Needle vs. <model-viewer> vs. Reality Composer Pro

See how Needle, <model-viewer>, and Reality Composer Pro compare across key features and capabilities for usage on the web and creating XR experiences for designers, developers and teams.

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Web-first runtime integrated with Unity and Blender plugins, complemented by Needle Cloud for optimization and hosting.
Needle
A Google-developed web component for easily embedding interactive 3D models (glTF/GLB) and AR experiences into HTML pages.
<model-viewer>
Apple's advanced visual authoring tool integrated with Xcode for creating 3D scenes and spatial computing experiences for Apple platforms (especially visionOS) using RealityKit.
Reality Composer Pro
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.
Web Component
<model-viewer>
Solution Type: web-component
A custom HTML element (<model-viewer>) designed for simple 3D model display and AR.
Authoring Tool
Reality Composer Pro
Solution Type: authoring-tool
A visual editor for creating RealityKit scenes, tightly integrated with Xcode for Apple platform development.
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.
<model-viewer>
Made for the web: Yes
Focuses on ease of use, optimized loading (lazy loading, poster), and performance for web display.
N/A (Native Apple)
Reality Composer Pro
Made for the web: N/A (Native Apple)
Optimized exclusively for performance on Apple hardware (iOS, macOS, visionOS).
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.
HTML
<model-viewer>
Typical Workflows: HTML
Used by adding the `<model-viewer>` tag to an HTML page and configuring via attributes.
Standalone Editor
Reality Composer Pro
Typical Workflows: Standalone Editor
Provides a visual interface within Xcode for assembling scenes, materials, and basic behaviors. Complex logic requires Swift code.
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.
<model-viewer>
Use with Unity: No
Consumes glTF files, which can be exported from Unity.
Reality Composer Pro
Use with Unity: No
Direct competitor/alternative for native Apple development.
Use with Blender
Needle
Use with Blender: Yes
Integration with Blender via addon, supporting export of scenes, materials, animations, and custom logic nodes.
<model-viewer>
Use with Blender: No
Consumes glTF files, which can be exported from Blender.
Reality Composer Pro
Use with Blender: No
Primarily consumes USDZ format. Assets from Blender need conversion.
Interactivity Building Blocks
Needle
Interactivity Building Blocks: Yes
Includes a rich set of components for common interactions, animations, and UI elements.
<model-viewer>
Interactivity Building Blocks: No
Provides built-in features for model display, camera controls, and AR placement, but not for broader interactivity.
Reality Composer Pro
Interactivity Building Blocks: Yes
Provides components for common AR interactions and behaviors integrated with the broader Apple ecosystem.
Extensible with Coding
Needle
Extensible with Coding: Yes
Uses TypeScript with full IDE support in both Unity and standalone projects.
<model-viewer>
Extensible with Coding: No
Allows for JavaScript event handling and basic property manipulation via API, but not for extending core functionality.
Reality Composer Pro
Extensible with Coding: Yes
Can be extended with Swift programming, but only for Apple platforms.
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
<model-viewer>
Physically-Based Rendering: Limited
Supports PBR materials, environment maps, and basic lighting/shadow options, but no control over per-object shadows, reflection probes, lightmaps or other advanced rendering features.
Reality Composer Pro
Physically-Based Rendering: Yes
Leverages RealityKit's USD-based rendering engine optimized for Apple platforms.
Component System
Needle
Component System: Yes
Leverages the component-based architecture of Unity/Blender, extended with custom web-specific components.
<model-viewer>
Component System: No
Internal structure, not exposed as an ECS.
Reality Composer Pro
Component System: Yes
Built on RealityKit's Entity Component System.
Built-in Networking
Needle
Built-in Networking: Yes
Built-in real-time networking for multiplayer and collaborative applications.
<model-viewer>
Built-in Networking: No
Not designed for networked experiences.
Via Native Frameworks
Reality Composer Pro
Built-in Networking: Via Native Frameworks
Networking is handled using standard Apple frameworks (e.g., Network.framework).
Timelines and Sequencing
Needle
Timelines and Sequencing: Yes
Supports timeline-based sequencing, complex animations, animator state machines, blending, and more.
<model-viewer>
Timelines and Sequencing: No
Can play animations embedded in glTF but has no built-in sequencing system.
Reality Composer Pro
Timelines and Sequencing: Yes
Supports timeline-based animation and sequencing through OpenUSD.
Animation Controls
Needle
Animation Controls: Yes
Supports complex animations authored in Unity (Animator, Timeline) or Blender and exports them for the web.
<model-viewer>
Animation Controls: Yes
Can play animations embedded within the loaded glTF model.
Reality Composer Pro
Animation Controls: Yes
Supports creating and controlling animations within RealityKit scenes.
Animated Materials
Needle
Animated Materials: Yes
Supports material animations, shader graph, and procedural material effects.
<model-viewer>
Animated Materials: No
Supports materials in the glTF, including basic animation defined in the model, but no dynamic material creation or animation.
Reality Composer Pro
Animated Materials: No
Material properties can't be animated, but some shader-based animations are possible.
Audio Playback
Needle
Audio Playback: Yes
Supports spatial audio configured via Unity/Blender components.
<model-viewer>
Audio Playback: No
Does not have built-in audio features.
Reality Composer Pro
Audio Playback: Yes
Leverages RealityKit's spatial audio features.
Video Playback
Needle
Video Playback: Yes
Supports video textures and playback controlled via components.
<model-viewer>
Video Playback: No
Does not directly support video textures.
Reality Composer Pro
Video Playback: Yes
Supported via RealityKit.
Physics Integration
Needle
Physics Integration: Yes
Integrates with physics engines, configured via Unity/Blender components.
<model-viewer>
Physics Integration: No
Focuses on model display, does not include physics.
Reality Composer Pro
Physics Integration: Yes
Integrates with RealityKit's physics simulation capabilities.
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.
<model-viewer>
glTF 3D Support: Yes
Designed specifically for loading and displaying glTF 2.0 models.
Reality Composer Pro
glTF 3D Support: No
Focuses on OpenUSD content; glTF requires manual conversion.
Custom User Interfaces
Needle
Custom User Interfaces: Yes
Facilitates creation of UI using standard HTML/CSS and frontend frameworks, integrated with the 3D scene.
<model-viewer>
Custom User Interfaces: No
Provides basic interaction controls (orbit, pan, zoom) and hotspots. Customization primarily via HTML/CSS/JS API.
Reality Composer Pro
Custom User Interfaces: Yes
Integrates with SwiftUI for creating user interfaces in spatial contexts.
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.
<model-viewer>
Web Component: Yes
It is fundamentally a web component.
Reality Composer Pro
Web Component: No
Strictly for native Apple platform development.
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.
<model-viewer>
PWA Support: No
Can be included in Progressive Web Apps but provides no specific PWA features itself.
Reality Composer Pro
PWA Support: No
Not applicable.
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.
Excellent
<model-viewer>
HTML/CSS Integration: Excellent
Designed specifically for seamless integration into standard HTML pages.
Reality Composer Pro
HTML/CSS Integration: No
Operates entirely within the native Apple ecosystem.
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.
<model-viewer>
Host Anywhere: Yes
Requires only static hosting for the component and model files.
Reality Composer Pro
Host Anywhere: No
Tool is part of the Xcode development environment.
Asset Hosting
Needle
Asset Hosting: Yes
Needle Cloud provides managed hosting and CDN delivery for optimized assets.
<model-viewer>
Asset Hosting: No
Requires external hosting for the glTF/GLB model files.
Reality Composer Pro
Asset Hosting: No
Assets are bundled with the application.
App Hosting
Needle
App Hosting: Yes
Needle Cloud provides managed hosting and CDN delivery for optimized applications.
<model-viewer>
App Hosting: No
Requires external hosting for the HTML page and model files.
Reality Composer Pro
App Hosting: No
Not a hosting platform; used for creating applications.
Performance & Optimization
Engine Size
Medium
Needle
Engine Size: Medium
Optimized runtime aims for minimal footprint, size depends on included features.
Small
<model-viewer>
Engine Size: Small
Relatively lightweight as it bundles a subset of three.js.
N/A (OS Framework)
Reality Composer Pro
Engine Size: N/A (OS Framework)
RealityKit is part of the operating system.
Loading Performance
Excellent
Needle
Loading Performance: Excellent
Rapid development cycles and fast loading times through optimized runtime and asset handling.
Fast
<model-viewer>
Loading Performance: Fast
Implements strategies like lazy loading and posters for optimized loading experience.
Fast
Reality Composer Pro
Loading Performance: Fast
Benefits from native code and tight OS integration.
Runtime Performance
Excellent
Needle
Runtime Performance: Excellent
Designed for efficient rendering performance across desktop, mobile, and XR devices.
Good
<model-viewer>
Runtime Performance: Good
Offers good performance for its primary use case of displaying and interacting with single models.
High
Reality Composer Pro
Runtime Performance: High
Optimized for high performance on Apple silicon.
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.
<model-viewer>
Smart Asset Optimization: Yes
Handles progressive loading and encourages use of optimized formats like Draco and Basis Universal textures.
Reality Composer Pro
Smart Asset Optimization: Yes
Works with the optimized USDZ format. Includes Object Capture (photogrammetry) for model creation.
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.
<model-viewer>
Mesh and Texture LODs: No
Relies on optimization being done in the source glTF file; no dynamic LOD system.
Reality Composer Pro
Mesh and Texture LODs: No
No automatic LOD management or simplification.
XR Support (AR/VR/Spatial)
VR Support (WebXR)
Needle
VR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports VR headsets via the WebXR standard.
Limited
<model-viewer>
VR Support (WebXR): Limited
Supports viewing models in VR via WebXR, without interactivity.
Reality Composer Pro
VR Support (WebXR): No
Not supported.
AR Support (WebXR)
Needle
AR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports markerless WebAR on compatible Android devices via the WebXR standard.
Limited
<model-viewer>
AR Support (WebXR): Limited
Provides an AR button for viewing models in AR on compatible Android devices (via WebXR), without interactivity.
Reality Composer Pro
AR Support (WebXR): No
Not supported.
AR Support (iOS)
Needle
AR Support (iOS): Yes
Supports interactive markerless WebAR on iOS devices via WebXR.
Limited
<model-viewer>
AR Support (iOS): Limited
Provides an AR button for viewing static models in AR on iOS using Apple's AR Quick Look.
Reality Composer Pro
AR Support (iOS): Yes
Creates content for ARKit/RealityKit apps on iOS/iPadOS.
AR Support (visionOS)
Needle
AR Support (visionOS): Yes
Explicit support for creating spatial computing experiences deployable on visionOS.
Limited
<model-viewer>
AR Support (visionOS): Limited
Provides an AR button for viewing static models in AR on iOS using Apple's AR Quick Look.
Reality Composer Pro
AR Support (visionOS): Yes
A primary tool for developing spatial computing experiences for visionOS.
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
<model-viewer>
AR Tracking Types: Surface
Supports World Tracking via WebXR (Android) and surface placement via AR Quick Look (iOS).
Surface
Face
Object
Reality Composer Pro
AR Tracking Types: Surface, Face, Object
Leverages the full capabilities of ARKit (World, Image, Face, Body, Object, Location Anchors, etc.).
Ecosystem & Support
Official Support Availability
Needle
Official Support Availability: Yes
Dedicated support available for licensed users.
<model-viewer>
Official Support Availability: No
Support primarily through GitHub issues and community channels.
Reality Composer Pro
Official Support Availability: No
Community support available through the Apple Developer Program.
Learning Resources
Needle
Learning Resources: Yes
Extensive documentation, tutorials, live samples, and active community support.
Good
<model-viewer>
Learning Resources: Good
Excellent documentation site serves as the primary learning resource.
Excellent
Reality Composer Pro
Learning Resources: Excellent
Extensive resources including official documentation, WWDC session videos, tutorials, and sample code.
License
Commercial
Needle
License: Commercial
Commercial license required for full features and deployment. Free evaluation available.
Open Source
<model-viewer>
License: Open Source
Available under the Apache License 2.0.
Free
Reality Composer Pro
License: Free
Included free as part of Apple's developer tools.

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