6 formats · free · nothing uploaded
Free online 3D model viewer
One viewer for the files you actually get: STL and 3MF for printing, OBJ and FBX from 3D apps, GLB from AI generators and the web. Drop any of them and look.
- STL · OBJ · FBX · GLB · 3MF · PLY
- Textured, clay, wireframe, normals
- Polycount and size
- Private: parsed on your device
Updated by the Kenerate AI team
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Quick answer
Updated
What is a 3D model viewer?
A 3D model viewer is a tool that lets you open and rotate a 3D file without installing 3D software. Kenerate's free viewer runs in your browser: it opens six common formats, shows clay, wireframe and normals views, lists triangle and vertex counts, and saves a screenshot or a converted copy. Files are never uploaded.
Key facts
- Price
- Free, no account
- Opens
- STL, OBJ, FBX, GLB (glTF 2.0), 3MF, PLY — up to 200 MB
- Views
- Textured · Clay · Wire · Normals, grid, auto-rotate
- Shows
- Triangles, vertices, meshes, bounding-box size
- Save as
- STL, 3MF, OBJ, GLB, PLY, USDZ, PNG screenshot
- Runs on
- Any modern browser with WebGL — desktop or phone
Why this tool
Every common 3D format, one quick viewer
Most viewers handle one or two formats. This one reads the six you're most likely to be sent.
Four ways to look
Textured for the finished look, Clay for the bare surface, Wire for topology and Normals for broken or flipped faces.
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Also
What else it does
Polycount and size
Triangles, vertices, meshes and bounding-box size — the numbers you need for printing, games and the web.
Screenshot
Save the current view as a PNG for listings, documentation or a quick message.
Convert on the spot
Save as STL or 3MF for printing, GLB for the web, USDZ for iPhone AR or OBJ for other apps.
Private by design
Files are parsed on your device. Nothing is uploaded, stored or shared.
How it works
How the viewer works
Four steps, all in your browser tab.
Detect
The extension picks the right three.js loader — STL, OBJ, FBX, GLTF, 3MF or PLY — loaded only when needed.
Parse
Meshes, materials and textures (where the format has them) are rebuilt in memory.
Frame
The model is centred on a floor grid and scaled to fit, with soft studio lighting and shadows.
Inspect
Orbit, change shading, read stats, screenshot or convert.
How to
How to use the 3D Model Viewer
- Time needed
- Steps
- 4 steps
Step 1
Open a file
Drop an STL, OBJ, FBX, GLB, 3MF or PLY file onto the box above, or click to choose it.
Step 2
Orbit and zoom
Drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom, right-drag to pan. Reset the view any time.
Step 3
Switch shading
Try Clay, Wire and Normals, and read the model's stats.
Step 4
Save
Download a PNG screenshot, or convert to another format.
Watch the tour · 1:48
Text, photo or multi-view to a textured GLB, nine engines, the viewer & lighting, compare engines, gallery, download & chat
Chapters
Who uses it
Built for everyone who gets sent a 3D file
Makers and 3D printers
Check STL and 3MF files before slicing.
Game and web developers
Inspect GLB and FBX assets and their polycount.
Designers and clients
Open a delivered model without installing anything.
AI 3D creators
Review models from text-to-3D and image-to-3D generators.
File formats
The formats this tool reads and writes
What each file can hold, what it can't, and where it opens. Facts link to the format's own spec or reference page.
| .stl · STL | .obj · OBJ | .fbx · FBX | .glb · GLB | .3mf · 3MF | .ply · PLY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stereolithography | Wavefront OBJ | Filmbox | glTF 2.0 Binary | 3D Manufacturing Format | Polygon File Format |
| Made by | 3D Systems, 1987 | Wavefront Technologies, 1980s | Autodesk, 1996 (Kaydara) | Khronos Group, 2017 (glTF 2.0) | 3MF Consortium, 2015 | Stanford University, 1994 |
| Kind | Triangle mesh (binary or ASCII) | Plain-text mesh | Proprietary scene format | Single-file scene with PBR materials | ZIP package with XML | Mesh or point cloud |
| Holds | Triangle surfaces, Facet normals | Vertices, faces, UVs and normals, Materials via a separate .mtl file | Meshes and materials, Skeletons, skinning and animation, Cameras and lights | Meshes and PBR materials, Textures in the same file, Animation and skins | Meshes with units (millimetres), Colours and materials, Several objects and build plates | Vertices with colours, Faces or points only |
| No | Colour and textures, Units, Materials | Animation and rigs, Embedded textures | An open specification | Units beyond metres, CAD precision | Animation | Textures and materials (usually) |
| Best for | 3D printing — every slicer opens it | Moving static meshes between 3D apps | Game engines and animation pipelines | Web, AR and real-time apps — the “JPEG of 3D” | Modern 3D printing and multi-colour prints | 3D scans and point clouds |
| Opens in | Cura, PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, Blender | Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, ZBrush, most slicers | Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya, 3ds Max, Blender | Browsers (three.js, model-viewer), Blender, Unity, Unreal, Godot | Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer, Cura, Windows 3D Builder | MeshLab, CloudCompare, Blender |
No file yet?
Make the model first — from one photo
Every sample in the tool above began as a single picture and was turned into a 3D model in the Kenerate 3D Studio. The engine is named on each one.
Example uses
How creators use the 3D model viewer
Illustrative examples of typical workflows, not customer reviews.
Maker
A maker can open an STL before slicing to check its size, triangle count and surface in clay view.
Game developer
A developer can drop a GLB or FBX asset into the viewer to inspect its wireframe and polycount.
Client reviewing a design
A client can open a delivered model on any computer or tablet and turn it around without installing software.
FAQ
3D Model Viewer questions
7 questions
Which 3D formats can I open?
STL, OBJ, FBX, GLB (glTF 2.0 binary), 3MF and PLY. For .gltf, upload the single-file .glb version.
Link to this answerIs it really free?
Yes. There's no account, watermark or limit — the viewer runs on your own device.
Link to this answerAre my files uploaded?
No. They're read by JavaScript in your browser and never sent to a server.
Link to this answerDoes it work on iPhone and Android?
Yes, in Safari and Chrome. Very large files may be slow on older phones.
Link to this answerCan I view a 3D model in AR?
Save it as USDZ here and open it on an iPhone or iPad to place it with AR Quick Look.
Link to this answerWhy is my model grey?
STL, PLY and plain OBJ files don't carry textures in the file. GLB, FBX with embedded media and 3MF with colours do.
Link to this answerCan I make a 3D model if I don't have one?
Yes — the Kenerate 3D Studio turns text or photos into models with nine AI engines, on any paid plan or credit pack.
Link to this answerIn depth
3D Model Viewer, explained
What the formats really store, what changes when you convert, and how to avoid the usual print and import problems.
On this page
Choosing a format
Why browsers can do this now
WebGL gives web pages direct access to the GPU, and open-source libraries like three.js include loaders for every major format [10]. That's why a 3D viewer no longer needs an install — or a server.
Reading the four shading modes
Textured shows materials as authored. Clay replaces them with one matte material so the shape is easy to judge. Wire draws every triangle edge. Normals colours each surface by the direction it faces — patches of unexpected colour point to flipped faces.
Keep going
Other 3D viewers and converters
- STL ViewerView STL files online
- GLB ViewerglTF / GLB with PBR materials
- OBJ ViewerWavefront OBJ in your browser
- FBX ViewerAutodesk FBX, no install
- 3D Model ConverterAny format to STL, OBJ, GLB, 3MF, USDZ
- 3MF to STLSlicer projects to plain STL
- GLB to STLAI models ready to print
- OBJ to STLMeshes for any slicer
Try the 3D Model Viewer
Free and private — your files never leave your device. Want to make models with AI? That's the 3D Studio, on any paid plan or credit pack.
Tried it? Tell us how it went