Needle vs. PlayCanvas vs. 8th Wall

See how Needle, PlayCanvas, and 8th Wall 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
Combines an open-source engine with a proprietary cloud-based visual editor focused on collaborative game and interactive web app development.
PlayCanvas
A commercial platform specializing in high-quality, markerless WebAR experiences, featuring a cloud editor and advanced tracking capabilities.
8th Wall
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.
3D Engine
Cloud Platform
Authoring Tool
PlayCanvas
Solution Type: 3d-engine, cloud-platform, authoring-tool
An open-source runtime engine coupled with a proprietary, web-based collaborative visual editor platform.
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.
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.
PlayCanvas
Made for the web: Yes
Designed and optimized for web deployment, particularly for games and interactive ads.
8th Wall
Made for the web: Yes
Specifically optimized for delivering AR experiences through mobile web browsers.
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
PlayCanvas
Typical Workflows: Web Editor, Code
Primarily authored using the web-based visual editor, with scripting in JavaScript for custom logic.
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.
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.
PlayCanvas
Use with Unity: No
No direct integration; assets are imported in standard formats (glTF, FBX).
8th Wall
Use with Unity: No
Focuses on web technologies with a custom editor.
Use with Blender
Needle
Use with Blender: Yes
Integration with Blender via addon, supporting export of scenes, materials, animations, and custom logic nodes.
PlayCanvas
Use with Blender: No
No direct integration; assets are imported in standard formats (glTF, FBX).
8th Wall
Use with Blender: No
Imports standard 3D asset formats like glTF.
Interactivity Building Blocks
Needle
Interactivity Building Blocks: Yes
Includes a rich set of components for common interactions, animations, and UI elements.
PlayCanvas
Interactivity Building Blocks: Yes
Provides a component-based architecture with pre-built components for common interactions and behaviors.
8th Wall
Interactivity Building Blocks: Yes
Provides AR-specific components for common interactions and UI elements in WebAR experiences.
Extensible with Coding
Needle
Extensible with Coding: Yes
Uses TypeScript with full IDE support in both Unity and standalone projects.
PlayCanvas
Extensible with Coding: Yes
JavaScript scripting system with component-based architecture.
8th Wall
Extensible with Coding: Yes
JavaScript API for creating AR experiences, with integration for Three.js, A-Frame, or Babylon.js.
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.
PlayCanvas
Physically-Based Rendering: Yes
Supports PBR materials, shadows, 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.
Component System
Needle
Component System: Yes
Leverages the component-based architecture of Unity/Blender, extended with custom web-specific components.
PlayCanvas
Component System: Yes
Built around an Entity-Component system architecture.
8th Wall
Component System: Yes
Depends on the integrated rendering framework (e.g., A-Frame uses ECS).
Built-in Networking
Needle
Built-in Networking: Yes
Built-in real-time networking for multiplayer and collaborative applications.
PlayCanvas
Built-in Networking: No
Requires external libraries or custom implementation for real-time networking, though collaborative editor uses networking tech.
8th Wall
Built-in Networking: No
Networking needs to be implemented using external libraries or services.
Timelines and Sequencing
Needle
Timelines and Sequencing: Yes
Supports timeline-based sequencing, complex animations, animator state machines, blending, and more.
Limited
PlayCanvas
Timelines and Sequencing: Limited
Basic animation system but no comprehensive timeline or sequencing tool.
8th Wall
Timelines and Sequencing: No
No built-in timeline or sequencing system, relies on manual animation code or framework features.
Animation Controls
Needle
Animation Controls: Yes
Supports complex animations authored in Unity (Animator, Timeline) or Blender and exports them for the web.
PlayCanvas
Animation Controls: Yes
Supports skeletal animation and state graph animations.
8th Wall
Animation Controls: Yes
Animation capabilities depend on the chosen rendering engine.
Animated Materials
Needle
Animated Materials: Yes
Supports material animations, shader graph, and procedural material effects.
PlayCanvas
Animated Materials: Yes
Supports material animation and shader-based effects.
Via Framework
8th Wall
Animated Materials: Via Framework
Depends on the underlying framework used (Three.js, A-Frame, etc.).
Audio Playback
Needle
Audio Playback: Yes
Supports spatial audio configured via Unity/Blender components.
PlayCanvas
Audio Playback: Yes
Includes features for playing audio sources, including positional audio.
8th Wall
Audio Playback: Yes
Audio capabilities depend on the chosen rendering engine.
Video Playback
Needle
Video Playback: Yes
Supports video textures and playback controlled via components.
PlayCanvas
Video Playback: Yes
Supports video textures.
8th Wall
Video Playback: Yes
Supports video textures through integrated rendering engines.
Physics Integration
Needle
Physics Integration: Yes
Integrates with physics engines, configured via Unity/Blender components.
PlayCanvas
Physics Integration: Yes
Integrates the ammo.js physics engine (Wasm port of Bullet).
8th Wall
Physics Integration: Yes
Physics capabilities depend on the chosen rendering engine.
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.
PlayCanvas
glTF 3D Support: Yes
Supports import and use of the glTF 2.0 standard.
8th Wall
glTF 3D Support: Yes
Supports loading glTF assets.
Custom User Interfaces
Needle
Custom User Interfaces: Yes
Facilitates creation of UI using standard HTML/CSS and frontend frameworks, integrated with the 3D scene.
PlayCanvas
Custom User Interfaces: Yes
Includes a built-in UI system for creating screen space or world space interfaces.
Limited
8th Wall
Custom User Interfaces: Limited
UI is typically created using HTML/CSS overlays or the UI system of the chosen rendering engine.
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.
PlayCanvas
Web Component: No
Embedding typically done via iframe, not as a custom web component.
8th Wall
Web Component: No
Experiences are typically loaded via the 8th Wall JS library.
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.
PlayCanvas
PWA Support: No
Web builds can be packaged as PWAs, though no specific PWA features are provided by the engine itself.
8th Wall
PWA Support: No
WebAR experiences created with 8th Wall can be integrated into 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.
PlayCanvas
HTML/CSS Integration: Yes
Allows interaction with HTML/CSS, often used for UI overlays.
8th Wall
HTML/CSS Integration: Yes
Allows overlaying HTML/CSS elements for UI.
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.
Limited
PlayCanvas
Host Anywhere: Limited
Builds run on static hosting. The visual editor is a cloud service.
8th Wall
Host Anywhere: No
Requires the 8th Wall platform for tracking and hosting.
Asset Hosting
Needle
Asset Hosting: Yes
Needle Cloud provides managed hosting and CDN delivery for optimized assets.
PlayCanvas
Asset Hosting: Yes
Assets are hosted as part of the PlayCanvas cloud platform.
8th Wall
Asset Hosting: Yes
Includes hosting as part of the platform service.
App Hosting
Needle
App Hosting: Yes
Needle Cloud provides managed hosting and CDN delivery for optimized applications.
PlayCanvas
App Hosting: Yes
When using the PlayCanvas cloud services, apps can be hosted on PlayCanvas servers.
Required
8th Wall
App Hosting: Required
Using the 8th Wall platform requires hosting on 8th Wall's servers.
Performance & Optimization
Engine Size
Medium
Needle
Engine Size: Medium
Optimized runtime aims for minimal footprint, size depends on included features.
Small/Medium
PlayCanvas
Engine Size: Small/Medium
Engine core is relatively lightweight, focusing on web performance.
Medium
8th Wall
Engine Size: Medium
Includes sophisticated AR tracking libraries.
Loading Performance
Excellent
Needle
Loading Performance: Excellent
Rapid development cycles and fast loading times through optimized runtime and asset handling.
Fast/Moderate
PlayCanvas
Loading Performance: Fast/Moderate
Generally offers good loading performance, optimized for web delivery.
Moderate
8th Wall
Loading Performance: Moderate
Loading time depends on experience complexity and network conditions.
Runtime Performance
Excellent
Needle
Runtime Performance: Excellent
Designed for efficient rendering performance across desktop, mobile, and XR devices.
High
PlayCanvas
Runtime Performance: High
Optimized for efficient runtime performance on web platforms.
Good
8th Wall
Runtime Performance: Good
Offers robust and performant AR tracking, overall performance also depends on rendering complexity.
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.
PlayCanvas
Smart Asset Optimization: Yes
Editor provides options for texture compression (Basis, DXT, PVRTC, ETC) and model optimization settings.
8th Wall
Smart Asset Optimization: No
The platform handles some processing, but optimization relies on preparing assets beforehand.
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.
PlayCanvas
Mesh and Texture LODs: Yes
Supports mesh LODs and offers texture compression options during asset imports.
8th Wall
Mesh and Texture LODs: No
Relies on optimization being done before asset upload; no dynamic LOD system.
XR Support (AR/VR/Spatial)
VR Support (WebXR)
Needle
VR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports VR headsets via the WebXR standard.
PlayCanvas
VR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports VR experiences via WebXR.
8th Wall
VR Support (WebXR): No
Primary focus is WebAR.
AR Support (WebXR)
Needle
AR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports markerless WebAR on compatible Android devices via the WebXR standard.
PlayCanvas
AR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports AR experiences via WebXR.
8th Wall
AR Support (WebXR): Yes
Provides markerless AR for Android, but requires additional camera permissions and uses more CPU and GPU resources.
AR Support (iOS)
Needle
AR Support (iOS): Yes
Supports interactive markerless WebAR on iOS devices via WebXR.
PlayCanvas
AR Support (iOS): No
Claims USDZ export but no documentation exists.
8th Wall
AR Support (iOS): Yes
Provides markerless AR for iOS, but requires additional camera permissions and uses more CPU and GPU resources.
AR Support (visionOS)
Needle
AR Support (visionOS): Yes
Explicit support for creating spatial computing experiences deployable on visionOS.
PlayCanvas
AR Support (visionOS): No
Claims USDZ export but no documentation exists.
8th Wall
AR Support (visionOS): No
Focus is on mobile WebAR.
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
PlayCanvas
AR Tracking Types: Surface
Supports World Tracking via WebXR.
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.
Ecosystem & Support
Official Support Availability
Needle
Official Support Availability: Yes
Dedicated support available for licensed users.
PlayCanvas
Official Support Availability: Yes
Support is included with paid subscription plans.
8th Wall
Official Support Availability: Yes
Support available through paid plans.
Learning Resources
Needle
Learning Resources: Yes
Extensive documentation, tutorials, live samples, and active community support.
Good
PlayCanvas
Learning Resources: Good
Offers tutorials, example projects, and documentation.
Good
8th Wall
Learning Resources: Good
Offers project library, documentation, and tutorials.
License
Commercial
Needle
License: Commercial
Commercial license required for full features and deployment. Free evaluation available.
Open Source, Commercial
PlayCanvas
License: Open Source, Commercial
The runtime engine is MIT licensed, but the collaborative editor platform requires a subscription for private projects and advanced features.
Commercial
8th Wall
License: Commercial
A commercial platform with various pricing tiers.

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