Autodesk Maya vs. ZBrush

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Autodesk Maya
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Autodesk offers Maya, a 3D animation, modeling, simulation and rendering tool available to artists, animators, and educators, used to create realistic characters, models, and scenes, as well as effects such as explosions, cloth movement, etc.
$235
per month per user
ZBrush
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Pixologic in Los Angeles offers ZBrush, a digital sculpting and painting program for the 3D industry. Built within its interface, ZBrush offers tools for digital artists with an arsenal of features that have been developed with usability in mind, to create a user experience designed to feel natural while simultaneously inspiring the artist. With the ability to sculpt up to a billion polygons, ZBrush allows users to create almost limitless models.
$39.95
per month
Pricing
Autodesk MayaZBrush
Editions & Modules
Monthly
$235
per month per user
Yearly
$1875
per year per user
3-Year
$5625
3 years per user
Individual
$39.95
per month
Individual
$179.95
per 6 months
Individual
$895.00
perpetual license
Companies & Students
price varies
floating perpetual license
Companies & Students
price varies
academic perpetual license
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Autodesk MayaZBrush
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMaya is also available through Autodesk's Flex plan and pricing. Tokens expire 1 year from date of purchase. Not all products and features are available with Flex. Students and teachers at qualified academic institutions worldwide are eligible for free access to Autodesk software for one-year through the Autodesk Education Community.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Autodesk MayaZBrush
Considered Both Products
Autodesk Maya
Chose Autodesk Maya
The UI of 3ds Max is not that good and very old, not the best. Blender is the best for everything, especially its modeling and animation tools are not the best as compared to Autodesk Maya. Cinema 4D is good for motion graphics and create vibrant renders but it has limited …
Chose Autodesk Maya
Autodesk Maya is better than these other softwares because Autodesk Maya is a software that does not have updates every time, and this means that you do not have to waste time seeing what has been updated and what has not.
Chose Autodesk Maya
We were evaluating the products within the Adobe portfolio like Adobe Animate, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe After Effects majorly among few others before finalising on the Autodesk Maya. One of the major reasons for that was earlier experience with the Autodesk Maya tool for the …
Chose Autodesk Maya
All are different and cannot compare with each other's abilities. Maya is more powerful than any other software compared to.
Chose Autodesk Maya
Animating in Autodesk Maya is much more convenient and easier in comparison to Blender. It's easier to use features like constrains, motion trails, and attribute editors in Autodesk Maya. Most of the time I use blender for modeling and Autodesk Maya for animation. Either way, I …
Chose Autodesk Maya
You can create solids, figures in 3D, and especially organic forms, more easily and efficiently using Maya than with other programs or in specific Catia. You can also create different pieces to later assemble them, and thus create figures even more complex or in greater detail. …
Chose Autodesk Maya
There are list of alternatives of Autodest Maya: SideFX Houdini, Blender. We use them all depending on the task.

ZBrush
Chose ZBrush
ZBrush’s Brush system allows our digital artists to quickly and easily apply various textures and details to their models with relative ease. This makes it easier for digital influencers to give their creations a unique look and feel while still achieving a professional quality …
Chose ZBrush
Even though it's 4x as old, ZBrush is still better in my opinion. Plus, I'm just so used to it by now after 20 years. Blender will indeed become better over time and the leading industry standard soon, but for now, ZBrush is still better for me for sure. Love it!
Chose ZBrush
Zbrush is specifically used for sculpting the 3D object. Poly paint, Re-topologizing, and hard surface modeling are other great features of this software. While other mentioned software mainly focus[es] on animation, rigging, and so on.
Best Alternatives
Autodesk MayaZBrush
Small Businesses
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.9 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.9 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Rhino
Rhino
Score 9.0 out of 10
Rhino
Rhino
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Autodesk MayaZBrush
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Autodesk MayaZBrush
Likelihood to Recommend
We have the design team using that to create videos for our concepts in the Cyber security - Products, services and solutions as well as in AI/ML, basically everything that needs to be communicated in the best way we use Autodesk Maya for the videos thus making it more fun and easy to understand the concepts to get going.
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The comprehensive toolkit enables us to take advantage of its wide range of tools, such as customizable brushes, particles and materials, custom deformers, mesh manipulation tools, and more, to bring art creations to life with high levels of detail and realism. On the flip side, if an artist needs very specific tools tailored towards animation-type projects rather than 3D model design, then they would likely find programs like Maya or Blender more beneficial.
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Pros
  • Easy to build workflow due to strong customizability.
  • Industry share. Easy to collaborate with other companies.
  • Strong cooperation with other software.
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  • Best for sculpting characters even down to the smallest pore.
  • Great for points of light on a character.
  • So fast sculpting and crafting for product design.
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Cons
  • Autodesk Maya is pretty hard to learn in comparison to other softwares, many people find it very difficult to learn.
  • The cost of the software is pretty high and training on the software takes up lot of time and money.
  • The lack of procedural pipeline in the software making companies to move towards other softwares like houdini and blender.
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  • Slowdowns when using certain tools or features.
  • Difficulty to access certain shortcuts or commands.
  • Lack of a dedicated animation timeline system.
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Usability
As Autodesk Maya was one of the first softwares I learned, so I feel very fun to work with it. The overall usabilty feels very natural to me and I felt it's easy to learn but tough to master kind of software. Some people find it very difficult to learn, so I deduced some rating points.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
The UI of 3ds Max is not that good and very old, not the best. Blender is the best for everything, especially its modeling and animation tools are not the best as compared to Autodesk Maya. Cinema 4D is good for motion graphics and create vibrant renders but it has limited options to create things.
Read full review
Even though it's 4x as old, ZBrush is still better in my opinion. Plus, I'm just so used to it by now after 20 years. Blender will indeed become better over time and the leading industry standard soon, but for now, ZBrush is still better for me for sure. Love it!
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • The pros is speeding up workflow . The ability to customize Maya for various tasks on their own.
  • Another pros is easy programming study. Automation of routine tasks did not require deep knowledge in programming.
  • There was one negative thing. The transition from a permanent license to a one-year subscription in 2016-2017, as the previous purchased licenses were canceled by the Autodesk.
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  • Expensive
  • Will create a 3D mesh exactly as you had designed
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ScreenShots