Needle vs. 8th Wall vs. Godot

See how Needle, 8th Wall, and Godot compare across key features and capabilities for usage on the web and creating XR experiences for designers, developers and teams.

View all platform comparisons
Web-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
A feature of the free and open-source Godot Engine, allowing projects to be compiled to WebGL and Wasm for browser deployment, though with some limitations.
Godot
Core Platform & Workflow
Solution Type
3D Engine
Cloud Platform
Authoring Tool
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
Authoring Tool
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
Authoring Tool
Godot
Solution Type: 3d-engine, authoring-tool
Allows exporting projects made in the Godot Editor to run in browsers using WebGL/Wasm.
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.
Godot
Made for the web: No
Web is an export target, not the primary design focus. Performance and features may lag behind native builds.
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
Godot
Typical Workflows: Standalone Editor, Code
Development uses the integrated Godot Editor, with scripting primarily in GDScript or C#.
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.
Godot
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.
Godot
Use with Blender: Yes
Godot has strong glTF import capabilities, making Blender a good companion tool.
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.
Godot
Interactivity Building Blocks: No
Limited built-in components, though components are available in the Godot Asset Library.
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.
Godot
Extensible with Coding: Yes
GDScript, C#, or visual scripting, with some limitations in web export.
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
Godot
Physically-Based Rendering: Good
Supports PBR materials, global illumination (SDFGI, VoxelGI - limitations on web), and various post-processing effects, although web export uses the less feature-rich Compatibility renderer.
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).
Godot
Component System: Yes
Uses a node-based scene structure, which functions similarly to an ECS.
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.
Godot
Built-in Networking: Yes
Includes high-level networking APIs, but web exports have constraints (e.g., no UDP, rely on WebSockets/WebRTC).
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.
Godot
Timelines and Sequencing: No
Animation state machines are supported via AnimationTree and AnimationPlayer, however there is no dedicated timeline/sequencing tool.
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.
Godot
Animation Controls: Yes
Supports Godot's AnimationPlayer, AnimationTree, and related nodes.
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.).
Godot
Animated Materials: Yes
AnimationPlayer can animate material properties as well.
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.
Godot
Audio Playback: Yes
Includes Godot's audio engine capabilities.
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.
Godot
Video Playback: Yes
Supports video playback using the VideoStreamPlayer node.
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.
Godot
Physics Integration: Yes
Includes Godot's built-in 2D and 3D physics engines.
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.
Excellent
Godot
glTF 3D Support: Excellent
Godot prioritizes glTF as its primary 3D interchange 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.
Godot
Custom User Interfaces: Yes
Features a comprehensive set of Control nodes for building complex UIs.
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.
Godot
Web Component: No
Web exports are typically embedded via iframe or JavaScript loader.
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.
Godot
PWA Support: Yes
Web exports can be configured as Progressive Web Apps.
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.
Difficult
Godot
HTML/CSS Integration: Difficult
Interaction between the Godot Wasm instance and the webpage requires JavaScript bridging.
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.
Limited
Godot
Host Anywhere: Limited
Requires hosting for the exported files (Wasm, pck, JS). Servers need specific configuration (Cross-Origin Isolation headers for threading).
Asset Hosting
Needle
Asset Hosting: Yes
Needle Cloud provides managed hosting and CDN delivery for optimized assets.
8th Wall
Asset Hosting: Yes
Includes hosting as part of the platform service.
Godot
Asset Hosting: No
Requires external hosting for exported build files.
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.
Godot
App Hosting: No
Requires external hosting for exported build files.
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.
Medium/Large
Godot
Engine Size: Medium/Large
Wasm builds can be substantial, though generally smaller than Unity.
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.
Moderate/Slow
Godot
Loading Performance: Moderate/Slow
Loading times depend on project size and optimization efforts.
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.
Moderate/Variable
Godot
Runtime Performance: Moderate/Variable
Web export performance can be lower than native builds due to browser constraints and translation overhead.
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.
Godot
Smart Asset Optimization: Yes
Offers export options for texture compression (VRAM compression) and other settings.
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.
Godot
Mesh and Texture LODs: No
No automatic generation of simplification levels, no web-specific optimizations.
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.
Godot
VR Support (WebXR): Yes
WebXR support is available but requires custom code.
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.
Godot
AR Support (WebXR): Yes
AR capabilities via WebXR are available.
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.
Godot
AR Support (iOS): No
Quick Look is not supported.
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.
Godot
AR Support (visionOS): No
Not directly supported via web export.
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.
Limited (WebXR)
Godot
AR Tracking Types: Limited (WebXR)
Tracking capabilities depend on the WebXR implementation in the browser.
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.
Godot
Official Support Availability: No
Support is primarily community-based. Commercial support providers exist.
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.
Godot
Learning Resources: Yes
Good official documentation, tutorials, and a growing number of community resources.
License
Commercial
Needle
License: Commercial
Commercial license required for full features and deployment. Free evaluation available.
Commercial
8th Wall
License: Commercial
A commercial platform with various pricing tiers.
Open Source
Godot
License: Open Source
Free and open source under the MIT license.

FAQ – frequently asked questions

Needle Cloud arrow_upward

Needle Engine arrow_upward

Usecases arrow_upward

Licensing and Compliance arrow_upward

Company Roadmap FAQ Compare Solutions Report Problem

Send us a message

Send a message to the Needle team. Please describe any feedback you have, if you encountered any problem on the website or send us a feature request. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Contact

Send us a message

Send a message to the Needle team. Please describe any feedback you have, if you encountered any problem on the website or send us a feature request. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Imprint