Compare the Top Surface Modeling Software for Mac as of April 2025

What is Surface Modeling Software for Mac?

Surface modeling software is used to create complex, curved 3D surfaces, often applied in industries like automotive, aerospace, and industrial design. Unlike solid modeling, which focuses on volume, surface modeling defines shapes using intricate, lightweight surface layers, allowing for detailed and flexible design adjustments. It enables designers to manipulate surfaces with precision, crafting visually refined and aerodynamically optimized forms. The software typically includes tools for freeform modeling, surface continuity, and curvature control, supporting highly customized and aesthetically driven designs. Surface modeling software is essential for projects where shape, style, and performance are closely interlinked, leading to innovative and visually compelling products. Compare and read user reviews of the best Surface Modeling software for Mac currently available using the table below. This list is updated regularly.

  • 1
    AutoCAD

    AutoCAD

    Autodesk

    CAD software to design anything—with time-saving toolsets, web, and mobile apps. AutoCAD® is computer-aided design (CAD) software that architects, engineers, and construction professionals rely on to create precise 2D and 3D drawings. Draft, annotate, and design 2D geometry and 3D models with solids, surfaces, and mesh objects. Automate tasks such as comparing drawings, adding blocks, creating schedules, and more. Customize with add-on apps and APIs. AutoCAD includes industry-specific features and intelligent objects for architecture, mechanical engineering, electrical design, and more. Automate floor plans, sections, and elevations. Draw piping, ducting, and circuiting quickly with parts libraries. Auto-generate annotations, layers, schedules, lists, and tables. Use a rules-driven workflow to accurately enforce industry standards.
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    Starting Price: $1,268 per user per year
  • 2
    Blender

    Blender

    Blender Foundation

    Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing and 2D animation pipeline. Cycles is Blender’s built-in powerful unbiased path-tracer engine that offers stunning ultra-realistic rendering. Blender’s comprehensive array of modeling tools make creating, transforming and editing your models a breeze. VFX professionals say: “Probably the best tracker in the market”. Blender includes production ready camera and object tracking. Allowing you to import raw footage, track the footage, mask areas and see the camera movements live in your 3D scene. Eliminating the need to switch between programs. Thanks to the high quality rigging and animation tools, Blender is being used for numerous short films, advertisements, TV series and feature films now.
  • 3
    SketchUp

    SketchUp

    Trimble

    Design delightfully, collaborate clearly, and build better buildings. The joy of drawing by hand. The ease of super-smart 3D modeling software. Make sustainable buildings. Change the world, hundreds of professionally-developed extensions at your fingertips. Design in 3D. Document in 2D. Make work easier, bring efficiency to your team and the 3D community. A great idea can be its best with the right technology. Draw in 3D, analyze and improve your building’s performance, and creatively document and share your ideas with your class. Integrated with Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. Works on Chromebooks or any Internet-connected computer. Students have access to free and intuitive 3D modeling tools. Positioning-centric information is changing the way people, businesses and governments work throughout the world. By applying Trimble's advanced positioning solutions, productivity increases and safety improvements are being realized.
    Starting Price: $119 per year
  • 4
    Maya

    Maya

    Autodesk

    Create expansive worlds, complex characters, and dazzling effects. Bring believable characters to life with engaging animation tools. Shape 3D objects and scenes with intuitive modeling tools in Maya® software. Create realistic effects—from explosions to cloth simulation. A new visual programming environment using dynamic solvers enables you to create blockbuster-worthy effects quickly. Build custom graphs using the Bifrost Graph Editor. Create stunning effects—from snow and sand to dust storms and explosions—with ready-to-use graphs. Render your most complex projects with Arnold. Arnold is built to manage complex characters, scenery, and lighting challenges. Arnold is integrated with Maya, so you can see high-quality previews and iterate changes quickly. Save time with Arnold’s artist-friendly UI and simple, intuitive controls.
  • 5
    Plasticity

    Plasticity

    Plasticity

    With a workflow optimized for creativity, unparalleled fillets, sophisticated surface modeling, and the most advanced direct editing tools, Plasticity is the perfect choice for those who demand the best. Plus, with no subscriptions, you own your software. Try it free for 30 days and see the difference for yourself. Plasticity is the ultimate tool for creative professionals in the video game industry, product design, vehicle design, and beyond. Say goodbye to clunky CAD workflows designed for manufacturability. Plasticity offers all the power of NURBS modeling combined with the best workflow innovations from modern polygonal modeling software. This unique combination gives you the flexibility and creativity you need to bring your ideas to life. Plasticity's advanced geometry and fillet engine are second to none, thanks to Parasolid's best-in-class algorithms. With Plasticity, you can create the absolute best fillets, booleans, and offsets, and change them whenever you want.
    Starting Price: $149 per month
  • 6
    Civil 3D

    Civil 3D

    Autodesk

    Civil 3D® civil engineering design software supports BIM (Building Information Modeling) with integrated features to improve drafting, design, and construction documentation. Conduct grading design studies based on project constraints. Grading Optimization is available in Civil 3D only as part of the Architecture, Engineering & Construction Collection. Transform how you navigate, visualize, and interact with Civil 3D design models. Project Explorer is an extension available in Civil 3D only through the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Collection. Experience more efficient workflows for surface modeling, corridor modeling, site design, storm and sanitary, and plan production and documentation with Civil 3D® civil engineering design software. Securely access Civil 3D files, data shortcuts, and xrefs from multiple locations and companies, all in a common data environment.
    Starting Price: $2,430 per year
  • 7
    Autodesk Fusion 360
    Fusion 360 unifies design, engineering, electronics, and manufacturing into a single software platform. Get integrated CAD, CAM, CAE & PCB on a single development platform. Also includes EAGLE Premium, HSMWorks, Team Participant, and access to consumptive services, such as generative design, cloud simulation, and cloud rendering. Engineer products with a comprehensive set of modeling tools. Ensure form, fit, and function of your products with various analysis methods. Create and edit sketches with sketch constraints, dimensions, and a powerful suite of sketch tools. Edit or repair imported geometry from non-native file formats. Make design changes without worrying about time-based features. Create and edit complex parametric surfaces for repairing, patching or designing geometry. Create history-based features, including extrude, revolve, loft, sweep, etc., that update with design changes.
    Starting Price: $495 per year
  • 8
    form•Z

    form•Z

    AutoDesSys

    form•Z pro is a powerful 3D design application featuring a variety of modeling personalities and tools with an easy to use interface to express and communicate your imagination. It is based on advanced 3D solid and surface modeling methods that maintain accurate representations as you progress from design to visualization, layout, animation and fabrication. Object Symmetry creates a plane of symmtrey for an object. Subsequent operations to the object maintain symmetry by updaing the opposte sids of the model to match. The symmetry functionality has special consideration for NURBs curves, NURB surfaces and Sub-D objects. Reference Files are simply data from one project displayed inside another project. Reference files allow for complex static data to be mainteined in external files and supports coloboration where files can be shaered between team members as a design evolves. Python is a easy to use yet rich scripting language.
    Starting Price: $175
  • 9
    3DCoat

    3DCoat

    3DCoat

    3DCoat is the one application that has all the tools you need to take your 3D idea from a block of digital clay all the way to a production ready, fully textured organic or hard surface model. Today 3DCoat is available to learn at 300+ Universities, colleges and schools worldwide. 3DCoat is one of the most advanced software applications for creating detailed 3D models. Where other applications in this market segment tend to specialize in one specific task, such as Digital Sculpting or Texture Painting, 3DCoat provides High-End capability across multiple tasks in an asset creation pipeline. These include Sculpting, Retopology, UV Editing , PBR Texture Painting and Rendering. So it can be called a 3D texturing software and 3D texture painting software and 3D sculpting program and Retopology software and UV mapping software and 3D rendering software all combined. In short, 3DCoat removes the need to purchase (and learn) multiple specialty software titles.
    Starting Price: $49 one-time payment
  • 10
    Pix4Dfields

    Pix4Dfields

    Pix4Dfields

    Collect images using a drone and any standard RGB or select multispectral cameras. You can also use satellite data import to enhance your mapping experience with Sentinel-2 satellite data. Process imagery with the instant processing engine and get your maps directly in the field, 6.8 GB, 2948 images, 10 min (with the new radiometry module). Generate precise ortho mosaics, digital surface models, index maps, zones, and accurate prescription maps. Trim your fields to a desired field boundary to create more targeted outputs. Visualize and understand your crop growth stages and stress levels. Analyze and compare different layers of information for a full insight into your yield performance and use them to increase crop production and reduce costs. The only hybrid mapping software solution for agriculture based on knowledge from farmers, agronomists, and researchers. Create precision agriculture maps using images from drones and satellites.
    Starting Price: $137.5 per month
  • 11
    Cinema 4D
    3D computer animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software. Cinema 4D Subscription Release 24 (S24) includes functionality to easily browse and obtain models, materials and other assets, and to intuitively place them within the scene. The release also includes key workflow enhancements and a sneak peek at the continued progress on the Scene Nodes and Scene Manager interfaces to the new core. Cinema 4D is a professional 3D modeling, animation, simulation and rendering software solution. Its fast, powerful, flexible and stable toolset make 3D workflows more accessible and efficient for design, motion graphics, VFX, AR/MR/VR, game development and all types of visualization professionals. Cinema 4D produces stunning results, whether working on your own or in a team. Cinema 4D is widely recognized as one of the easiest and most accessible 3D packages to learn and use. To soften that learning curve Maxon offers thousands of tutorials on Cineversity and hundreds of Quick Tips.
    Starting Price: $16.58 per month
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    EQUINOX-3D

    EQUINOX-3D

    EQUINOX-3D

    The 3D modeler with the fastest, fully integrated ray-tracer. Because "rasterization is so 20th century™" 3D modeling, animation, photorealistic rendering, photorealistic VR content creation, CAD/CAM, 3D printing, laser-cutting and much more! Why is EQUINOX-3D better? As our artist said: "all engineers should be forced to use the software they write". I use EQX many hours a day and there is no need to force me! Super-fast photorealistic renderer, the first fully integrated interactive ray-tracer in a modeler. You can do full editing/modeling on ray-traced windows! Powerful subdivision surface modeling. Powerful CAD/CAM features, 3D printing and laser-cutting support. Universal rendering API that allows full modeling on any renderer and fully integrated Cg renderer with a quality that closely matches the ray-tracer. HDR texture support and HDR rendering output. Super fast importance-sampled HDR environment light support.
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