e-on software
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1997
- HeadquartersBeaverton, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
e-on software firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- e-on software
- Legal name
- e-on software
- Website
- https://e-onsoftware.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1997
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
e-on software industry classification
Industry- Product category
- 3D Digital Nature and Plant Modeling Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (51321)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Immersive/Interactive Animation (AR/VR/Real-Time) (MPAHACAN)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Real-Time Rendering & Game Engine Tooling (MPAHADAB), Game Engines (General-Purpose & Real-Time 3D) (MPAFAFAA)
Keywords
Where e-on software is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Beaverton
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
e-on software business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Free Perpetual Software Distribution: Following the decision to end sales, VUE, PlantFactory, and PlantCatalog are now offered as free perpetual downloads. The products will not be further developed and support is limited to critical security patches only. This represents a wind-down of commercial operations after 27 years of serving the media and entertainment industry.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Perpetual - Complete product access at no cost |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
e-on software product offering
Product offeringCore offering
e-on software develops 3D software for digital nature creation, consisting of three products: VUE for atmospheric and scenery rendering, PlantFactory for procedural plant modeling, and PlantCatalog as a pre-built 3D plant model library. The products integrate as plugins with major 3D applications and render engines. Following the 2024 decision by parent Bentley Systems, VUE, PlantFactory, and PlantCatalog are now offered as free perpetual downloads with no licensing, activation, or payment required.
Product overview
e-on software offers a suite of three products for 3D visualization and natural environment creation: VUE for atmospheric rendering, PlantFactory for plant modeling, and PlantCatalog as a library of plant assets. Originally serving the media and entertainment industry for 27 years, the products were acquired by Bentley Systems in 2015 and are now offered as free perpetual downloads. VUE and PlantFactory share a unified installer with plugins for major 3D applications (Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Lightwave, Unreal Engine) and support multiple render engines (V-Ray, Arnold, Redshift, Renderman). PlantCatalog plants integrate seamlessly into both VUE and PlantFactory. The products work together as a complete ecosystem for creating and rendering natural environments with realistic vegetation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- VUE: 3D software for digital nature creation, atmospheric effects, and rendering for media and entertainment
- PlantFactory
- PlantCatalog
Products and services
- VUE Professional 3D atmospheric rendering software for creating realistic natural environments, skies, clouds, and landscapes. Features the VUE raytracer with Multiple Scattering for clouds, OpenVDB support, and Cycles rendering preview. Integrates as plugins for Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, and Lightwave, supporting V-Ray, Arnold, Redshift, and Renderman renderers. Targeted at 3D artists, VFX studios, and digital content creators in the media and entertainment industry.
- PlantFactory Professional plant modeling software for creating and customizing 3D vegetation models. Uses node-based parameter system for procedural plant generation with extensive customization of geometry, materials, UV mapping, and export options. Includes plugins for Unreal Engine with Pivot Painter 2.0 support for real-time wind animation. Targeted at 3D artists and digital content creators needing realistic vegetation for scenes.
- PlantCatalog Extensive library of pre-built 3D plant models compatible with VUE and PlantFactory. All plants are copyrighted by Bentley Systems. Can be used commercially in renderings, games, and client projects but may not be resold on marketplaces. Plants work automatically without separate activation in perpetual versions. Targeted at users needing ready-made vegetation assets for 3D visualization.
Companies that use e-on software
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
e-on software technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration11 records
AI capability5 records
Feature8 records
e-on software partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Bentley Systemscoree-on software was acquired by Bentley Systems in 2015. Following the acquisition, e-on software's technologies have been integrated into various Bentley products. After 27 years of innovation serving the media and entertainment industry, Bentley has decided to end sales of VUE, PlantFactory, and PlantCatalog, offering them instead as free perpetual downloads.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights1 record
e-on software competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- SpeedTree (Unity): SpeedTree is the leading procedural plant-modeling middleware for games, film and architecture, now part of Unity. It competes head-to-head with PlantFactory and PlantCatalog for plant generation and library workflows.
- SideFX Houdini: SideFX Houdini is a procedural 3D content-creation platform widely used for VFX, environments, vegetation and atmospheric effects in film and games — directly overlapping with VUE's and PlantFactory's procedural nature-scene and plant-generation capabilities.
- World Machine / World Creator: World Machine specializes in procedural terrain and natural-environment generation, directly comparable to VUE's atmospheric and landscape-scene creation capabilities for visualization and pre-visualization.
Broad incumbents
- The Foundry Mari: The Foundry is an established provider of VFX and 3D content-creation tools (Mari, Nuke, Katana) used by the same media-and-entertainment studios that adopted e-on software — a broader incumbent serving overlapping customers with adjacent pipelines.
- Autodesk 3ds Max / Maya: Autodesk's 3ds Max and Maya are primary host applications for e-on software plugins and dominate the DCC market e-on historically served — a broad incumbent with overlapping customer workflows in VFX, games and visualization.
- Maxon (Cinema 4D / Redshift): Maxon's Cinema 4D and Redshift render engine are direct integration targets for VUE/PlantFactory plugins. Maxon is a broad incumbent in DCC/CG with overlapping customer bases in motion graphics and broadcast VFX.
- Bentley LumenRT / OpenRoads visualization: Bentley's LumenRT and other infrastructure-visualization products absorb e-on's rendering IP for civil/infrastructure projects. As the parent's own visualization stack, it represents the most direct internal competitor for any re-monetization of e-on technology.
Emerging players
- iToo Software (Forest Pack / Rail Clone): iToo Software creates scattering and vegetation-population plugins for 3ds Max — a focused, niche player in plant/environment scattering that overlaps with PlantFactory's downstream scene-population use cases in archviz and visualization.
- Quixel Megascans / Unreal Engine: Unreal Engine's ecosystem (Quixel Megascans, Unreal's procedural foliage tools, Nanite/Lumen) is increasingly used for realistic natural environments in real time — directly overlapping with VUE's real-time rendering and PlantFactory's vegetation modeling.
- Blender: Blender is a free, open-source 3D suite with growing procedural geometry, vegetation and atmospheric capabilities — an emerging alternative whose free licensing model mirrors e-on's new perpetual-free offering and competes for the same indie/artist base.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
e-on software social profiles
Digital presencee-on software financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
e-on software leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
e-on software funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
e-on software M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about e-on software
What does e-on software do?
e-on software develops 3D software for digital nature creation, consisting of three products: VUE for atmospheric and scenery rendering, PlantFactory for procedural plant modeling, and PlantCatalog as a pre-built 3D plant model library. The products integrate as plugins with major 3D applications and render engines. Following the 2024 decision by parent Bentley Systems, VUE, PlantFactory, and PlantCatalog are now offered as free perpetual downloads with no licensing, activation, or payment required.
Is e-on software a public or private company?
e-on software is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was e-on software founded?
e-on software was founded in 1997. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is e-on software based?
e-on software is headquartered in Beaverton, United States, in the North America region.
How does e-on software make money?
One revenue line is on record: free Perpetual Software Distribution.
Who are e-on software's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are SpeedTree (Unity), SideFX Houdini and World Machine / World Creator. Broad incumbents are The Foundry Mari, Autodesk 3ds Max / Maya, Maxon (Cinema 4D / Redshift) and Bentley LumenRT / OpenRoads visualization. Emerging players are iToo Software (Forest Pack / Rail Clone), Quixel Megascans / Unreal Engine and Blender.
Does e-on software have an API?
No public API is recorded for e-on software.
What industry is e-on software in?
e-on software's product category is 3D Digital Nature and Plant Modeling Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAHACAN, Immersive/Interactive Animation (AR/VR/Real-Time), with a secondary code of MPAHADAB, Real-Time Rendering & Game Engine Tooling. Its NAICS code is 51321 and its SIC code is 7372.