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

23 january
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Where can I find high-quality textures for 3D graphics? Numerous file hosting services offer free textures for 3D models. However, spending hours searching only to discover that the format is incorrect, the resolution is low, or there's another issue can be less than enjoyable. On the other hand, extensive catalogs of excellent textures exist, but the average 3D renderer may find themselves without funds because of the increasing costs.

To address this, we've compiled a concise list of resources with textures for our readers. These sources provide excellent, high-resolution textures without rights issues for commercial use, including PBR maps.

Different sites may focus on slightly different themes, ranging from photo-realistic images to textures in the style of Pixar animation. Therefore, it's worth investing a bit of time to identify the texture source that best suits your daily tasks.

What Defines a Good Website for 3D Graphics Textures?

A texture site typically hosts many photo scans or hand-made textures (in JPG, PNG, TIF formats) of materials like metals, wood, marble, and more. The variety is extensive, with some being seamless, others having transparent backgrounds, and some including maps that can be incorporated into normals, displacement, or other channels.

It goes beyond just photographing or scanning textures; these sites can offer texture patterns, surface defects, models, brushes, and other assets, allowing you to make the surface of your 3D object unique. Collectively, these sites are a valuable resource, as the alternative would be creating textures yourself or hiring someone for this part of the work.

Compatibility with Various 3D Software

Textures are versatile and can be used in almost any 3D software. They are essentially images or photos of real or imaginary surfaces that can be embedded in a material channel to convey properties such as color, roughness, and reflections from a real-world object in 3D.

Most 3D programs have a similar system for setting up materials and using textures in material channels. Therefore, you won't encounter issues when using textures from these sites in popular graphics packages like C4D, Blender, 3ds Max, SketchUp, and others.

Considerations When Choosing a Texture Website for 3D Graphics

  • Pricing and Payment Model: Consider the cost of textures, the payment model (credits, subscription, or free), and the quantity and quality of textures available for a certain amount of money.
  • Licenses: Review the usage rights—whether textures can be used for commercial projects, and if you can continue using them after your subscription expires or the site is discontinued.
  • User-Friendly Interface: Evaluate how easy it is to find what you need. Check if maps are downloaded as a single archive or individually. Consider the ease of dealing with file names and archives, and assess if you need to navigate through numerous screens, including ads, to download a specific texture.
  • Service Reputation: If it's a paid service, inquire about the quality you can expect for your money. Check if they offer refunds for valid claims and assess the age and reputation of the resource.

Best Sites to Download Textures for 3d Projects (free and paid)

1. LotPixel

sites that offer best textures for 3d graphics LotPixel

Using state-of-the-art CGI Art 3D development processes, it provides photorealistic, incredibly high quality PBR and Photogrammetry Textures, 3D Models and Decals suitable for game design, VFX, animation, architectural visualization and product rendering.

Pros

  • Credits carry over to the next month
  • There are 1350 free assets
  • All assets can be used in commercial projects
  • All textures can be used after unsubscribing in any projects
  • Modern design and easy navigation
  • No muddy links or ads
  • 3 years on the market

Minuses

  • No refunds
  • You can't pay per texture.

Visit LotPixel Website

2. Quixel Megascans

sites that offer best textures for 3d graphics Quixel megascan

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

3. Poliigon

sites that offer best textures for 3d graphics 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

4. Textures.com

 sites that offer best textures for 3d graphics 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

5. AmbientCG

sites that offer best textures for 3d graphics 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?

6. Polyhaven.com

sites that offer best textures for 3d graphics AmbientCG

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. Sharetextures

 sites that offer best textures for 3d graphics AmbientCG

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?

8. Cgbookcase

 sites that offer best textures for 3d graphics AmbientCG

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.

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