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islandmed/SculptForge

Free, open-source digital sculpting app for Linux, macOS and Windows, an alternative to ZBrush with built-in AI brush and 3D generation.

Open-source alternative to:ZBrush

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What is it?

SculptForge is a digital sculpting application for VFX, animation and game work, built to resemble ZBrush's brushes, symmetry and navigation. It is GPL-3.0 licensed, runs natively on Linux as well as Windows and macOS, and includes no subscription or account requirement.

For game and animation pipelines, it can generate LOD chains, handle blend shapes as morph targets, and send assets directly into a running Unreal Editor. It reads and writes FBX, glTF/GLB, OpenUSD, OBJ, PLY and STL, and includes a GoZ-compatible exchange path for ZBrush. Gaussian splat import and export is supported, and a Blender add-on and a ComfyUI node pack are provided.

The app includes AI features: an AI brush creator that turns text descriptions into editable brush recipes, and image or text to 3D model generation. These run through a free hosted model by default, can use a fal.ai or Meshy key, or can connect to local models via Ollama, LM Studio or ComfyUI. A headless CLI and an MCP server let scripts and AI agents run the same operations.

Key features

  • 01ZBrush-style brushes, X/Y/Z symmetry, masking and face groups
  • 02Parts system for keeping body, eyes and armour as separate meshes
  • 03Quad retopology, UV unwrapping and texture painting on UV maps
  • 04One-click LOD chains and Send to Unreal with LODs and morph targets
  • 05AI brush creator and image or text to 3D generation with free default models
  • 06Headless CLI and MCP server for scripting and AI agents

Use cases

  • Sculpting game characters and generating LODs before import into Unreal Engine
  • Moving between ZBrush and other tools on Linux where ZBrush is unavailable
  • Converting concept art or phone scans into editable base meshes
  • Automating mesh export and LOD generation in a studio build farm

Quick start

  1. 1

    Download the app for your platform from the releases page

  2. 2

    Or run the official install script for macOS or Linux from the README

  3. 3

    Or run the official install script for Windows from the README

  4. 4

    On first launch on macOS, right-click the app and choose Open

Things to know

  • Early release (v0.8), so some features such as multiresolution and dynamic topology editing are still missing or evolving.
  • Builds are not code-signed, so macOS and Windows show security warnings on first run.
  • The free built-in AI depends on third-party hosted services such as Pollinations.ai and Hugging Face demos.

In collections

Game development tools & engines

Topics

#3d#sculpting#digital-sculpting#game-development#unreal-engine#gaussian-splatting#openusd#text-to-3d#cpp#dear-imgui

FAQ

What is SculptForge?
Free, open-source digital sculpting app for Linux, macOS and Windows, an alternative to ZBrush with built-in AI brush and 3D generation. SculptForge is a digital sculpting application for VFX, animation and game work, built to resemble ZBrush's brushes, symmetry and navigation. It is GPL-3.0 licensed, runs natively on Linux as well as Windows and macOS, and includes no subscription or account requirement.
Is SculptForge free to use? What license does it have?
SculptForge is open source under the GPL-3.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is SculptForge still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to SculptForge was on Nov 6, 2026.
What can I use SculptForge for?
Sculpting game characters and generating LODs before import into Unreal Engine Moving between ZBrush and other tools on Linux where ZBrush is unavailable Converting concept art or phone scans into editable base meshes Automating mesh export and LOD generation in a studio build farm
How do I install SculptForge?
Download the app for your platform from the releases page Or run the official install script for macOS or Linux from the README Or run the official install script for Windows from the README On first launch on macOS, right-click the app and choose Open
Where can I get SculptForge?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/islandmed/SculptForge

Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.

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