Swyvl vs Sketchfab
Sketchfab is the best-known place to publish a 3D model and embed it on a website. Swyvl is for delivering survey and drone data to a client: full-size point clouds, orthomosaics, splats, 360s and video, kept by site and date and sent as one private link.
Everything below about Sketchfab comes from their plans page and help center, read on 31 October 2026. We have not tested their product. Where their documentation is silent, the page says "not documented" rather than guessing.
The short answer
Choose Sketchfab if you are showing off a model. A textured mesh of a building, a heritage object or a product, lit and embedded on a public page, is exactly what it is for, and it does that better than Swyvl.
Choose Swyvl if you are handing over data. If the client needs the actual point cloud, the orthomosaic and the 360s from a site visit, at full size and with coordinates, and needs to reply on the spot, Swyvl opens all of it in a browser.
The clearest practical differences: Sketchfab caps a file at 200 MB on Pro and does not read LAZ or E57, while Swyvl takes up to 100 GB per file. Sketchfab has the far better 3D model presentation.
Being straight about it
Where Sketchfab is stronger
If any of these decide your purchase, Sketchfab is the better buy.
The better model showcase
Materials, lighting, animation, AR and VR, tuned in a scene editor and played back smoothly on a phone. If the job is making one model look its best, Sketchfab does far more than Swyvl’s model viewer.
Embedding everywhere
Sketchfab is built to drop into a website, a product page or a museum collection, and its embed is widely supported. Swyvl is built around the share link, not the embed.
An audience
Public models sit in a large community where people find, like and download them. Swyvl has no public gallery. Your files are only seen by the people you send them to.
A lower entry price
Pro is $15 a month on a yearly plan. Swyvl’s first paid plan is $49 a month, though Swyvl’s free plan is private and Sketchfab’s is public.
Where Swyvl is stronger
Mostly a question of what the file is for. Sketchfab presents a model. Swyvl delivers what a capture produced.
Survey files, as they were captured
Sketchfab reads a LAS or PLY for its position and color, and asks for files under about 5 million points. Swyvl streams LAS, LAZ and E57 at full size, keeps classification, intensity and coordinates, and measures on them.
The whole delivery in one link
Orthomosaics, splats, XGRIDS scans, 360° photos, drone video with its flight path, DWG, IFC and PDF reports. None of those are Sketchfab upload types. On Swyvl each opens in the viewer built for it.
Files measured in gigabytes
Sketchfab tops out at 200 MB per file on Pro and 500 MB on Enterprise. A single scan or orthomosaic is often far bigger. Swyvl takes up to 100 GB per file on every plan.
Clients reply on the spot
A Sketchfab comment sits under the model and needs an account. A Swyvl note is pinned to the place, and the client you invite answers right there for free, with nothing to set up.
Private from the first upload
Every Swyvl link can be password-protected or limited to named people, on Free. On Sketchfab, free models are public and private ones start at Pro.
You know who looked
Swyvl logs every open and download with the time and place. Sketchfab gives you a view count.
Side by side
Sketchfab details as published on their site and help center on 31 October 2026. Swyvl details are what ships today.
| Sketchfab | Swyvl | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is built for | Publishing and embedding 3D models: product, design, heritage and game assets, with a public community and portfolio pages. | Delivering everything a survey or drone job produces to a client, anchored to the site and the date it was captured. |
| 3D models | Dozens of mesh formats including glTF, FBX, OBJ and STL, with materials, lighting, animation and post-processing set in a scene editor. | GLB, glTF, OBJ, FBX, STEP and IGES open in a model viewer. No scene editor, animation or material tuning. |
| Point clouds | LAS, PLY and ASC. Position and color only, one point size for the scene. LAZ and E57 are not on the supported list. Guidance is under 5 million points for high detail. | LAS, LAZ, E57, PTX, PTS, XYZ and PLY, streamed in the browser at full size, with classification and intensity kept. An E57 with 360° photos opens with each photo beside the cloud. |
| Gaussian splats and XGRIDS | Not in the supported file list as of 31 October 2026. | PLY, SPZ, KSPLAT and .splat, plus XGRIDS LCC and LCC2 scans with a walk mode. |
| Orthomosaics, maps and CAD | Not upload file types. A TIFF can be a texture, DXF is listed as not recommended, and shapefiles have to be converted in Blender first. | GeoTIFF and COG orthomosaics and elevation models on a map, plus GeoJSON, KML, SHP, GPX, DXF, DWG and IFC. |
| 360° photos and drone video | A 360° image can be a scene background. No 360° viewer or video file type. | 360° photos and video placed on a map, and DJI video with the SRT flight path played alongside. |
| Coordinates and measurement | Keeping coordinates, a map view and a measurement tool are not documented. Their help center describes what viewers receive as heavily processed and compressed. | Point, distance, area and height on point clouds, orthomosaics, 3D Tiles, splats and map data, each badged Georeferenced, True scale or Indicative. Coordinates in WGS84, the file’s own grid or UTM. |
| Annotations and comments | Owner-made annotations, 10 on Basic, 20 on Pro and 100 on Enterprise per model. Viewers step through them. Comments sit under the model, not on it, and need a Sketchfab account. | Notes pinned to a point, an outline or a saved measurement, with a sketch and attachments. Clients you invite by email reply on the note, free, with no account to set up. 10 saved notes on Free, unlimited on paid plans. |
| File size | 100 MB per file on Basic, 200 MB on Pro, 500 MB on Enterprise. Basic and Pro also cap view-only uploads at 10 and 50 a month. | Up to 100 GB per file on every plan, with no monthly upload count. |
| Private links | Private and password-protected models from Pro. Free models are public. | Public, password or named-people links on every plan, including Free. |
| Who opened what | A public view count. Per-viewer history is not documented. | Every open, view, download and reply logged with the time and where it came from. |
| Your branding | Hiding Sketchfab branding and the watermark link on embeds is an Enterprise option on their plans page. | Your logo and colors on every share link from the $49 plan up. |
| Organized by | Collections on personal plans. Projects with folders and roles come with Sketchfab for Teams, on Enterprise. | Physical sites on a map, each holding dated collections. Every capture is anchored to the place and the day. |
| Price | Basic free. Pro $15 a month billed yearly ($180), or $24 monthly. Enterprise on quote. Paid in USD through PayPal. | Free, then $49 and $199 a month in USD, about 15% off yearly. Client viewers are always free. |
| How you start | Free Basic plan, sign up yourself. Pro bought online. Teams and Enterprise through sales. | Free plan, sign up yourself, no credit card. Paid plans bought online. |
| Where files are stored | Not named. Their privacy policy (27 October 2026) says they operate from locations around the world, including the United States. | Your choice of 8 regions at signup: Australia, US East, US West, UK, Europe, Canada, Japan, Singapore. |
Sources for the Sketchfab column: sketchfab.com/plans and help.sketchfab.com, read 31 October 2026. Their help center also describes a Premium plan that the plans page does not currently show, so it is left out here. Sketchfab was sold by Epic Games to KitBash, announced in August 2026, and said plans would not change. Prices and limits change, so check theirs with them before deciding.
Which one fits your work
Pick Sketchfab if
- The deliverable is a finished, textured model rather than raw capture data.
- It needs to look its best, with lighting, animation, AR or VR.
- You want it embedded on a public website or found by a community.
- Each file is under a couple of hundred megabytes.
Pick Swyvl if
- You deliver LAS, LAZ or E57 point clouds and they have to stay full size, with coordinates.
- A job also produces orthomosaics, splats, 360s, drone video or CAD.
- Your files run to gigabytes, not megabytes.
- The client is private, and the link has to be too.
- Your client has to be able to reply on the spot without making an account.
- You want to see who opened the delivery, and when.
- The same site gets captured again and you want the visits kept together.
Plenty of teams use both: a polished mesh on Sketchfab for the website, and the survey data itself delivered to the client through Swyvl.
Questions people ask about both
Can Sketchfab open a LAS point cloud?
Yes, LAS and PLY, and ASC text files. It reads each point's position and color, draws every point the same size, and recommends staying under about 5 million points. LAZ and E57 are not on its supported list as of 31 October 2026. Swyvl streams LAS, LAZ and E57 at full size. To look at one first, try the free point cloud viewer.
Can I measure on Sketchfab?
A measurement tool is not documented in their help center as of 31 October 2026. Swyvl has point, distance, area and height tools on share links, and labels each result Georeferenced, True scale or Indicative so the client knows how far to trust it. How measuring works.
Does Sketchfab support Gaussian splats?
Splat file types are not in their supported list as of 31 October 2026. Swyvl opens PLY, SPZ, KSPLAT and .splat files and XGRIDS LCC and LCC2 scans. Gaussian splats on Swyvl.
Can my client comment without an account?
On Sketchfab, comments need a Sketchfab account and sit under the model. On Swyvl, a client you invite by email replies on the note at the exact spot, free, with no account to set up. Public and password links are view-only. How notes work.
What does Sketchfab cost?
As of 31 October 2026, Basic is free with a 100 MB file limit and public models. Pro is $15 a month billed yearly, or $24 monthly, with 200 MB files and private models. Enterprise is on quote. Swyvl is free to start, then $49 and $199 a month, with up to 100 GB per file.
Who owns Sketchfab now?
KitBash, which bought Sketchfab and ArtStation from Epic Games in a deal announced on 10 August 2026. Sketchfab said pricing and plans would not change. Its paid model store had already moved to Epic's Fab in 2024.
Send the scan itself, at full size
Upload a real point cloud or orthomosaic and see what your client opens. Free plan covers 5 GB, no credit card.