Blender is a free, open-source 3D creation suite developed by the Blender Foundation and a large community. It covers modelling, sculpting, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering with the Cycles and EEVEE engines, compositing and video editing. The current release is Blender 5.2.2 LTS, released on 15 September 2026. The 5.2 series is a long-term support release; blender.org says it will get fixes until July 2028.
Who it suits
- 3D artists, animators and game-asset creators.
- Students learning 3D without licence costs.
- Studios that need a stable LTS version for long projects.
How to get the official version
- Windows: installer (MSI) or portable ZIP for x64 and for Windows on ARM from blender.org/download. Blender is also on Steam and the Microsoft Store.
- macOS: a disk image for Apple Silicon Macs. The current download page does not offer an Intel Mac build.
- Linux: a portable tar.xz archive for x64; blender.org also links to the Snap package.
There is no official Blender for Android or iPhone.
Cost
Blender is free for any purpose, including commercial work. The Steam and Microsoft Store versions are free too. Blender is funded by donations through the Blender Development Fund.
Requirements
The download page lists Windows 11, 10 and 8.1; macOS 13 Ventura or newer on Apple Silicon; and Linux distributions using glibc 2.28 or newer. A capable GPU makes a large difference to viewport and render performance.
Safety notes
Download Blender only from blender.org or the stores it links to. Each release on blender.org has matching .sha256 and .md5 checksum files so you can check your download.
Stable or experimental?
blender.org also offers experimental builds with the newest features. The project says these are not stable for production work, so use the LTS release for projects you need to finish and try experimental builds separately.
Questions
What does LTS mean?
Long-term support. blender.org says Blender 5.2 LTS will receive fixes for up to two years, until July 2028.
Can I use Blender for commercial projects?
Yes. blender.org states Blender is free for any purpose. Distribution is under the GNU GPL version 3 or later; your artwork is yours.
Can I install it with winget?
Yes: winget install BlenderFoundation.Blender. Package managers may lag a few days behind blender.org.