7 Top Websites that Offer the Best Textures: Free and Paid

Where can I get high-quality textures for 3D graphics? There are a lot of file hosting services where you can find free textures for 3D models. But looking there for hours, then to find out that the format is not the right one, the resolution is small or something else is wrong - the pleasure is below average. On the other hand, there are tons of catalogs of great textures, but the usual 3D renderer runs the risk of being left without pants because it costs more and more money.

Therefore, we have compiled a small list of resources with textures for readers, where you can find excellent textures in high resolution, without problems with rights for commercial use, with PBR maps, in general, quality sources.

Different sites may have slightly different topics. From photo-realistic images to textures in the style of Pixar animation. So, you need to spend a little of your time to figure out which texture source is best suited for your daily tasks.

What is a website with 3D graphics textures?

The texture site contains many photo scans or hand-made textures (pictures in JPG, PNG, TIF) of metals, wood, marble and more. And there can be a great variety of them: some are seamless, some with transparent backgrounds, some come with maps that can be included in normals, displacement or other channels.

It's not just about photographing or scanning textures. There can be texture patterns, surface defects, models, brushes, and other assets that allow you to make the surface of your 3D object unique. All together makes such sites a treasure of useful, because an alternative can be creating textures yourself or hiring a person who will take this part of the work on himself.

Can textures be used in any 3D software?

Almost.

Textures are simply an image or photo of a real or imaginary surface. It can be embedded in a material channel to transfer properties such as color, roughness, reflections from a real world object, in 3D.

Each 3D program has a very similar system for setting up materials and how textures are used in material channels. Therefore, you will not encounter problems when using textures from sites in C4D, Blender, 3ds Max, SketchUp, and other popular graphics packages.

What should you pay attention to when choosing a website with textures for 3D graphics?

• Pricing and payment model: how much do textures cost? How do they get money: payment in credits for each texture, subscription, free of charge? How many textures can you get for a certain amount of money and in what quality?
• Licenses: What can and what cannot be done with the resulting textures? Can textures be used for commercial projects? Can I continue to use the resulting textures after my subscription expires or the site is canceled?
• Using: How easy is it to find what you want? Are the maps downloaded as a single archive or do you need to save each one separately? How are you doing with the names of files and such archives? Will you have to wade through 5 screens to download a specific texture, including ads?
• The reputation of service: If it's a paid service, will you get the quality you expect for your money? Do they make refunds for valid claims? How old is the resource?

Best sites to download textures for 3d projects (free and paid)

1. Quixel Megascans

This resource brings together 15,000 assets, making it one of the largest photo scan libraries in the world. Professionals appreciate the excellent quality of models, textures, brushes, and other creative assets. Own software makes it easy to import the assets you need in any format.

Pros

• Affordable local currency subscription
• Credits carry over to the next month
• There are free assets
• For 100 credits (subscription for about 20 bucks), you can download about 45 textures in any resolution
• All assets can be used in commercial projects
• All textures can be used after unsubscribing in any projects
• Modern design and easy navigation
• There is a material converter that allows you to instantly create a material from a texture
• Easily select the files you want and get them in a well-organized archive
• No muddy links or ads
• 10 years on the market

Minuses

• No refunds
• You can't just buy credits or pay per texture. Only a subscription, but if it is exceeded, you can buy additional credits
• 10 years on the market

2. Poliigon

Here you can find textures, models, HDRI maps and sculpting brushes. It has everything and at the same time of the highest quality: resolutions up to 8k, 16 bit TIFF bump and displacement maps for most textures.

Pros

• Choose between buying packs of credits or subscribing.
• In a subscription: credits are carried over to the next month, but with reservations. Credits are transferred for 1 month in the “amateur” subscription, for 3 months in all others except the studio subscription.
• Buying packages: big discounts on large packages of credits, credits expiration date 12 months.
• Some assets are available for free
• For 100 credits (12 bucks by subscription or 30 bucks when purchasing a package), you can download about 25 textures in any resolution.
• All materials can be used in commercial projects, except those downloaded by subscription of the hobbyist.
• All rights to textures remain after subscription expires
• Good organization of the download process, archives, no ads
• 5 years on the market

Minuses

• No refunds

3. Textures.com

Probably the most famous site with textures for 3d graphics all over the Internet. If someone, once looking for CG textures, sooner or later stumbled upon this site. More than 100,000 pictures are available in this library.

Pros

• Subscription and purchase of credit packs available
• By subscription: credits carry over to the next month, but only once and if you are not an Indy or Freelancer subscription.
• When buying loans: discounts for large volumes, loan validity period is 3 years.
• A free account gives 15 free credits daily.
• For 100 credits (1.5 bucks with a subscription or 10 bucks when buying credits), you can buy 4 textures in 4k, 6 textures in 2k resolutions, and about 50 pictures in FullHD.
• All textures can be used in any commercial project, no matter what subscription they were purchased with.
• All rights reserved to textures after the subscription expires.
• Simple modern catalog, easy search, and download.
• In business since 2005

Minuses

• No refunds
• Annoying to have to download each texture separately

4. AmbientCG

An excellent large catalog of free textures or for small price. More than 1000 photo scans and procedurally generated materials and the number is increasing every month. Even if you are a pro with multiple site textures subscriptions, using that site can help you get your prototypes together quickly at no cost.

Pros/Minuses

• The site already allows you to download textures for free, what are the disadvantages?

5. Polyhaven.com

The resource lives on donations through Patreon and offers high-quality textures with PBR for free for everyone and forever. The collection may not be as impressive in volume right now, but it is growing rapidly every month.

Pros/Minuses

• The site already allows you to download textures for free, what are the disadvantages?

6. Sharetextures

The resource lives on donations through Patreon and offers high-quality textures with PBR for free for everyone and forever. The collection may not be as impressive in volume right now, but it is growing rapidly every month.

Pros/Minuses

• The site already allows you to download textures for free, what are the disadvantages?

7. Cgbookcase

One more great resource that lives on donations through Patreon and offers high-quality textures with PBR for free for everyone and forever. The collection may not be as impressive in volume right now, but it is growing rapidly every month.