Side by side

Open3D vs Point Cloud Library

Both stand on point cloud software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Open3D

Free plan APILinuxMac+3

Open3D brings 3D processing, visualization, and machine-learning tools into an open-source library. Check the Linux TensorFlow and remote-visualization caveats if those apply to your workflow.

Visit Open3D

PCL offers a broad set of point-cloud processing algorithms under a license that permits commercial and research use. Installation involves third-party dependencies, and the project warns readers about a hacked copy of its old website.

Visit Point Cloud Library

The facts

	Open3D	Point Cloud Library
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows	Android, Linux, Mac, Windows
Lowest paid plan	Not published	Free or on request
Plans published	None	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	open3d.org	pointclouds.org
On point cloud software	#4 of 24	#1 of 24

Open3D: what it does well

C++ and Python interfaces
GPU acceleration for core 3D operations
Open3D-ML supports PyTorch and TensorFlow
Web visualization supports browser viewing through WebRTC
MIT license encourages research and commercial use

What to know first

Remote sensitive visualization requires SSL configuration
Linux PyPI wheel lacks native TensorFlow support from v0.18 onward
Current Python packages require listed supported systems

Point Cloud Library: what it does well

Free for commercial and research use.
Algorithms cover filtering, reconstruction and segmentation.
Libraries can be compiled separately.
Prebuilt binaries are available for Linux, Windows and macOS.
Supports OpenNI 3D interfaces.

What to know first

Installation requires third-party libraries.
The project recommends package managers to simplify installation.
The repository warns that a copy of the old website was hacked.

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