See how Needle, Spatial.io, 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 | ![]() A web-based platform focused on creating and hosting social 3D environments accessible via web and VR. Spatial.io | 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. | Cloud Platform Spatial.io Solution Type:
cloud-platform, authoring-tool A platform for building, hosting, and experiencing shared social 3D spaces ('metaverse'). | 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. | Limited Spatial.io Made for the web:
Limited Designed for accessibility across web browsers and VR, balancing fidelity with performance for social experiences. Load times are relatively high because it builds on Unity's WebGL platform. | 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. | Web Editor Unity Integration Spatial.io Typical Workflows:
Web Editor, Unity Integration Users build and customize spaces using intuitive, integrated visual tools and templates. | 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. | Spatial.io Use with Unity:
Yes Via Spatial Toolkit, offers SDKs for importing assets or integrating experiences built with 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. | Spatial.io Use with Blender:
No Imports standard 3D asset formats like glTF. | 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. | Spatial.io Interactivity Building Blocks:
Yes Provides components for social interaction, media sharing, and space customization. | 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. | Limited Spatial.io Extensible with Coding:
Limited Primary creation is through no-code tools; Unity SDK allows interpreting a C# subset for more advanced applications. | 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. | Moderate Spatial.io Physically-Based Rendering:
Moderate Balances visual quality with the need to support many concurrent users and run smoothly on web/VR. | 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. | Spatial.io Component System:
No Uses an internal architecture managed by the platform. | 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. | Limited Spatial.io Built-in Networking:
Limited Built-in networking for avatar interactions, voice chat, and shared experiences. Not extensible. | 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. | Limited Spatial.io Timelines and Sequencing:
Limited Basic trigger-based interactions but no comprehensive timeline system in the platform itself. | 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. | Limited Spatial.io Animation Controls:
Limited Supports avatar animations and basic object animations. | 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. | Limited Spatial.io Animated Materials:
Limited Supports animated textures but limited material animation capabilities. | 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. | Spatial.io Audio Playback:
Yes Includes spatial audio for real-time voice communication between avatars. | Galacean Engine Audio Playback:
Yes Basic audio support. |
Video Playback | Needle Video Playback:
Yes Supports video textures and playback controlled via components. | Spatial.io Video Playback:
Yes Supports screen sharing and embedding media within spaces. | 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. | Limited Spatial.io Physics Integration:
Limited Handles basic avatar movement and interactions within the platform constraints. | 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. | Spatial.io glTF 3D Support:
Yes Supports uploading glTF models for use in spaces. | 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. | Spatial.io Custom User Interfaces:
No Provides the user interface for navigation, communication, and interaction within the platform. | 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. | Spatial.io Web Component:
No Experiences are accessed through the Spatial platform/website. | 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. | Spatial.io PWA Support:
No The platform is web-based. | 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. | Limited Spatial.io HTML/CSS Integration:
Limited Focus is on the immersive 3D environment within the platform. | 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. | Spatial.io Host Anywhere:
No Requires Spatial's backend infrastructure for hosting, networking, and persistence. | 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. | Spatial.io Asset Hosting:
Yes Hosts user-uploaded assets and created spaces. | 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. | Required Spatial.io App Hosting:
Required Experiences are hosted on the Spatial platform. | 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. | Large Spatial.io Engine Size:
Large Includes rendering, networking, avatar systems, and platform features. | 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. | Moderate Spatial.io Loading Performance:
Moderate Loading times depend on the complexity of the space and number of assets. | 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. | Moderate Spatial.io Runtime Performance:
Moderate Performance can vary depending on scene complexity, number of concurrent users, and device capabilities. | 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. | Limited Spatial.io Smart Asset Optimization:
Limited Platform performs basic compression on uploaded assets, but no simplification. | 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. | Spatial.io Mesh and Texture LODs:
No Platform automatically handles compresses textures, but does not generate mesh or texture LODs for uploaded assets. | 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. | Spatial.io VR Support (WebXR):
Yes Strong support for accessing spaces via VR headsets for a more immersive experience. | 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. | Spatial.io AR Support (WebXR):
No Primary focus is on virtual spaces (Web/VR), not mobile AR. | 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. | Spatial.io AR Support (iOS):
No Not supported. | 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. | Spatial.io AR Support (visionOS):
No Not supported. | 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. | N/A Spatial.io AR Tracking Types:
N/A Not an AR-focused platform. | 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. | Spatial.io Official Support Availability:
Yes Support available, particularly for paid/enterprise 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 Spatial.io Learning Resources:
Good Help center, tutorials, and community resources available for creators. | 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 Spatial.io License:
Commercial Offers free access with paid tiers for enhanced features, capacity, or customization. | Open Source |