How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Three tools that used to appear on lists like this one are gone or on their way out. Adobe Aero shut down on November 6, 2025. 8th Wall's hosted platform went offline in early 2026, and its code is now open source. Support for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides ends on December 31, 2026.
- Unreal Engine is free for companies with less than $1 million in annual revenue. Unity Pro costs $2,310 per seat per year, and you have to buy it once your revenue or funding passes $200,000.
- For AR campaigns that run in a phone browser, ZapWorks Pro lists at $315 a month (or $2,640 a year) and includes 12,000 views a year. Blippar's no-code Blippbuilder has a free tier, and paid plans start at £7.99 a month.
- Vuforia Engine's free Basic plan lets you publish commercial apps that use image targets and ground plane tracking, with no watermark. Model Targets and Area Targets need the Premium plan, which is priced by quote.
- AR for frontline workers (smart glasses and remote help) and XR design prototyping (ShapesXR) are separate jobs. Choose the category first, then the vendor.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Unity | Cross-platform AR/VR apps built by a dev team | $2,310 per seat/year (Pro), or $210 per month billed monthly | Yes (Personal, under $200K revenue or funding) |
 Unreal Engine | High-fidelity VR, visualization and simulation | Free under $1M annual revenue; $1,850 per seat/year above that for non-game use | Yes |
 Vuforia Engine | Industrial and product AR with object tracking | Free (Basic); Premium and Enterprise are quote-based | Yes |
 ZapWorks | Agencies and brands publishing WebAR | $315/month, or $2,640/year (Pro) | Free trial (14 days); $12.99/month Developer plan for non-commercial use |
 Blippar | No-code WebAR for marketers and educators | £7.99/month (Blippbuilder) | Yes |
 ShapesXR | Prototyping XR apps with designers and clients | See website | Yes |
 TeamViewer Frontline | Smart-glasses workflows in warehouses and plants | See website | No |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best AR/VR software for business buyers
#1Unity
Best for: Cross-platform AR/VR apps built by a dev team4.5/5 on
G2 (364 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit unity.com
Starting price$2,310 per seat/year (Pro), or $210 per month billed monthly
Free planYes (Personal, under $200K revenue or funding)
If you plan to hire an agency or a contract developer, Unity is the engine to beat because so many XR developers already work in it. One project can ship to iOS, Android, Meta Quest, the web and desktop. That matters if you don't know yet which device your customers or trainees will use.
Unity's pricing page lists Pro at $2,310 per seat per year, or $210 a month if you pay monthly. You need Pro once your business passes $200,000 in revenue or funding, and Enterprise above $25 million. Pro is also the tier that builds for Apple Vision Pro, so a Vision Pro project can't use the free plan.
There's a catch for companies that don't make games. The pricing page says the free Personal plan is for gaming and entertainment apps. It sends industrial users (training, automotive, retail, architecture and construction) to Unity Industry, which has custom pricing only. A manufacturer building a training simulator should get a written quote from sales before budgeting around the Pro list price.
What we like- Builds to mobile, desktop, web and most headsets from one project
- Huge pool of freelance and agency developers
- Pro adds Apple Vision Pro and console builds
Watch out for- Per-seat pricing adds up quickly for a team
- Non-game companies are steered to quote-based Unity Industry
#2Unreal Engine
Best for: High-fidelity VR, visualization and simulation4.5/5 on
G2 (151 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit unrealengine.com
Starting priceFree under $1M annual revenue; $1,850 per seat/year above that for non-game use
Free planYes
Unreal is the usual choice for architecture firms, car configurators and realistic VR training. Its lighting and materials look close to photographs without much tuning. That helps when the whole point of the VR experience is to show a building or product that doesn't exist yet.
The license is easy on smaller companies. Epic's licensing page says Unreal is free for individuals and businesses with less than $1 million in annual gross revenue, including source code and every platform. Above that, companies making non-game content for their own use pay $1,850 per seat per year, with a 30-day trial. If you sell a game or app that runs on the engine, you pay a 5% royalty on lifetime revenue above $1 million instead of buying seats.
Its weak spot is lightweight mobile AR. Unreal can do it, but the projects are heavy and fewer developers specialize in it. For a marketing filter or a product preview on a phone, one of the WebAR tools further down this list will ship faster and cost less.
What we like- Free for most small and mid-size companies
- Photoreal rendering out of the box
- Full source code access
Watch out for- Steeper learning curve than Unity for mobile AR
- Heavier hardware demands on both build machines and devices
Starting priceFree (Basic); Premium and Enterprise are quote-based
Free planYes
PTC's Vuforia is the tracking engine to look at when AR has to lock onto a real machine, part or package, not just a flat floor. It's an SDK that runs inside Unity or native apps. That makes it a developer tool, not a drag-and-drop builder.
The free Basic plan does more than most buyers expect. According to Vuforia's documentation, Basic licenses allow unlimited development and publishing with no watermark for image targets, multi targets, cylinder targets, VuMarks and ground plane. They also include cloud recognition for up to 1,000 images and 1,000 recognitions a month. For packaging, print and catalog AR, that may be all you need.
Industrial buyers usually want Model Targets (recognizing a 3D object from its CAD model) and Area Targets (mapping a room or facility). You can test both on Basic, but you can't publish them to an app store without the Premium plan. Premium is an annual subscription with no public price, and Enterprise adds on-premise model training. Expect to go through sales rather than check out with a credit card.
What we like- Free Basic plan allows commercial publishing with no watermark
- Model Targets recognize physical products from CAD data
- On-premise options on Enterprise
Watch out for- The most valuable features sit behind quote-only plans
- It is an SDK, so you still need Unity or native developers
#4ZapWorks
Best for: Agencies and brands publishing WebAR4.5/5 on
G2 (30 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit zap.works
Starting price$315/month, or $2,640/year (Pro)
Free planFree trial (14 days); $12.99/month Developer plan for non-commercial use
ZapWorks, made by Zappar, is for teams that want AR to open in a phone browser from a QR code or link, with no app to download. It suits a small creative agency or an in-house marketing team that runs several campaigns a year and wants one subscription for all of them.
The published pricing is clear. Pro costs $315 a month or $2,640 a year. It includes unlimited projects, 12,000 views a year, a 50MB limit per project, up to three team members, 10 target images per project and email support. The Developer plan costs $12.99 a month and has the same tools, but it's for non-commercial use only and shows a ZapWorks-branded screen.
Watch the limits. A packaging campaign that takes off can use up 12,000 views fast, and ZapWorks bills extra views per view after the fact. Pro hosting is US only, which suits most American buyers. Any company (or agency client) with more than $10 million in revenue or funding in the last 12 months has to move to Enterprise.
What we like- Full toolset (no-code, Unity and code SDKs) on every plan
- Unlimited projects
- Up to 3 team members on Pro
Watch out for- Pro caps views at 12,000 a year
- Companies above $10M in revenue must buy Enterprise
#5Blippar
Best for: No-code WebAR for marketers and educators3.6/5 on
G2 (4 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit blippar.com
Starting price£7.99/month (Blippbuilder)
Free planYes
Blippar's Blippbuilder is built for people with no 3D or coding background, so a marketing coordinator can usually get a simple campaign live quickly. It handles surface, marker and face tracking and publishes to a link or QR code. It also pulls free 3D models from Sketchfab, so you don't need a modeler for a simple first campaign.
Blippar's own 2026 cost guide says Blippbuilder has a free tier for building and testing. Paid plans for publishing start at about £7.99 a month, and Pro plans allow up to five published projects. Teams with developers can use the WebAR SDK, which has its own price list:
- Free trial: capped at 100 views, with a watermark.
- Creative license: £100 a month for 1,000 views.
- Commercial license: £250 a month for unlimited views, no watermark.
Plan for two things. US buyers pay in pounds, so the dollar cost changes with the exchange rate. Blippar's FAQ also says projects stay live only while your subscription is active. If a campaign is printed on packaging, you have to keep paying for as long as that packaging is on shelves.
What we like- Drag-and-drop builder with a free tier
- Built-in Sketchfab library of 3D models
- Experiences also run on headsets like Meta Quest
Watch out for- Prices are listed in pounds sterling
- Projects go offline when the subscription ends
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
ShapesXR solves a problem every XR project runs into: stakeholders can't judge a VR or mixed reality app from flat mockups. Designers and product managers build interactive prototypes together, in a Quest headset or a browser. They then hand the scenes to developers through a Unity plugin.
The free Starter plan includes one editable space with 10 frames, 20MB imports and all creation tools. That's enough to see whether your team will actually use it. The Business plan adds unlimited spaces, 200MB imports, Figma prototypes, roles and permissions and a shared asset library. It comes with a 14-day trial that doesn't need a credit card. Enterprise adds SSO, MFA and onboarding sessions.
The downside is that you can't see costs up front. Professional, Business and Enterprise are all "Get a quote," so comparing prices takes a sales call. It's also only a design tool, and you still need Unity or Unreal to build the finished product.
What we like- Designers can build and review spatial layouts together in a headset or on the web
- Figma import on paid plans
- SOC 2 Type 2 compliant
Watch out for- Paid plans are quote-only
- It produces prototypes, not finished apps
#7
TeamViewer Frontline
Best for: Smart-glasses workflows in warehouses and plants
Visit teamviewer.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Frontline isn't for building AR content from scratch. It's a set of ready-made AR apps for frontline staff, usually running on smart glasses:
- xPick handles vision picking and inventory in logistics.
- xMake shows step-by-step assembly instructions in the worker's field of view.
- xInspect guides diagnostics and maintenance.
- xAssist adds see-what-I-see remote help with live pointers and annotations.
Companies that standardized on Dynamics 365 Guides or Remote Assist should look at this category now. Microsoft has stopped selling both, support ends on December 31, 2026, and Microsoft isn't offering a replacement. TeamViewer's no-code xMake builder lets operations teams write work instructions without developers.
Pricing is by quote only, and review sites list no free trial. Most of the cost is hardware, device management and redesigning processes. Treat Frontline as a project with a pilot site and a rollout plan, not a quick software purchase.
What we like- Separate modules for picking, assembly, inspection and remote help
- No-code work instruction builder
- Backed by an established remote support vendor
Watch out for- Quote-only pricing and no public free trial
- Only worth it if you will roll out wearables at scale
How we chose
We started with the categories business buyers actually shop for:
- Engines for building custom apps
- WebAR builders for marketing
- Design tools for XR teams
- Frontline AR for operations
For each candidate, we read the vendor's current pricing page and documentation. We checked plan limits (views, seats, project sizes and revenue thresholds) and confirmed the product is still sold and supported in late 2026. We weighed that against public reviews on G2, Capterra and Reddit, and against how well each tool fits a company of roughly 10 to 1,000 employees.
That process cut several familiar names. Adobe discontinued Aero in November 2025. Niantic shut down 8th Wall's hosted platform and released it as open source. Microsoft is retiring Dynamics 365 Guides at the end of 2026. We didn't test these products hands-on, and where a vendor publishes no price, we say so instead of guessing.
Choosing AR/VR software without overbuying
Start with the delivery channel
Decide where people will see the experience before you compare features:
- A phone browser opened from a QR code points to ZapWorks or Blippar.
- A native app or a headset points to Unity, Unreal or Vuforia.
- Smart glasses on a factory floor point to a frontline platform like TeamViewer Frontline.
Many bad purchases start with a tool picked for one channel and then forced into another.
Read the revenue thresholds
Several of these vendors price by company size, not just usage. Unity requires Pro above $200,000 in revenue or funding and Enterprise above $25 million. Unreal stays free up to $1 million. ZapWorks moves companies over $10 million onto Enterprise. Check your own numbers before you budget. If an agency is building for you, check your agency's terms too.
Count views, seats and hosting
WebAR plans charge by views, so estimate traffic honestly. A QR code on 200,000 printed boxes leads to a very different bill than a trade show demo. Engine plans charge by seat, so count everyone who needs to open the editor, not just your lead developers. Also ask what happens to published content if you cancel. On Blippar, for example, projects go offline when the subscription ends.
Plan your exit
Vendor shutdowns are the biggest risk in this category, as Aero and 8th Wall customers found out. Choose tools that export standard 3D formats (glTF, GLB, FBX), and keep your source files in your own storage. If you depend on a hosted platform, get its data export process and notice period in writing.
Budget for content, not just licenses
The license is often the smallest cost. Blippar's own cost guide puts an agency-built WebAR product visualization at around $5,000 and complex custom work at $50,000 or more. 3D modeling, testing on real devices and VR hardware usually cost more than the software subscription.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AR/VR software for a small business?
For marketing AR, start with Blippar's free Blippbuilder tier or a ZapWorks trial. Both publish to a phone browser with no app. For a custom app or VR training module, Unreal is free under $1 million in revenue and Unity Personal is free under $200,000, though Unity aims its free plan at games and entertainment. Most small businesses hire a developer or agency for engine-based projects.
Is Unity or Unreal better for business AR and VR?
Unity is usually the better fit for mobile AR and apps that run on several devices, because more developers know it and its builds are lighter. Unreal is better for photoreal VR, architecture and product visualization, and it's free until you pass $1 million in revenue. Many companies simply go with whichever engine their agency knows best.
What happened to Adobe Aero and 8th Wall?
Adobe discontinued Aero on November 6, 2025, and gave users until December 3, 2025 to download their content. Niantic released 8th Wall as open source and took its hosted service offline in early 2026. For hosted WebAR, ZapWorks and Blippar are the closest replacements on this list.
What should Dynamics 365 Guides customers use now?
Microsoft stopped selling and renewing Guides and Remote Assist after November 1, 2025, and support ends December 31, 2026. There's no direct Microsoft replacement, so companies are looking at frontline AR vendors such as TeamViewer Frontline for work instructions and remote help. Start a pilot well before the support deadline.
Do I need a headset to use AR/VR software?
Not for AR. WebAR tools like ZapWorks and Blippar run in a normal smartphone browser, and Vuforia apps run on phones and tablets. VR training, design review in ShapesXR and smart-glasses workflows do need headsets or glasses, and the hardware often costs more than the software.
How much does a business AR project cost?
Software ranges from free to a few thousand dollars a year. The free options include Vuforia Basic, Unreal under $1 million and Blippbuilder's free tier. At the paid end, ZapWorks Pro is $2,640 a year and Unity Pro is $2,310 per seat a year. Content production usually costs more than the license. Blippar's own guide estimates about $5,000 for a simple agency-built WebAR experience and $50,000 or more for complex custom work.
Sources we checked (16)
- https://unity.com/products
- https://www.unrealengine.com/license
- https://www.ptc.com/en/products/vuforia/vuforia-engine/pricing
- https://developer.vuforia.com/library/vuforia-engine/FAQ/pricing-and-licensing-options/
- https://zap.works/pricing/
- https://docs.zap.works/workspaces/workspace-plans/
- https://docs.zap.works/workspaces/cost-per-view/
- https://www.blippar.com/build-ar/
- https://www.blippar.com/how-much-does-webar-cost-in-2026/
- https://docs.blippar.com/webar-sdk/more-information/pricing
- https://www.shapesxr.com/plans
- https://www.teamviewer.com/en/solutions/use-cases/augmented-reality/
- https://www.trustradius.com/products/teamviewer-frontline/pricing
- https://helpx.adobe.com/aero/aero-end-of-support-faq.html
- https://roadtovr.com/niantic-webar-platform-8th-wall-open-source/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/dynamics-365-guides-remote-assist-end-of-support
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.