At first, I was just looking for a simple tool: generate 3D models from photos, for free, without creating an account and without uploading my images to a server I don't control.
That tool didn't exist.
There was Meshy, CSM, and a few other cloud services — all well-built, but all behind a paywall the moment you go past a few generations. $20, $40, $60 a month for something my GPU could theoretically do itself. That frustrated me.
I started building Modly for my own use. Not a project, not a product — just a desktop app so I wouldn't have to rely on cloud services anymore. The idea was simple: plug an open source 3D reconstruction model into a usable interface, and have the whole thing run entirely locally.
The first integration was Hunyuan 3D 2 mini, Tencent's model. Compact, relatively fast, and most importantly capable of running on mid-range GPUs without exploding VRAM. The results weren't perfect, but it was already impressive for something running entirely on my own machine.
I then integrated TripoSG, which produced noticeably cleaner meshes, especially on complex surfaces. Both models run well on mid-range GPUs — 8 GB of VRAM is enough for most generations.
After a few weeks of personal use, I realized the tool was stable and useful enough to interest other people. Game devs who want quick assets, people doing 3D printing, artists looking for a base mesh to refine in Blender.
All of them paying subscriptions for something their own machines could do.
So I decided to make Modly free and open source. No credits, no generation limits, no data sent anywhere. You download it, you generate, everything stays on your machine.
The app takes an image as input, automatically removes the background using AI, runs it through the 3D reconstruction model, and outputs a mesh you can export as GLB, OBJ, STL or PLY.
GLB for Unity or Unreal Engine, STL for 3D printing, OBJ for Blender — the formats cover most workflows.
Everything runs locally, with no internet connection needed once the models are downloaded.
The project is still young. There are bugs, cases where the reconstruction fails, image formats that give better results than others. I keep iterating.
If you want to try it, download Modly here. It's free, open source, and runs entirely on your machine.
Try Modly — it's free
Local AI 3D model generation. Runs entirely on your GPU, no cloud, no account.
