Convert Your 3D Models for Free

Fast, easy, and completely free 3D model conversion.

How Online 3D Converter Works?

Online 3D Converter runs entirely inside your browser, allowing you to convert models quickly, safely, and without installing any software. Because the process happens locally, no files are uploaded to a server. Your models stay on your device, giving you full privacy and faster performance.

To use the tool, simply open the website, click "Open from device" or drag and drop your 3D model, then choose your desired output format. Once you hit Convert, the tool instantly processes the file and provides a downloadable result. You can convert as many models as you want with no limits or waiting times.

Comparison of the most popular 3D formats

3D files come in many flavors. Some carry only bare geometry for 3D printing, others store full scenes with materials, animations and lighting for games or AR, and a few carry precise CAD data for manufacturing.

Below we compare the most widely used 3D formats and highlight what each one is best (and worst) at.

STL

• What it stores: triangle mesh (ASCII or binary), no color/material, no scene hierarchy, no units enforced.
• Strengths: universal for 3D printing, extremely simple to implement. Binary STL is compact.
• Weaknesses: no materials, no textures, no metadata, no unit/scale info (leads to confusion), can't describe complex assemblies.
• Best for: raw 3D-printable geometry when you only need solid surfaces.

3MF

• What it stores: designed for 3D printing - meshes, color, materials, multiple parts, print-specific metadata and slices. It's package-based (ZIP-like).
• Strengths: modern replacement for STL with explicit metadata (units, materials, colors) and built-in extensibility.
• Weaknesses: adoption is growing but not universal; some slicers and printers still prefer STL.
• Best for: advanced 3D printing workflows that require color, multiple materials or embedded print instructions.

OBJ (+ MTL)

• What it stores: triangle/quad meshes, UV coordinates, vertex normals, optional .mtl file for simple material properties and texture references.
• Strengths: human-readable, widely supported, good for static models and texture mapping.
• Weaknesses: no standard for PBR, no animations, scene data is limited, no single-file packaging (textures are external).
• Best for: asset exchange for modeling and texturing workflows, legacy pipelines, simple web visuals where PBR isn't required.

PLY

• What it stores: polygonal meshes, commonly used with point cloud/scan exports; supports per-vertex attributes (color, normals, confidence).
• Strengths: great for scanned data and scientific use where per-vertex metadata matters.
• Weaknesses: not designed for complex scenes, materials or animations.
• Best for: scans, photogrammetry exports, datasets where vertex color / per-vertex data is important.

FBX

• What it stores: rich scene info - geometry, materials (not always PBR), skeletons, animations, cameras, lights, and metadata.
• Strengths: heavily used in games and VFX for animation pipelines; broad tool support (Maya, 3ds Max, Unity, Unreal).
• Weaknesses: proprietary history, exporter/importer inconsistencies between packages, large file sizes, can be brittle between versions.
• Best for: moving complex animated assets between DCC (digital content creation) tools and game engines.

USD / USDZ

• What it stores: hierarchical scene description optimized for complex scenes, layering, variants and non-destructive edits. USDZ is an archive useful for AR on Apple platforms. Supports rich materials and animation.
• Strengths: built for large-scale scenes, efficient at representing complex assets and variants, great for film and advanced real-time workflows. Growing industry support.
• Weaknesses: complexity; tooling still catching up for everyone.
• Best for: VFX, film pipelines, advanced AR scenarios and large scene interchange.

GLTF / GLB

• What it stores: geometry, PBR materials, textures, animations, scene graph. GLB is binary single-file; glTF often uses external resources or packaged with .bin and textures.
• Strengths: Designed for web and runtime - small, fast to parse, modern PBR material system, supports Draco compression for meshes, good for streaming. Increasingly the standard for web and AR.
• Weaknesses: not meant for CAD-level precision or parametric info. Some exporter differences still exist but stabilization is strong.
• Best for: web, AR/VR, real-time applications and anywhere fast loading and PBR fidelity matter.

COLLADA (DAE)

• What it stores: scene interchange including geometry, materials, animation. XML-based.
• Strengths: open standard, descriptive, used historically for interchange.
• Weaknesses: XML verbosity, inconsistent exporter behavior, fewer modern features than glTF for runtime.
• Best for: legacy interchange and some pipeline interoperability situations.

STEP / IGES

• What it stores: precise CAD geometry (NURBS, B-rep), assemblies, tolerances, parametric features in some cases.
• Strengths: high precision and fidelity, used for manufacturing, CNC and engineering; preserves geometry intent.
• Weaknesses: large, complex, not suitable for real-time engines; toolchain variability.
• Best for: exchanging mechanical parts, CAM pipelines, tooling and CAD-to-CAD exchange.

Supported formats

Frequently asked questions