Free & open source · macOS, Windows, Linux, and the browser
Hew is a free, open-source, solids-first 3D modeler for people who learned that 3D can be intuitive with SketchUp: draw on a face, push and pull it into shape, snap to what's already there. Native on macOS, Windows, and Linux. The same full app in a browser. No subscription, ever.
Push/Pull, Follow Me, Offset, Move, Rotate, Scale, Tape Measure, Protractor, Section Plane. Same tools, same names, mostly the same shortcuts, the same inference snapping to endpoints, midpoints, and axes. Type 3x or 3/ after a Move and it becomes an array, the way your hands expect.
Hew is AGPL-3.0 open source. No subscription, no account, no trial that expires, no feature tier held back for a paid plan. Everything is on GitHub.
Native apps for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows, and Linux, with automatic updates. The web app at app.hew3d.com runs the same kernel (not a preview). Shop Mode brings the model to your phone. Self-host it in your homelab for ultimate privacy.
Hew opens .skp files (2017 format, which newer SketchUp versions can Save As) and COLLADA .dae files straight from SketchUp's exporter. It exports glTF, STL, 3MF, and USDZ. Its own .hew format is a documented zip of JSON and geometry buffers, so nothing you make is locked in.
The organizing vocabulary carries over: nested groups, components with a shared definition, tags that toggle visibility, scenes that save a view, an outliner. Plus materials and textures, dimensions and leader text, 3D text, printing to scale on paper or PDF, and more.
The 'Select All and Make Group' muscle memory is done for you. Each push/pull produces its own discrete object that never welds to a neighbor, and every object shows its watertight status live. When you do want two to become one, Union, Subtract, and Intersect are explicit commands.
SketchUp's way of working is worth keeping. The business around it, and a few old habits in its data model, are not.
The problem
SketchUp Make 2017 was the last free desktop version. It is unsupported, Intel-only on the Mac, and the free web tier is notably stripped down. The full product is a subscription costing hundreds of dollars a year.
In Hew
Hew is free on every desktop. Native macOS, Windows, and Linux apps plus a browser app that is the same modeler, not a preview of a paid one.
The problem
.skp is a proprietary format. Stop paying — or lose the ability to run Make 2017 — and years of models become read-only at best.
In Hew
Hew imports .skp (2017 format) through a clean-room reader, plus COLLADA from SketchUp's own exporter. It saves in an open, documented format and exports glTF, STL, 3MF, and USDZ.
The problem
Two pieces left ungrouped in SketchUp fuse the moment they meet, and a solid becomes a hollow shell the moment one face goes missing or the wrong line is deleted. Every expert learned 'Select All and Make Group' by reflex to avoid it.
In Hew
In Hew every push/pull is its own watertight object from the start. Objects never merge by accident, each one shows whether it is still solid, and combining them is a command you run on purpose.
Free desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux, or the same app in your browser. Import the .skp you already have, or draw the first line of a new one. Interact with it just like you are used to.
