3D file formats, explained

All 75 formats below can be read here; 19 of them can also be written. Each has a page of its own saying what it holds and what it converts to. If you are not sure what to convert to, the answer is almost always GLB.

Everyday interchange

The formats most pipelines already speak. If you are choosing a target, choose from here.

GLB .glb glTF .gltf OBJ .obj FBX .fbx DAE .dae STL .stl PLY .ply USDZ .usdz USD .usd USDA .usda USDC .usdc 3MF .3mf VRML .wrl AMF .amf

CAD and engineering

Solid models, drawings and building information. Mostly boundary representations rather than triangles.

STEP .step STP .stp IGES .iges IGS .igs BREP .brep IFC .ifc DWG .dwg DXF .dxf SLDPRT .sldprt SLDASM .sldasm SLDDRW .slddrw SKP .skp 3DM .3dm

Digital content creation

Native and semi-native scene files from the big authoring packages.

MAX .max BLEND .blend LWO .lwo LWS .lws LXO .lxo ASE .ase COB .cob MS3D .ms3d SIB .sib Q3O .q3o NDO .ndo

Games and engines

Model and animation formats that shipped inside a game or an engine.

MD2 .md2 MD3 .md3 MD5 .md5mesh MDC .mdc MDL .mdl SMD .smd B3D .b3d IQM .iqm X .x Ogre XML .mesh.xml IRR .irr IRRMESH .irrmesh M3D .m3d RBXM .rbxm RBXL .rbxl PMX .pmx OpenGEX .ogex UC .uc

Scanning, voxels and point clouds

Formats that describe measured or sampled geometry rather than modelled surfaces.

PCD .pcd XYZ .xyz VOX .vox VTK .vtk RAW .raw TER .ter HMP .hmp OFF .off NFF .nff DRC .drc

Motion, toolpaths and the rest

Everything that is not a static mesh: skeletal capture, machine instructions, packaging.

BVH .bvh CSM .csm G-code .gcode NC .nc KMZ .kmz XGL .xgl X3D .x3d 3DS .3ds

Also here

AC3D .ac

What each format can hold

The one table worth keeping open while you decide. 75 readable, 19 writable.

Format	Extension	Read	Write	Materials	Textures	Animation
OBJ	.obj	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
FBX	.fbx	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
glTF	.gltf	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
GLB	.glb	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
STL	.stl	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
PLY	.ply	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
DAE	.dae	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
3DS	.3ds	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
3MF	.3mf	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
AMF	.amf	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
VRML	.wrl	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
USDZ	.usdz	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
VOX	.vox	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
PCD	.pcd	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
XYZ	.xyz	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
LWO	.lwo	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
VTK	.vtk	Yes	No	No	No	No
KMZ	.kmz	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
DRC	.drc	Yes	No	No	No	No
USD	.usd	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
USDA	.usda	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
USDC	.usdc	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
G-code	.gcode	Yes	No	No	No	No
NC	.nc	Yes	No	No	No	No
X	.x	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
OFF	.off	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
ASE	.ase	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
AC3D	.ac	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
MS3D	.ms3d	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
MD2	.md2	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
MD3	.md3	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
MD5	.md5mesh	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
MDC	.mdc	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
MDL	.mdl	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
NFF	.nff	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
BLEND	.blend	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
DXF	.dxf	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
LWS	.lws	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
LXO	.lxo	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
SMD	.smd	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
COB	.cob	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
B3D	.b3d	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
IQM	.iqm	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
OpenGEX	.ogex	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
PMX	.pmx	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
BVH	.bvh	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
CSM	.csm	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
NDO	.ndo	Yes	No	No	No	No
SIB	.sib	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Q3O	.q3o	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
XGL	.xgl	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
HMP	.hmp	Yes	No	No	No	No
UC	.uc	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Ogre XML	.mesh.xml	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
3DM	.3dm	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
STEP	.step	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
STP	.stp	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
IGES	.iges	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
IGS	.igs	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
BREP	.brep	Yes	No	No	No	No
IFC	.ifc	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
SKP	.skp	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
DWG	.dwg	Yes	No	No	No	No
MAX	.max	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
RAW	.raw	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
TER	.ter	Yes	No	No	No	No
X3D	.x3d	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
IRRMESH	.irrmesh	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
IRR	.irr	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
M3D	.m3d	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
SLDPRT	.sldprt	Yes	No	No	No	No
SLDASM	.sldasm	Yes	No	No	No	No
SLDDRW	.slddrw	Yes	No	No	No	No
RBXM	.rbxm	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
RBXL	.rbxl	Yes	No	Yes	No	No

How to choose one

For anything that will be looked at on the web or in a viewer, use GLB. It is one file, it carries PBR materials, textures and animation, and every modern engine reads it. For 3D printing use 3MF rather than STL, because it records units, colour and the arrangement on the build plate that STL has no field for. For handing a solid model to another CAD package use STEP, which keeps the exact surfaces rather than a triangulation of them. For Apple's AR Quick Look use USDZ.

Everything else on this list exists because some program wrote it. That is a good enough reason to be able to read it, and a poor reason to convert into it.

Once you have picked, the converter does the work in your browser. You can also inspect a model before converting it, compress it, or render it to an image. Some of the reverse engineering behind these readers is written up on the blog.