See how Needle, 8th Wall, and Galacean Engine compare across key features and capabilities for usage on the web and creating XR experiences for designers, developers and teams.
View all platform comparisonsWeb-first runtime integrated with Unity and Blender plugins, complemented by Needle Cloud for optimization and hosting. Needle | A commercial platform specializing in high-quality, markerless WebAR experiences, featuring a cloud editor and advanced tracking capabilities. 8th Wall | An open-source, TypeScript-based engine from Ant Group, designed with a mobile-first philosophy for performant web apps, offering code-first or editor workflows. Galacean Engine | |
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Core Platform & Workflow | |||
Solution Type | 3D Engine Cloud Platform Optimization Tool Web Component Needle Solution Type:
3d-engine, cloud-platform, authoring-tool, optimization-tool, web-component A comprehensive suite including a runtime engine, cloud services for optimization/hosting, authoring via Unity/Blender plugins, and embeddable web component output. | Cloud Platform 3D Engine 8th Wall Solution Type:
cloud-platform, authoring-tool, 3d-engine A comprehensive platform providing AR tracking engine, cloud-based IDE (Cloud Editor, Niantic Studio), hosting, and specialized AR features. | 3D Engine Galacean Engine Solution Type:
3d-engine, authoring-tool An open-source engine with an accompanying visual editor, focused on mobile web performance. |
Made for the web | Needle Made for the web:
Yes Built from the ground up for the web, focusing on fast loading, efficient rendering, and cross-platform web deployment. | 8th Wall Made for the web:
Yes Specifically optimized for delivering AR experiences through mobile web browsers. | Galacean Engine Made for the web:
Yes Explicitly designed with a mobile-first philosophy for high performance on the web. |
Typical Workflows | Unity Editor Blender Editor Code HTML Asset Upload Needle Typical Workflows:
Unity Editor, Blender Editor, Code, HTML, Asset Upload Primary workflow involves using Unity or Blender as the authoring environment, exporting scenes and logic. Custom scripts (TypeScript/JavaScript) extend functionality. | Web Editor Code 8th Wall Typical Workflows:
Web Editor, Code Development occurs in the Cloud Editor or Niantic Studio using JavaScript, HTML, CSS, often integrating with libraries like A-Frame or three.js. | Standalone Editor Code Galacean Engine Typical Workflows:
Standalone Editor, Code Supports both direct coding using TypeScript and development via the Galacean Editor. |
Use with Unity | Needle Use with Unity:
Yes Deep integration with Unity Editor via dedicated plugin, allowing export of scenes, C# scripts (transpiled), materials (Shader Graph), animations, and components. | 8th Wall Use with Unity:
No Focuses on web technologies with a custom editor. | Galacean Engine Use with Unity:
No Separate engine and workflow. |
Use with Blender | Needle Use with Blender:
Yes Integration with Blender via addon, supporting export of scenes, materials, animations, and custom logic nodes. | 8th Wall Use with Blender:
No Imports standard 3D asset formats like glTF. | Galacean Engine Use with Blender:
No Imports glTF assets exported from Blender. |
Interactivity Building Blocks | Needle Interactivity Building Blocks:
Yes Includes a rich set of components for common interactions, animations, and UI elements. | 8th Wall Interactivity Building Blocks:
Yes Provides AR-specific components for common interactions and UI elements in WebAR experiences. | Galacean Engine Interactivity Building Blocks:
Yes Offers components for common 3D interactions using engine-toolkit. |
Extensible with Coding | Needle Extensible with Coding:
Yes Uses TypeScript with full IDE support in both Unity and standalone projects. | 8th Wall Extensible with Coding:
Yes JavaScript API for creating AR experiences, with integration for Three.js, A-Frame, or Babylon.js. | Galacean Engine Extensible with Coding:
Yes Uses TypeScript/JavaScript with an entity-component system. |
Engine Capabilities | |||
Physically-Based Rendering | Needle Physically-Based Rendering:
Yes Supports Physically Based Rendering (PBR), custom shaders (via Unity Shader Graph export), lighting, and post-processing effects. | Limited 8th Wall Physically-Based Rendering:
Limited Rendering quality depends on the capabilities of the integrated engine. The Studio material model does not support all common PBR features. | Good Galacean Engine Physically-Based Rendering:
Good Supports PBR materials, shadows, and various effects via core engine and extension libraries. |
Component System | Needle Component System:
Yes Leverages the component-based architecture of Unity/Blender, extended with custom web-specific components. | 8th Wall Component System:
Yes Depends on the integrated rendering framework (e.g., A-Frame uses ECS). | Galacean Engine Component System:
Yes Built around an Entity-Component-System architecture. |
Built-in Networking | Needle Built-in Networking:
Yes Built-in real-time networking for multiplayer and collaborative applications. | 8th Wall Built-in Networking:
No Networking needs to be implemented using external libraries or services. | Galacean Engine Built-in Networking:
No Requires external libraries for networking capabilities. |
Timelines and Sequencing | Needle Timelines and Sequencing:
Yes Supports timeline-based sequencing, complex animations, animator state machines, blending, and more. | 8th Wall Timelines and Sequencing:
No No built-in timeline or sequencing system, relies on manual animation code or framework features. | Limited Galacean Engine Timelines and Sequencing:
Limited Basic animation system but limited timeline or sequencing tools. |
Animation Controls | Needle Animation Controls:
Yes Supports complex animations authored in Unity (Animator, Timeline) or Blender and exports them for the web. | 8th Wall Animation Controls:
Yes Animation capabilities depend on the chosen rendering engine. | Galacean Engine Animation Controls:
Yes Supports skeletal animation, blend shapes, and an animation state machine. |
Animated Materials | Needle Animated Materials:
Yes Supports material animations, shader graph, and procedural material effects. | Via Framework 8th Wall Animated Materials:
Via Framework Depends on the underlying framework used (Three.js, A-Frame, etc.). | Galacean Engine Animated Materials:
Yes Supports material animation and shader effects, with focus on mobile performance. |
Audio Playback | Needle Audio Playback:
Yes Supports spatial audio configured via Unity/Blender components. | 8th Wall Audio Playback:
Yes Audio capabilities depend on the chosen rendering engine. | Galacean Engine Audio Playback:
Yes Basic audio support. |
Video Playback | Needle Video Playback:
Yes Supports video textures and playback controlled via components. | 8th Wall Video Playback:
Yes Supports video textures through integrated rendering engines. | Galacean Engine Video Playback:
Yes Supports video textures via extension libraries. |
Physics Integration | Needle Physics Integration:
Yes Integrates with physics engines, configured via Unity/Blender components. | 8th Wall Physics Integration:
Yes Physics capabilities depend on the chosen rendering engine. | Galacean Engine Physics Integration:
Yes Includes physics integration (e.g., @galacean/engine-physics-physx). |
glTF 3D Support | Excellent Needle glTF 3D Support:
Excellent Uses glTF as its core runtime format and supports import of various formats (FBX, USD, VRM etc.) which are converted. | 8th Wall glTF 3D Support:
Yes Supports loading glTF assets. | Galacean Engine glTF 3D Support:
Yes Built around the glTF standard as the primary asset format. |
Custom User Interfaces | Needle Custom User Interfaces:
Yes Facilitates creation of UI using standard HTML/CSS and frontend frameworks, integrated with the 3D scene. | Limited 8th Wall Custom User Interfaces:
Limited UI is typically created using HTML/CSS overlays or the UI system of the chosen rendering engine. | Galacean Engine Custom User Interfaces:
Yes Built-in 2D UI system but limited options for HTML/CSS integration. |
Web Integration & Deployment | |||
Web Component | Needle Web Component:
Yes Exports projects as standard web components (<needle-engine> tag) for easy embedding into any HTML page or web application. | 8th Wall Web Component:
No Experiences are typically loaded via the 8th Wall JS library. | Galacean Engine Web Component:
Yes Can be embedded and controlled within standard web pages. |
PWA Support | Needle PWA Support:
Yes Being web-native, Needle Engine projects can be easily included in Progressive Web Apps for offline capabilities and installation. | 8th Wall PWA Support:
No WebAR experiences created with 8th Wall can be integrated into Progressive Web Apps. | Galacean Engine PWA Support:
No Mobile-first design makes it well-suited for PWAs. |
HTML/CSS Integration | Excellent Needle HTML/CSS Integration:
Excellent Designed to seamlessly integrate with HTML, CSS, and frontend frameworks (React, Vue, Svelte etc.), allowing blending of 2D UI and 3D content. | 8th Wall HTML/CSS Integration:
Yes Allows overlaying HTML/CSS elements for UI. | Galacean Engine HTML/CSS Integration:
Yes Integrates into standard web development workflows. |
Host Anywhere | Needle Host Anywhere:
Yes The core runtime can be self-hosted on any static server. Needle Cloud features (optimization, hosting, analytics) require the cloud service. | 8th Wall Host Anywhere:
No Requires the 8th Wall platform for tracking and hosting. | Galacean Engine Host Anywhere:
Yes Deployable on static web servers. |
Asset Hosting | Needle Asset Hosting:
Yes Needle Cloud provides managed hosting and CDN delivery for optimized assets. | Galacean Engine Asset Hosting:
No Requires external hosting for assets. | |
App Hosting | Needle App Hosting:
Yes Needle Cloud provides managed hosting and CDN delivery for optimized applications. | Required 8th Wall App Hosting:
Required Using the 8th Wall platform requires hosting on 8th Wall's servers. | Galacean Engine App Hosting:
No Not a hosting platform; requires external hosting. |
Performance & Optimization | |||
Engine Size | Medium Needle Engine Size:
Medium Optimized runtime aims for minimal footprint, size depends on included features. | Medium 8th Wall Engine Size:
Medium Includes sophisticated AR tracking libraries. | Small/Medium Galacean Engine Engine Size:
Small/Medium Aims for a lightweight runtime suitable for mobile web. |
Loading Performance | Excellent Needle Loading Performance:
Excellent Rapid development cycles and fast loading times through optimized runtime and asset handling. | Moderate 8th Wall Loading Performance:
Moderate Loading time depends on experience complexity and network conditions. | Fast Galacean Engine Loading Performance:
Fast Optimization for fast loading on mobile is a key design goal. |
Runtime Performance | Excellent Needle Runtime Performance:
Excellent Designed for efficient rendering performance across desktop, mobile, and XR devices. | Good 8th Wall Runtime Performance:
Good Offers robust and performant AR tracking, overall performance also depends on rendering complexity. | High Galacean Engine Runtime Performance:
High Targets high runtime performance, especially on mobile devices. |
Smart Asset Optimization | Excellent Needle Smart Asset Optimization:
Excellent Needle Cloud provides significant automated optimization: LOD generation, mesh optimization, extensive texture compression (Basis Universal, WebP, JPG, PNG) and resizing options. | 8th Wall Smart Asset Optimization:
No The platform handles some processing, but optimization relies on preparing assets beforehand. | Basic Galacean Engine Smart Asset Optimization:
Basic Supports optimized formats like glTF with Draco/Basis, relies on external tools for complex optimization. |
Mesh and Texture LODs | Excellent Needle Mesh and Texture LODs:
Excellent Supports automatic mesh simplification, level-of-detail generation and automatic texture compression with multiple quality levels. | 8th Wall Mesh and Texture LODs:
No Relies on optimization being done before asset upload; no dynamic LOD system. | Galacean Engine Mesh and Texture LODs:
No No automatic simplifciation or LOD generation. |
XR Support (AR/VR/Spatial) | |||
VR Support (WebXR) | Needle VR Support (WebXR):
Yes Supports VR headsets via the WebXR standard. | 8th Wall VR Support (WebXR):
No Primary focus is WebAR. | Limited Galacean Engine VR Support (WebXR):
Limited Primary focus is 2D/3D mobile web, not immersive VR. |
AR Support (WebXR) | Needle AR Support (WebXR):
Yes Supports markerless WebAR on compatible Android devices via the WebXR standard. | 8th Wall AR Support (WebXR):
Yes Provides markerless AR for Android, but requires additional camera permissions and uses more CPU and GPU resources. | Limited Galacean Engine AR Support (WebXR):
Limited Primary focus is 2D/3D mobile web, AR support might be basic or via extensions. |
AR Support (iOS) | Needle AR Support (iOS):
Yes Supports interactive markerless WebAR on iOS devices via WebXR. | 8th Wall AR Support (iOS):
Yes Provides markerless AR for iOS, but requires additional camera permissions and uses more CPU and GPU resources. | Limited Galacean Engine AR Support (iOS):
Limited Focus is not primarily on AR. |
AR Support (visionOS) | Needle AR Support (visionOS):
Yes Explicit support for creating spatial computing experiences deployable on visionOS. | 8th Wall AR Support (visionOS):
No Focus is on mobile WebAR. | Galacean Engine AR Support (visionOS):
No Not a target platform. |
AR Tracking Types | Surface Image Needle AR Tracking Types:
Surface, Image Supports World Tracking via the WebXR standard on compatible devices. Image tracking is supported on iOS AR but requires a device-specific flag for Android AR. | Surface Image Face VPS 8th Wall AR Tracking Types:
Surface, Image, Face, VPS Offers a comprehensive suite of advanced AR tracking capabilities, including location-based VPS. | N/A Galacean Engine AR Tracking Types:
N/A Not AR-focused. |
Ecosystem & Support | |||
Official Support Availability | Needle Official Support Availability:
Yes Dedicated support available for licensed users. | 8th Wall Official Support Availability:
Yes Support available through paid plans. | Galacean Engine Official Support Availability:
No Support is community-driven, backed by Ant Group's development. |
Learning Resources | Needle Learning Resources:
Yes Extensive documentation, tutorials, live samples, and active community support. | Good 8th Wall Learning Resources:
Good Offers project library, documentation, and tutorials. | Good Galacean Engine Learning Resources:
Good Offers documentation, examples, and official toolkits. |
License | Commercial Needle License:
Commercial Commercial license required for full features and deployment. Free evaluation available. | Commercial | Open Source |