See how Needle, Reality Composer Pro, 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 | ![]() 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 | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Solution Type:
authoring-tool A visual editor for creating RealityKit scenes, tightly integrated with Xcode for Apple platform development. | 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. | 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). | 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. | 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. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Use with Unity:
No Direct competitor/alternative for native Apple development. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Use with Blender:
No Primarily consumes USDZ format. Assets from Blender need conversion. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Interactivity Building Blocks:
Yes Provides components for common AR interactions and behaviors integrated with the broader Apple ecosystem. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Extensible with Coding:
Yes Can be extended with Swift programming, but only for Apple platforms. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Physically-Based Rendering:
Yes Leverages RealityKit's USD-based rendering engine optimized for Apple platforms. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Component System:
Yes Built on RealityKit's Entity Component System. | 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. | Via Native Frameworks Reality Composer Pro Built-in Networking:
Via Native Frameworks Networking is handled using standard Apple frameworks (e.g., Network.framework). | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Timelines and Sequencing:
Yes Supports timeline-based animation and sequencing through OpenUSD. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Animation Controls:
Yes Supports creating and controlling animations within RealityKit scenes. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Animated Materials:
No Material properties can't be animated, but some shader-based animations are possible. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Audio Playback:
Yes Leverages RealityKit's spatial audio features. | Galacean Engine Audio Playback:
Yes Basic audio support. |
Video Playback | Needle Video Playback:
Yes Supports video textures and playback controlled via components. | Reality Composer Pro Video Playback:
Yes Supported via RealityKit. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Physics Integration:
Yes Integrates with RealityKit's physics simulation capabilities. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro glTF 3D Support:
No Focuses on OpenUSD content; glTF requires manual conversion. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Custom User Interfaces:
Yes Integrates with SwiftUI for creating user interfaces in spatial contexts. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Web Component:
No Strictly for native Apple platform development. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro PWA Support:
No Not applicable. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro HTML/CSS Integration:
No Operates entirely within the native Apple ecosystem. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Host Anywhere:
No Tool is part of the Xcode development environment. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Asset Hosting:
No Assets are bundled with the application. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro App Hosting:
No Not a hosting platform; used for creating applications. | 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. | N/A (OS Framework) Reality Composer Pro Engine Size:
N/A (OS Framework) RealityKit is part of the operating system. | 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. | Fast Reality Composer Pro Loading Performance:
Fast Benefits from native code and tight OS integration. | 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. | High Reality Composer Pro Runtime Performance:
High Optimized for high performance on Apple silicon. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Smart Asset Optimization:
Yes Works with the optimized USDZ format. Includes Object Capture (photogrammetry) for model creation. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Mesh and Texture LODs:
No No automatic LOD management or simplification. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro VR Support (WebXR):
No Not supported. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro AR Support (WebXR):
No Not supported. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro AR Support (iOS):
Yes Creates content for ARKit/RealityKit apps on iOS/iPadOS. | 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. | Reality Composer Pro AR Support (visionOS):
Yes A primary tool for developing spatial computing experiences for visionOS. | 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 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.). | 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. | Reality Composer Pro Official Support Availability:
No Community support available through the Apple Developer Program. | 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. | Excellent Reality Composer Pro Learning Resources:
Excellent Extensive resources including official documentation, WWDC session videos, tutorials, and sample code. | 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. | Free Reality Composer Pro License:
Free Included free as part of Apple's developer tools. | Open Source |