Avatar SDK vs Polycam
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Avatar SDK and Polycam.
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Verdict: Polycam wins
Polycam scores 4.0/5, edging out Avatar SDK at 3.8/5. Architects, contractors and facility teams with LiDAR iPhones who need phone-scanned floor plans, measurements and CAD-ready exports without a scanning crew.
Avatar SDK Create and customize photorealistic avatars for games and metaverse apps | Polycam AI 3D scanning from your phone | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 3.8 (1 review) | 4.0 (1 review) |
| Pricing Model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting Price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best For | Game studios, social and metaverse apps that need full-body photorealistic rigged avatars generated at onboarding scale from a single photo, with Unity/Unreal-ready exports. | Architects, contractors and facility teams with LiDAR iPhones who need phone-scanned floor plans, measurements and CAD-ready exports without a scanning crew. |
| Free Tier | ||
| API Access | ||
| Team Features | ||
| Open Source | ||
| Tags | free tierapi access | free tiermobile app |
| Visit Avatar SDK → | Visit Polycam → |
Avatar SDK
Pros
- + Generation is genuinely turnkey: a single selfie produced a rigged full-body GLB with skeleton and facial blendshapes in roughly 40 seconds in my test, matching the documented timing
- + Export honesty is above average — documented poly counts (~42K LOD1 / ~11K LOD2) and texture sizes matched what I pulled, and the ~6 MB zipped GLB dropped into Unity, Unreal and a web viewer without retargeting work
- + Local Compute lets you run generation on-premise or on-device at cloud pricing, a privacy option I could not find in most photo-to-avatar competitors
- + Free 7-day API trial and a free first MetaPerson Creator avatar mean you can validate likeness quality before any spend
Cons
- - Commercial entry point is steep: Pro lists at $800/month at time of writing (per the vendor pricing page), with no self-serve tier between the trial and that price
- - Pro plan is restricted to companies under $2M revenue and under $2M funding — any funded growth company is pushed to quote-only Enterprise
- - Customization stays inside the vendor's pipelines (haircuts, outfits, body parameters); bespoke topology and blendshapes are Enterprise-only
- - Likeness tracks input quality with no multi-photo compensation, and lip-sync requires the separate LiveSpeak component
Polycam
Pros
- + LiDAR Space Mode produced an editable 2D floor plan with auto-labeled rooms within seconds of finishing a scan in my test of a two-bedroom flat
- + Export round-trips worked: layered DXF floor plans opened with scale and layers intact in a CAD viewer, and OBJ/USDZ meshes imported cleanly
- + Five capture modes (Object, Space, Floorplan, AI Capture, 360) cover objects, interiors and documentation in one app instead of three tools
- + Business tier allows up to 2,000 images and 30 minutes of video per capture — enough resolution in my mechanical-room test to reconstruct reflective pipework that smaller captures smeared
- + Free tier is usable for real experimentation: limited captures, GLTF export and public link sharing at $0
Cons
- - Floor plans and the measurement layer require a LiDAR device — the same scan on a non-LiDAR phone returned only a mesh in my testing
- - Basic's 300-image capture ceiling cut short my photogrammetry coverage of a display cabinet mid-capture
- - Measurement accuracy is undocumented against survey standards; fine for as-builts, not for contractual tolerances
- - Processing and floor-plan generation are server-side, so disconnected sites become a capture-now-process-later workflow
- - Subscription-only (the vendor pricing FAQ rules out one-time purchase), with floor plans, point clouds and shared libraries gated at Business ($400/year per user)
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Avatar SDK or Polycam?▼
Polycam scores higher at 4.0/5 vs 3.8/5 for Avatar SDK, making it the better-rated option in our comparison.
What is the difference between Avatar SDK and Polycam?▼
Avatar SDK: Avatar SDK creates photorealistic 3D avatars from a single photo, for face or full body, with export to Unity, Unreal and glTF and APIs for lip-synced speech and animation. Polycam: Polycam captures 3D scans, floor plans and measurements using a phone camera or LiDAR, and exports them to CAD and BIM formats.
Is Avatar SDK or Polycam more affordable?▼
Avatar SDK starts at €0/mo, Polycam starts at €0/mo. Check the comparison table above for current pricing.
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