In 3D model generation, Hunyuan3D 2.1 (Tencent) ranks #2 and Unity AI ranks #8. On 3D Arena, Hunyuan3D 2 is #8 and Hunyuan3D 2.1 is #10 of 24 image-to-3D models. Free open weights you run on your own GPU, but the licence doesn't cover the EU, UK or South Korea. 3D Arena leaderboard
Free trial or credits onlyUnity Personal: 14-day free trial, then a paid subscription ($10/month per Unity's AI FAQ; currency not stated by vendor). Pro, Enterprise and Industry include monthly credits.
Commercial use: Hunyuan3D 2.1 (Tencent): restricted (see notes) terms. Unity AI: not stated by vendor terms.
Free plan: Hunyuan3D 2.1 (Tencent): free plan (Free open weights (your own GPU costs)) pricing. Unity AI: free trial or credits only (Unity Personal: 14-day free trial, then a paid subscription ($10/month per Unity's AI FAQ; currency not stated by vendor). Pro, Enterprise and Industry include monthly credits.) pricing.
API and MCP: Hunyuan3D 2.1 (Tencent): public API, official MCP server. Unity AI: API not applicable, official MCP server.
Engine integrations stated by the vendor: Hunyuan3D 2.1 (Tencent): none stated (standard file export). Unity AI: Unity.
Self-hosted image-to-3D outside the EU/UK/South Korea
Unity users who want AI inside the editor
What it does
Open-weights image-to-3D model with PBR material generation that you can run on your own hardware.
Unity's AI tools (Unity is retiring the "Unity AI" name): an in-editor assistant for project questions, code and Editor actions, plus generators for images, textures, sounds, 3D models and animations, metered in Unity Credits. The Unity CLI, MCP server and Unity's official agent plugin are free.
Verdict
For devs who can self-host a 3D model generator at no licence cost; the licence excludes the EU, UK and South Korea, and products over 1 million monthly users must request a licence.
For Unity 6 users who want AI inside the editor: credits are included on Pro, Enterprise and Industry, while Personal gets a 14-day trial and then a paid subscription. Unity says you own the outputs, but third-party generator terms also apply.
Tasks●
3D model generation, Textures & materials
Coding assistants, Concept art & 2D assets, Textures & materials, 3D model generation, Music & SFX, Rigging, animation & mocap
Engines●
Any (standard file export / engine-agnostic)
Unity
Free plan●
Free plan Free open weights (your own GPU costs)
Free trial or credits only Unity Personal: 14-day free trial, then a paid subscription ($10/month per Unity's AI FAQ; currency not stated by vendor). Pro, Enterprise and Industry include monthly credits.
Pricing
Free to download and self-host (your own GPU/compute costs apply). source
Unity Personal: "Try Unity's AI tools free for 14 days, paid subscription available after trial", listed with a 1,000 monthly credit allowance; Unity's AI FAQ says the Personal trial "converts to a $10/month subscription" (currency not stated by vendor). Pro (from $2,310/yr) includes 2,000 monthly credits; Enterprise 3,000. "Special terms apply to Unity Credits." Credits reset each billing cycle and don't roll over; extra credit bundles are sold. The CLI, MCP server and official plugin are free to use. source
Export formats●
Not stated by vendor
Assets are created inside the Unity project
Commercial use●
Restricted (see notes) Tencent Hunyuan 3D 2.1 Community License: does NOT apply in the EU, UK or South Korea; use of the works or outputs outside the licensed territory is unauthorized; products with over 1 million monthly active users must request a license from Tencent. source
Commercial use: not stated by vendor Unity's AI Guiding Principles say you own your input and output data, regardless of the partner model used, and that you're responsible for making sure generated assets don't infringe third-party rights. Using the generators is also governed by third-party terms (Layer, Scenario, Uthana). Generated assets carry "UnityAI" metadata. Commercial-use terms for outputs aren't stated separately. source
Revenue share / caps●
Products with over 1 million monthly active users must request a licence from Tencent.
Not stated by vendor
API●
Available. Paid Hunyuan 3D API on Tencent Cloud source
Not applicable. Editor feature
MCP server
Official MCP server. Tencent CloudBase MCP server template for the Hunyuan 3D API source
Official MCP server. Unity MCP server provided through the Unity CLI (Unity 6+) source
Rows marked ● differ between the two tools. Licence badges: green = commercial use allowed (including any free plan or trial), amber = paid plans only, restricted, or allowed but with no free plan, red = not allowed, grey = not stated by vendor or not applicable. Read the vendor's current terms before you ship.
