Text-to-3D API 2026: Hunyuan 3D + Tripo (glb/obj/fbx) from $0.185

The 2026 reality: the big text-to-3D tools lock their APIs behind monthly subscriptions — Meshy from about $19–$40/mo and Tripo from about $90/mo (billed annually) — with per-model costs around $0.16–$0.40. NovAI exposes Tencent Hunyuan 3D and Tripo (VAST) through one async, pay-as-you-go API from $0.185 per generation, returning downloadable glb / obj / fbx and refunding failed jobs in full. No subscription, no Chinese phone number, no Alipay.

NovAI text-to-3D models and pricing

Every model below is billed at a flat per-generation price, pre-deducted when you submit and refunded in full if the job fails or is cancelled — you only pay for successful meshes.

Model	Per generation	Input	Output
hy-3d-motion (Hunyuan)	$0.185	text / image	fbx (3D motion)
hy-3d-express (Hunyuan)	$0.277	text / image	obj zip
tripo-3d-3.1 / tripo-3d-p1 (VAST)	$0.323	text / image	glb
hy-3d-3.0 / hy-3d-3.1 (Hunyuan)	$0.369	text / image	obj zip + glb
hy-3d-polygen-image (Hunyuan)	$0.554	image (required)	glb + obj + fbx

How that compares to Meshy and Tripo

Provider	Access model	Effective per-model cost
Meshy	Subscription ($19–$40/mo, credit packs)	~$0.40 / model
Tripo (direct)	Subscription (~$90/mo annual)	~$0.16–$0.30 / model
NovAI (Hunyuan 3D + Tripo)	Pay-as-you-go, no subscription	$0.185–$0.554 / generation

The honest takeaway: a heavy Tripo subscriber can drive per-model cost down toward $0.16, but only by committing to a monthly plan and staying inside one vendor’s ecosystem. NovAI’s Hunyuan 3D line starts below that at $0.185 with zero commitment, gives you both Hunyuan and Tripo behind the same key, and refunds failures — which subscription credits usually do not.

The API: submit, then poll

3D generation is asynchronous. Submit a prompt (or an image), get a task id, then poll until the mesh is ready.

curl -X POST https://aiapi-pro.com/v1/three_d/generations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOVAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"hy-3d-3.1","prompt":"a cute cartoon dog, stylized, game-ready"}'
# -> { "id": "<task_id>", "status": "queued" }

curl "https://aiapi-pro.com/v1/three_d/generations/<task_id>?model=hy-3d-3.1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOVAI_API_KEY"
# -> { "status": "succeeded",
#      "model_url": "https://.../model.glb",
#      "outputs": [ { "type": "glb", "url": "...", "preview_image_url": "..." } ] }

Generation typically takes 1–8 minutes. model_url is the primary asset (glb preferred) and outputs lists every available format.

Which format do I get?

glb — single-file, textured, ideal for web viewers, three.js, Godot and Unity.
obj (zip) — geometry + mtl + texture, the safest interchange format for DCC tools like Blender.
fbx — rigged/animated output from hy-3d-motion, ready for game engines.

Best use cases

Game asset prototyping — spin up dozens of glb props for $0.185–$0.369 each and keep the winners.
AR / e-commerce 3D — turn a product photo into a glb viewer model with hy-3d-polygen-image.
3D printing — export obj, clean up in Blender, slice.
Animation — hy-3d-motion outputs fbx motion for characters.

Try every model in this article with one API key

NovAI gives you OpenAI-compatible access to 85 Chinese frontier models — video, image, 3D, audio and chat — on a prepaid balance with no subscription and zero platform fee. $2 free credit on signup, no card required.

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Text-to-3D API 2026: Hunyuan 3D + Tripo, from $0.185 a Model