Overview
Tripo, built by Shanghai-based VAST AI, turns a text prompt, a single photo, or a hand-drawn sketch into a textured 3D mesh in seconds. Its flagship Tripo v3.0 Ultra model runs on a 2-billion-parameter foundation with SparseFlex technology, and the platform covers the full asset pipeline: text-to-3D, image-to-3D, sketch-to-3D, auto-rigging with skin weights, high-fidelity PBR materials, and smart part segmentation that isolates components for animation. A standout is quad remesh as a first-class output, so models drop into Unity and Unreal with fewer retopology passes than typical triangle soups. Exports span GLB, FBX, USDZ, OBJ, STL, and 3MF, which also makes it one of the few AI tools directly useful for 3D printing — AI mesh healing repairs holes and non-manifold edges before you slice. For our evaluation the practical wins are speed and integration: a Blender plugin, engine send-to buttons, and a documented REST API with a Python SDK let teams fold Tripo into automated pipelines. The free tier is enough to validate quality, while paid Studio tiers unlock private, commercially licensed output.
Key Features
- Multi-input generation — text, image, and sketch to 3D in one workspace
- Auto-rigging & PBR — skin-weighted rigs and high-fidelity materials out of the box
- Quad remesh output — game-engine-ready topology with fewer cleanup passes
- Smart part segmentation — split models into animatable components
- 7 export formats — GLB, FBX, OBJ, STL, 3MF, USDZ for print and engines
- REST API + Python SDK — batch generation for production pipelines
Pricing
| Plan | Price | For |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0 | 200 credits/mo (~8 models), public CC BY 4.0 outputs |
| Professional | $19.9/mo | 3,000 credits, private/commercial, priority queue |
| Advanced | $49.9/mo | 8,000 credits, top priority, longer history |
| Premium | $139.9/mo | 25,000 credits, studio-scale volume |
| API | Pay-as-you-go | 100 credits = $1, separate from Studio plans |
Comparison
Versus Meshy, Tripo ships cleaner quad topology and stronger part segmentation, while Meshy offers a deeper in-app animation library — pick Tripo for pipeline-ready meshes. Against image generators like Leonardo AI and Krea, the jobs differ entirely: those produce 2D art, whereas Tripo outputs volumetric, printable, and engine-ready 3D. Use Tripo when you need an actual mesh, not a picture of one.