Meshy
AI 3D model generator that turns text prompts or images into textured, riggable meshes in about a minute.
Hi3D
Image and text to 3D built around printing: watertight output, face counts up to 2 million, and 3MF export that carries colour regions into a slicer.
AI 3D Generation Freemium
Overview
Hi3D, which also trades as Hitem3D and still uses that name throughout its own application and plugins, generates 3D models from text, a single image or a four-view composite, and it is one of the few generators whose choices consistently point at physical printing rather than at a game engine. Its geometry method produces dense triangles that come out manifold and watertight, the face count is configurable up to around two million, there is a geometry-only mode that skips texturing entirely, and it exports 3MF with colour regions intact, which is what a multi-material printer actually needs. Existing models can also be uploaded, up to 200MB, to use the repair and segmentation tools on meshes generated elsewhere.
Key features
Watertight by construction
The geometry method produces meshes that are manifold and closed rather than display shells that only look solid. This is the property that decides whether a slicer accepts a file, and users report going straight into OrcaSlicer, scaling, and printing without a repair tool.
3MF with colour regions
The overlooked format, and the interesting one. 3MF carries geometry plus colour region data plus slicing parameters, so a multi-material printer keeps its filament assignments. Bambu Studio users report the segmentation surviving the handoff, which STL cannot do at all.
Face count up to about two million
Configurable rather than capped. Several competitors remesh down to roughly 300,000 and stop there, which is fine for a game prop and not fine for a miniature where the detail is the point.
Geometry-only mode
Generate an untextured white mesh and skip the texturing cost entirely. That is the right default for anything destined to be printed and painted by hand, or used as a sculpting base, and it is cheaper per model.
Four-view input
Front, left, back and right images together rather than one photo. The occluded sides of a single-image generation are guesswork, and supplying the other views is the most reliable way to stop the model inventing the back of the object.
Accepts existing models
GLB, STL and OBJ up to 200MB can be uploaded, so the splitting, repair and texturing tools can be pointed at meshes that came from somewhere else entirely.
Pros and cons
What users consistently praise
- Manifold, watertight geometry is the default rather than something to repair, which is what a slicer actually checks.
- 3MF export preserves colour regions into a slicer, which is a real capability for multi-material printing and rare in this category.
- Face count is configurable up to around two million rather than capped by an automatic remesh.
- A geometry-only mode makes untextured generation cheaper, which suits printing and sculpting bases.
- Existing GLB, STL and OBJ files up to 200MB can be uploaded to use the repair and splitting tools on them.
What users consistently criticise
- Dense triangle topology, so anything destined for animation or a real-time engine needs a quad remesh first.
- No real-world scale: exports arrive at an arbitrary size and have to be set manually.
- The free tier forbids commercial use, caps saved models at seven and limits downloads.
- Pricing is shown in CNY and is currently a time-limited launch discount, so the figure a reader sees may differ by region and will change when the promotion ends.
Recurring themes across third-party user reviews (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius).
Pricing
Is Hi3D free?
Hi3D is free to start. There is a free tier you can use indefinitely, and paid plans above it unlock further capability.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | CNY 0 | 100 trial credits, about 7 models, kept permanently. No concurrent tasks, 3 retries per job, at most 7 saved models, limited downloads, and explicitly not licensed for commercial use. |
| Pro | CNY 139/month list | 1,000 credits a month, about 100 models. 10 concurrent tasks, commercial use, 200 saved models, unlimited downloads. Discounted to CNY 55.60 during the v3.0 launch promotion. |
| Max | CNY 279/month list | 2,400 credits, about 240 models, 20 concurrent tasks, 400 saved models. Discounted to CNY 111.60 during the launch promotion. |
| Ultra | CNY 899/month list | 8,000 credits, about 800 models, 30 concurrent tasks, unlimited saved models. Discounted to roughly CNY 359 during the launch promotion. |
Best for
People generating models specifically to print
Watertight output, a geometry-only mode, high face ceilings and 3MF export are four decisions all pointing the same way. Most generators in this category treat printing as a format in a dropdown.
Multi-colour and multi-material printing
3MF carrying colour regions through to Bambu Studio is the specific capability here. Exporting STL and reassigning filaments by hand is the alternative, and it is tedious.
Miniature and collectible makers
A two million face ceiling matters when the detail is the product. Generators that remesh to a few hundred thousand faces throw away exactly what a resin printer could have resolved.
Who should look elsewhere
Game and real-time pipelines needing clean edge flow
Output is dense triangles, not quads. It imports fine, but developers report sending it straight through a quad remesher before anything can be rigged or run in an engine.
Anyone expecting the right size on import
Scale is arbitrary and derived from the bounding box, so the first step in a slicer or CAD package is always resizing to real dimensions.
Commercial work on the free tier
The free plan is explicitly not licensed for commercial use, and also caps saved models at seven with limited downloads. It is an evaluation tier.
Frequently asked questions
Will Hi3D output print without repair?
More reliably than most. The geometry method produces manifold, watertight meshes rather than display shells, and users report importing to OrcaSlicer, scaling and printing without a repair pass. Scale still has to be set by hand, because the file arrives at an arbitrary size.
Why does 3MF matter more than STL here?
STL carries geometry and nothing else, so a multi-colour model loses its colour assignments at export. 3MF carries geometry plus colour region data plus slicing parameters, which is what lets a multi-material printer keep the filament assignments. If you print in more than one colour, this is the format that saves the work.
What does it cost?
The pricing page lists Free at zero, Pro at CNY 139 a month, Max at CNY 279 and Ultra at CNY 899, with a v3.0 launch promotion cutting those to about CNY 55.60, CNY 111.60 and CNY 359. Checked 2026-09-03. Two cautions: the promotional prices are explicitly time-limited, and the pricing page localises by region, so the currency and figures you see may differ.
Can I use it commercially on the free plan?
No. The free tier is marked as not for commercial use, and it also limits you to seven saved models and restricted downloads. Commercial rights begin on Pro.
Is the output good for game engines?
It imports cleanly, but the topology is dense triangles from the generation method, so it behaves as a base mesh rather than a finished asset. Developers report running it through a quad remesher to get logical edge flow before rigging or real-time use.
Is Hi3D the same thing as Hitem3D?
Yes. The site brands as Hi3D while the application interface, the Blender plugin filenames and much of the documentation still say Hitem3D. If you have seen the tool compared under either name, it is the same product.
Alternatives to Hi3D
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Tripo
AI 3D workspace by VAST that generates textured, riggable models from text, images or sketches in seconds.
Rodin (Hyper3D)
Deemos' AI 3D generator focused on high resolution quad geometry and PBR textures from text or multi image input.
Neural4D
Text, image and sketch to 3D generator with a free tier, mesh quality presets, part splitting and export aimed at both game engines and 3D printing.