View all 3D Texturing / Digital Painting Alternatives

Best Free Alternatives to Foundry Mari 7.5

Stop paying $86/mo (Individual) / $1,229/yr (Team). Discover professional-grade tools that won't break your budget.

Category: 3D Texturing / Digital PaintingVerified for 2025

Top Recommended Replacements

Adobe Substance 3D Painter

Top Iterative Alternative

Why we like it

Industry standard for game dev; massive 'Smart Material' library; much faster for props and environment assets; easier learning curve.

Keep in mind

Struggles with very large UDIM counts (>100); viewport is often capped at 4K for performance; limited cross-UDIM seamless painting.

Blender 5.0 (Texture Paint)

FREE

Best Professional Free Alternative

Why we like it

100% free; the late 2025 release features 'Texture Nodes' for non-destructive painting; no export/import friction if modeling in Blender.

Keep in mind

The brush engine is slower than Mari's; lacks a dedicated multi-channel painting workflow out-of-the-box.

InstaMAT Studio

FREE

The 2025 Breakout Hit

Why we like it

Completely free for individuals/SMEs (<$100k revenue); features procedural texturing and AI-assisted material creation; extremely modern UI.

Keep in mind

Smaller community and fewer tutorials than Mari or Substance; newer, less 'battle-tested' in major film pipelines.

3D-Coat 2025

Best for Organic Assets

Why we like it

Exceptional for hand-painting and voxels; allows for perpetual ownership (no forced subscription); superior retopology tools.

Keep in mind

The UI is notoriously cluttered and has a steep learning curve; performance on massive high-res assets lags behind Mari.

ArmorPaint 1.0

Best Lightweight Choice

Why we like it

Incredibly small (<10MB); runs entirely on the GPU; very cheap; supports node-based PBR painting.

Keep in mind

Alpha/Beta state means fewer 'hero' features; lacks the asset management depth needed for complex studio pipelines.

Need more options?

Explore our full directory of 3D Texturing / Digital Painting software alternatives.

Browse the 3D Texturing / Digital Painting Hub