What is the best AI model to turn an image into a 3D model?
It depends on what the model is for. For production assets with clean topology and materials, try Hyper3D Rodin or Meshy first. If you have several photos of the object, Hunyuan3D 3.1 Pro can use up to 8 of them. For quick blockouts and previs, Trellis and TripoSR cost a few cents a run. For people, use a model built for humans (PSHuman or SAM 3D Body), because general models struggle with faces and hands.
The honest way to choose is to run the same image through three or four models and compare. On an OTOY Studio canvas you can connect one image to all of them at once.
Image-to-3D models in OTOY Studio, cheapest first
| Model | Maker | Images in | Credits per run |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAM 3 Body | Meta | up to 2 | 2 |
| SAM 3 Objects | Meta | 1 | 2 |
| Trellis | Microsoft | 1 | 2 |
| TripoSR | Stability AI and Tripo | 1 | 6 |
| OmniPart | OmniPart research team | 1 | 18 |
| Hunyuan3D 3.1 Rapid (Image) | Tencent | 1 | 21 |
| Hunyuan World | Tencent | 1 | 28 |
| Meshy 5 Retexture | Meshy | 1 | 28 |
| Trellis 2 | Microsoft | 1 | 28 |
| Bytedance Seed3D | ByteDance | 1 | 30 |
| Hyper3D Rodin | Deemos | 1 | 37 |
| Hyper3D Rodin 2 | Deemos | 1 | 37 |
| Meshy 5 | Meshy | 1 | 37 |
| Hunyuan3D 3.1 Pro (Image) | Tencent | up to 8 | 48 |
| PSHuman | PSHuman research team | 1 | 69 |
| Meshy 6 Image | Meshy | up to 2 | 74 |
| Meshy 6 Preview | Meshy | up to 2 | 74 |
| Meshy 6 Preview | Meshy | 1 | 74 |
| Meshy 6 Text | Meshy | 1 | 74 |
| Meshy 7 Image | Meshy | up to 2 | 110 |
| Meshy 7 Text | Meshy | 1 | 110 |
Credits are list prices at 1 credit = €0.01.
A quick guide
- Props and products for final renders: Rodin, Meshy 7, Hunyuan3D 3.1 Pro.
- Several reference photos: Hunyuan3D 3.1 Pro (up to 8 images), Meshy 5 multi-image.
- Fast and cheap blockouts: Trellis, TripoSR, then TripoSR Remesh to clean up.
- People: PSHuman, SAM 3D Body.
- Objects you'll rig or edit by part: OmniPart, which outputs the object already split into parts.
- Whole places rather than objects: use Gaussian splatting instead. See how to make a Gaussian splat.
After you have the mesh
In OTOY Studio a 3D output can go straight into the scene editor with "Build a scene around it", to light with an HDRI, animate a camera and render. Meshy 5 Retexture repaints an existing mesh from a prompt or image. Generated assets can also go to Octane for relighting and final renders, then back into video and image models as references.
Last verified 2026-09-28. Prices and model lists come from OTOY Studio's billing configuration, exported 2026-09-28.