3D Export Formats: GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY and 3MF
Six export formats on every plan, including Free. The right one is decided by the tool that opens the file next, not by which format sounds more advanced.
Quick answer
Printing: STL, or 3MF when you need units and colour. Web and game engines: GLB. DCC tools such as Blender, Maya or ZBrush: OBJ with its .mtl side-car. Scan-style pipelines that expect per-vertex colour: PLY. Text-diffable scenes: glTF.
One rule covers most mistakes: the export format should be the one your downstream tool reads natively. Every conversion after that is a chance to lose something.
What each format can carry
| Format | Kind | Carries | Drops | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | mesh | triangles only | colour, texture, material, units | universal print handoff |
| OBJ | mesh | geometry, UVs, normals, materials via MTL | animation, units, scene graph | editing in DCC tools |
| GLB | scene | geometry, PBR materials, textures, animation, units | nothing that matters for delivery | web and game engines |
| glTF | scene | the same as GLB, as JSON plus external files | self-containment — it is a folder, not a file | inspecting or patching a scene |
| PLY | mesh | per-vertex colour, normals, custom properties | materials and PBR | scan and photogrammetry data |
| 3MF | scene | units, colour, materials, multiple objects | animation | modern slicers |
One format per destination
Cura, PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio
STL is read everywhere; 3MF adds units, colour and several objects, and is the better choice when the model has more than one part.
three.js, Babylon.js, Unity, Unreal
GLB. Materials, textures and geometry arrive in one request with no side-car files to lose.
Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, ZBrush
OBJ with the .mtl file next to it. Keep both files in the same folder or the material will not load.
MeshLab, CloudCompare, Open3D
PLY, especially when per-vertex colour or custom properties are part of the data.
A CAD or BIM system
None of these formats is a CAD format. Convert the mesh to STL or STEP-quality geometry in the CAD tool itself; STEP, IGES, SLDPRT, DWG, SKP and IFC are not written here.
Losses you should expect
Conversions between these formats are honest about what disappears. STL drops colour, texture, material and units by design. OBJ has no animation or units. PLY has no material model at all. Moving from a scene format down to a mesh format also converts exact analytic surfaces into faceted triangles, which is a change in kind, not just in detail.
The 48 server-side converters report these losses before you run a conversion, so a change of format is a decision rather than an accident.
What people export in practice
| Workflow | Most common export | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 3D printing | STL | 3MF, when the print has multiple parts or colour |
| Game props | GLB | OBJ, when the tool expects a separate material file |
| Web viewer or configurator | GLB | glTF, when the scene needs patching by hand |
| Scan-style processing | PLY | OBJ, when the next tool cannot read PLY |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which export formats are free?
All of them. GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY and 3MF export on every plan, including Free. Credits pay for generation, not for the format you choose.
GLB or glTF?
GLB for delivery: one binary file with geometry, materials and textures. glTF when you need to read or patch the scene as JSON — but remember it references external .bin and image files, so it is a folder rather than a file.
What should I export for 3D printing?
STL for a single part, 3MF when the model has multiple objects, colour, or needs unambiguous units. Check the watertight and manifold flags in the properties panel before slicing either.
Why did my OBJ lose its colour?
OBJ stores materials in a separate .mtl file that references the texture images. If the .mtl or the textures were not exported alongside it, or the files were separated afterwards, the geometry arrives grey.
Can I export STEP or FBX?
No. STEP, IGES, SLDPRT, X_T, DWG, SKP and IFC are CAD formats with no open Python writer here, and FBX is a proprietary format that is read in the browser but not written server-side. Use GLB or OBJ and convert inside the tool that needs the CAD format.
Does exporting cost credits?
No. Exporting a finished generation is free and can be repeated as often as you like — export the same model as GLB for the web and STL for the printer without spending anything extra.