Spline

What is Spline 3D used for?

Spline is used to design interactive 3D scenes, 3D icons, product mockups and animated characters that run in a web browser or an app. It is a design tool first, made for people who build websites and digital products rather than film or games.

Everything happens in the browser, or in Spline's desktop apps for Mac and Windows. Scenes start from primitives and are shaped with booleans, sculpting and 3D vector editing, then given layered materials, lighting and animation. States and events make objects react to clicks, scrolling, keys and collisions, while physics, particles and game controls cover simple playable experiences. A finished scene publishes to a public link or embeds in Webflow, Framer, Wix Studio, React or Next.js with a short snippet. Spline also includes Hana, a 2D canvas for interface and motion design, and an AI agent that builds and edits scenes from a written description.

How much does Spline cost in the UK?

Spline has a free plan, and paid plans cost $12 to $60 a month per seat billed yearly, or $15 to $70 billed monthly. Prices are shown in US dollars only and the pricing page says nothing about VAT, so the amount on a UK card statement depends on the exchange rate.

• Free: limited personal files, unlimited viewers, web exports with a Spline watermark
• Hobby, $15 a month or $12 billed yearly: unlimited 3D and 2D files, no watermark on web exports, 2,000 AI credits a month
• Pro, $30 a month or $25 billed yearly: unlimited projects and scenes, video export, Apple and Android exports, unlimited variables, APIs and webhooks, 3,000 AI credits
• Max, $70 a month or $60 billed yearly: 10,000 AI credits, more media generation each week and priority support
• Enterprise: custom pricing billed yearly, with SAML single sign-on, code and self-hosted exports and version history

Is Spline worth paying for?

For a designer who needs to put 3D on a live website, Hobby is the plan that matters, because it removes the watermark from web exports. Pro earns its higher price only for Apple and Android exports, video export or scenes that pull in live data.

On Product Hunt, Spline holds 4.6 out of 5 from 31 reviews, and reviewers there praise how quickly beginners get going and how easily 3D reaches the web. Some still describe a steep learning curve for people with no 3D background, and other reviewers mention slow performance on complex models and inconsistent rendering. Its Trustpilot page is small, with six reviews, and those focus on renewal charges and refunds rather than the editor itself.

Spline vs Blender: which should you use?

Spline suits interactive 3D for websites and apps, while Blender suits detailed modelling, rendering and animation for film, games and print. Blender is free and open source but runs as a desktop program with a much steeper learning curve, and its output needs extra work before it runs interactively in a browser.

Among other design tools, LottieFiles is the closer match for lightweight 2D animations on websites and apps, and FLORA for AI image and video generation on a canvas. Framer builds whole websites and is one of the site builders Spline scenes embed into, so the two are often used together rather than instead of each other.

What should you check before subscribing to Spline?

The main thing to know is that Spline does not give prorated refunds once a new billing cycle has started. Cancelling from account settings keeps the plan running until the end of the period already paid for.

Several Trustpilot reviewers say they were charged for a renewal they had forgotten about and could not get the money back, so the renewal date is worth noting, especially on a yearly plan. AI credits reset every billing cycle and do not roll over, and extra credits cost $5 a month for each 1,000.

How do you get Spline cheaper?

Yearly billing is the main saving: it cuts each plan by up to 20%, for example $144 a year for Hobby instead of $180 paid month by month. Students and educators can apply for an education discount using an education email and proof of status, and Spline approves the application before the upgrade; the page does not state the size of the discount.

The free plan also goes a long way for learning, with templates, the community library and unlimited viewers. Spline lists no free trial of its paid plans, apart from a trial of Enterprise on request.