3ds Max VS Substance 3D Painter
As of 30 October 2026, Substance 3D Painter is named by 124 companies and 3ds Max by 509; 3ds Max skews to companies under 200 people (59% vs 57%), Substance 3D Painter to companies over 1,000 (22% vs 20%).
As of 30 October 2026 · refreshed daily · counts move as websites, DNS and career sites are re-read.
The website-and-DNS footprint is not comparable between a marketing suite and a CRM: 3ds Max's script and mail records show on hundreds of thousands of small sites, Substance 3D Painter rarely leaves a trace outside its own apps. Compare on the job-posting numbers; use the footprint for reach.
- 3ds Max: 2–200 employees
- 59%
- Substance 3D Painter: 2–200 employees
- 57%
- 3ds Max: 1,000+ employees
- 20%
- Substance 3D Painter: 1,000+ employees
- 22%
- Postings per company, 90 days
- 2.1 · 2.5
- Website or DNS footprint
- 0 · 0
Who chooses which
Share of each tool's companies in every segment. "Leans" marks a gap of more than two points.
| Segment | 3ds Max | share | Substance 3D Painter | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-employed | 3 | 1% | 1 | 1% | even |
| 2-10 employees | 55 | 11% | 13 | 10% | even |
| 11-50 employees | 139 | 27% | 33 | 27% | even |
| 51-200 employees | 108 | 21% | 25 | 20% | even |
| 201-500 employees | 68 | 13% | 15 | 12% | even |
| 501-1000 employees | 36 | 7% | 10 | 8% | even |
| 1001-5000 employees | 52 | 10% | 15 | 12% | even |
| 5001-10000 employees | 23 | 5% | 3 | 2% | 3ds Max |
| 10,001+ employees | 25 | 5% | 9 | 7% | Substance 3D Painter |
| Segment | 3ds Max | share | Substance 3D Painter | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Property & construction | 135 | 27% | 3 | 2% | 3ds Max |
| Business & finance services | 98 | 19% | 13 | 10% | 3ds Max |
| Media & content | 94 | 18% | 75 | 60% | Substance 3D Painter |
| Manufacturing & industry | 55 | 11% | 7 | 6% | 3ds Max |
| Technology & software | 45 | 9% | 11 | 9% | even |
| Consumer services & leisure | 40 | 8% | 8 | 6% | even |
| Commerce & trade | 15 | 3% | 1 | 1% | 3ds Max |
| Public, community & associations | 11 | 2% | 3 | 2% | even |
| Automotive | 8 | 2% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Hospitality & travel | 4 | 1% | 2 | 2% | even |
| Utilities & infrastructure | 2 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Health care | 1 | 0% | 1 | 1% | even |
| Segment | 3ds Max | share | Substance 3D Painter | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 232 | 46% | 63 | 51% | Substance 3D Painter |
| United Kingdom | 46 | 9% | 21 | 17% | Substance 3D Painter |
| India | 42 | 8% | 7 | 6% | 3ds Max |
| Canada | 18 | 4% | 4 | 3% | even |
| Germany | 16 | 3% | 3 | 2% | even |
| United Arab Emirates | 15 | 3% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Poland | 13 | 3% | 5 | 4% | even |
| Singapore | 10 | 2% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Australia | 9 | 2% | 1 | 1% | even |
| Greece | 9 | 2% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Spain | 8 | 2% | 3 | 2% | even |
| France | 8 | 2% | 4 | 3% | even |
| Brazil | – | – | 2 | 2% | outside top 12 |
| Netherlands | – | – | 2 | 2% | outside top 12 |
| Belgium | – | – | 1 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Segment | 3ds Max | share | Substance 3D Painter | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design & UX | 899 | 53% | 355 | 74% | Substance 3D Painter |
| Engineering (non-software) | 157 | 9% | 8 | 2% | 3ds Max |
| Construction and civil | 142 | 8% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Software engineering | 28 | 2% | 5 | 1% | even |
| Arts media and entertainment | 22 | 1% | 15 | 3% | even |
| Product, program & project management | 18 | 1% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Sales | 15 | 1% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Education & training | 14 | 1% | 5 | 1% | even |
| Unclassified | 13 | 1% | 6 | 1% | even |
| Data & AI | 9 | 1% | 1 | 0% | even |
| Marketing & communications | 6 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Retail & store operations | 5 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Manufacturing and production | – | – | 3 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Quality, safety & environment | – | – | 2 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Facilities cleaning and security | – | – | 1 | 0% | outside top 12 |
The companies behind each column
Companies using 3ds Max →
Companies using Substance 3D Painter →
3d modeling rendering ranked →
Quote the sentence with the date and the link. The numbers change daily; the link always shows the current ones.
Substance 3D Painter is named by 124 companies in job postings and 3ds Max by 509; 72 name both. (Breaknorm, 30 October 2026, https://breaknorm.co/compare/3ds-max-vs-substance-painter)
Read from the source, not self-reported
Every number on this page can be traced to a page we crawled or a posting we read. Full methodology →
- Job postingsRead hourly from career sites. A tool counts when the employer's own text names it as the team's system; both tools can count for one company.
- Website and DNSScripts and embeds on the company's pages, plus SPF, DKIM, MX and CNAME records of its domain that point at the vendor.
- SegmentsCountry, size and industry from the company profile built from its website.
- Not a reviewNo ratings, prices or feature claims. For those, read the vendors.
3ds Max vs Substance 3D Painter: questions
Which is more used, 3ds Max or Substance 3D Painter?
By companies naming it in their own job postings, 3ds Max (509) over Substance 3D Painter (124). By website-and-DNS footprint, Substance 3D Painter (0 vs 0), because its scripts and mail records sit on many small company sites.
Who chooses 3ds Max?
59% of 3ds Max companies have 2 to 200 employees, against 57% for Substance 3D Painter. 20% of 3ds Max companies have over 1,000 employees, against 22% for Substance 3D Painter.
Do companies run both?
72 companies name both in their postings, usually 3ds Max in marketing and Substance 3D Painter in sales, or during a migration.
Where do these numbers come from?
From the employer's own text in job postings read hourly from career sites, and from scripts found on company websites in our crawl. No vendor data, no surveys.
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