Needle vs. Sketchfab vs. Galacean Engine

See how Needle, Sketchfab, and Galacean Engine 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
Leading online platform for publishing, sharing, discovering, and embedding 3D/VR/AR models, featuring a high-quality universal web viewer.
Sketchfab
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
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
Sketchfab
Solution Type: cloud-platform
A platform focused on hosting, discovering, and viewing 3D assets, providing an embeddable viewer.
3D Engine
Authoring Tool
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.
Sketchfab
Made for the web: Yes
The platform automatically processes and optimizes uploaded models for efficient web viewing.
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.
Asset Upload
Sketchfab
Typical Workflows: Asset Upload
Users upload pre-made models and configure viewer settings (materials, lighting, annotations).
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.
Sketchfab
Use with Unity: No
Consumes assets exported from various sources, including Unity.
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.
Sketchfab
Use with Blender: Yes
Offers a Blender addon for direct uploading, and consumes exported formats.
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.
Sketchfab
Interactivity Building Blocks: No
Provides annotation system and basic interaction controls, but not a component system for custom behaviors.
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.
Sketchfab
Extensible with Coding: No
Viewer API allows some programmatic control, but not full scripting of custom behaviors inside the viewer.
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
Sketchfab
Physically-Based Rendering: Limited
High-quality PBR rendering, customizable lighting, environments, post-processing effects, and material editor within the platform. No script control over rendering order, shadows, and so on. No in-scene lights.
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.
Sketchfab
Component System: No
Internal viewer architecture.
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.
Sketchfab
Built-in Networking: No
Doesn't support multi-user experiences.
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.
Sketchfab
Timelines and Sequencing: No
Can play animations embedded in models but has no sequencing or timeline system.
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.
Sketchfab
Animation Controls: Yes
Plays animations embedded in the uploaded models.
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.
Sketchfab
Animated Materials: No
Supports animated textures in uploaded models but no custom material animation creation.
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.
Sketchfab
Audio Playback: No
Sketchfab used to support embedded audio in the past, but doesn't support it anymore.
Galacean Engine
Audio Playback: Yes
Basic audio support.
Video Playback
Needle
Video Playback: Yes
Supports video textures and playback controlled via components.
Sketchfab
Video Playback: No
Focuses on static and animated 3D models.
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.
Sketchfab
Physics Integration: No
Focuses on asset display, not physics simulation.
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.
Sketchfab
glTF 3D Support: Yes
glTF is the preferred format; platform automatically converts many other formats to optimized glTF for viewing.
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.
Sketchfab
Custom User Interfaces: No
Provides the standard viewer UI (controls, annotations) with slight customization options.
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.
Sketchfab
Web Component: Yes
Provides iframe/oEmbed code for easy embedding, functioning like a web component.
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.
Sketchfab
PWA Support: No
Embeds work in PWAs; viewer can be used within 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.
Sketchfab
HTML/CSS Integration: No
Can be embedded in other websites, but can't easily combine web UI and the Sketchfab viewer
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.
Sketchfab
Host Anywhere: No
Models and viewer are hosted on Sketchfab's platform.
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.
Sketchfab
Asset Hosting: Yes
Core function is hosting 3D models which can be accessed via API.
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.
Sketchfab
App Hosting: No
Not applicable – does not support full apps.
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
Sketchfab
Engine Size: Medium
The viewer code needs to be loaded.
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.
Medium
Sketchfab
Loading Performance: Medium
Optimized viewer and asset delivery for quick loading. No GPU compressed formats.
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
Sketchfab
Runtime Performance: High
Offers good rendering performance for viewing complex models. High memory usage.
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.
Sketchfab
Smart Asset Optimization: Yes
Performs automatic mesh optimization, texture compression (including Basis Universal), and geometry processing upon upload to ensure performant viewing.
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.
Limited
Sketchfab
Mesh and Texture LODs: Limited
Automatically generates texture LODs for viewing of models. Does not create mehs LODs or GPU-compressed textures.
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.
Limited
Sketchfab
VR Support (WebXR): Limited
Built-in support for viewing models in VR via WebXR; no interactivity.
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.
Limited
Sketchfab
AR Support (WebXR): Limited
Provides an AR button for viewing on compatible Android devices (WebXR); no interactivity..
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.
Limited
Sketchfab
AR Support (iOS): Limited
Provides an AR button using AR Quick Look on compatible iOS devices; no interactivity.
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.
Limited
Sketchfab
AR Support (visionOS): Limited
Only basic USDZ conversion supported, no interactivity.
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
Sketchfab
AR Tracking Types: Surface
Supports World Tracking from inside
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.
Sketchfab
Official Support Availability: Yes
Support available, especially for paid plan users.
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
Sketchfab
Learning Resources: Good
Help Center, blog, and community forums offer resources.
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
Sketchfab
License: Commercial
Offers free and paid subscription tiers. Acquired by Epic Games.
Open Source
Galacean Engine
License: Open Source
Available under the permissive MIT license.

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