Discussion about CGTrader Essentials Program

I would like to share my concerns about the new CGTrader subscription system from the perspective of a 3D model creator.
I understand that subscriptions can be beneficial for the platform and may attract more customers. However, I am not convinced that this model is beneficial for creators, especially those who sell high-quality models individually.
The market is already very competitive. Sales have been declining, prices are being pushed down, and AI-generated content has added even more competition. In this situation, offering access to up to 25 models for $9.99 per month seems problematic for creators.

For example, imagine a model that is normally sold for $50. A customer can pay $9.99 for a subscription and potentially download that model along with many others. Of course, I understand that the creator does not simply receive $9.99 for each download and that CGTrader has its own revenue-sharing system. However, the fundamental issue remains: the perceived value of an individual model becomes much lower.
There is also a significant difference between selling a model once and distributing it to dozens of subscription users. Every additional person who downloads the original file is another person who has access to the asset. Since 3D models are digital files, they can potentially be shared or redistributed outside the platform. This increases the risk of uncontrolled distribution and piracy.
Another concern is that creators may lose regular sales. If a customer would normally pay $20, $30, or even $50 for a model, but can instead access it through a $9.99 subscription, some of those individual sales may simply disappear.
I have also noticed that, after several months of the subscription system, some of my models have been downloaded through it, but my monthly revenue reports show $0 from subscriptions. The number of downloads is also very small, so at the moment it does not seem to compensate for the loss of value or the additional distribution of my work.

I believe the subscription system could be more reasonable if creators had more control over which models are included, or if the revenue distribution reflected the actual value and price of each model.
Personally, I have decided to opt out of the subscription because I do not want to devalue my models. Each asset represents many hours of modeling, retopology, UV work, baking, texturing, optimization, and presentation. I believe that work should retain its individual value.
I would be interested to hear how other creators feel about this system, especially those who have already seen subscription downloads and actual subscription earnings in their reports.

We were already trying to sell our models at very, very low prices. Now, with this subscription system, it feels like the labor of people working in this industry is being exploited even further.

People spend hours, days, and sometimes weeks creating these models with skill, experience, and dedication, only to have their work effectively offered to customers for next to nothing.

Putting all sellers and their work into the same pool and handing it over to customers through a subscription model is honestly very discouraging. A highly detailed, professionally made model can require a huge amount of time and expertise, and it shouldn't be valued the same way as mass-produced content.

I sincerely hope CGTrader reconsiders how this system works and finds a way to make it fairer for the people who actually create the content. Ultimately, without the creators, there is no marketplace.

Interesting. My june subscription earnings now show exactly $0. With many models active in subscription. It would interest me whether this is the truth or it will be updated in next days.

They have enabled the subscription model on my products again without permission! I've already turned it off twice and I don't want to participate in this!!! In May, someone managed to download my models practically for free!!! Although I didn't allow it! This is madness on the part of CG Trader!

They have finally published the earnings. While my sales took a 200$ hit last month, the earnings from subscriptions were 1$. Obviously this is crazy so I'm opting out.

Mine earning tab is also greyed out. I keep asking them via support when will this be not greyed out. It’s been a month now in the subscription program and nothing yet while my sales have taken a big hit. If cg trader are already making money of us why not show the $ fugues. Feels like theft at the movement. Any more of this and I’m opting out.

Hi everyone,

I'm seeing a value of $9.56 in subscription earnings. Is anyone else experiencing subscription earnings?
I currently have 160 selected models for the subscription. The earnings are much less than I expected.
We've been waiting for 3 months. This amount is really low. There's no detailed information yet. How many downloads were made, what happened – it's unclear.
This is the most undesirable situation for designers. I don't accept this. It needs to be clearly stated which files were downloaded.

Still 0...

Everyone can't access the "downloads" section? I haven't been able to access it for a month now. This subscription looks like some kind of scam.

I remember not choosing this Subscription feature, so why was it activated again?

For more than 12 days now, I haven’t sold a single 3D model.

We took a step back and rethought our whole pipeline around the recent changes. Our product is megascans, so the goal was simple: maximize output with minimal manual work.

First decision — we completely dropped the subscription model. It just doesn’t fit how we operate.

Then I built a Blender addon that automates almost everything:

* generates previews from all angles
* creates clean LODs down to LOD6 without texture loss
* handles export (formats, mesh, etc.)

One click, ~7.5 minutes — and the asset is fully prepared.

On top of that, I made an AI assistant. It reads the addon’s log file, extracts all relevant data, and generates title, description, and keywords. You just type one word (e.g. “banana”), and it does the rest. At that point, it’s just copy-paste into the platform.

So total upload time per asset (including previews + metadata) is about 8 minutes, almost fully automated.

For PBR textures, we use a separate tool: you input the color map, and it generates the rest. That takes ~2 minutes.

The scan creation itself is also largely automated. With our current setup (even on older hardware), we get about 1 finished megascan per ~40 minutes of compute time, with minimal human involvement. Roughly speaking: ~1 scan per hour, passively.

Based on this, we decided to segment our content by value:

* simple, easily obtainable assets (rocks, walls, stumps, etc.) → mass-upload to this platform
* rare or high-value assets (antiques, unique props, etc.) → distributed to other marketplaces

So instead of treating everything equally, we now split assets into “buckets” depending on their value and rarity. This approach makes the whole system much more efficient and scalable.

In my opinion, it really depends on the nature of your portfolio. If you create high-end, complex models, you'll likely find that the revenue share is way below their actual value. It feels like the platform is shifting towards a 'quantity over quality' model. While you might see a spike in download numbers, the earnings per download are usually discouraging compared to a single direct sale. Many of us worry it might devalue our work in the long run.

Hello, anyone get any revenue from subscriptions this month? or it's not working yet?

I had tried the subscription option and some eligible models were no longer visible on my page but only in the subscription program, I deactivated the subscription option and all the models were visible again on my page.. I prefer control all my models... so I won't leave them in the subscription.. best regards..

The problem with AI content is that far from all authors label it as AI.
Many people claim how super experienced and creative they are as artists, and then publish dozens or even hundreds of these insanely crooked AI models. They deliberately make low-quality renders so the distortions in the mesh and textures aren’t visible.

Respect to those who do label their work as AI — that’s honest. Even though I don’t understand it: AI is not creativity and not art. It’s an empty, soulless thing that may look impressive, but there’s nothing behind it.

An excellent solution to stimulate sales would be not to introduce any subscriptions to devalue the work of artists, but to remove all AI content so that the buyer can normally search for the right content on the site without wasting time flipping through pages with low-quality AI content, which many buyers ignore.

Normal site content, filling with high-quality content would definitely stimulate sales, there is no need to spend a lot of money on storing garbage AI content that does not sell, but only clogs the search and pushes users away from the site.

It would also be appropriate to introduce moderation for the uploaded content. Some artists slightly change the color of the model and sell it as a separate model, thereby clogging up the search, this is inadequate in my opinion, let them provide all the colors within the same product, or make significant differences.

I'm not going to leave the site either, but I'm boycotting subscription, I won't participate in it for anything, and if you force me, I'll have to leave the site or raise prices above the subscription threshold.

Personally, I do not intend to leave and will continue uploading my models, as I really like CGTrader. However, the latest updates are disappointing, and the subscription model feels like a final blow. I am not going to enable it and I urge everyone to do the same. I call on CGTrader to cancel this move; after all, you exist, you earn, and you have become one of the best 3D marketplaces thanks to us, the artists. I believe our contribution to this business must be respected and valued. I am certain that many other ways can be found to stimulate sales.

It's a familiar path: almost all photo stocks now sell by subscription to somehow maintain competition. As a result, works are sold for 1 cent. Fortunately, there are still some 3D stocks that value the work of their creators. I'm stopping uploading my models and canceling my subscription program.

I have canceled the subscription and do not plan to upload to the platform anymore. Both the reduction of the royalty percentage and the introduction of the subscription indicate that the platform is no longer relevant.

I have been working with stock platforms for 15 years, and I have seen this model many times. It usually happens when a marketplace is losing to competitors and is simply trying to stay afloat somehow. In general, everything is clear, there are no questions — it’s just time to move on.

How desperate one needs to be to start giving away your models for cents? Subscription is essentially the same what 3dsky has been doing for years - fixed price for everything no matter how complex model is, except that they're asking $7 for a model and cgtrader is selling them for 40 cents. Feel the difference?
My sales completely stopped here, i guess that's how cgtrader is trying to force everyone to subscription - you will not sell here anything, unless you'll agree to sell everything for peanuts. Screw them, i rather pull my models out of here, or set them for free. One has to have some dignity and draw a red line - i will never join subscription program. It's crazy to see how some here are thinking that they will be able to earn anything from that.

They forcibly added a lot of my models to the subscription and there were models more expensive than $ 10. Before that, I refused to participate in the subscription when I was asked to choose models for the subscription, and now they have forcibly sent them there. I don't agree to sell my models for cents, I value my work and I won't give it away for free.

You can disable this in the settings, but you will lose sales on large purchases and corporate transactions, and I didn't have them anyway.

Hi.
They've removed this link now. Buttons are being added and removed without any explanation. Does anyone know what's going on?

The subscription looks like it is already active:
https://www.cgtrader.com/discover/subscription
It is possible to click on "start subscription" which leads to payment methods.
So I expect that the "earnings" tab in our statistics should be active soon.

Has anyone tried it?

I would like thanks cgtrader team for bringing subscribers share system. I work on other platform on subscription share. It is beneficial for both buyer and seller and bring stable monthly earning.

This subscription system will result in contributors earning very small amounts per download of their models (often less than $0.50).
In my opinion, this is a poor decision for artists and a beneficial one mainly for the marketplace itself, which will profit far more than the creators.

I sincerely doubt that this model can have a positive impact on contributor income. Personally, at this stage, I am opting out of the subscription. I value my work, invest a lot of time and effort into it, and I do not want my models to be distributed almost for free.

I also struggle to understand who this system is supposed to benefit from the creator’s perspective. There are many other ways to stimulate sales and attract attention, such as regular promotions and sales, which we have already seen recently and which, in my view, are a much better solution.

The fact that a model costs less than $10 does not mean it is low quality. There are many artists on this platform who choose fair and accessible pricing, and their models are still high-quality and professionally made.

So far it looks good with parameters - inluded only cheap models and subscription plan enables to download 25 models per month.
Question is whether already some customers buyed the subscription. It looks like CGT is not propagating it so much - I would expect some emails etc.

hdpoly
I can't tell you if they can already be purchased, I think the earnings card will be active when we start selling something.

Why are such big changes being made without notice?

160 of my models have been added to the subscription. Which models are being added to the subscription? What are the terms and conditions?

1-Is this new system active now?
2-Can models currently be purchased as subscriptions?
3-Where can we see the purchases?

I think it’s still quite new so I’m not sure if anyone has real experience with it yet, the main issue for me is that you have to opt in with all your models and you can’t just choose specific ones,

Personally I’ve decided to opt out, I’m not comfortable with some of my models or collections being sold for very low prices in exchange for volume, especially without knowing how it will work out, if there were an option to select which models to include I’d be more open to testing it and seeing how it performs

What about buyers? How can you join the program and how can you see which models are opted-in ?