Adobe Substance 3D Designer vs Mari

Adobe Substance 3D Designer9.1Visit Mari8.7Visit

Higher score Adobe Substance 3D Designer #2 in Game Texture Software 9.1/10 30-day trial Free trial✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Adobe

vs

Mari #4 in Game Texture Software 8.7/10 Free plan · 30-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 1 of 4 features Visit Foundry

• Adobe Substance 3D Designer fits best

  Professional procedural material authoring

• Mari fits best

  Large-scale film and game texture production

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Side by side

Feature	Adobe Substance 3D Designer 9.1/10 Visit ↗	Mari 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.1	8.7
Ranking	#2 in Game Texture Software	#4 in Game Texture Software
Best for	Professional procedural material authoring	Large-scale film and game texture production
Pricing model	Paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	—	$689/user/yr
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	30 days	30 days
Free trial length	30 days	30 days
Deployment	Cloud, Desktop	Desktop
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, Linux
Support	Community, Docs	Email, Community, Docs
Integrations	6 integrations	8 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Adobe Substance 3D Designer 4/4 · Mari 1/4
Texture baking	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Procedural materials	✓	✓
UDIM support	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Game-engine export	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Specs
Primary workflow	Material_authoring	Not checked yet
Supported platforms	windows, macos, linux	windows, linux
Our review
Pros	Deep node-based, non-destructive procedural material workflows Integrated mesh baking with UV-tile and UDIM support Exports, APIs, and integrations for major 3D tools and engines	Supports UDIM workflows with thousands of textures per model Combines procedural nodes, PBR ingestion, and integrated baking Offers projection, eight-channel, 2D, and Python-based texturing workflows
Cons	No free plan is available Access is sold through Substance 3D collections rather than Designer alone Student and teacher access is limited to personal, non-commercial use	Paid plans start at $86 per license per month Current support is limited to Windows and Linux The free version is restricted to non-commercial use
Our verdict	Adobe Substance 3D Designer is a desktop application for creating procedural 2D textures, materials, filters, patterns, and environment lights. It is designed for technical 3D artists and production teams in games, visual effects,… Read the review →	Mari is desktop 3D painting and texturing software for artists creating visual effects, animation, games, and other digital content. Its focus is high-resolution asset work, combining projection painting on 3D models and UVs with UDIM… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Adobe Substance 3D Designer — where it wins

  • Deep node-based, non-destructive procedural material workflows
  • Integrated mesh baking with UV-tile and UDIM support
  • Exports, APIs, and integrations for major 3D tools and engines

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan is available
  • Access is sold through Substance 3D collections rather than Designer alone
  • Student and teacher access is limited to personal, non-commercial use

• Mari — where it wins

  • Supports UDIM workflows with thousands of textures per model
  • Combines procedural nodes, PBR ingestion, and integrated baking
  • Offers projection, eight-channel, 2D, and Python-based texturing workflows

  Where it doesn't

  • Paid plans start at $86 per license per month
  • Current support is limited to Windows and Linux
  • The free version is restricted to non-commercial use

• Adobe Substance 3D Designer9.1/10 · 30-day trial

  A deep procedural material tool for production pipelines, with paid-only access.

  Visit AdobeFull verdict →
• Mari8.7/10 · Free plan · 30-day trial

  A mature texture-production tool with deep UDIM, procedural, baking, and scripting workflows.

  Visit FoundryFull verdict →