Comparison

ZBrush vs Goblin Node

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

Head to head
About

ZBrush

Create detailed 3D models and digital sculptures on your iPad. This app offers industry-leading sculpting tools, advanced detailing, and seamless integration with desktop versions for professionals and hobbyists alike.

Highlights
  • Digital sculpting and 3D painting
  • 200+ pressure-sensitive brushes
  • Sculptris Pro & Dynamic Tessellation
  • Live Boolean modeling
  • 3D Layers for non-destructive editing
  • Seamless desktop interoperability
  • Direct export for 3D printing
Read full description

ZBrush for iPad. Create stunning 3D models, digital sculptures, concept art, and detailed characters with ZBrush for iPad—the award-winning, industry-leading digital sculpting app trusted by professional artists across film, AAA games, collectibles, toy design, jewelry, illustration, and 3D design. ZBrush for iPad brings unrivaled desktop-grade digital sculpting and 3D painting power into an intuitive, touch-first mobile environment optimized for Apple Pencil. Take complete creative freedom on the go with high-poly mesh density, proprietary digital clay brushes, procedural detailing, and seamless cross-platform interoperability. Subscribers to Maxon One or ZBrush desktop can download the iPad app and sign in to activate full access instantly. A comprehensive free tier is also available to start sculpting immediately. NEW FOR IPAD • Spotlight Integration: Seamlessly load reference images directly onto the canvas, apply projection painting and texture mapping across complex mesh surfaces, and extract custom 3D geometry from 2D source imagery. • 3D Layers: Store high-resolution sculpting details, PolyPaint color channels, and masking non-destructively. Effortlessly toggle layer visibility, blend sculpt deformations, and refine feature intensity with precise slider controls. CORE SCULPTING & MODELING FEATURES • 200+ Sculpting Brushes: Pressure-sensitive digital brushes engineered for Apple Pencil and Apple Pencil Pro, supporting squeeze, roll, hover, double-tap gestures, and haptic feedback. • Sculptris Pro & Dynamic Tessellation: Add local mesh detail on the fly without manual topology management. • DynaMesh Digital Clay: Re-topologize mesh density evenly during early concept exploration. • ZRemesher: Industry-standard automatic retopology for clean, optimized edge flow. • Live Boolean: Non-destructive real-time union, subtraction, and intersection modeling. • PolyPaint: High-resolution 3D painting directly on vertex geometry without preliminary UV unwrapping. • Advanced Detailing: VDM Brushes, Surface Noise, Retopo Brush, Subdivision Modeling, NanoMesh, and ArrayMesh. DESKTOP INTEROPERABILITY & EXPORT • One-Click GoZ: Seamless transfer of ZTool and ZProject files between iPad and desktop ZBrush. • 3D Print Hub: Direct export for additive manufacturing and 3D printing workflows. HIGH-PERFORMANCE HARDWARE OPTIMIZATION Handles up to 90+ million polygons per mesh on M4 iPad hardware. Optimized for multi-touch gestures, custom hotkey bars, rapid undo/redo touch shortcuts, and real-world photogrammetry base mesh imports for high-end digital asset creation. TARGET CREATIVE USE CASES 1. Game Developers: Hero character modeling, creature design, and environment asset creation. 2. Collectibles & Toy Designers: High-detail prototyping and precise 3D print preparation. 3. Film & VFX Artists: Production-grade concept sculpting and digital asset creation. 4. Industrial & Jewelry Designers: Precision organic detailing for consumer products, apparel, and hardware. 5. 2D Illustrators & Concept Artists: Fast 3D block-outs and visual design expansion. LANGUAGE SUPPORT English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese (BR).

About

Goblin Node

Create professional PBR textures and materials on your iPad with a touch-first, non-destructive procedural workflow. Generate reusable patterns, tileable surfaces, and complete material suites anywhere inspiration strikes, without needing a desktop rig.

Highlights
  • Touch-native procedural texturing
  • Non-destructive workflow
  • Modular material generation
  • PBR material suite creation
  • 100+ nodes including generators
  • 3D preview engine
  • One-time purchase for pro features
Features
Read full description

An idea for a texture shouldn’t have to wait until you’re back at your desk. Goblin Node is a procedural texture editor for iPad—a convenient place to experiment with patterns, build reusable graphs and create PBR material maps for your game and 3D projects. Explore weathered stone, geometric tiles, layered surfaces or something that doesn’t have a name yet. Connect nodes, adjust their controls and take the result in another direction. BUILD A MATERIAL, KEEP THE POSSIBILITIES • Create seamless textures and maps including base colour, normal, height, roughness and ambient occlusion. • Preview your maps together on 3D meshes and explore their response to lighting. • Reuse your work through graphs, custom nodes and templates. • Experiment with animated material maps and frame playback. • Combine noise, shapes, images, text and paint with 100+ nodes across Free and Pro. The graph remains editable. Change a source pattern, revisit a colour choice or reshape a branch without rebuilding every step. NEW TO NODES? START BY MAKING SOMETHING. Guided projects introduce the essentials, then lead into decorative patterns and a layered stone material. Learn inside the editor, pause when you need to, and return to your project later. START FREE. UNLOCK MORE WITH PRO. Pro is a one-time purchase with no subscription. Get advanced nodes, exports up to 4K, higher bit depths, batch output export, graph-package sharing and unlimited graphs. Bring an idea. Build a graph. Explore the variations.

Screenshots

Goblin Node3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Goblin Node at 4.7 against ZBrush's 4.1. Goblin Node also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly) and device support (3 vs 1). ZBrush's advantage is ratings volume (265 vs 3). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. ZBrush sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Goblin Node sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Goblin Node holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ZBrush has 265 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ZBrush ships an update monthly, Goblin Node every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ZBrush versus Goblin Node: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZBrushGoblin Node
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (265 ratings)4.7 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings265 — better3
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.1 GB71 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMAXON Computer GmbHRainer Weston

Customer experience

ZBrush

All ratings262 ratings
Positive77.1%
Neutral4.2%
Negative18.7%
Written reviews98 reviews
Positive52.0%
Neutral13.3%
Negative34.7%

Goblin Node

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ZBrush

Subscriptions2
  • ZBrush Monthly$9.991 Month
  • ZBrush Annual$89.991 Year
1 purchases

Goblin Node

One-time1
  • Pro Unlock$9.99

Questions

Is ZBrush free?
ZBrush is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Goblin Node free?
Goblin Node is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ZBrush or Goblin Node?
Goblin Node is rated higher. ZBrush averages 4.1 out of 5 from 265 ratings, while Goblin Node averages 4.7 from 3 ratings.
Do ZBrush or Goblin Node have ads?
Neither ZBrush nor Goblin Node shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ZBrush or Goblin Node?
ZBrush ships an update monthly, and Goblin Node every 10 days. Most recently, ZBrush was updated on November 5, 2026 and Goblin Node on October 31, 2026.

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