also runs in the browser with no code, and leans toward products. It imports glTF, GLB, USDZ and CAD files, and teams use it to turn an existing product model into a viewer, a configurator where the buyer changes a color or a part, or a step-by-step 3D guide. You share the result by link or embed it with an iframe.
Where it stops: the story stays inside the 3D scene. The written case around the product, such as the numbers, the comparison and the ask, needs another page. App-free AR, the API and an unbranded viewer sit at the Business level; see Vectary’s pricing.
Blender: best free tool for serious modeling
Blender is free, open-source desktop software for Windows, macOS and Linux that covers modeling, sculpting, animation and rendering. It has no web publishing of its own. You export the model as glTF or GLB, which Blender does out of the box, and bring that file into one of the tools below.
Where it stops: at the export. Blender has the steepest learning curve on this list and gives you a file, not a web page.
Three.js: best when a developer is building it
Three.js is an open-source JavaScript library for drawing 3D in the browser. It is not a design tool: a developer writes code to load a model, move the camera and react to scrolling or clicks. That gives you full control and the most custom result, and it takes the most time.
Where it stops: without a developer, it doesn’t start.
2. Host or embed it: Sketchfab
Sketchfab is the best-known place to host a finished 3D model. You upload the file and get a viewer you can link to or embed with an iframe on your own site. Viewers rotate, zoom and pan. You can add numbered annotations, each with a title and its own camera angle, and the viewer steps through them in order.
Sketchfab has been part of KitBash since August 2026. It still runs as its own site and takes uploads.
Spline and Vectary host what you make in them, so you only need Sketchfab when the model was made somewhere else, such as Blender or a CAD package.
Where it stops: Sketchfab shows the model. Everything around it, such as the pitch, the numbers and the call to action, has to live on another page. Private models need a Pro plan, and removing the Sketchfab logo from an embed needs Premium or Enterprise; see Sketchfab’s plans.
Sketchfab vs Vectary vs Spline for embedding 3D on a website
All three give you an iframe to paste into your site. The difference is where the model comes from, what the viewer can do with it, and what it costs to remove the vendor’s logo.
| Sketchfab | Vectary | Spline | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A host and viewer for models made elsewhere | A browser, no-code tool for 3D viewers and configurators | A browser 3D design tool for interactive scenes |
| Where the model comes from | You upload a finished file | You import a product model and set it up | You build the scene in Spline |
| What the viewer can do | Rotate, zoom and step through annotations | Rotate, change options, view in AR | Whatever interactions the designer built |
| Guided walkthrough | Numbered annotations, each with its own camera angle | Step-by-step guides built from hotspots and interactions | Built by hand from states and scene transitions |
| Removing the vendor’s logo | Premium or Enterprise plan | A paid add-on at the Business level | Hobby plan and up |
| Choose it when | You have a model and want it online today | Buyers need to configure or place a product | The scene itself is the design |
Plans change, so check each pricing page before you put an embed on a customer-facing page.
Each of the three can guide a viewer around the model itself. None of them gives you the rest of the story: the written pages, the charts, the numbers and the ask that sit around the model.
3. Tell a story with it: Encelade
Encelade is where the model gets its story. It doesn’t replace Spline or Blender: you don’t sculpt or edit geometry in it. You describe what you want to say, Encelade builds an interactive deck that opens as a web link, and you place the 3D on its pages. The model stays live on the page, so the viewer can turn it while they read.
Four ways to bring the 3D in
- Upload a model. GLB or glTF, up to 50 MB.
- Paste a link to a GLB or glTF file hosted somewhere else.
- Embed a Spline scene by pasting its viewer link (the .splinecode URL from Spline’s export) or its scene ID. The scene keeps the interactions you built in Spline.
- Generate a model from a text prompt or a photo, within a monthly allowance.
How the story gets built
- The deck comes from a brief. Give Encelade a prompt, a document or a spreadsheet, and it writes and lays out the pages: headlines, copy, charts and tables. You add the model to the pages where it belongs.
- The viewer controls the model. On a computer they drag to rotate and scroll to zoom. On a phone they swipe to rotate.
- The camera can move with the story. Put the same model in the same place on consecutive pages and turn it to a different angle on each. On a computer, the camera glides from one angle to the next as the viewer moves through the pages.
- You set the look. Pick a lighting environment such as studio, city or sunset, switch on auto-rotate, or pull the parts of an assembly apart with an exploded view.
- Screens count as 3D too. Put a screenshot or a video on a 3D phone or laptop when the product is software.
Share it and see who looked
A finished deck is a link. Send it, or embed it on your own site with an iframe. It reflows for phones. Encelade then reports views, unique viewers, time on each page and how many people reached the end, so you can see which page of the story lost them.
Where Encelade stops
- It is not a modeling tool. Make or generate the model first, or have someone send you the file.
- It reads GLB and glTF. Convert OBJ or FBX files before you upload them; Blender does this for free. Export CAD files to one of those formats from your CAD package first.
- You can’t pin your own annotations to parts of a model. If that is the main thing you need, Sketchfab does it.
- Analytics cover pages, not the model: Encelade doesn’t record how a viewer rotated or zoomed.
- On the Free plan, shared decks and embeds carry a “Made with Encelade” badge. Paid plans remove it.
- PDF and PowerPoint exports show the model as a still image. The live link is the real thing.
3D models and Spline scenes work on the Free plan. Paid plans start at $8 a month billed annually; the pricing page has the current limits.
All six tools compared
| Tool | Job | Runs in | Needs code | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spline | Make | Browser | No | Designers building interactive scenes |
| Vectary | Make | Browser | No | Product viewers, configurators and AR |
| Blender | Make | Desktop | No | Detailed modeling and animation, for free |
| Three.js | Make and embed | Your own site | Yes | Fully custom experiences built by developers |
| Sketchfab | Host and embed | Browser | No | Putting a finished model online with annotations |
| Encelade | Tell the story | Browser | No | Walking a viewer through a model, page by page, and measuring it |
How to choose
- You have no model yet and you are a designer: start in Spline.
- You have a product model and buyers need options or AR: use Vectary.
- You need a detailed, custom model and have time: use Blender, then export GLB.
- You have a developer and a brand site to build: use Three.js.
- You have a model and want it online today: upload it to Sketchfab.
- You have a model and need to explain it, pitch it or sell it: put it in Encelade.
The tools combine well. A common path is Blender or Spline for the model, then Encelade for the story around it. For presentation tools specifically, see our list of interactive 3D presentation software. For the sales case, see 3D product visualization for B2B sales.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to code to put 3D on a website?
No. Spline, Vectary and Sketchfab give you an embed code to paste into your site, and Encelade gives you a link or an iframe for the whole story. You only need code for a fully custom build with Three.js.
What file format should I use for 3D on the web?
Use GLB, the single-file version of glTF. It is the open standard for 3D on the web, most tools on this list read or export it, and one file holds the shapes, materials and textures.
Can I put a Spline scene in a presentation?
Yes. In Encelade, add a Spline layer and paste the scene’s viewer link, the .splinecode URL from Spline’s export. The scene runs live on the page with the interactions you built, next to your text and charts.
What is the difference between 3D design software and a 3D storytelling tool?
3D design software makes the model: Spline, Vectary and Blender. A storytelling tool takes a finished model and builds the sequence around it: what the viewer sees first, what each page says, and what they do at the end. Encelade is the second kind.
