clayground
Gravity Sketch is a VR 3D design tool: you draw strokes, curves and surfaces in the air and build precise, smooth forms, which suits product, furniture, vehicle and concept design. Clay sculpting tools work differently: you add, carve and smooth a lump of material, which suits characters, creatures and faces. Clayground is a free clay sculpting app for Meta Quest; Adobe Substance 3D Modeler is the professional clay-style option, used on Quest through a PC link.
Side by side
| Gravity Sketch | Clayground | Substance 3D Modeler | |
|---|---|---|---|
| You build with | Strokes, curves and surfaces | Volumetric clay | Clay-style volumes |
| Best for | Design: products, vehicles, spaces, concepts | Characters, creatures, faces, cute things | Professional sculpting and concept work |
| On Quest | Check Gravity Sketch's site for current platforms | Standalone, no PC | With a PC link (check Adobe for current support) |
| Price | Check Gravity Sketch's site | Free | Check Adobe's site |
| Painting | Colours and materials on surfaces | Paint straight onto the clay | Yes |
| Animation | Not the focus | Frame-by-frame poses with onion skins | Not the focus |
| Export | Design formats for CAD and 3D tools | GLB with colour, OBJ | Common 3D formats |
Pick Gravity Sketch if
- You design objects: chairs, shoes, cars, products, rooms.
- You want clean, precise surfaces you can take into CAD or a design pipeline.
- You're sketching in 3D at full scale with a team.
Pick a clay tool if
- You want to make characters, animals or faces, the kind of thing you'd make from modelling clay.
- You like the feel of pushing, pulling and smoothing material rather than placing curves.
- You want to paint, animate and export a GLB for Blender, a game or a 3D print. In Clayground that's all on the headset, free, with no PC.
And Substance 3D Modeler?
Modeler grew out of Oculus Medium and is the professional clay-style tool, working in VR and on the desktop. It has been available on Quest through a PC link. If you want a production tool and you're in Adobe's world, it's worth a look. I wrote an honest page about Adobe Medium alternatives and a roundup of VR sculpting apps on Quest.
What changes if you switch to clay
If you're used to Gravity Sketch, a few things will feel different. You don't draw a stroke and then shape it; you push material in, pull it out and smooth it, so a form appears more like it would in your hands. Precision comes from your eye rather than from snapping and measurements, which is exactly why clay suits faces and creatures and not chair legs.
The two-handed part feels familiar: grab the sculpt to turn and scale it, and work at whatever size is comfortable. In Clayground you also paint on the clay directly, keep parts on layers, and can animate a character with frame-by-frame poses before exporting a GLB for Blender or a game engine.
Honestly
These aren't really competitors. Gravity Sketch is a design tool and does that very well; Clayground is a small, free clay studio made by one artist, still in early access. If you came looking for clay, try Clayground on your Quest, or feel the clay first in the free browser studio, on any computer or phone. If you came to design a product, Gravity Sketch is the better fit.
Questions people ask
Is Gravity Sketch a sculpting app?
Not in the clay sense. It's a 3D design tool built on strokes and surfaces. For sculpting clay in VR, use a clay tool like Clayground or Substance 3D Modeler.
What's a free VR sculpting app for Quest?
Clayground is free on the Meta Quest store and runs on the headset with no PC.
Can I use both?
Yes. Some people design hard parts in a design tool and sculpt characters in clay, then combine them in Blender using GLB or OBJ files.
Sources
Checked 12 October 2026.