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DATASHEET // GAUSSIAN-SPLATTING

3D Gaussian Splatting

The INRIA original — train your own splats.

OPEN SOURCE12–24 GB VRAMRuns locally
Actually FreeNo SignupWatermark-Free
Visit 3D Gaussian SplattingUPDATED 2025-08-25 · DIRECT LINK
github.com/graphdeco-inria/gaussian-splatting
3D Gaussian Splatting — preview image

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS //

Runs locally · Mid GPU (12 GB)

12–24 GB VRAM
Min VRAM
12 GB
Rec. VRAM
24 GB
Min RAM
16 GB
Rec. RAM
32 GB
Disk
20 GB
GPU class
Mid GPU
11.6+No Apple SiliconGPU RequiredQuant: FP32

Hard floor at 12 GB; 24 GB needed for typical room-scale scenes.

[ EDITORIAL PICK ]

Why we recommend 3D Gaussian Splatting

DERIVED FROM METADATA — NOT SPONSORED
  • Genuinely free

    No paywall, no signup wall — you can use 3D Gaussian Splatting today without handing over an email.

  • Runs on 12 GB

    Comfortable on a mid-range consumer card — no need to remortgage for an A100.

  • Top-tier pick

    Power-user score 88/100 — consistently rated highly by people who use this every day, not just benchmark chasers.

[ EVIDENCE NOTE ]

Documentation-led datasheet

This page summarizes upstream documentation, release information, and editorially reviewed catalogue fields. It is not presented as a hands-on benchmark. Verify changing requirements at the official project; report stale data through our corrections channel.

AT-A-GLANCE SIGNALS //

DERIVED FROM THIS PAGE'S DATA
  • Install difficulty
    Standard

    A standard local install — download, install dependencies, point at your GPU.

  • Hardware comfort
    Mainstream

    Needs 12 GB minimum — RTX 3060 12GB or 4070 territory.

  • Ecosystem
    Standard

    Not open source and no public API — what you see is what you get.

  • Verification
    Stale

    325 days since the last refresh — treat hardware numbers as a floor, not a ceiling.

[ COMMUNITY GUIDES & WORKFLOWS ]

Tutorials & deep-dives for 3D Gaussian Splatting

Hand-picked from YouTube, Reddit, GitHub, and the wider web. Each link goes straight to the source — we don't intercept or rewrite anything.

[ MORE IN THIS NICHE ]

Other 3d & spatial tools we rate

Three picks across different tradeoffs — so you don't end up with three near-clones of 3D Gaussian Splatting.

LIGHTEST HARDWARE //

Nerfstudio

The open framework for NeRF and Gaussian Splatting research.

OPEN SOURCE8–24 GB VRAM
BEST FREE OPTION //

Instant-NGP

NVIDIA's seconds-to-train hash-grid NeRF.

OPEN SOURCE8–12 GB VRAM
TOP QUALITY //

Luma AI

Phone-scan to NeRF, Genie text-to-3D, and Dream Machine video.

FREEMIUM · $30/MOCLOUD · NO GPU

What is 3D Gaussian Splatting?

The original Gaussian Splatting code release from INRIA / Université Côte d'Azur — the paper that broke NeRF's stranglehold by being faster to train and dramatically faster to render. Not as friendly as Nerfstudio, but it's the reference for the technique that's now everywhere in 3D capture.

Pros & cons

✓ PROS

  • The reference implementation — every paper compares against this
  • Real-time rendering (>100 FPS) for trained scenes
  • Significantly faster training than NeRF for similar quality

– CONS

  • Non-commercial licence — must relicense for commercial use
  • No batteries-included pipeline; bring your own COLMAP run
  • Windows support is unofficial and fiddly

What's actually free?

Free for academic / non-commercial research; commercial use requires INRIA licence.

✓ Actually FreeNo SignupWatermark-Free

Alternatives

Nerfstudio

The open framework for NeRF and Gaussian Splatting research.

OPEN SOURCE8–24 GB VRAM
VRAM fit8–24 GB

Instant-NGP

NVIDIA's seconds-to-train hash-grid NeRF.

OPEN SOURCE8–12 GB VRAM
VRAM fit8–12 GB