How Goxel Compares to MagicaVoxel and Other Voxel Editors

Goxel is an open-source voxel editor that runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android, with unlimited scene size, layers, and export to formats including MagicaVoxel, Qubicle, glTF2, obj, ply, and build engine. It is the stronger choice if you want a free, cross-platform tool that works on tablets as well as desktops, or if you need very large scenes. MagicaVoxel is the more common pick for polished, small-to-medium voxel art with a fast, artist-focused workflow, but it is not open source and does not cover mobile. The two are not mutually exclusive: Goxel can export to MagicaVoxel format, so files can move between them.

What Goxel actually offers

The official site describes Goxel as a 3D voxel editor that restricts volume along a 3D grid, so editing works like drawing in 2D. Its stated features are:

• Unlimited scene size — Goxel uses sparse matrices internally, so there is no fixed limit on how big a model can be.
• Layers — separate parts of a scene into independently editable 3D models.
• Cross platform — Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.
• Many export formats — MagicaVoxel, Qubicle, glTF2, obj, ply, and build engine.

The desktop version is offered for free on the download page. The site does not state pricing for any mobile version, so treat mobile availability as a platform fact rather than an assumption about cost.

How it compares to MagicaVoxel

The practical difference is not "which is better" but which constraint matters most to you. If you need to work on an iPad or Android tablet, or you want to inspect and modify the tool itself, Goxel is the fit. If your priority is a widely used desktop pipeline with lots of shared community assets, MagicaVoxel remains the default — and Goxel's MagicaVoxel export means you can still hand off work to it.

When Goxel is the right choice

• You want a free, open-source editor you can run across desktop and mobile.
• Your scenes are large enough that a fixed size limit would get in the way.
• You want to separate a model into layers and edit each part independently.
• You need to export into game or 3D pipelines via glTF2, obj, ply, or build engine.
• You want to move assets between tools rather than commit to one.

When to look elsewhere

• You need a mature desktop-only voxel workflow with a large library of existing community models.
• You rely on features the official Goxel page does not list — check the app itself before committing, since the site only documents scene size, layers, cross-platform support, and export formats.

A realistic workflow

A common pattern is to block out a model in Goxel, using layers to keep parts separate, then export to MagicaVoxel format if you want to continue in that tool, or to glTF2/obj if the model is heading into a game engine or 3D application. The site points to a video of French artist Thibault Simar using Goxel on an iPad Pro as an example of tablet use, which is a useful reference if touch-based editing is part of your decision.

To start, get the desktop version from the download page, create a scene, add layers for each part you want to edit separately, and export in the format your next tool accepts.