--- title: RenderMan Reviews meta\_title: 'RenderMan Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 26 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how RenderMan works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 4.2 review\_count: 26 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-07' parent\_category: name: 3D Design url: https://www.g2.com/categories/3d-design --- # RenderMan Reviews & Product Details RenderMan is a high performance renderer built to tackle the most complicated 3D imaginable. * * * Seller [Pixar](https://www.g2.com/sellers/pixar) Discussions [RenderMan Community](https://www.g2.com/products/renderman/discuss) Show More ## Value at a Glance Averages based on real user reviews. ### Perceived Cost $$$$$ [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/renderman/pricing) ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![Blender](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Blender") Blender 4.6/5(319) ](https://www.g2.com/products/blender/reviews) [ ![V-Ray](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "V-Ray") V-Ray 4.5/5(222) ](https://www.g2.com/products/v-ray/reviews) [ ![Redshift](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Redshift") Redshift 4.1/5(18) ](https://www.g2.com/products/redshift/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/renderman/competitors/alternatives) ## User Insights Average based on 26 real user reviews. Perceived Cost $$$$$ [Log in to unlock pricing and user insights](/login) ![Verified User in Entertainment](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Entertainment") UE Verified User in Entertainment Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 9/30/2020 "Great but hard to learn." 3.5/5 What do you like best about RenderMan? The results are great. The shaders that pixar have compiled are clearly all very well done. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about RenderMan? Alike many other pieces of software, Renderman does have quite a bit of a learning curve. This isn't really an avoidable problem but definitely the uptake of new users could probably have an easier induction period with regards to the learning tools. Though if you just need something quickly for a project, there are other options that might suit you better. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is RenderMan solving and how is that benefiting you? RenderMan gives users a lot of freedom to adjust all the details. At the same time, users need to put in some effort to learn it. It'll take a longer time to set up a scene if I use Renderman but the outcome is worth it. Definitely worth it! Just have a look at inside out, damn. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Olly C.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Olly C.") OC Olly C. Asset TD / Generalist Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 11/24/2020 Business partner of the seller or seller's competitor, not included in G2 scores. "A user perspective of the technical and artistic elements of Renderman" 4/5 What do you like best about RenderMan? The depth of control presented to the user, and the well documented documentation Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about RenderMan? The speed, some other renderers are faster, also the learning curve is steeper than other renderers Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering RenderMan: Take the time to read through the documentation, not everything is as plug an play as other renderers Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is RenderMan solving and how is that benefiting you? I do not currently use renderman at work, but at home i love the integration with houdini and katana Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![ibrahim b.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "ibrahim b.") IB ibrahim b. qc character artist Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 12/2/2020 "Great for rendering in hight quality." 4/5 What do you like best about RenderMan? Its great for metal rendering and since its from pixar there's no doubt of quality Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about RenderMan? It takes hell lot of time to render and cant be used in every system Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering RenderMan: Have a good enough pc and spare time for rendering Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is RenderMan solving and how is that benefiting you? It makes renders for metals very realistic and real life like and can also be used for stylised Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Sherif G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Sherif G.") SG Sherif G. 3D Visualizer and Animator Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 11/23/2020 "The render options shows a wide range of quality options that are really impressive" 4/5 What do you like best about RenderMan? As a blender user i like the render to view port , and the light mixer panel Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about RenderMan? the material library need more options for ArchViz to be used as ready material Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is RenderMan solving and how is that benefiting you? the GPU support helped me see the result of the rendering much faster specialty with the glass and the reflection effect Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Animation](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Animation") UA Verified User in Animation Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 11/22/2020 "Awesome renderer with cool tools" 3.5/5 What do you like best about RenderMan? Texture editing tools, color corrector, and Light sources. Also PxrSurface shader Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about RenderMan? IT is not integrated into Maya, It takes much more time for rendering, compares with other renders. maybe it works for big companies, but for the individual artist, I think it's not gonna work Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is RenderMan solving and how is that benefiting you? I have got more realistic and "sweet" render. The Gi worked pretty well. In Maya Renderman was stable and there were no crashes or bugs. There is a nice community where you can ask and get your answers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Animation](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Animation") UA Verified User in Animation Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 9/29/2020 "Rendering with awesomeness" 4/5 What do you like best about RenderMan? I love the response of the shader, the way the lights looks and the immediate feedback in maya from the viewport. It’s pretty good during an environment lighting and shaders management. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about RenderMan? For personal project it tooks a lot of time to render pretty heavy scenes like trees scattering or places with a lot of geos on little machines (like redshift and vray) but this means only that the materials look better. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering RenderMan: Think using it as a complete tool to reach complex levels of realism. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is RenderMan solving and how is that benefiting you? I use it mainly when I need to get great result with glass and all the refractive/sub-surfaces materials. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Animation](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Animation") UA Verified User in Animation Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 1/12/2021 "good for rendering animation projects, but slow" 4/5 What do you like best about RenderMan? usability and built-in presets shayders and lights Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about RenderMan? Speed, some other renders are faster, and still few good tutorials Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering RenderMan: good render software Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is RenderMan solving and how is that benefiting you? I use it mainly when I need to get great result with glass and all the refractive/sub-surfaces materials. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Design](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Design") UD Verified User in Design Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 6/25/2020 "Good but takes some time to master" 4/5 What do you like best about RenderMan? The outcome is very amazing. The lights, reflection, and refraction are very well done. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about RenderMan? Just like other software/plugin that does a lot, it takes some time to actually know this RenderMan well. If your career depends on this, awesome keep going! But f you just need something quickly for a random project, there are easier/quicker options out there. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering RenderMan: Even though I'm not currently using this renderer but I think RenderMan is very good for 3D artists. Especially those who need a lot of freedom on manipulating all kinds of rendering options. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is RenderMan solving and how is that benefiting you? RenderMan gives users a lot of freedom to adjust all the details. At the same time, users need to put in some effort to learn it. It'll take a longer time to set up a scene if I use Renderman but the outcome is worth it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Marketing and Advertising](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Marketing and Advertising") UM Verified User in Marketing and Advertising Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 12/31/2020 "Somewhat user friendly" 3.5/5 What do you like best about RenderMan? High Poly render output using low poly model Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about RenderMan? Not user friendly as other default renderer Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is RenderMan solving and how is that benefiting you? Decrease in poly count while rendering Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Simone G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Simone G.") SG Simone G. Rigger - Animatore - Animatore tecnico Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 10/28/2019 "Great render engine for animation" 4/5 What do you like best about RenderMan? It's powerful, the lights quality is astonishing, materials have many attributes that allow you to tweak every little aspect of the image. Render speed is good, the quality options are very detailed and let you adjust only the noisy components of the image. The denoiser is based on optix and can use gpu and is very fast, denoise quality is good. Excellent real time viewport integration with Maya. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about RenderMan? Aov setup is a bit confusing, it looks simple but when denoise kicks in I never get a clue of what aovs will be rendered, sometimes all the aovs are saved on different files for both variance and denoised images but sometimes are not. Not the best for architectural, achieving photorealism is very difficult. Not the best engine if you use render farms. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering RenderMan: Very good engine, excellent for cartoon animation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is RenderMan solving and how is that benefiting you? It's simple to set up basic scenes, lights work perfectly and let you understand the final quality of the renders. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 10/30/2019 Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ## Questions about RenderMan? Ask real users or explore answers from the community Get practical answers, real workflows, and honest pros and cons from the G2 community or share your insights. [ Ask about RenderMan ](https://www.g2.com/products/renderman/discussions/new) GU Guest User What is RenderMan used for? 0 Upvotes 0 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-renderman-used-for) [ View all Discussions ](https://www.g2.com/products/renderman/discuss) ##### Pricing Pricing details for this product isn’t currently available. Visit the vendor’s website to learn more. [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/renderman/pricing) RenderMan Comparisons ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_83efad55ec5284e0bf4733bcddba2ea8/arnold.png "Product Avatar Image") Arnold 4/5(12) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/arnold-vs-renderman) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_6112c138e20f80a02a073469ac6e865c/blender.gif "Product Avatar Image") Blender 4.6/5(319) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/blender-vs-renderman) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_4e941be88f5f53942503aa837df8fffe/redshift.png "Product Avatar Image") Redshift 4.1/5(18) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/redshift-vs-renderman) ## Work at Pixar? Claim this profile to respond to reviews, update product info, and reach in-market buyers. 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