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AI auto-rigging for game characters: license & import

In short

Auto-rigging is cheap now. The license is what decides whether the rig can ship. Meshy rigs humanoids and four-legged characters for 0 credits, but free-plan output is CC BY 4.0, so you must credit Meshy. Tripo rigs seven character types and offers UE5 Mannequin, Mixamo, and Unity Humanoid presets, but its free models are non-commercial. Cascadeur includes rigging tools on Free, but Free exports .casc only for non-commercial use. Adobe's Mixamo is free and royalty-free for games, but it rigs bipedal humanoids only. For motion from video, DeepMotion and Rokoko allow commercial use on the terms quoted below, while Plask's commercial plan is unclear. Unity and Godot import steps follow, with quotes from the engines' own docs.

Auto-riggers will put a skeleton in a generated character in under a minute. Whether that rig can ship in a game you sell depends on the plan you made it on, and whether it plays your animations depends on the skeleton and the engine import. This guide quotes each vendor's pricing page, docs and terms, plus Unity's and Godot's manuals, for all three.

Not tested hands-on. We have not tested these riggers hands-on, and we have not imported their rigs into Unity, Unreal, or Godot. Nothing here is ranked on rig or weight quality, because we have not measured it. Every claim is a verbatim quote from the vendor's pricing page, docs, terms, or product page, or from Unity, Godot, Adobe, or Valve docs, fetched on 2026-10-29. Our daily job re-checks that each quote is still on its page. Adobe's Mixamo FAQ blocks our automated checker, so those quotes were read by hand on the fetch date.

7 tools · 52 vendor and engine doc quotes plus ledger rows · updated 2026-10-29 · last checked 2026-10-29

Auto-riggers side by side: Meshy, Tripo, 3D AI Studio, Cascadeur

Each cell is copied from the vendor's own pricing page, docs, or terms. Open "Quotes" under a row to see the exact text and the date we fetched it.

  • Ship free-plan output?

    Meshy
    Yes, with credit. Meshy owns free-plan output and licenses it to you under CC BY 4.0, which allows commercial use with attribution.
    Tripo
    No. The Free card says public models and non-commercial use, and Tripo keeps the rights to free users' outputs.
    3D AI Studio
    Yes. The pricing page says commercial use is allowed on all generated models, which are private and owned by you.
    Cascadeur
    No. Free is non-commercial and exports .casc only, so no FBX leaves the app.
    Quotes behind this (7)
    • Customers using Meshy's Services under the free plan, acknowledge and agree that Meshy owns all right, title, and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to the Customer Output and makes such rights available to free plan customers under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (the " CC BY 4.0 License "), as long as the free plan customer provides appropriate credit to Meshy.
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/terms-of-use
    • CC BY 4.0 license (commercial use with attribution)
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/pricing
    • Standard Queue Public Models · Non-Commercial Use
      Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/pricing
    • For Users who access and use the Services free of charge (“Free Users”), Tripo retains all rights, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, promote, transfer, authorize, license, optimize, derive revenue or other remuneration from, communicate to the public, perform, and display the Inputs and Outputs submitted or generated by Free Users
      Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/terms
    • Private & Commercially Licensed All generated assets are private to your account and fully owned by you. Use them commercially in games, products, or client work.
      3D AI Studio · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
    • Export to .casc format only. .fbx and .dae are not available Only non-commercial use
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • Commercial use allowed on all generated models
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · 3daistudio.com/pricing

  • What a rig costs

    Meshy
    0 credits per model. Preset clips beyond the free set need a paid plan.
    Tripo
    20 credits per rig. Free gives 200 credits a month.
    3D AI Studio
    Rigging AI 20 credits, Animation AI 15. The smallest one-time pack is 2,000 credits for $34.
    Cascadeur
    Rigging tools are on Free. FBX export starts at Indie: $19 a month, or $8 a month billed annually, and revenue must be under $100k.
    Quotes behind this (9)
    • Free Best for Explorers $0 $ 0 .00 / Month Included Credits 200 Monthly Credits ≈ 13 Models
      Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/pricing
    • One-Time 2,000 Credits $ 34 $ 1.70 /100 credits 2,000 Credits Credits never expire
      3D AI Studio · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
    • Indie Indie 1 Best for hobbyist and small teams $ 19 per month $ 8 per month billed annually Gives access to a Perpetual license
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • Export to .fbx and .dae Priority support The revenue must be less than $100k per year
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • Remesh 0 Per model Rigging 0 Per model
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/pricing
    • A few motions are available on every plan, and the rest need a paid plan.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/guides/animate
    • Yes, rigging consumes 20 credits.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · tripo3d.ai/product-doc/module-post-processing/rigging-animation
    • Rigging AI 20 credits Animation AI 15 credits
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
    • Free Includes: Complete animation toolset Rigging tools Physics-based tools
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · cascadeur.com/plans

  • What it rigs

    Meshy
    Humanoids and four-legged characters, with joint markers you place. Smart Rig (beta) takes other models such as creatures, robots, and props.
    Tripo
    Seven types: biped, quadruped, hexapod, octopod, avian, serpentine, and fish-like.
    3D AI Studio
    Rigging is listed among its tools. The pricing page doesn't say which character types it supports.
    Cascadeur
    Humanoids and quadrupeds: you drag and drop the joints and it generates the rig.
    Quotes behind this (5)
    • Add a skeleton to a humanoid or four-legged character so you can animate it in Meshy or in engines such as Unity and Unreal.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/guides/3d-model/rigging
    • Smart Rig rigs other models, such as creatures, robots, and props, without markers, but Smart Rig models can't use the animation library.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/guides/3d-model/rigging
    • 7 types of characters are supported: Biped (humanoid), quadruped characters (four-legged characters), hexapod characters (six-legged characters), octopod characters (eight-legged characters), avian characters (birds), serpentine characters (snakes), fish-like characters.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · tripo3d.ai/product-doc/module-post-processing/rigging-animation
    • Image to 3D, Text to 3D, Texture AI, rigging, remeshing, compression, animation, and more — all in one platform.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
    • Drag-and-drop the joints of your character to generate the rig automatically for humanoids and quadrupeds
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · cascadeur.com/

  • Skeleton and export

    Meshy
    FBX or GLB. Humanoids can use a skeleton template; Mixamo is the default. Smart Rig downloads as GLB only.
    Tripo
    Presets: ActorCore, Mixamo, UE5 Mannequin, VRM 1.0 Humanoid, Unity Humanoid Compatible. Tripo says only FBX reliably keeps skeleton, weights, and clips.
    3D AI Studio
    All plans export GLB, OBJ, FBX, STL, USDZ, and PLY. No skeleton template is named.
    Cascadeur
    Indie and up export CASC, FBX, DAE, USD, and GLTF.
    Quotes behind this (6)

  • Watch out for

    Meshy
    Facial bones and tail physics aren't supported. Rig those by hand in Blender or Maya.
    Tripo
    No manual skeleton or weight editing in Tripo Studio; export the FBX to a DCC tool. Hair is static.
    3D AI Studio
    Models stay in your library 6 months on free and 12 on paid, so download what you ship.
    Cascadeur
    Animation retargeting and AutoPosing for quadrupeds are listed on the Pro card ($49 a month, or $33 billed annually).
    Quotes behind this (6)
    • Generated 3D models stay in your library for 6 months on the free plan and 12 months on paid plans, counted from when they were created.
      3D AI Studio · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
    • Pro Pro 1 Best for professionals and small teams. $ 49 per month $ 33 per month billed annually Gives access to a Perpetual license Get Pro Free 14 days trial
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • For a custom skeleton, such as facial bones or tail physics, download the model and rig it by hand in a DCC tool such as Blender or Maya.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/guides/3d-model/rigging
    • Not within Tripo Studio. For manual adjustments, export the rigged FBX to Blender, Maya, or another DCC tool.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · tripo3d.ai/product-doc/module-post-processing/rigging-animation
    • Hair is static — AI-generated hair geometry cannot simulate
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · tripo3d.ai/product-doc/module-post-processing/rigging-animation
    • Commercial use with no limits Dedicated chat support (Priority queue for Customer Service) Animation retargeting Interaction with environment Scene linking tool Autoposing for quadrupeds
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · cascadeur.com/plans

Auto-riggers: give it a mesh, get a skeleton

Tools in our ledger that put bones and skin weights on a character model. Each name links to its commercial-use page.

  • MeshyPartly verified

    Rigs humanoid and four-legged characters for 0 credits, with a Mixamo skeleton template by default and 600+ animation presets. Free output is CC BY 4.0 (credit Meshy); paid customers own their output.

    Cheapest paid
    Pro, 1,000 credits/month. Open the pricing row for the current price.
    Free tier
    100 credits/month, CC BY 4.0 (commercial use with attribution)
    Quotes behind this (8)
    • Upload any humanoid, biped, quadruped, or stylized character and Meshy automatically generates a production-ready rig in under 30 seconds.
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-25 · meshy.ai/features/ai-animation-generator
    • Is Meshy free? Yes. The Free plan includes 100 credits per month, and you don't need a credit card. Paid plans (Pro, Premium, Ultra, Studio, and Enterprise) add more credits and features.
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/pricing
    • Pro gets you 1,000 credits per month, 60% faster generation, API access, private asset ownership, and 10 concurrent tasks - making it one of the most affordable AI 3D tools available.
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/pricing
    • Customers using Meshy's Services under the free plan, acknowledge and agree that Meshy owns all right, title, and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to the Customer Output and makes such rights available to free plan customers under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (the " CC BY 4.0 License "), as long as the free plan customer provides appropriate credit to Meshy.
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/terms-of-use
    • As between Meshy and those Customers on a paid Meshy plan, and to the extent possible under applicable law, such customers on a paid Meshy plan own their Customer Output.
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/terms-of-use
    • Remesh 0 Per model Rigging 0 Per model
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/pricing
    • Download the rigged model as FBX or GLB. For a humanoid, Download Settings also lets you choose a skeleton template, such as Mixamo, which is the default.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/guides/3d-model/rigging
    • Rig a character and add motions from a library of more than 600 presets, then download it as FBX, GLB, or USDZ for Unity, Unreal, or Blender.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/guides/animate
  • TripoPaid plan only

    Rigs seven character types for 20 credits, with engine presets including UE5 Mannequin and Unity Humanoid Compatible. Free models are public and non-commercial; Pro lists private models and commercial use.

    Cheapest paid
    Pro, $20/month billed annually
    Free tier
    200 credits/month, non-commercial
    Quotes behind this (9)
  • 3D AI StudioPricing page lists a license

    Credit-based platform that lists rigging (20 credits) and animation (15 credits) among its tools, and says commercial use is allowed on all generated models. It doesn't document which characters its rigger handles.

    Cheapest paid
    $34 one-time pack of 2,000 credits. We couldn't read the monthly prices as text.
    Free tier
    A free plan exists; models stay in your library for 6 months
    Quotes behind this (5)
    • One-Time 2,000 Credits $ 34 $ 1.70 /100 credits 2,000 Credits Credits never expire
      3D AI Studio · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
    • Private & Commercially Licensed All generated assets are private to your account and fully owned by you. Use them commercially in games, products, or client work.
      3D AI Studio · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
    • Generated 3D models stay in your library for 6 months on the free plan and 12 months on paid plans, counted from when they were created.
      3D AI Studio · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
    • Rigging AI 20 credits Animation AI 15 credits
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
    • Image to 3D, Text to 3D, Texture AI, rigging, remeshing, compression, animation, and more — all in one platform.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
  • CascadeurPaid plan only

    Desktop animation app with drag-and-drop rigging for humanoids and quadrupeds, AI posing, and retargeting. Free is non-commercial and .casc only. Indie adds FBX with a $100k revenue cap; Pro is commercial with no limits.

    Cheapest paid
    Indie, $19/month or $8/month billed annually (revenue under $100k a year)
    Free tier
    Free, $0: full toolset, .casc export only, non-commercial use
    Quotes behind this (8)
    • Export to .casc format only. .fbx and .dae are not available Only non-commercial use
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • Indie Indie 1 Best for hobbyist and small teams $ 19 per month $ 8 per month billed annually Gives access to a Perpetual license
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • Export to .fbx and .dae Priority support The revenue must be less than $100k per year
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • 1.6 If you registered for an "Indie" Licence Type, your aggregate gross revenue or funding (from any source of financing) in the twelve months ending on the date when you download the Software, and on each renewal date (yearly or monthly) under Clause 9.3, must be less than US $100,000.00
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/help/faq
    • Everything on Indie, plus: Commercial use with no limits
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • Drag-and-drop the joints of your character to generate the rig automatically for humanoids and quadrupeds
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · cascadeur.com/
    • Free Includes: Complete animation toolset Rigging tools Physics-based tools
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • Copy/paste animation between different characters, regardless of their skeletal structure and proportions
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · cascadeur.com/

Motion from video: animation for a rig you already have

These tools don't build your skeleton. They turn footage into animation you put on a rigged character. The license questions are different, so read the row before you ship.

  • DeepMotion Animate 3DPaid plan only

    Animate 3D turns MP4, MOV, or AVI video into animation on a default or custom character; GLB export is for custom characters only. Paid plans get a perpetual, royalty-free commercial license, but DeepMotion keeps ownership of the animations.

    Cheapest paid
    Starter, $9/month paid annually
    Free tier
    Freemium, no card needed; personal, non-commercial use only
    Quotes behind this (7)
    • Starter $9 per month, paid annually Buy Now Innovator $17 per month, paid annually Buy Now Most Popular Professional $39 per month, paid annually Buy Now Unlimited Animation Studio $83 per month, paid annually
      DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/pricing-animate3d
    • Freemium accounts are available for personal, non-commercial use.
      DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/pricing-animate3d
    • we grant you a perpetual, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free, worldwide Commercial license to use, copy, modify, publicly perform, publicly display and reproduce such Products, for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.
      DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/terms-of-use
    • We own all right, title, copyright, and other intellectual property rights and interest in the Products of the Site. Except as expressly granted in these Terms, no license, right or interest in any Products of the Site is granted to you. Products of the site are licensed, not sold.
      DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/terms-of-use
    • MP4, MOV, and AVI input videos are supported.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · deepmotion.com/pricing-animate3d
    • Animate 3D lets you create animations either using custom characters provided by you or a default set of characters provided by the service.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · deepmotion.com/pricing-animate3d
    • Animations can be exported in FBX, BVH, MP4, and GLB formats (GLB only available for custom characters).
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · deepmotion.com/pricing-animate3d
  • Rokoko VisionPricing page lists a license

    Rokoko Vision turns a single video into animation with no suit, exported as FBX or BVH. Rokoko's Create FAQ says generated motion can be used commercially. Basic adds importing and retargeting your own characters.

    Cheapest paid
    Basic, $10/month billed annually ($12 billed monthly)
    Free tier
    Starter, $0: 30 seconds of Vision AI processing a month, FBX export
    Quotes behind this (6)
    • Starter Get started with Studio $ 0 free forever Try for free What’s included: Record & export mocap Access to clean-up filters Export to .FBX Rokoko Create: Vision AI video processing: 30s/month Text-to-motion clips: Unlimited
      Rokoko Vision · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · rokoko.com/pricing
    • Basic Optimized for AI mocap $ 10/m billed annually Get Basic All Starter features, plus: Import & retarget custom characters
      Rokoko Vision · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · rokoko.com/pricing
    • Basic Optimized for AI mocap $ 12/m billed monthly Get Basic All Starter features, plus: Import & retarget custom characters Export to .BHV + advanced options Smoothing filter & loop segments Rokoko Create: Vision AI video processing: 600s/month
      Rokoko Vision · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · rokoko.com/pricing
    • all generated data with text-to-motion and with video-to-motion can be used commercially
      Rokoko Vision · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · create.rokoko.com/
    • 6.3 You retain all rights to your User Content and are responsible for protecting those rights.
      Rokoko Vision · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · rokoko.com/terms-of-use-update
    • Rokoko Vision turns a single video into 3D animation, with no suit or markers. Upload footage to Rokoko Create, edit in Studio, export FBX or BVH.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · rokoko.com/products/vision
  • PlaskPaid plans, with caveats

    Video motion capture with FBX, GLB, and BVH export on every plan. The commercial license is unclear: the terms grant it only on the "Commercial subscription plan", and the pricing page doesn't say which plan that is.

    Cheapest paid
    Standard, $18/month billed annually
    Free tier
    Freemium, $0: 15 seconds of motion capture a day; the terms' default is personal, non-commercial use
    Quotes behind this (5)
    • FREEMIUM For beginners to explore AI motion capture Free No subscription required Start for free Motion Capture 15 Seconds daily limit
      Plask · Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · plask.ai/en-US/pricing
    • STANDARD For enhanced creation and collaboration $18/month Billed annually Get started Motion Capture 10 Minutes a month
      Plask · Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · plask.ai/en-US/pricing
    • Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these TOS, Paid Users who subscribe to the Commercial subscription plan
      Plask · Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · plask.ai/en-US/docs/100002
    • You may only utilize the Service for personal non-commercial use.
      Plask · Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · plask.ai/en-US/docs/100002
    • FBX, GLB, BVH Export
      Plask · Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · plask.ai/en-US/pricing

Can you ship it? is the label from each tool's commercial-use page, computed from its stored vendor quotes. Prices are copied from vendor pricing pages on the fetch date shown under each quote. Mixamo has no row because it isn't in our tool ledger yet; its quotes are in the sections below.

Can you ship the rig? The plan decides, not the bones

A rig and its animations ship inside your game, so the plan you made them on matters as much as for the mesh. Here is what each source says.

  • Meshy free: commercial, but credit required

    Meshy's terms say it owns free-plan output and makes it available under CC BY 4.0 if you credit Meshy. Rigging costs 0 credits, so a free rig is easy to make. To ship it you need the credit line, or a paid plan, where customers own their output.

    Quotes behind this (4)
    • Customers using Meshy's Services under the free plan, acknowledge and agree that Meshy owns all right, title, and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to the Customer Output and makes such rights available to free plan customers under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (the " CC BY 4.0 License "), as long as the free plan customer provides appropriate credit to Meshy.
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/terms-of-use
    • If you are on a free plan, we grant you a CC BY 4.0 license instead. We kindly ask that you credit Meshy for the tool's use in the description of your project. Here is an example attribution format you may use: "Model created with Meshy – CC BY 4.0 License
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · help.meshy.ai/en/articles/9992001-can-i-use-meshy-assets-commercially-
    • As between Meshy and those Customers on a paid Meshy plan, and to the extent possible under applicable law, such customers on a paid Meshy plan own their Customer Output.
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/terms-of-use
    • Remesh 0 Per model Rigging 0 Per model
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/pricing

  • Tripo free: don't ship it

    Tripo's Free card lists non-commercial use, and its terms say Tripo retains all rights in free users' outputs, including the right to license them. Rig on Pro or higher if the character goes in a game you sell.

    Quotes behind this (3)
    • Standard Queue Public Models · Non-Commercial Use
      Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/pricing
    • For Users who access and use the Services free of charge (“Free Users”), Tripo retains all rights, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, promote, transfer, authorize, license, optimize, derive revenue or other remuneration from, communicate to the public, perform, and display the Inputs and Outputs submitted or generated by Free Users
      Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/terms
    • High Queue Priority Private Models · Commercial Use
      Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/pricing

  • Cascadeur: Free, Indie, and Pro are three different licenses

    Cascadeur Free is non-commercial and can't export FBX. Indie allows commercial use only while your gross revenue or funding stays under $100,000 a year, checked at download and at each renewal. Pro allows commercial use with no limits.

    Quotes behind this (3)
    • Export to .casc format only. .fbx and .dae are not available Only non-commercial use
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • 1.6 If you registered for an "Indie" Licence Type, your aggregate gross revenue or funding (from any source of financing) in the twelve months ending on the date when you download the Software, and on each renewal date (yearly or monthly) under Clause 9.3, must be less than US $100,000.00
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/help/faq
    • Everything on Indie, plus: Commercial use with no limits
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans

  • DeepMotion: licensed, not owned

    DeepMotion's terms say DeepMotion owns the animations the site produces. Paid plans get a perpetual, royalty-free commercial license; Freemium is personal and non-commercial. Its FAQ says only your plan type affects licensing, not whether you used free credits. You can't resell the clips as stand-alone assets.

    Quotes behind this (5)
    • We own all right, title, copyright, and other intellectual property rights and interest in the Products of the Site. Except as expressly granted in these Terms, no license, right or interest in any Products of the Site is granted to you. Products of the site are licensed, not sold.
      DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/terms-of-use
    • we grant you a perpetual, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free, worldwide Commercial license to use, copy, modify, publicly perform, publicly display and reproduce such Products, for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.
      DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/terms-of-use
    • Freemium accounts are available for personal, non-commercial use.
      DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/pricing-animate3d
    • Any and all licenses granted by us under these Terms are subject to the limitation that the Products of the Site may not be used in a way that allows others to use or access the Products as a stand-alone (for instance, no sub-license or resale by you to others is allowed).
      DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/terms-of-use
    • No, only your plan type affects your licensing.
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · deepmotion.com/pricing-animate3d

  • Plask: unresolved, so we don't guess

    Plask's terms limit the service to personal non-commercial use, except for paid users on the "Commercial subscription plan". The pricing page lists Freemium, Standard, and Pro and doesn't say which one that is. Its FAQ says users own the copyright in animations they create, but ownership isn't the same as a commercial license. We have asked Plask which plan it means. Until it answers, get the answer in writing before you ship.

    Quotes behind this (3)
    • Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these TOS, Paid Users who subscribe to the Commercial subscription plan
      Plask · Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · plask.ai/en-US/docs/100002
    • You may only utilize the Service for personal non-commercial use.
      Plask · Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · plask.ai/en-US/docs/100002
    • All copyrights and intellectual property rights for animations created by subscribers in Plask belong to the users themselves.
      Plask · Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · plask.ai/en-US/docs/faqs

  • Mixamo: free and royalty-free for games

    Adobe's Mixamo FAQ says Mixamo is free with an Adobe ID and that its characters and animations are royalty free for personal, commercial, and non-profit projects. It isn't available for Enterprise and Federated IDs. That makes it the free baseline the AI riggers have to beat, for humanoids at least.

    Quotes behind this (3)

  • Rokoko and 3D AI Studio: commercial use stated

    Rokoko's Create FAQ says motion from text-to-motion and video-to-motion can be used commercially, and its terms say you keep the rights to your content (with a broad license back to Rokoko to run the service). 3D AI Studio says commercial use is allowed on all generated models.

    Quotes behind this (5)
    • all generated data with text-to-motion and with video-to-motion can be used commercially
      Rokoko Vision · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · create.rokoko.com/
    • 6.3 You retain all rights to your User Content and are responsible for protecting those rights.
      Rokoko Vision · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · rokoko.com/terms-of-use-update
    • You hereby grant us a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable right to access, use, copy, and modify any intellectual property rights that arise in connection with the User Content, Usage Data and any other Data related to you (if any), strictly for the purposes of providing the Services and to exercise such other rights, which are explicitly set out in these Terms.
      Rokoko Vision · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · rokoko.com/terms-of-use-update
    • Private & Commercially Licensed All generated assets are private to your account and fully owned by you. Use them commercially in games, products, or client work.
      3D AI Studio · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · 3daistudio.com/pricing
    • Commercial use allowed on all generated models
      Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · 3daistudio.com/pricing

Step by step: from AI mesh to an animated character in your engine

Ten steps. Steps 1 to 4 happen in the rigging tool, 5 to 9 in Unity or Godot, and step 10 comes before release. We built them from the vendor and engine docs quoted under each step, not from a project we ran.

  1. Step 1. Pick a plan you can ship from before you rig

    Re-rigging later costs time, and some free plans can't ship: Tripo Free is non-commercial, Cascadeur Free is non-commercial and .casc only, and Meshy Free needs a CC BY credit. Choose the plan first.

    Quotes behind this (3)
    • Standard Queue Public Models · Non-Commercial Use
      Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/pricing
    • Export to .casc format only. .fbx and .dae are not available Only non-commercial use
      Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
    • Customers using Meshy's Services under the free plan, acknowledge and agree that Meshy owns all right, title, and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to the Customer Output and makes such rights available to free plan customers under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (the " CC BY 4.0 License "), as long as the free plan customer provides appropriate credit to Meshy.
      Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/terms-of-use

  2. Step 2. Start from a clean T-pose or A-pose mesh

    Meshy asks for a T-pose or A-pose with a clear gap between limbs and body, and makes you remesh models over 300,000 faces before rigging. Mixamo asks for a default or neutral pose. Generate the character in that pose rather than fixing it later.

    Quotes behind this (3)

  3. Step 3. Choose the skeleton your engine or animation library expects

    Tripo offers ActorCore, Mixamo, UE5 Mannequin, VRM 1.0 Humanoid, and Unity Humanoid Compatible presets. Meshy lets humanoids pick a skeleton template, with Mixamo as the default. Matching the skeleton to the clips you plan to use saves retargeting work.

    Quotes behind this (2)

  4. Step 4. Export FBX

    Tripo says only FBX reliably preserves skeleton hierarchy, weight data, and animation clips. Meshy downloads rigged models as FBX or GLB, but Smart Rig models are GLB only. Cascadeur exports FBX from Indie up.

    Quotes behind this (4)

  5. Step 5. Unity: set the Rig tab to Humanoid or Generic

    Select the model, open the Rig tab in the Inspector, and set Animation Type. Unity's manual says to use Humanoid if the rig has two legs, two arms, and a head, and Generic for quadrupeds or anything else.

    Quotes behind this (2)

  6. Step 6. Unity: check the Avatar mapping

    For a Humanoid rig, Unity maps each bone to a Humanoid Avatar. Click Configure and check the mapping. Unity recommends matching the optional bones and setting a proper T-pose, and says bone names that reflect body parts improve the match.

    Quotes behind this (3)

  7. Step 7. Unity: reuse clips by retargeting

    Once each model uses the Humanoid animation type with a configured Avatar, Unity can apply the same animation to different humanoid models without renaming bones. That is how Mixamo or vendor clips move onto your AI-rigged character.

    Quotes behind this (2)

  8. Step 8. Godot: set up a BoneMap with SkeletonProfileHumanoid

    Godot can't share animations between skeletons just because bone names match. In the advanced import dialog, select the Skeleton3D, create a BoneMap, and use the SkeletonProfileHumanoid preset. Auto-mapping matches bone names, so common English names help; map bones by hand if it misses.

    Quotes behind this (4)

  9. Step 9. Godot: use the Rest Fixer options

    SkeletonProfileHumanoid expects a T-pose reference. Godot calls Overwrite Axis the most important option for sharing animations in Godot 4, but warns it can produce horrible results if the original bone rest matters.

    Quotes behind this (2)

  10. Step 10. Steam: answer the AI content survey

    Valve's Content Survey defines Pre-Generated content as anything that ships with your game, is consumed by players, and was made with the help of AI tools during development. Characters rigged or animated with AI ship with the game, so answer that section. See our Steam AI disclosure guide.

    Quotes behind this (3)

Where auto-rigging breaks

The vendors' own docs list the failure cases. Plan for these before you commit a character to a rig.

  • Hair, capes, and big props

    Tripo says AI-generated hair is static and can't simulate. Mixamo says large hair and clothing items, wings, tails, and extra limbs may not work.

    Quotes behind this (2)

  • Shoulders and skin weights

    Tripo lists bad shoulder deformation as common with auto-rigging and sends you to Blender or Maya to fix weights, because Tripo Studio has no manual skeleton or weight editing.

    Quotes behind this (2)

  • Faces, tails, and custom bones

    Meshy says a custom skeleton, such as facial bones or tail physics, has to be rigged by hand in a DCC tool such as Blender or Maya.

    Quotes behind this (1)

  • Anything that isn't a humanoid

    Mixamo's auto-rigger is for bipedal humanoids only. Meshy's Smart Rig takes other shapes but can't use the animation library and downloads as GLB only. Tripo documents seven body types. In Unity, non-humanoids use the Generic animation type, not Humanoid retargeting.

    Quotes behind this (4)

  • Running out of animations

    Meshy's preset library is mostly paid beyond a few motions. Meshy and Tripo both document taking the rigged FBX to Mixamo for more clips.

    Quotes behind this (3)

Editorial opinion

Our pick: which auto-rigger for your game

  • Pick Mixamo if your character is a plain humanoid and you want $0 with a license that names video games. It's humanoid-only and fussy about pose, props, and hair, so it's the baseline, not a fit for creatures.
  • Pick Meshy if you generated the mesh in Meshy because rigging costs 0 credits and exports FBX with a Mixamo skeleton. On Free you must credit Meshy (CC BY 4.0); on a paid plan you own the output.
  • Pick Tripo Pro if you need non-humanoids or an engine preset such as UE5 Mannequin or Unity Humanoid Compatible, or one of its seven body types. Don't ship free-plan rigs: Free is non-commercial.
  • Pick Cascadeur Indie if you'll hand-polish the animation and your revenue or funding is under $100k a year. You need Pro above that, and Pro is also where the plans page lists animation retargeting.
  • Pick Rokoko Vision for motion from your own video starting free at 30 seconds a month, with an FAQ that says generated motion can be used commercially.
  • Pick Hold off on Plask for commercial work until Plask says which plan is its "Commercial subscription plan".

These picks are our editorial opinion, based on the quoted plans, docs, and terms above. We have not tested any of these riggers hands-on or compared rig quality, so we don't rank them on quality.

FAQ

What is the best free AI auto-rigger for game characters?
For a humanoid you plan to sell, Mixamo is the free option whose FAQ says characters and animations are royalty free for commercial projects. Meshy rigs for 0 credits and also allows commercial use on Free, but only under CC BY 4.0 with credit. Tripo's free plan is non-commercial. We haven't tested rig quality.
Sources (4)
  • Customers using Meshy's Services under the free plan, acknowledge and agree that Meshy owns all right, title, and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to the Customer Output and makes such rights available to free plan customers under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (the " CC BY 4.0 License "), as long as the free plan customer provides appropriate credit to Meshy.
    Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/terms-of-use
  • Standard Queue Public Models · Non-Commercial Use
    Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/pricing
  • You can use both characters and animations royalty free for personal, commercial, and non-profit projects
    Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/faq/mixamo-faq.html
  • Remesh 0 Per model Rigging 0 Per model
    Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/pricing
Can I sell a game with a character I rigged on Meshy's free plan?
Yes, if you credit Meshy. Meshy's terms say it owns free-plan output and makes it available under CC BY 4.0, which allows commercial use with attribution. On a paid plan you own the output and no credit is required by the license.
Sources (3)
  • Customers using Meshy's Services under the free plan, acknowledge and agree that Meshy owns all right, title, and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to the Customer Output and makes such rights available to free plan customers under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (the " CC BY 4.0 License "), as long as the free plan customer provides appropriate credit to Meshy.
    Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/terms-of-use
  • If you are on a free plan, we grant you a CC BY 4.0 license instead. We kindly ask that you credit Meshy for the tool's use in the description of your project. Here is an example attribution format you may use: "Model created with Meshy – CC BY 4.0 License
    Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · help.meshy.ai/en/articles/9992001-can-i-use-meshy-assets-commercially-
  • As between Meshy and those Customers on a paid Meshy plan, and to the extent possible under applicable law, such customers on a paid Meshy plan own their Customer Output.
    Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/terms-of-use
Can I use Tripo's free plan for a commercial game?
No. The Free plan card says public models and non-commercial use, and the terms say Tripo retains the rights to free users' outputs. Pro and higher list commercial use.
Sources (3)
  • Standard Queue Public Models · Non-Commercial Use
    Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/pricing
  • For Users who access and use the Services free of charge (“Free Users”), Tripo retains all rights, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, promote, transfer, authorize, license, optimize, derive revenue or other remuneration from, communicate to the public, perform, and display the Inputs and Outputs submitted or generated by Free Users
    Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/terms
  • High Queue Priority Private Models · Commercial Use
    Tripo · Verified · fetched 2026-10-16 · tripo3d.ai/pricing
Does Mixamo work on AI-generated characters?
If they're humanoid and clean. Adobe says the auto-rigger is for bipedal humanoids only, wants a neutral pose, and may fail on wings, tails, extra limbs, or large hair and clothing. Meshy and Tripo both document sending their rigged FBX to Mixamo for more clips.
Sources (5)
How do I import an auto-rigged FBX into Unity?
Select the model, open the Rig tab, and set Animation Type to Humanoid (two legs, two arms, a head) or Generic (anything else). For Humanoid, configure the Avatar and check the bone mapping; then you can retarget humanoid clips onto it.
Sources (4)
How do I retarget animations to an AI-rigged model in Godot 4?
In the advanced import dialog, select the Skeleton3D, add a BoneMap with the SkeletonProfileHumanoid preset, and fix any bones auto-mapping misses. Matching bone names alone isn't enough in Godot. The Rest Fixer's Overwrite Axis option matters most, with a warning in the docs.
Sources (4)
Cascadeur vs Meshy for rigging?
They do different jobs. Meshy rigs a mesh in its web app for 0 credits and gives you preset animations. Cascadeur is a desktop animation app with drag-and-drop rigging plus AI posing and physics for animating by hand. Licensing differs too: Meshy Free is CC BY with credit, Cascadeur Free is non-commercial with .casc export only.
Sources (5)
  • Customers using Meshy's Services under the free plan, acknowledge and agree that Meshy owns all right, title, and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to the Customer Output and makes such rights available to free plan customers under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (the " CC BY 4.0 License "), as long as the free plan customer provides appropriate credit to Meshy.
    Meshy · Verified · fetched 2026-10-15 · meshy.ai/terms-of-use
  • Export to .casc format only. .fbx and .dae are not available Only non-commercial use
    Cascadeur · Verified · fetched 2026-10-21 · cascadeur.com/plans
  • Remesh 0 Per model Rigging 0 Per model
    Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · docs.meshy.ai/en/webapp/pricing
  • Drag-and-drop the joints of your character to generate the rig automatically for humanoids and quadrupeds
    Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · cascadeur.com/
  • Free Includes: Complete animation toolset Rigging tools Physics-based tools
    Verified · fetched 2026-10-29 · cascadeur.com/plans
Who owns animations made with DeepMotion?
DeepMotion does. Its terms say it owns the animations the site produces and licenses them to you; paid plans get a perpetual, royalty-free commercial license, and Freemium is personal and non-commercial.
Sources (3)
  • We own all right, title, copyright, and other intellectual property rights and interest in the Products of the Site. Except as expressly granted in these Terms, no license, right or interest in any Products of the Site is granted to you. Products of the site are licensed, not sold.
    DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/terms-of-use
  • we grant you a perpetual, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free, worldwide Commercial license to use, copy, modify, publicly perform, publicly display and reproduce such Products, for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.
    DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/terms-of-use
  • Freemium accounts are available for personal, non-commercial use.
    DeepMotion Animate 3D · Verified · fetched 2026-10-26 · deepmotion.com/pricing-animate3d
Do I have to disclose AI rigging or animation on Steam?
Valve's Content Survey covers content that ships with your game, is consumed by players, and was created with the help of AI tools during development. A character rigged or animated with AI fits that description, so answer the AI section. That's Valve's rule, not a statement from any vendor here.
Sources (2)

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