Compare
uMake vs Shapr3D: which 3D app is right for you?
Updated October 5, 2026
The short answerPick uMake if you want to sketch and shape forms freely in 3D, use AI that builds editable models and renders beside your design, and keep the whole project on a board. Pick Shapr3D if you design parts or products that need history-based parametric modeling, 2D technical drawings or DWG and DXF files. Both run on iPad and Mac and share STEP and IGES, so many designers use them together.
Two different kinds of 3D app
Shapr3D is a CAD application built on the Siemens Parasolid engine. It combines direct, push-pull modeling with history-based parametric modeling, and it produces 2D drawings for technical documentation. It’s aimed at industrial and product design, manufacturing, woodworking and 3D printing, and it runs on iPad, Mac, Windows and Apple Vision Pro.
uMake is a 3D design app for the early, creative part of a project: sketching an idea, working out its form, and showing it. You draw curves with Apple Pencil, a finger or a trackpad, lift them into NURBS surfaces and solids to real dimensions, and export STEP or IGES when the design moves on. It runs on iPad, iPhone (including iPhone Duo with iOS 27.1) and Mac with Apple silicon.
At a glance
| uMake | Shapr3D | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iPad, iPhone (including iPhone Duo) and Mac with Apple silicon | iPad, Mac, Windows and Apple Vision Pro |
| Best at | Sketching and shaping forms in 3D, concept design and presentation | Precise parametric parts and products, ready for manufacturing |
| Modeling approach | Freehand and precise curves lifted into NURBS surfaces and solids; Extrude, Revolve, Loft, Combine, Project Shape | Solid modeling on Parasolid, with direct (push-pull) and history-based parametric workflows |
| 2D drawings | Not for technical drawings; no DWG or DXF | 2D drawings for technical documentation; exports DWG and DXF |
| AI tools | AI Design Partner builds and edits editable 3D geometry from words or an image; Live AI Preview renders beside your model | AI renders as part of visualization |
| Boards/ideation | Spaces: an infinite board for sketches, notes, photos and live 3D designs | No equivalent listed on Shapr3D’s site |
| File exchange | Imports STEP, IGES, OBJ, STL, USDZ, GLB, DAE, SVG, SketchUp; exports STEP, IGES, OBJ, STL, USDZ | Imports STEP, IGES, Parasolid, SolidWorks, STL, DWG, DXF; exports STEP, IGES, Parasolid, 3MF, STL, OBJ, GLB, USDZ, DWG, DXF and more |
| Getting started free | Free to download; opening and viewing 3D files is free; drawing, editing and export need a plan | Has a free plan; see Shapr3D’s site for what it includes |
When to choose uMake
- You think by sketching. Freestyle strokes with ink, pencil, marker, charcoal and chalk brushes land in 3D space, Pen lays down smooth curves, and Precision chains exact lines and arcs. On iPad, Apple Pencil Mode lets the Pencil draw while a finger orbits the view.
- Your forms are curved and sculptural. NURBS surfaces you reshape by their control points, Loft and Revolve, and Project Shape to wrap a logo or pattern onto a curved body.
- You want AI that builds geometry. AI Design Partner builds and edits editable 3D geometry from a description or a reference image, including floor plans from a plan image. Live AI Preview shows a photorealistic render of your model beside it as you work (AI in uMake).
- You want the project in one place. Spaces is an infinite board for sketches, notes, photos, videos and live 3D designs, with AI image tools such as Variations, Compose a Scene and Apply Style (Spaces).
- You present as you design. Scene Studio, PBR materials, sun studies, slides, Full Screen and View in AR on iPhone and iPad.
- You design on iPhone. uMake runs on iPhone too, and on iPhone Duo the open phone gets the iPad workspace.
When to choose Shapr3D
- You need parametric history. If you want to go back, change a dimension and have the model rebuild, Shapr3D’s history-based workflow is made for that. uMake isn’t a history-based parametric CAD tool.
- You need technical drawings. Shapr3D makes 2D drawings for documentation and exports DWG and DXF. uMake doesn’t produce engineering drawings and doesn’t read or write DWG or DXF.
- You work with manufacturing CAD files. Shapr3D opens SolidWorks parts and assemblies and Parasolid files, and exports Parasolid and 3MF, none of which uMake supports.
- You need Windows or Apple Vision Pro. uMake runs on iPad, iPhone and Mac with Apple silicon only.
For mechanical parts, enclosures, jigs and anything that goes to a machine shop with a drawing, Shapr3D is the better choice.
Using both together
The two apps share STEP and IGES, which keep NURBS surfaces and solids exact. A common route is to explore the form in uMake, with sketches, AI variations and renders, then export STEP and finish the engineering and drawings in Shapr3D. Going the other way, export STEP, IGES, OBJ, STL, GLB or USDZ from Shapr3D and open it in uMake for free to sketch over it, render it or present it in a Space.
Use STEP or IGES when the receiving app needs to keep editing the geometry precisely. OBJ and STL are meshes, which suit 3D printing and visualization better than further CAD work.
Is uMake a Shapr3D alternative?
For concept design, form-finding and presentation, yes. For parametric parts, engineering drawings and DWG or DXF output, no: Shapr3D does those and uMake doesn’t.
Can I open Shapr3D models in uMake?
Yes. Export STEP or IGES from Shapr3D to keep the geometry exact, or OBJ, STL, GLB or USDZ for a mesh, and open it in uMake. Importing and viewing is free.
Can I send a uMake model to Shapr3D?
Yes. With a plan, export STEP or IGES from uMake; Shapr3D imports both. It also imports STL.
Which is better for product design?
It depends on the stage. uMake suits the sketching and form-finding stage, with AI renders to show the idea. Shapr3D suits the engineering stage, with parametric history and technical drawings. Many designers use both.
Do both work with Apple Pencil?
Yes. Shapr3D supports Apple Pencil, and every uMake drawing tool works with it, though Apple Pencil is optional in uMake: fingers work on iPad and iPhone, and a keyboard and trackpad on Mac.
Try it in uMake.
uMake is free to download for iPad, iPhone and Mac.