Is Blockbench Free and Open Source, and Who Uses It?

Yes. Blockbench is free to use for any type of project, forever, with no strings attached, and the project is open source under the GPL license. That combination means you can use it in commercial work, personal projects, or team pipelines without paying for a license, and you can inspect or modify the source code if you want to. The rest of this page covers what that actually means in practice and who else is already using it.

What "free" and "open source" mean here

The two claims come from the same source and are worth separating:

• Free to use for any type of project, forever, no strings attached. This is a usage statement, not a pricing page. It tells you there is no cost barrier tied to the type of project you make. It does not describe paid tiers, accounts, or add-ons, because none are mentioned.
• Open source under the GPL license. The GPL is a copyleft license. In practical terms, the source code is available to view, and if you distribute a modified version, the GPL's terms apply to that distribution. If you only use Blockbench to make models, animations, or textures, the license governs the software, not your artwork.

If your situation involves redistributing a modified build of Blockbench itself, read the GPL terms directly rather than relying on a summary. For normal modeling and animation work, the license is not something you need to act on.

Who uses Blockbench

The site lists these studios and teams among its users:

The list ends with "…and many more," so it is a sample rather than a complete roster. The presence of Mojang Studios is the notable signal: Blockbench's low-poly, cuboid-based workflow is built around the Minecraft aesthetic, so adoption by the studio behind Minecraft is consistent with what the tool is designed for. Noxcrew and Gamemode One are likewise known in the Minecraft map and content space.

For a solo creator, this matters less as a status symbol and more as a compatibility hint: if you are making assets for Minecraft-adjacent projects, you are working in a format and style that established teams already use.

What you get for that price

Since the cost is zero, the real question is what the free tool covers. According to the site, Blockbench includes:

• Low-poly modeling — cuboids for a Minecraft-style look, plus mesh modeling tools for more complex low-poly shapes.
• Texturing tools — create, edit, and paint textures inside the program; import or create palettes; automatic UV map and template generation so you can start painting immediately. You can paint directly on the model in 3D, use the 2D texture editor, or hand off to an external image editor or pixel art program.
• Animation — a keyframe-based animation editor with position, rotation, and scale keyframes, rigging, and a graph editor for fine-tuning.
• Plugins — a built-in plugin store that adds tools, export formats, and model generators, with support for writing your own plugin or format.

There is also a web app you can open directly, alongside a downloadable version. The site's model gallery is powered by Sketchfab and uses Sketchfab cookies, which is a separate service from Blockbench itself.

How to decide if it fits your project

Use these conditions rather than a general recommendation:

• Choose Blockbench if you are making low-poly or pixel-art 3D assets, especially for Minecraft-style content, and you want modeling, texturing, and animation in one free tool.
• Check the plugin store first if you need a specific export format. Export support beyond the built-in formats is described as something plugins add, so confirm your target format exists before committing.
• Look elsewhere if you need high-poly sculpting or photoreal rendering. Nothing in the description points to those workflows.

To verify the free and open-source claims yourself, the source code is linked from the site, and the license is stated as GPL.