Best Free 3D Model Sites for Games (2026)
Last updated: July 2026.
You don't need to model everything yourself, or pay for it. There's a deep well of free, game-ready 3D models out there, and the best of them are CC0, meaning you can use them commercially with no attribution. Here are the sites worth bookmarking in 2026, sorted by how you'll actually use them, with the licensing made clear.
Quick reference
| Need | Best source | License | Attribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game-ready props in one coherent style | Kenney | CC0 | None |
| Stylized low-poly characters | Quaternius, KayKit | CC0 | None |
| Photorealistic props, textures, HDRIs | Poly Haven | CC0 | None |
| Widest variety, complex models | Sketchfab | Mixed, filter per model | Depends on model |
| Google Poly archive, fast stylized props | Poly Pizza, Icosa Gallery | Mostly CC-BY | Credit the creator |
| Free AAA-quality scans | Fab (Megascans starter pack) | Fab Standard, some CC | None, check listing |
| Huge Blender-first library | BlenderKit free tier | Royalty-Free and CC0 | None |
| Open-source-friendly community art | OpenGameArt | CC0, CC-BY, OGA-BY, GPL | Depends on asset |
| Marketplace freebies | CGTrader, TurboSquid | Royalty-Free | None |
| Museum and space scans | Smithsonian, NASA | CC0 / US government work | None |
Quick picks
- Game-ready, consistent style, zero hassle: Kenney, Quaternius, KayKit (all CC0).
- Photorealistic models, textures, HDRIs: Poly Haven (CC0).
- Widest variety, complex models: Sketchfab (mixed licenses, check each).
- Low-poly, Google Poly archive: Poly Pizza, Icosa Gallery (mostly CC-BY).
- Unusual props nobody else has: Smithsonian Open Access and NASA 3D Resources.
The CC0 staples (no attribution, commercial-safe)
Kenney
The single best starting point. Kenney offers tens of thousands of game-ready assets, all CC0, across 3D models, sprites, UI, and audio, in consistent art styles you can mix and match. Everything is optimized for games, with shared texture atlases and sane poly counts. If you want a coherent look fast, start here.
| Website | kenney.nl |
| License | CC0, no attribution required |
| Assets | Over 270 packs, tens of thousands of individual assets |
| Formats | GLB/GLTF, OBJ, FBX for 3D, plus PNG and WAV |
| Direct download | Yes, free ZIP per pack, no account needed |
| Best for | Prototyping fast and shipping with one coherent style |
Quaternius
Cute, stylized low-poly 3D models, all CC0, organized into themed packs (characters, environments, vehicles, monsters) plus a universal animation library that works across the character packs. Perfect for indie games that want a charming low-poly aesthetic.
| Website | quaternius.com |
| License | CC0, no attribution required |
| Assets | Nearly 80 themed packs, over 1,100 models |
| Formats | GLTF/GLB, FBX |
| Direct download | Yes, free ZIP per pack |
| Best for | Low-poly characters and creatures with matching animations |
KayKit by Kay Lousberg
KayKit is Kay Lousberg's line of low-poly asset packs, and it fills the gap between Kenney and Quaternius with dungeon kits, character packs (adventurers, skeletons), hex terrain, and dozens of themed "Bits" prop packs. Most packs are free and CC0, with a paid complete bundle if you want everything at once. The character packs ship with animations and rig cleanly.
| Website | kaylousberg.itch.io |
| License | CC0 on the free packs, no attribution required |
| Assets | Around 25 packs, most of them free |
| Formats | GLTF, FBX, OBJ |
| Direct download | Yes, via itch.io (pay-what-you-want at $0) |
| Best for | Dungeon crawlers, RPG props, animated fantasy characters |
Poly Haven
Photorealistic 3D models, PBR textures, and HDRIs, all CC0, with multiple resolutions and a no-key API for direct downloads. Over 2,000 assets and growing, including over 500 models. Best for realistic props, environments, and lighting. The HDRIs alone are worth the bookmark, they'll make any scene look better in one click.
| Website | polyhaven.com |
| License | CC0, no attribution required |
| Assets | Over 2,000 (models, PBR textures, HDRIs) |
| Formats | GLTF, Blend, FBX, resolutions from 1K to 16K |
| API | Yes, public and keyless |
| Best for | Realistic props, materials, and image-based lighting |
PolygonalMind
A studio that open-sources a chunk of its work. The 100 Avatars project released over 200 CC0 low-poly characters across two full rounds (with a third in progress), each rigged and ready for games or VR, plus themed CC0 prop packs published on Sketchfab and GitHub. A great source of varied, stylized characters when you need a crowd.
| Website | github.com/PolygonalMind |
| License | CC0 on the open-source releases |
| Assets | Over 200 avatars plus themed prop packs |
| Formats | FBX, VRM, GLB (varies by pack) |
| Direct download | Yes, via GitHub releases and Sketchfab |
| Best for | Rigged stylized characters in bulk |
The big libraries (mixed licenses, check each)
Sketchfab
The largest 3D model library, with millions of models and a 3D preview before you download. Licenses vary per model, so filter for downloadable plus CC0 or CC-BY. The 2026 caveat: Sketchfab's paid store closed and moved to Epic's Fab, and only CC-BY and Fab Standard content can migrate there. CC0, CC-BY-SA, CC-BY-NC, and CC-BY-ND models stay on Sketchfab, and as of mid-2026 free downloads and the download API still work. Treat it as a still-useful but slowly declining CC0 source, so grab what you need rather than assuming it will always be there.
| Website | sketchfab.com |
| License | Mixed, per model (CC0, CC-BY, CC-BY-NC, and more) |
| Assets | Millions of models |
| Formats | GLTF, FBX, OBJ, USDZ |
| API | Yes, download and viewer APIs still live in 2026 |
| Best for | Finding the one specific model nothing else has |
Poly Pizza and Icosa Gallery
Google Poly shut down in 2021, but its low-poly catalog lives on. Poly Pizza hosts over 10,600 free models, including the archived "Poly by Google" collection (around 2,294 models) plus thousands of new community uploads. The non-profit Icosa Gallery continues the open mission with its own archive, an API, and ties to the Open Brush and Open Blocks projects. Most models on both are CC-BY (credit the creator), with some CC0. Great for fast, stylized props that match the Kenney and Quaternius look.
| Website | poly.pizza and icosa.gallery |
| License | Mostly CC-BY, some CC0, shown per model |
| Assets | Over 10,600 on Poly Pizza, thousands more on Icosa |
| Formats | GLB/GLTF, OBJ |
| Direct download | Yes, no account needed on Poly Pizza |
| Best for | Quick low-poly props when you don't mind a credits line |
Fab (Epic)
Epic's unified marketplace, the successor to the Unreal Marketplace, Quixel Megascans, and the Sketchfab store. The draw for asset hunters is a permanently free Megascans starter pack of over 1,500 scanned assets, surfaces, and decals, usable in any engine, plus a rotating free drop every two weeks. The full Megascans catalog of roughly 17,000 assets went paid at the end of 2024. Check the license on each listing before shipping.
| Website | fab.com |
| License | Fab Standard (Personal/Professional) and some Creative Commons |
| Assets | Over 1,500 permanently free Megascans plus biweekly free drops |
| Formats | Unreal, Unity, glTF, and more |
| Direct download | Yes, after free sign-up |
| Best for | Photoreal scans and the biweekly freebie habit |
OpenGameArt
The community art repository for open-source and indie games, running since 2009. It hosts 2D and 3D art, audio, and textures under a strict set of open licenses, so everything on it is legal to use if you follow the license shown. The 3D section is smaller and less consistent than the dedicated model sites, but it hides gems, and the license filter makes CC0-only browsing easy. Watch out for GPL-licensed assets, which can put share-alike obligations on your project.
| Website | opengameart.org |
| License | CC0, CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, OGA-BY, or GPL, per asset |
| Assets | Thousands of community submissions across 2D, 3D, and audio |
| Formats | Varies (Blend, OBJ, FBX, GLTF) |
| Direct download | Yes, no account needed |
| Best for | CC0-filtered browsing and open-source-friendly projects |
BlenderKit
A huge asset library that lives inside a Blender add-on, so models, materials, and HDRIs drop straight into your scene. The free tier is genuinely large: over 17,000 free models, 26,000 free materials, and 2,000 free HDRIs at last public count. BlenderKit uses exactly two licenses, Royalty-Free and CC0, and you can filter to either. Royalty-Free here means free commercial use in your game but no reselling the raw asset.
| Website | blenderkit.com |
| License | Royalty-Free or CC0, filterable |
| Assets | Over 45,000 free (models, materials, HDRIs, brushes) |
| Formats | Blend natively, export to GLB/FBX from Blender |
| API | Yes, via the Blender add-on, free account required |
| Best for | Scene dressing and materials if Blender is in your pipeline |
Marketplace free sections (royalty-free, read the fine print)
TurboSquid
The oldest big 3D marketplace, now owned by Shutterstock, with a sizeable free section. Free models use the same TurboSquid royalty-free license as paid ones: games for console, PC, mobile, and VR are explicitly permitted, you can use a model in unlimited projects forever, but you can't redistribute the raw files and end users must not be able to extract them. Skip anything labeled "Editorial Use", those models can't ship in a commercial game.
| Website | turbosquid.com |
| License | TurboSquid royalty-free, games permitted |
| Assets | A large free section within a multimillion-model catalog |
| Formats | MAX, FBX, OBJ, Blend, GLTF (varies per model) |
| Direct download | After free account sign-up |
| Best for | Realistic one-off props, vehicles, and hard-surface models |
CGTrader
The biggest free section of any marketplace, with over 150,000 free models. The royalty-free license allows commercial use in games with no extra fees, with the same catch as TurboSquid: the model must be incorporated into your game so players can't pull the file out, and you can't resell it on its own. Quality varies a lot more than on the curated sites, so check the poly count and textures before you commit.
| Website | cgtrader.com/free-3d-models |
| License | CGTrader royalty-free, commercial use allowed |
| Assets | Over 150,000 free models |
| Formats | FBX, OBJ, Blend, GLTF, MAX (varies per model) |
| Direct download | After free account sign-up |
| Best for | Sheer volume when the CC0 sites don't have it |
Public domain scans (museums and space)
Smithsonian Open Access 3D
The Smithsonian released millions of collection items under CC0, including over 2,000 downloadable 3D scans: dinosaur fossils, spacecraft, statues, instruments, and artifacts you won't find anywhere else. Look for the CC0 mark on the model page. The scans are photogrammetry-heavy, so plan to decimate them in Blender before they go anywhere near a browser game.
| Website | 3d.si.edu |
| License | CC0 on marked models, check each |
| Assets | Over 2,000 3D scans |
| Formats | OBJ, glTF/GLB |
| Direct download | Yes, no account needed |
| Best for | Museum-grade props, fossils, and historical set dressing |
NASA 3D Resources
NASA publishes hundreds of models of spacecraft, rovers, asteroids, and planetary terrain, free to download and use under NASA's media usage guidelines (most NASA-created material isn't copyrighted, just don't imply NASA endorses your game or use the NASA insignia). Mesh quality ranges from print-ready scans to real engineering models, and the collection is also mirrored on GitHub.
| Website | science.nasa.gov/3d-resources |
| License | Free per NASA media guidelines, no endorsement implied |
| Assets | Hundreds of models and textures |
| Formats | GLB, FBX, Blend, STL, 3DS, and more |
| Direct download | Yes, no account needed |
| Best for | Space games that want the real Curiosity rover |
Generate models with AI
By 2026, generating a model can be faster than searching for one. Tools like Meshy and Tripo turn text or an image into a textured 3D mesh, and open models like Hunyuan3D and TRELLIS.2 let you self-host. Most hosted tools gate commercial rights behind a paid plan, so check terms. See our best AI asset generators for games guide for the full rundown, and note that Cinevva has a built-in 3D Model Generator that turns a photo or a text prompt into a model.
Getting models game-ready
Finding the model is half the job. Here's how to make sure it actually runs in your game.
Prefer GLB for web games. GLB is a single binary file with the mesh, materials, and textures embedded, and every web engine (Three.js, Babylon.js, PlayCanvas) loads it natively. If a model only comes as FBX or OBJ, open it in Blender and export to GLB, it takes a minute. Kenney, Quaternius, KayKit, and Poly Haven all ship GLTF/GLB already, which is a big part of why they're first on this list.
Mind the poly budget. Browser games run on whatever hardware shows up, including three-year-old phones. As a rule of thumb, keep props to a few hundred or a few thousand triangles, hero characters between 10,000 and 30,000, and individual downloads under 100,000. Marketplace and museum models often blow way past this, so check the triangle count before you fall in love, or plan a decimation pass in Blender.
Watch draw calls, not just polygons. Fifty separate props with fifty materials will hurt more than one dense mesh. The curated packs help here too, Kenney and Quaternius assets share texture atlases so an entire scene can render in a handful of draw calls.
Check the license before you ship, not after. Save a screenshot or PDF of the license page for every non-CC0 model you use, and keep a running credits list for CC-BY assets. Chasing down where a model came from a year later is miserable.
Or skip the tab-hopping. Cinevva's asset search queries Kenney, Quaternius, Poly Haven, Sketchfab, and more from one search box, with license info on every tile and per-source filters like Kenney only or Poly Haven only. And if you download a character that isn't rigged, the free auto-rigger rigs humanoid models right in the browser.
Licenses in 30 seconds
- CC0: public domain. Use commercially, modify, no attribution. The safest option.
- CC-BY: free commercial use, but you must credit the creator.
- Royalty-Free: pay once (or free), use without per-use fees, but you can't resell the raw files.
- CC-BY-NC / Editorial: no commercial use. Avoid for games you'll sell.
When in doubt, prefer CC0. For a full breakdown, see our game asset licenses guide.
Common Questions
Where can I find free 3D models for games?
Kenney, Quaternius, KayKit, and Poly Haven are the best starting points, all CC0 so you can use them commercially with no attribution. For more variety, Sketchfab has millions of models under mixed licenses, Poly Pizza hosts the archived Google Poly catalog, and CGTrader's free section has over 150,000 models. Always check the license on the individual model before shipping.
What does CC0 mean for 3D models?
CC0 means the model is in the public domain: you can use it in commercial games, modify it, and you don't have to credit the creator. It's the most permissive and lowest-risk license. Kenney, Quaternius, KayKit, Poly Haven, and AmbientCG are the main CC0 sources for game assets.
Are free 3D models okay for commercial games?
Most are, but it depends on the license. CC0 assets are always safe. CC-BY requires crediting the creator. Royalty-free marketplace models allow commercial games but forbid redistributing the raw files. CC-BY-NC and Editorial-only models cannot be used in games you sell, so check each model's license and prefer CC0 when you can.
What happened to Google Poly?
Google shut Poly down on June 30, 2021. The catalog was archived by the community before it went dark, and it lives on in two places: Poly Pizza hosts the "Poly by Google" collection alongside thousands of newer uploads, and the non-profit Icosa Gallery continues the open platform mission. Most of the archived models are CC-BY, so credit the original creator.
Is Sketchfab shutting down?
Not shut down, but winding down as a marketplace. Epic closed the Sketchfab store and moved selling to Fab, and only CC-BY and Fab Standard content could migrate there. As of mid-2026 the site, the free downloads, and the download API all still work, and CC0 models remain downloadable. The safe move is to download anything you know you'll want rather than assuming it stays up forever.
What's the best free alternative to TurboSquid?
For game-ready assets, Kenney, Quaternius, and KayKit beat any marketplace free section because everything is CC0 and optimized for engines. For realistic scans, Poly Haven and Fab's free Megascans starter pack are stronger. If you specifically want marketplace variety, CGTrader's free section is larger than TurboSquid's, with over 150,000 free models under a similar royalty-free license.
How many polygons should a game model have for web games?
Keep props to a few hundred or a few thousand triangles, characters between 10,000 and 30,000, and avoid any single model over 100,000. A whole browser scene should stay in the low hundreds of thousands of triangles to run well on mid-range phones. If a model is too heavy, Blender's Decimate modifier can usually cut the count in half before you notice a difference.
Can I generate 3D models with AI instead?
Yes. Tools like Meshy and Tripo create textured meshes from text or images, and open models like Hunyuan3D and TRELLIS.2 can be self-hosted. Commercial rights on hosted tools usually need a paid plan, so confirm terms. AI generation is increasingly faster than hunting for the right free model.
Cinevva ships with thousands of free CC0 props and puts them in a game for you.
Related
- Where to Find Free Game Assets — the full 20+ source guide
- Sketchfab vs Poly Haven vs Kenney — three top sources head to head
- Best AI Asset Generators for Games — generate instead of search
- Game Asset Licenses Explained — CC0, CC-BY, and the rest
- Free Sound Effects and Music for Games — the audio side