Sketchfab is a 3D asset website used to publish, share, discover, buy and sell 3D, VR and AR content. It provides a viewer based on the

WebGL WebGL (short for Web Graphics Library) is a JavaScript Application programming interface, API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web browser without the use of plug-in (computing), plug-ins. WebGL is fully integra ...

and WebXR technologies that allows users to display 3D models on the web, to be viewed on any mobile browser, desktop browser or

Virtual Reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

headset. The company behind it is today based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Sketchfab took part in the Spring 2013 TechStars New York City startup accelerator program, raised $2 million in December 2013 and $7 million in June 2015. On July 21, 2021,

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American Video game developer, video game and software development, software developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney (game developer), Tim Sween ...

acquired Sketchfab. It was later announced that Sketchfab will be phased out and merged into Epic Games' new marketplace called

Fab Fab or FAB may refer to: Commerce * Fab (brand), a frozen confectionery * Fab (website), an e-commerce design web site * Fab, a digital asset marketplace by Epic Games * The FAB Awards, a food and beverage award * FAB Link, a European electricity ...

Service

Viewer

The main product of Sketchfab is a 3D,

Virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

(VR) and

Augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

(AR) model viewer. It enables users to move freely around or inside the 3D scene using mouse, touch manipulation, VR or AR. In addition to static 3D models, the viewer is able to play and control 3D animations. Viewers can enable the VR mode to see the model in Virtual Reality headsets or the AR mode to insert the model within the real world via a mobile device. The 3D viewer is used on the Sketchfab

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

and

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...

s, but can also be embedded on external websites, notably on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Wordpress WordPress (WP, or WordPress.org) is a web content management system. It was originally created as a tool to publish blogs but has evolved to support publishing other web content, including more traditional websites, electronic mailing list, ma ...

Portal and marketplace

Sketchfab provides online and mobile community portals, where visitors can browse, rate, download or buy user generated 3D models. Users of Sketchfab have profile pages, premium users can customize and share their models privately. Sketchfab users can choose to make their 3D model files available for download under

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

licenses or to sell them in the Sketchfab store. With content available for sale or download, Sketchfab is positioned as a 3D model marketplace and as a 3D printing marketplace since some models are compatible with

3D printing 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...

3D asset management

Sketchfab offers to paying enterprise customers a dedicated platform to share, manage and collaborate on 3D assets.

Native applications

A selection of Sketchfab models are available within a native application for the following VR headsets: Google Cardboard,

Samsung Gear VR The Samsung Gear VR is a virtual reality headset developed by Samsung Electronics, in collaboration with Oculus VR, and manufactured by Samsung. The headset was released on August 21, 2015. When in use, a compatible Samsung Galaxy device acts as ...

HTC Vive HTC Vive is a line of Virtual reality, virtual and mixed reality Virtual reality headset, headsets produced by HTC, HTC Corporation. The brand currently encompasses headsets designed for use with Personal computer, personal computers as well a ...

and

Oculus Rift Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets, virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a virtual reality company founded by Palmer Luckey that is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality indust ...

. The mobile application can be used to view the 3D models in

Augmented Reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

leveraging the ARKit APIs on

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and ARCore on Android.

Model upload and download

3D models can be uploaded to Sketchfab from its website or directly from various 3D software, using plugins (for example for

3ds Max Autodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio and 3D Studio Max, is a professional 3D computer graphics program for making 3D animations, models, games and images. It is developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It has modeling capab ...

SketchUp SketchUp is a proprietary 3D modeling software that is used to create and manipulate 3D models. It is used in architecture and interior design. SketchUp is owned by Trimble (company), Trimble Inc. The software has a free web-based version, and ...

) or natively (from Blender or

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc., Adobe for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital ...

). Sketchfab offers an

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

allowing developers to integrate functionality for searching and downloading Sketchfab's

Creative Commons license A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work". A CC license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and bu ...

d 3D models into their applications.

Technology

Sketchfab relies on the

JavaScript API to display 3D on web pages in all major modern web browsers. It does not rely on third-party plugins. Sketchfab implements the WebVR JavaScript API to provide a

mode of its viewer on compatible VR headsets. The 3D viewer uses the open-source OSG.JS JavaScript library, a library created and largely maintained by Sketchfab employees. Rendering is achieved using classic real-time rendering or physically based rendering.

Company

Sketchfab was initially created by entrepreneur and 3D developer Cédric Pinson under the domain name ShowWebGL in early 2011. He was joined in early 2012 by Alban Denoyel, and they relaunched the site under the name Sketchfab in March 2012. Pierre-Antoine Passet joined as CPO in September 2012.

Startup accelerators

The startup was part of the third batch of the French startup accelerator Le Camping in June 2012. It was later selected into Mozilla's WebFWD accelerator program during that same year. The year after, Sketchfab was selected in the Spring 2013 TechStars class in New York City.

Fundraising

In February 2013, Sketchfab raised an angel round of 370,000 euros. Less than one year after, in December 2013, Sketchfab raised $2 million from Balderton Capital with Partech Ventures, Borealis Ventures, David Cohen and existing angel investors also participated in the funding. In June 2015, Sketchfab raised a $7 million Series A led by FirstMark Capital. In December 2018, Brendan Iribe, the original CEO and co-founder of Oculus invested in Sketchfab.

Awards

* Top 8 at Pioneers Festival 2012 * Best “Lightweight” Startup, the Europas Awards 2013

References

{{Epic Games 3D graphics software Free 3D graphics software Online marketplaces of France Internet properties established in 2012 WebGL 3D graphics art 2021 mergers and acquisitions Epic Games