8th Wall provides tools for building 3D experiences and WebAR projects for web browsers or self-hosted web deployment. Its XR Engine includes World Effects, Absolute Scale, Image Targets, Face Effects, and Sky Effects, and is designed to work with A-Frame, Three.js, Babylon.js, and PlayCanvas. 8th Wall Desktop is an XR game engine with a visual editor; downloads are available for Apple Silicon Mac, Intel Mac, and Windows x64. Projects can be hosted wherever suits a developer’s needs. The free plan costs 0.00 USD per free and requires no login. The engine binary is closed source, cannot be modified or reverse engineered, and has a limited-use license; other listed tools and example projects are MIT licensed. The distributed binary does not include Niantic Spatial VPS, Lightship Maps, or Hand Tracking. Native export is coming soon, while export through the retired hosted platform is no longer available. Projects exported before February 28, 2026 can be migrated locally or self-hosted. Hosted projects are scheduled to remain live through February 28, 2027, after which hosting will be decommissioned.
Who it is for
8th Wall may suit developers building browser-based or self-hosted 3D and WebAR experiences, especially those using its listed integrations. Check the export and hosting transition details before relying on the retired hosted platform.
What is good
- XR Engine includes world, image, face, and sky effects.
- Works with A-Frame, Three.js, Babylon.js, and PlayCanvas.
- Desktop editor downloads are available for Mac and Windows.
- Free plan requires no login.
What to know first
- Native export is coming soon.
- Hosted-platform export is no longer available.
- Distributed engine binary excludes VPS, Maps, and Hand Tracking.
- Hosted projects are scheduled to end February 28, 2027.
Verdict
8th Wall offers an XR engine, visual desktop editor, and self-hosted web deployment options. The hosted platform has been retired, so review the export and shutdown timelines and the engine binary’s license limits before choosing it.
8th Wall plans and pricing
All plansCompared on augmented reality software
- Free plan
- Yes
- WebAR publishing
- Yes
- Tracking methods
- world, image target, face, sky
- No-code authoring
- Yes
- Publishing targets
- Web browsers; self-hosted web projects
