Comparison · Generators
Meshy vs 3D AI Studio: Credits, Models and Tools
Meshy vs 3D AI Studio: going direct to one vendor versus a multi-model credit platform. Documented plans, credits, formats and the many facts still not confirmed.
The decision here is whether to buy one vendor’s models directly (Meshy) or rent several vendors’ models through a single credit pool (3D AI Studio, which lists Meshy 7.1 among them). Meshy is the simpler choice if Meshy’s own models and tools are all you want and you want clear pricing. 3D AI Studio is worth a look if you want to switch models without switching accounts, but plan-price digits on its pricing page did not render in the text we read, its Terms limit free output to non-commercial use, and both vendors sell credits, so a headline “more credits” figure means little without the per-generation cost.
What would change this answer
A 3D AI Studio price page with its plan prices readable, plus its credit cost for running Meshy 7.1, would let us do the arithmetic properly. Running one prompt through the Meshy model on both routes would show it; we have not done that. The game-prop comparison covers how to judge the output.
Documented differences
| Item | Meshy (direct) | 3D AI Studio |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | One vendor with its own models (Meshy 7.1, 7, 6, 6 Lite) and tools | Aggregator listing "20+" models per its homepage, including Meshy 7.1, Hunyuan3D 3.1, Tripo P2, Rodin Gen-2.5, TRELLIS 2 and its own Prism 3.1 |
| Free tier | 100 credits/month, 10 downloads/month, untextured Meshy 6 Lite only | Free credits on signup, no card; amount not stated (docs say "several" or about 3 to 5 generations). One of its tool pages says Free 100 credits/month; not confirmed |
| Monthly paid plans | Pro $20 / 1,000 credits; Premium $40 / 3,000; Ultra $100 / 8,000 | FAQ lists Basic $19 (1,000 credits), Studio $29 (3,500), Pro $149 (18,000); the homepage shows the same monthly prices plus lower annual-billed ones. Plan-price digits on its pricing page did not render in the text we read, so live prices are not confirmed |
| Annual billing | FAQ says 20% off; per-plan yearly prices not readable | Homepage shows Basic $12, Studio $23, Pro $139 per month billed annually; pricing page shows a 40% discount. Not confirmed |
| Cost per 3D generation | Image to 3D 20 credits (25 for the Ultra 2K default on paid plans) | 20 to 60 credits depending on model; examples: Prism 3.1 35, Tripo P2 70, Hunyuan 3.1 Pro 40. Cost of the Meshy model on this platform not stated in what we read |
| Credit rollover | Free credits reset monthly; purchased credit expiry conflicts between docs and Terms | Monthly credits do not roll over; one-time packs never expire ($34 for 2,000, $69 for 5,000, $399 for 35,000) |
| Export formats | GLB, FBX, OBJ, USDZ, STL, BLEND, 3MF, DXF | FAQ lists nine including Collada and PLY; other pages list seven or eight |
| Rigging and animation | In the product; rigging 0 credits in the web app, 5 in the API | Rigging 15 to 20 credits, animation preset 15 each |
| Ownership | Free: CC BY 4.0 with credit; paid: users own output | Pricing page: assets "private and fully owned by you"; Terms at /AGB limit free output to non-commercial use |
| API | REST API, MCP server, plugins (paid) | MCP connector on Studio and above; whether a public API exists is contradictory across its own pages |
Credits are not a common currency
A credit on one platform does not buy the same thing as a credit on another. A Meshy Pro plan’s 1,000 credits cover 50 generations at 20 credits each, if you never retry or pay for texturing. 3D AI Studio’s 1,000-credit Basic plan covers between roughly 16 and 50 generations at 20 to 60 credits each, depending on which model you pick. Those two sums describe different things, so comparing “1,000 versus 1,000” is a trap. The right measure is credits (and dollars) per usable asset, explained on the cost page; the credit calculator takes your own assumptions.
One hazard on 3D AI Studio’s side is that its own pages disagree on some counts (formats, free credits, whether an API exists) and plan-price digits on its pricing page did not render in the text we read; its FAQ lists Tripo P2 at 70 credits against a stated 20 to 60 range, its pricing page gives 20 credits per generation and its homepage 25 to 35. Check the account dashboard at checkout.
Price per credit and per generation, from published numbers
The two platforms can be put on one scale of dollars per credit, using list prices only (monthly billing, no first-month offers). Meshy Pro is $20 for 1,000 credits, or $0.020 a credit. 3D AI Studio Basic is $19 for 1,000 (FAQ and homepage agree on this monthly price), or $0.019; its one-time packs work out to $0.017 (2,000 for $34), $0.0138 (5,000 for $69) and $0.0114 (35,000 for $399), and unlike the monthly allowance they never expire. At those rates a 20-credit Meshy Image to 3D costs about $0.40. On 3D AI Studio the FAQ’s examples are Hunyuan 3.1 Pro at 40 credits (about $0.76 on Basic, $0.46 on the 35,000 pack), Prism 3.1 at 35 and Tripo P2 at 70 (about $1.33 on Basic). The FAQ does not list the credit price of Meshy 7.1, Rodin Gen-2.5 or TRELLIS 2, so the comparison most buyers want, Meshy’s model through each route, cannot be completed from documents. Meshy’s first-month offers ($10 for Pro) would halve its figure for one month only, and the length of that offer is unconfirmed.
Storage, access and what survives cancelling
Retention differs in a way that matters for a long project. 3D AI Studio’s FAQ says generated models stay in your library for 6 months on the free plan and 12 months on paid plans, extendable to 3 years at 1 credit per model, and plans are month to month with cancellation from account settings. Meshy’s Terms say monthly plans run to the end of the billing cycle, fees are non-cancelable and non-refundable, and Meshy may delete outputs of inactive accounts; its API output is deleted after three days on non-Enterprise plans. Neither source says directly what happens to commercial rights to assets made on a paid plan after you cancel (Meshy’s Terms have only a general survival clause, s.11.6); that gap is open on both sides. Practical rule: download and archive the GLB or FBX of anything you ship, rather than relying on either library.
Rigging and post-processing limits
Both routes sell post-generation steps, but only Meshy’s input limits were read. Its Rigging API accepts standard humanoid characters only, as a textured GLB facing +Z with at most 380,000 triangles; its Remesh API takes 100 to 300,000 target faces and needs a paid plan. 3D AI Studio lists rigging at 15 to 20 credits and each animation preset at 15, but its FAQ gives no input constraints, so check them before buying credits for a creature rig.
Who is writing what
3D AI Studio also publishes comparison and guide articles on its own site; it is a seller as well as an aggregator. Meshy also publishes comparison posts in which it is a party. We treat both as vendor material. Neither vendor’s competitive claims are used on this page as evidence.
License and terms
Meshy’s Terms are specific (updated September 19, 2026): free users get CC BY 4.0, paid users own their output, non-Enterprise content may be used for training unless you opt out by email, and fees are non-refundable. 3D AI Studio’s pricing page and homepage say you retain full rights. Its Terms at /AGB (last modified 19.08.2026) say you “own the Output you generate”, subject to third-party rights and a “No Guarantee of Exclusive Ownership” clause, and limit output made without a paid plan or purchased license to “personal, non-commercial purposes”. Its data-protection pages were not retrieved. Also unknown: whether upstream model licenses (for example Hunyuan’s territorial terms) pass through to you. See open-weights licenses for that example. Not legal advice.
When to choose each
Choose Meshy when you mainly want Meshy’s models, published per-feature credit costs and written ownership terms. Downsides: one vendor’s model set, restricted free downloads, API outputs deleted after three days on non-Enterprise plans.
Choose 3D AI Studio when trying several model families under one account matters more than price certainty, and you are willing to read its checkout page and Terms yourself. Downsides on this page’s evidence: plan-price digits that did not render on its pricing page, unknown free credit amount, Terms that limit free output to non-commercial use, and credit costs that vary by model.
Neither? See Meshy alternatives. For each vendor alone, read the Meshy review and the 3D AI Studio review; all pairings are on the compare hub, and the methodology explains how we weigh vendor claims.
Still unknown
- 3D AI Studio live monthly and annual prices, and free credit amount.
- Credit cost of the Meshy model on 3D AI Studio versus on Meshy.
- Which of 3D AI Studio’s statements on free output governs: its Terms or its pricing page.