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Is Quixel Free? A Detailed Guide to Using Quixel Tools

Hey there! If you‘ve landed on this article, you‘re probably wondering: is Quixel free or does it require payment? It‘s a fair question with so many products available under their toolkit.

Well first, the good news: Yes, Quixel does offer totally free assets and tools! With an Unreal Engine account, you get free unlimited access to Megascans, Quixel‘s massive photoreal 3D asset library. Quixel Bridge is also a free utility for managing assets and subscriptions.

However, for using Megascans outside of Unreal or getting the highest quality exports, subscriptions are required. In this detailed guide, I‘ll break down exactly what‘s free vs paid with Quixel, so you can make the most of this powerful creative suite!

Quixel Megascans: Completely Free for Unreal Engine Users

Quixel‘s core offering is Megascans, their ever-growing library of photorealistic 3D scanned assets. We‘re talking highly-detailed scans of textures, materials, objects, buildings, plants, and more. For example, individual assets include things like:

  • A slab of weathered wood texture, scanned down to the grain and fibers.
  • An old ceramic pipe model, complete with cracks, stains, and imperfections.
  • A maple tree 3D model with accurately modeled bark and hundreds of thousands of leaves.

Megascans contains over 20,000 of these individual high-fidelity assets, with new scans added every week. It‘s become an invaluable resource for 3D artists, game developers, architects, and other creatives.

Accessing this huge library is totally free for anyone using Unreal Engine. With an Epic Games account, you can browse every Megascans asset and instantly download anything you‘d like to use in Unreal Engine projects.

For companies using Unreal Engine to create games, films, training simulations, architecture previews, and more, this free asset access is an amazing advantage. Developers talk about how Megascans saves huge amounts of production time and budgets.

According to Senior Environment Artist Shane Hurley at Impulse Gear, "We saved over a month of work on our last project by using Megascans across all departments. It accelerated our art and design team by a factor of four."

And Nikolay Golovinov, CTO at Zero One, said "Access to Megascans enabled us to craft convincing digital humans and build visually stunning virtual worlds that we thought were impossible before.”

This expert feedback highlights how invaluable free Megascans access is for Unreal Engine users. Companies are able to create more realistic, detailed worlds faster and for lower cost.

And it‘s not just businesses benefiting – even hobbyists can now prototype and experiment with AAA quality assets in Unreal Engine for free.

Some Examples of Free Megascans Assets for Unreal Engine Users

To give you an idea, here‘s just a small sample of what types of photoreal assets you can access for free within Unreal Engine:

Materials:

  • 1200+ surface material scans – wood, metal, plastic, fabric, concrete, leather, etc.
  • 400+ trims materials – tiles, ropes, curtains, moulding, siding, etc.
  • 300+ alpha masked materials – fences, grates, chain links, chicken wire, etc.

3D Models:

  • 9000+ object scans – furniture, pipes, barrels, crates, etc.
  • 1500+ environment scans – streetlights, shelters, rubble, debris, garbage.
  • 600+ prop scans – mailboxes, phone booths, fire hydrants, vending machines, etc.

Vegetation:

  • 500+ 3D tree and plant scans from oaks to palm trees.
  • 300+ HD bark materials.
  • 150+ foliage scans with multi-layered leaves.

And much more! New categories are continually added over time as well like scanned food, clothing, appliances, and even photogrammetry cities.

All of these assets are instantly available for free to Unreal Engine users – an incredible library of quality resources.

Requirements for Unreal Users to Access Free Megascans

To leverage these free Megascans assets within Unreal Engine, you just need:

  • Unreal Engine installed – either 4 or 5.
  • Free Epic Games account.
  • Quixel Bridge – free download from the Quixel site.

Quixel Bridge handles browsing the Megascans library, downloading assets, and smoothly importing them into Unreal Engine.

Once Bridge is installed, simply log in with your Epic account and the entire Megascans catalog becomes available to explore. It’s fully integrated into Unreal’s workflow.

Megascans Usage License for Unreal Engine

When using Megascans assets within Unreal Engine projects, everything falls under a standard Megascans EULA.

The key points of this license are:

  • Assets can be used in both commercial and non-commercial Unreal Engine projects.
  • Modifying, compositing, and manipulating assets is allowed.
  • No additional royalties beyond Unreal‘s 5% fee on projects earning over $1 million.
  • You cannot re-sell or redistribute original raw assets.
  • Credit is not required but appreciated if possible.

So in summary, with an Unreal Engine account you have full free access to every Megascans asset in any projects you create. No catches or hidden caveats!

Quixel Bridge: Free Manager for Megascans Assets

Quixel Bridge UI

While the assets themselves are free, you‘ll need Quixel Bridge installed to access Megascans through Unreal Engine.

Bridge is the central hub for browsing, downloading, and managing Megascans assets. Key features include:

  • Searchable catalog of all 20,000+ Megascans assets.
  • Download any assets directly within Bridge.
  • Automatic importing into Unreal Engine projects.
  • Account and subscription management.

Bridge is available as a free download from Quixel‘s site for Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. It plugs right into Unreal providing effortless access to Megascans.

The core Bridge functionality of managing Epic accounts, browsing assets, and importing to Unreal will remain free forever. Quixel has stated they are committed to keeping Bridge accessible to continue the Unreal Engine and Megascans integration.

Some minor premium features like additional cloud storage require a paid Bridge+ subscription. But the base Bridge toolset for accessing free Megascans assets will always be free.

In summary, Bridge is the crucial tool to have installed for any Unreal Engine user who wants to leverage the amazing Megascans asset library.

Quixel Mixer: Free for Limited Use

Quixel Mixer UI

Quixel Mixer is the other major free offering from Quixel. It allows you to blend Megascans materials and textures into all-new creations.

With Mixer you can:

  • Mix multiple scanned source assets into new materials.
  • Paint and layer details into surfaces.
  • Use smart nodes for advanced blending.
  • Preview any material applied to 3D objects.

Mixer taps into the power of Megascans while letting you exercise your own creative freedom. Instead of just using a scanned wood texture as-is, you can mix it with metal and concrete scans to make a unique rusted, weathered material.

According to Quixel CTO Teddy Bergsman, "Mixer connects the dots between technical quality and creative expression. It combines the power of Megascans with the imagination of the artist."

Previously Mixer was only available with a paid subscription. But core mixing capabilities are now available for free to all users, with some export limitations:

  • You can create unlimited material blends and previews internally.
  • But exports are capped at 4K resolution for free users.

So with the free version, Mixer is perfect for experimenting and mocking up new materials without needing to export ultra-high res final assets. But if you need unlimited 8K/16K exports, a paid subscription is required (more on that next).

Either way, it‘s fantastic for both pros and hobbyists to have baseline Mixer functionality accessible completely for free. Combined with free Megascans, these two offerings provide tons of creative possibilities without any cost.

Paid Subscriptions Unlock Full Quixel Potential

While Quixel grants free access to core services for Unreal Engine users, paid subscriptions unlock the highest quality exports and use outside of Unreal:

Quixel Assets Personal – $19/month

Quixel Assets Personal grants full unlimited access to Megascans and Mixer for use in other 3D programs like Blender, Maya, 3ds Max etc.

With Personal, you can download any Megascans asset for use in any project or product. You also get higher quality Mixer exports up to 8K resolution.

Quixel Assets Pro – $79/month

Assets Pro includes everything from the Personal plan plus:

  • Unlimited 8K downloads of Megascans source files.
  • Mixer exports up to 16K resolution.
  • Substantially more cloud storage.
  • Extra product features and faster download speeds.

Pro is designed to give the highest possible export quality for integrating scanned assets into professional workflows.

For individuals, Personal and Pro cover most non-Unreal use cases. But Quixel also offers custom-tailored enterprise Licensing for teams and organizations:

  • Unlimited plans starting at $299/month for small studios.
  • Volume discounts and dedicated support for larger companies.
  • Fully customized integration for big studios like Epic Games.

These industry plans provide features like SSO, virtualization support, additional cloud tools, and worry-free asset access. Quixel works directly with each studio to provide an optimal solution.

But even as an individual, a Personal or Pro subscription unlocks maximum export freedom if you need to go beyond Unreal Engine.

Quixel‘s Free Offerings Summary

To recap what‘s freely available vs paid:

Free for Unreal Engine Users:

  • The entire 20,000+ asset Megascans library.
  • Quixel Bridge manager.
  • Quixel Mixer (with 4K export limit).

Requires Subscription:

  • Megascans use outside of Unreal Engine.
  • Unlimited high-res exports from Mixer.
  • Team/enterprise features and support.

Quixel provides an amazing amount of value for free to the Unreal Engine community. But they also offer paid options with additional capabilities for those who need it.

It‘s incredible having instant access to thousands of AAA quality, photorealistic assets to use in Unreal Engine projects with zero cost. This free offering alone is a game changer for independent creators.

Yet professionals with more demanding workflows can unlock Quixel‘s full potential through affordable subscriptions. There are options tailored for everyone from hobbyists to massive studios.

In summary, while not completely free, Quixel provides outstanding free resources with the option to upgrade as your needs grow. Take advantage of everything they offer – it can greatly accelerate your creative work!

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Michael

Michael Reddy is a tech enthusiast, entertainment buff, and avid traveler who loves exploring Linux and sharing unique insights with readers.