Meshroom
5.2/10Meshroom is a free, open-source, node-based photogrammetry application from AliceVision. It builds textured 3D models from photo sets for VFX studios, researchers and small 3D capture teams.
Data last updated November 2026 · Our methodology
Overview
Meshroom is the desktop interface for the AliceVision computer vision framework. It turns a set of overlapping photographs into textured 3D meshes. It also offers pipelines for camera tracking, HDR panoramas, photometric stereo and calibration. Each processing step is a node in a visual graph. When you change one parameter, only the downstream nodes recompute, and cached results are reused. Jobs can run locally or be sent to a render farm. Version 2025.1.0, released in August 2025, added 24 pipeline templates, a plugin system, text-prompt segmentation masks built on Segment Anything, and experimental support for E57 and PLY point clouds. Gaussian splatting and depth estimation plugins are in developer preview. The software runs on Windows and Linux under the MPL-2.0 licence. There are no plans, seats or usage fees. The AliceVision Association, formed in 2020 by academic and industry partners, maintains the project with sponsors such as Epic Games and MPC. Meshroom connects to Blender and Houdini. It suits VFX artists, students, researchers and budget-limited teams scanning objects or small scenes. The main limitation for infrastructure and survey work is that it has no built-in scaling or georeferencing. One reviewer also found large datasets of a thousand or more drone images slow and prone to crashing. It depends heavily on NVIDIA CUDA GPUs, and there is no commercial support contract.
Our Rating
Who Meshroom is best for
Best software for EducationGood fit
Reviewers recommend it for students and for learning photogrammetry, and academic labs help develop it.
The open-source code, plugin system and script editor let developers extend the pipeline.
A free licence and a customizable pipeline suit independent 3D artists working on small capture projects.
Less suited
It has no survey scaling, and one reviewer found large drone datasets slow and crash-prone.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- It is completely free under MPL-2.0, so there are no licence or seat fees, even for commercial use.
- The node graph lets users adjust every reconstruction step, and caching means only affected nodes rerun.
- Version 2025.1 added 24 pipeline templates and AI segmentation masks that can cut processing time.
- Jobs can go to a render farm, and results can be previewed in Blender or used in Houdini.
Cons
- It depends on NVIDIA CUDA GPUs, and limited VRAM can halt the pipeline.
- One reviewer found datasets of hundreds to thousands of images slow and prone to crashing.
- It has no built-in scaling or georeferencing, so it is weak for survey and GIS work.
- Documentation is scattered, and support comes only from the community forum and mailing list.
- Reviewers found that fine detail and reflective or low-texture surfaces reconstruct worse than in Metashape.
Key Features
Meshroom Pricing
Open Source
- MPL-2.0 licence
- Render farm submission
- Windows and Linux binaries
- All pipelines and templates
Frequently Asked Questions
Nothing. It is open source under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. Organisations can donate or become corporate sponsors if they choose.
Reviewers say it relies on an NVIDIA CUDA-capable GPU. AMD or integrated graphics run into problems, and low VRAM can stop processing partway through.
No support contract is advertised. Help comes from the public mailing list, the forum and GitHub.
It runs on Windows and Linux and integrates with Blender and Houdini. Version 2025.1 can also import E57 and PLY point clouds on an experimental basis.
It can process drone imagery. However, it has no built-in scaling, and one reviewer found large drone datasets slow, so dedicated survey tools are a better fit.
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Ranked near Meshroom in Industrial & Infrastructure Software
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