For many animators and modelers, Blender, like 3dsmax, Maya and other tools, is one of the most common animation tools. Due to its free and open source nature, it is also an introductory software for many people to learn 3D modeling and animation production, with more than 2 million MAU.
It stands to reason that with such a large number of users, there should be no shortage of money, but because it is an open source tool, Blender has to perform a sad drama on its official website almost every year: asking for donations, explaining that funds are tight, and calling on everyone to spend money. For example, in 2024, Blender launched a 2% donation campaign (as long as 2% of users donate, it can maintain the operation of a 30-person team), and in 2025, it launched a 5-euro donation campaign (5 euros per user is enough for the company to survive until 2026).
Why? Open source has no stable income
To understand why Blender is short of money, we must first start with its birth.
Blender was founded by Ton Roosendaal in 1998. At that time, he was just a developer who wanted to continue making 3D tools. In order to raise funds to continue research and development, he gradually sold his shares. By 2002, when he wanted to open source Blender, Ton only had 10% of the shares left. The problem is that the remaining 90% is in the hands of investors, and those investors obviously have no interest in open source. So he launched a crowdfunding campaign of US$100,000, founded the Blender Foundation, bought out all the shares, and Blender was officially open source.
This story sounds like an idealist gave up commercial interests in order to share technology and enabled countless latecomers. But if you think about it, things aren't quite so romantic.
As technology advances, Blender inevitably needs to keep up with the times and invest more resources in research and development, such as connecting to Vulkan, making the Eevee renderer, and upgrading Grease Pencil 3.
In 2024, Blender’s revenue was 3.106 million euros. This number may not be too small for a small team, but for a team of more than 30 people, it is obviously a drop in the bucket. Compared with its rival Autodesk, it is less than one thousandth of the latter's annual income.
Judging from the annual report, Blender spends 55% of its expenses on personnel: full-time team, remote developers, testers, office rent, meetings, taxes. After this calculation, Chairman Ton's annual salary is 129,000 euros, which is considered a middle income among senior developers in Europe and the United States. It can be said that there is no waste at all. Although revenue is up 20% from 2023, it is still losing money.
Judging from the 2024 annual report released by Blender, half of the company's revenue comes from developer and corporate funds (50%), and the rest comes from individual developers, market revenue, and large and small donations.
The existence of Blender has lowered the threshold for 3D production by a large margin. Countless independent developers, small studios, and student groups have used free tools to do things that would have cost tens of thousands of yuan to buy a license (for example, the annual fee for 3ds Max is 27,600 yuan).
How long can free open source last?
Judging from the news revealed on Blender’s financing blog last year, the company will set aside three months of buffer funds, but considering the increase in R&D investment, no one knows how long this “power generation with love” model can last.
On January 1, 2026, Ton officially stepped down as CEO. The founder who single-handedly brought up Blender chose to leave, leaving people with several questions: Will the next successor be another idealist? When Blender runs out of money, will it be taken over by a commercial company or a private equity fund waiting to buy the bottom?
What is certain is that if Blender is really acquired, the free era will probably come to an end. At that time, those independent developers who are used to Blender may have to face a choice: either pay or change tools.
In fact, it has always been difficult to make money making tools. Although Unity and Epic both charge fees, and even Unity download payment has caused developer resistance, in general, the pure engine income of engine companies is not high, mainly because of the large number of developers and support teams required.
Blender’s Corporate Donors
The fragility of open source software is that it relies on goodwill, belief, and a minority willing to sacrifice commercial returns. When R&D costs get higher and higher, when competitors get stronger and stronger, and when the original founders choose to quit, how long can this free miracle raised with $100,000 in crowdfunding last?