Forge · Free web app

Game-ready meshes and characters, without learning a 3D tool

Forge is a free, browser-based tool for game developers who code, not model. Build a mesh from a node graph, texture it, or bring in a character and rig and animate it, all without hundreds of hours of 3D tool tutorials. Wire a few nodes, watch the result update live, and export clean glTF to Unreal, Unity or Godot.

Open Forge See how it works
The Forge node editor: three branches of Curve, Extrude Along Curve and Stylized Wood nodes building a wooden sign, with the Transform node selected and its parameter panel open.
The graph that builds the sign below: curves swept into planks, textured as wood, with every parameter still editable.

A node graph, from primitive to game asset

Every step is a node. Draw curves and sweep them into planks, merge and boolean the pieces, unwrap the UVs, then bake procedural wood and metal into the mesh. Change a node near the top and the whole graph re-cooks, so the asset stays editable the entire way down. When it is right, export clean glTF and drop it into your engine.

A stylized wooden hanging sign game asset, built and textured in Forge and ready to export as glTF.
A finished hanging sign: hand-painted wood, metal mounts, one glTF export.
A stylized wooden plank with hand-painted PBR textures, built procedurally in Forge.
The plank the sign is built from, textured procedurally in the graph.

Characters: rigged and animated in the same graph

Forge works with characters too. Bring in a character model, from an AI generator, an asset store or your own modeling, and Forge cleans it to a triangle budget, cuts its UV seams, and rigs it with a Mixamo-compatible skeleton from nine markers you drag onto it. Skin weights are computed for you. Add ready-made Idle, Walk and Jog animations, draw a few curves through the hair to make it swing, and export one animated .glb that Unreal, Unity and Godot play straight away.

  • Auto rig: a 25-joint skeleton with Mixamo's joint names, or 65 joints with fingers
  • Idle, Walk and Jog clips included, free to use in any game
  • Hair that swings, simulated and baked into every clip, with nothing to set up in your engine
  • A Character template that does the whole chain: open it, choose your model, export

How it works, step by step: Characters, rigging and animation.

What you get

  • Node-graph modeling: every operation is a node you can rewire, and the mesh re-cooks live
  • Procedural texturing with PBR materials, baked into the mesh in the same graph
  • Boolean, bevel, remesh, UV unwrap and bake, one graph from primitive to game asset
  • Characters: auto-rig a humanoid model, add Idle, Walk and Jog animations and swinging hair, export one animated .glb
  • Clean, game-ready meshes exported as glTF for Unreal, Unity and Godot
  • Runs in the browser: no install, no account needed, your work stays on your machine
  • Free, including for commercial games, with no royalty and no attribution

Every node is documented: Forge docs. See what changed since launch: the Forge changelog.

Coming from Houdini or Blender?

Forge borrows Houdini's best idea, a model that stays a graph of editable steps. Houdini is the procedural powerhouse of film and AAA, and it is priced and sized for that. Blender is free too, and a complete 3D suite with a lot to learn before a first game asset. Forge does one job: turn the model in your head into a usable, textured game mesh, with a handful of nodes and nothing to install.

Aspect Forge Houdini Blender
Price Free Paid licences; free Apprentice for non-commercial use only Free and open source
Runs In the browser, nothing to install Desktop application Desktop application
Scope Game meshes, their materials, and rigged, animated characters Full VFX and procedural pipeline Full 3D suite
Learning curve A few nodes and an afternoon Months Weeks to months
Commercial use Yes, no attribution Depends on the licence Yes

The full comparison, including texturing, export formats and when each tool is the right choice, is on the docs site: Forge vs Houdini vs Blender.

Open Forge in your browser

No install, no account. Your work stays on your machine, and finished meshes export as glTF for any engine.

Open Forge

Frequently asked questions

Is Forge really free?
Yes. Forge is free to use and has no paid tier. Everything you make in it is yours, including for commercial games, with no royalty and no attribution required.
Do I need an account to use Forge?
No. Forge saves your work in your browser and nothing leaves it. An optional account, invite-only for now, adds a private cloud backup so you can open your projects on another device.
Which game engines does Forge export to?
Forge exports glTF (.glb), which Unreal Engine, Unity, Godot and every other current engine import directly, with materials and textures included.
Can Forge rig and animate characters?
Yes. The Auto Rig node builds a Mixamo-compatible skeleton inside a humanoid character from nine markers you place, with automatic skin weights. Add Animation adds ready-made Idle, Walk and Jog clips, and Hair Guides and Hair Physics give the hair bones that swing. Export writes one animated .glb for Unreal, Unity or Godot. Forge does not keyframe animation by hand or import your own clips yet.
Is Forge a free alternative to Houdini?
For procedural game meshes, yes. Forge is free and uses the same idea as Houdini's SOP workflow: a node graph where every step stays editable and the mesh re-cooks live. It covers procedural modeling and texturing for game assets, not Houdini's simulation, rendering or film pipeline. A game developer who wants procedural meshes without a licence or a months-long learning curve is who Forge is for; a VFX studio is not.
How is Forge different from Blender?
Blender is a complete desktop 3D suite. Forge does one job, in the browser: build and texture a game mesh from a node graph and export it as glTF. There is nothing to install and far less to learn. If you already know Blender, keep using it. Forge is for programmers who never got past Blender's learning curve and just want the model in their head to become a usable, textured game mesh.
Is Forge open source?
Not at the moment. Forge is free to use as a web app; its source code is not published.

Houdini is a trademark of Side Effects Software Inc. Blender is a trademark of the Blender Foundation. Forge is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.