Needle vs. three.js vs. Galacean Engine

See how Needle, three.js, 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 comparisons
Web-first runtime integrated with Unity and Blender plugins, complemented by Needle Cloud for optimization and hosting.
Needle
Low-level JavaScript library for creating 3D graphics directly in the browser using WebGL.
three.js
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.
3D Engine
three.js
Solution Type: 3d-engine
A foundational JavaScript library providing tools to draw 3D scenes using WebGL.
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.
three.js
Made for the web: Yes
A foundational technology designed specifically for creating 3D graphics on the web.
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.
Code
three.js
Typical Workflows: Code
Development is code-centric, writing JavaScript to define scenes, materials, and interactions.
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.
three.js
Use with Unity: No
No direct integration. Solutions like Needle make integrating with three.js seamless.
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.
three.js
Use with Blender: No
No direct integration. Assets from Blender must be exported (e.g., as glTF) and loaded.
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.
Limited
three.js
Interactivity Building Blocks: Limited
Three.js provides some built-in interactive components, for example loaders and camera controls, in the examples folder, but they require additional development to be used.
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.
three.js
Extensible with Coding: Yes
Uses JavaScript or TypeScript for all implementation, giving full control but requiring manual coding.
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.
three.js
Physically-Based Rendering: Yes
Supports PBR materials, various shadow types, post-processing effects, and gives fine-grained rendering control.
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.
three.js
Component System: No
Does not enforce an ECS architecture, though one can be implemented on top.
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.
three.js
Built-in Networking: No
Networking capabilities must be added using external libraries.
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.
three.js
Timelines and Sequencing: No
Basic animation system exists, but no built-in timeline or sequencing 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.
three.js
Animation Controls: Yes
Provides core functionalities for keyframe animation playback and morph targets.
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.
three.js
Animated Materials: No
Supports material animation through code, but not for imported assets.
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.
three.js
Audio Playback: Yes
Includes support for positional audio using the Web Audio API.
Galacean Engine
Audio Playback: Yes
Basic audio support.
Video Playback
Needle
Video Playback: Yes
Supports video textures and playback controlled via components.
three.js
Video Playback: Yes
Supports using HTML video elements as textures.
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.
three.js
Physics Integration: No
Requires integration with external physics libraries like Rapier, Cannon.js, or Ammo.js.
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.
three.js
glTF 3D Support: Yes
Provides robust support for loading and interacting with the glTF 2.0 standard, but some extensions like material animations or physics are missing.
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.
three.js
Custom User Interfaces: No
UI creation typically involves integrating with HTML/DOM elements or using external UI libraries, no built-in support in three.js.
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.
three.js
Web Component: No
It's a library, not 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.
three.js
PWA Support: No
As a JavaScript library, it can be used within Progressive Web Apps but provides no PWA features itself.
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.
three.js
HTML/CSS Integration: Yes
Integrates with standard HTML/JavaScript workflows, allowing rendering into a canvas element.
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.
three.js
Host Anywhere: Yes
Applications can typically be hosted on static web servers.
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.
three.js
Asset Hosting: No
Requires external hosting for 3D models and other assets.
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.
three.js
App Hosting: No
Requires external hosting for the application files.
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.
Small
three.js
Engine Size: Small
The core library has a relatively small footprint, though application size depends on usage.
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
three.js
Loading Performance: Fast
Core library loads quickly; overall application load time depends heavily on asset sizes and application structure.
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
three.js
Runtime Performance: High
Offers high performance potential due to its low-level access, but optimization is the developer's responsibility.
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.
three.js
Smart Asset Optimization: No
Supports optimized formats like glTF (with Draco compression, KHR texture transforms etc.), but doesn't perform automatic optimization.
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.
three.js
Mesh and Texture LODs: No
Basic support for mesh LODs, no built-in system for texture LODs.
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.
three.js
VR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports VR experiences through the WebXR API.
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.
three.js
AR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports AR experiences on compatible Android devices through the WebXR API.
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
three.js
AR Support (iOS): Limited
Limited support for static assets in QuickLook via USDZExporter.
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
three.js
AR Support (visionOS): Limited
Limited support for static assets in QuickLook via USDZExporter.
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
three.js
AR Tracking Types: Surface
Primarily supports World Tracking via the WebXR API.
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.
three.js
Official Support Availability: No
Support is primarily community-driven.
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.
three.js
Learning Resources: Yes
Vast number of official examples, tutorials, books, and community resources available.
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.
Open Source
three.js
License: Open Source
Available under the permissive MIT license.
Open Source
Galacean Engine
License: Open Source
Available under the permissive MIT license.

FAQ – frequently asked questions

Needle Cloud arrow_upward

Needle Engine arrow_upward

Usecases arrow_upward

Licensing and Compliance arrow_upward

Company Roadmap FAQ Compare Solutions Report Problem

Send us a message

Send a message to the Needle team. Please describe any feedback you have, if you encountered any problem on the website or send us a feature request. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Contact

Send us a message

Send a message to the Needle team. Please describe any feedback you have, if you encountered any problem on the website or send us a feature request. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Imprint