Spline: our review
Spline is first and foremost a collaborative 3D editor in the browser, designed to build interactive scenes to embed on a website. AI generation is added as a paid option, not as the core feature — unlike a pure generator such as Meshy.
What we take away from it
What counts in its favor
- Code export (React Three Fiber, WebGL) from the Professional tier up, to embed an interactive 3D scene directly into a site without starting from scratch.
- Generative AI is enabled as an option for $5/month per seat (2,000 credits), with no need to pay for a separate AI product if the team doesn't need it all the time.
- A functional free tier exists to get to grips with the editor before committing a budget.
What counts against it
- The privacy policy shows a last update of December 1, 2020, before Spline's AI features launched: nothing in it says whether prompts and files sent to the AI are used to train it.
- The terms of use nowhere define who owns a model created on Spline, nor whether AI-generated content is treated differently from hand-drawn content.
- Truly portable export formats (glTF, USDZ, STL) are reserved for the Professional tier starting at $20/month: on the Free and Starter tiers, a project never leaves Spline.
A good collaborative 3D editor for building an interactive scene meant for the web, provided you accept the Professional tier to get a file usable elsewhere, and don't expect a written guarantee about what happens to data sent to the AI.
The facts
- First paid tier
- $12/month — Starter, billed annually
- Data hosting
- Data in the United States · source
- Categories
- 3D modeling,Graphic design
- Data verified on
- 30 July 2026
What happens to your data
- Is your data used to train their models?
- Subprocessors
- The privacy policy, dated 2020, mentions no sub-processor related to the AI features added since; it covers only generic categories (audience analytics, advertising, payment).
Spline in detail
Spline was built as a collaborative 3D editor in the browser: you assemble a scene with the mouse, animate objects, then publish it on a site as an interactive piece. Artificial intelligence arrived afterwards, as a paid module able to generate a shape or a texture from text. For a team building a product page or a 3D brand experience, that order matters: Spline remains design software first, and AI is just a shortcut within it.
The editing side, the AI side
Opening Spline means handling primitives, lights and cameras in a 3D scene shared in real time with a team, a bit like a Figma in three dimensions. The Spline AI module sits alongside it: it generates a shape or a texture from a description, which the user then reworks by hand in the editor. This AI is billed separately, $5 a month per seat with 2,000 credits included — a choice that avoids paying for a full AI product when the team only needs it occasionally.
What the contract says, and doesn't say
Two documents should have answered the questions that matter to a business: who owns a model created on Spline, and what happens to data sent to the AI. Neither does so clearly. The terms of use nowhere define ownership of content created in the editor, AI-made or not. The privacy policy, for its part, shows a last update of December 1, 2020 — years before Spline's AI features launched — and so states no rule on training from prompts or imported reference files.
Export formats, and where they stop
The real lock sits elsewhere, in the pricing grid: the formats that actually leave Spline (glTF, USDZ, STL) and code export only open up at the Professional tier, starting at $20 a month. On the Free and Starter tiers, a project stays within the Spline ecosystem, viewable but not exportable — worth checking before building a brand identity or a product configuration you might one day want to reuse elsewhere.
Our take
For an interactive 3D scene meant to stay on a website, Spline does the job well, provided you accept the Professional tier to get something usable out of it. For a company in the industrial sector that would want to run unreleased product visuals through the AI feature, better to wait for an up-to-date privacy policy before relying on it. Our selection of 3D modelling tools lets you compare with pure generators, and the free tools page lists Spline's entry tier.
Who it's for, and who it isn't
Suited for
- A product or marketing team that wants to build an interactive 3D scene for its own site and keep it within the Spline ecosystem
- A designer who wants to add occasional AI generation to hand-made modeling work, without switching tools
Not a fit
- An organization that stays on the Free or Starter tiers and thinks it can export its work elsewhere: no portable 3D format is available there
- A company that needs a written commitment on training before sending unreleased product visuals to the AI feature: the privacy policy doesn't cover this case
Frequently asked questions
- Is Spline an AI tool or 3D software?
- 3D software first: a collaborative browser editor where you build a scene with the mouse. AI generation is a paid option layered on top, not the core of the product.
- Can I export my model outside of Spline on the free plan?
- No: the glTF, USDZ and STL formats, as well as code export, are reserved for the Professional tier ($20 to $25/month). On the Free and Starter tiers, the work stays within the Spline ecosystem.
- Is the data I send to Spline's AI used to train it?
- Impossible to confirm: the published privacy policy dates from December 2020, before Spline's AI features launched, and doesn't address this case. The default state is uncertainty, not a guarantee.
- How much does Spline cost for a team?
- Starter at $12/month (billed yearly) for unlimited files, Professional at $20/month for real export and unlimited folders, plus $5/month per seat for the AI option. Enterprise is negotiated by quote.
- Who owns a model created on Spline?
- The terms of use don't spell it out explicitly, which is unusual for a professional creation tool: neither general content ownership nor any special treatment for AI-generated content is addressed.
Our sources
- Pricing gridaccessed on 30 July 2026
- Terms of useaccessed on 30 July 2026
- Privacy policy, last updated December 1, 2020accessed on 30 July 2026
- Privacy policy — hosting facilities (document dated December 1, 2020)accessed on 31 July 2026
Prices and hosting terms change often. We recheck them periodically, but the publisher's page remains the only up-to-date reference.