Comparison

Sandbox AR vs 3D

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Sandbox AR

Create, build, and explore immersive virtual worlds using augmented reality. This app allows users to scale creations to life-size and share them with others. It's designed to bring interactive technology into educational settings.

Highlights
  • Create, build, and explore in AR
  • Life-size scale exploration
  • Share creations via QR code
  • Capture snapshots and videos
  • Teacher audio descriptions (DE:X subscribers)
  • Link to curated resources (DE:X subscribers)
Read full description

--- Multi award-winning augmented reality maker app --- - BETT Awards 2023 Best AR/VR ! - GESS Awards 2023 Best Digital XR / VR / AI Product - spaces4learning New Product Award 2022 ! -- What is Sandbox? -- Experience, build, and explore in AR with Discovery Education Sandbox. Designed as a companion to the award-winning Discovery Education Experience learning platform, bring immersive technology and content into the classroom. Choose from hundreds of models and create a virtual world to experience and share with fellow students and teachers. Use life size mode to scale up and walk inside your own creation! -- Features -- • Create, build and explore in augmented reality. • Explore creations in life-size scale! • Share your sandboxes with other users with a simple QR code. • Capture snapshots and videos of your sandbox. -- Enhanced features for DE:X subscribers -- As a Discovery Education Experience or Espresso subscriber, access additional features to add teacher audio descriptions to sandboxes and add links to your own curated resources on Experience or Espresso. Integrate with studio boards and access future additional model packs.

About

3D

Transform real-world objects into virtual 3D models for educational purposes. Capture artwork, artifacts, and everyday items to view in augmented reality or share digitally with others.

Highlights
  • Scan real-world objects into 3D models
  • Create virtual replicas
  • View scans in augmented reality
  • Share 3D creations
  • Integrates with Merge EDU
  • Add labels and descriptions
Features
Read full description

With Scanner, you can turn real-world objects into virtual 3D creations. Whether it’s an art project, a fossil, a historic artifact from your community, or a cherished family heirloom, scanning these objects lets you preserve and explore them in a whole new way. See your scans come to life by editing them in Object Builder. Study every detail, share them with others, or even hold on a Merge Cube. Every scan becomes a digital keepsake, ready to explore, learn from, or use as inspiration for your next creation.

Screenshots

3D4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Sandbox AR at every 2 months against 3D's every 5 months. Sandbox AR also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

3D holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 9 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sandbox AR ships an update every 2 months, 3D every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on July 28, 2026 and August 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Sandbox AR versus 3D: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSandbox AR3D
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (11 ratings)4.9 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.6 GB594 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDiscovery Education Inc.Merge Apps

Customer experience

Sandbox AR

All ratings11 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral9.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

3D

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Sandbox AR

No in-app purchases

None

3D

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sandbox AR free?
Sandbox AR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is 3D free?
3D is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sandbox AR or 3D?
3D is rated higher. Sandbox AR averages 4.7 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while 3D averages 4.9 from 9 ratings.
Do Sandbox AR or 3D have ads?
Neither Sandbox AR nor 3D shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sandbox AR or 3D?
Sandbox AR ships an update every 2 months, and 3D every 5 months. Most recently, Sandbox AR was updated on July 28, 2026 and 3D on August 21, 2026.

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