Every Sketchfab user has the ability to download select 3D models. You can specifically search for downloadable models (by toggling "Downloadable" in the Sketchfab search bar), or go to our dedicated Downloads page.
Available for Download
A 3D model is only free to download if the owner enables it.
You can tell if a model is available for download if you see Download 3D Model below the viewer on the model page (like in the image below).
Clicking Download 3D Model will offer the following:
- the original file that the author uploaded, along with any texture, material, and extra files that were included
- a transcoded glTF version of the model
- various GLB versions of the model with different texture resolutions
- a transcoded USDZ version, which can load in Apple Quick Look
Unavailable for Download
If the Download 3D Model link is not visible on the model page (like the screenshot above), the user has decided not to make their model downloadable.
Licenses
Each downloadable model is offered under a Creative Commons license, which means if you download a free 3D model and you want to use it or build upon it, you need to credit the creator (except for CC0).
If you're unsure how you can use a downloadable 3D model, review the details of the corresponding Creative Commons license:
- CC BY - Attribution: depending on the NC, ND, and SA choices, others may share, edit, and use the model, but they must give you credit for the original work.
- CC BY-NC - NonCommercial: others cannot use your model commercially
- CC BY-ND - NoDerivatives: others may use and share the model, but it cannot be altered.
- CC BY-SA - ShareAlike: depending on the NC choices, others may share, edit, and use the model, but derivative work must be shared under the same license.
- CC0 - Public Domain: No Rights Reserved
No Derivatives and ShareAlike are mutually exclusive.
If the model author changes the license after you download it, that's ok, but the the license you received it under will always prevail. Per the Creative Commons rules:
"The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms."
For information on the licenses available for non-free Store models, see Licenses.
Comments
74 comments
Hi there,
Yes, at the moment, the Data API only allows downloading the glTF and USDZ versions of models, and the USDZ format does not support point clouds, so I'm afraid there's probably not a great way to do that at the moment.
how many models can be downloaded in a daily limit when reched and how long till the reset happens
The limit is currently 100 models for free accounts, and it resets every 24 hours.
Hi,
Whenever I try to download a model (the original file), it only downloads the textures and not the model itself. How can I fix that? It happens to me every time I try downloading a model on this site.
Thank you for the help!
Hi there,
Can you please share an example of a model you downloaded? The "source" archive should always include the original model file.
This one for example
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/ww1germanmilitarytrousers-206a564e2aa64761947bb2cecf00f1a4
Thanks! If you extract the "WW1GermanLower.rar" RAR archive, you will find the FBX file.
Both Windows and macOS should be able to open RAR archives with their built-in unarchiving software, but if you're having trouble, I recommend 7-zip on Windows or Keka on macOS:
https://www.7-zip.org/
https://www.keka.io/en/
James Once I have downloaded a model to use and I open the zip file, I cannot find the model, it does not open. Do I need to install a plugin to open downloads? And if I then want to upload the model to a presentation, how do I go about doing so?
Hi shelleyraewallace - I'm not really familiar with 3D Viewer, but I assume it can import a number of different 3D formats? Can you share the link to the model you downloaded so I can have a look? The 3D file should be in the ZIP archive you downloaded.
Thanks James, I have tried a number of them with the same response. It is likely that I am just not great with tech and that is the issue, but I will send you screenshots of my process.
Say for example I want to download Matilda - https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/matilda-7ddedfb652bd4ea091bc3de27f98fc02
I have the zip folder here then I open it.
Textures opens up fine and I can see all the textures fine. When I open scene, I get the 3D Viewer notification.
When I open scene bin I get the following:
Sorry, as I said, I am probably doing something wrong, but would like to check out how I can use this before I pay for a subscription.
Thanks! The "scene" file is actually a .gltf file. I'm not sure why Windows is not displaying the file extension.
Maybe you could try dropping the gltf, bin, and texture file into https://sbtron.github.io/makeglb/ to produce a GLB file and see if 3D Viewer can open that.
Otherwise, it seems to be a problem with 3D Viewer itself or something in this model that it cannot handle. However, other glTF viewers like https://gltf-viewer.donmccurdy.com/ can open.
Hi Sketchfab team, I have uploaded my models through Skanect
and I cant add my PayPal account, so is it because I haven't upgrade to Pro account?
Only pro can sell?
Hi there,
You do not need a Pro account to sell in the Sketchfab Store. However, you must go through the application process: https://help.sketchfab.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004259063-Selling-your-3D-Models
I tried to download this file but I get the error message shown in the screenshot below. Why can't I download it?
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