First things first, whether you are brand new or have been working in another program for 20 years, hit download. Its completely free. ![[blenderLogo.png]] > [!NOTE] Download and Documentation > [Download — blender.org](https://www.blender.org/download/) > [Blender Documentation - blender.org](https://docs.blender.org/) > [History — blender.org](https://www.blender.org/about/history/) # What makes Blender unique? 1. **Blender is entirely free and open-source**, offering professional-grade 3D creation tools without licensing costs, making it accessible to everyone from hobbyists to studios. 2. **All-in-one pipeline** integrates modeling, sculpting, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, and video editing, eliminating the need for external software. There is no need for multiple expensive licenses. And if you need to use some proprietary software you wont need to invest as much, and Blender more often than not can integrate with other software because of its... 3. **Passionate global community**, Blender evolves rapidly through collaborative development, with frequent updates driven by user feedback and innovation. 1. [Blender Market | A Unique Market for Creators that love Blender](https://blendermarket.com/) 2. Abundance of free online tutorials (Many targeted @ hobbyist's) 4. It offers a **real-time rendering with Eevee**, similar to a game engine. Which can run on older machines to help speed up the heavy process of rendering. # Why would you choose Blender? **Zero cost but full power** and **Freedom and Flexibility.** Its generally one of if not the most well equipped 3D software's which is amazing. But my main reason was that I was sick of paying a "rent" every month or needing a student/teacher license and never actually owning the software. Renting a license in some cases might be unavoidable because there is no alternative or the alternatives just can't keep up, a good way to push against this for a start is to support amazing opensource software. # Blender Community and Addons [Blender Stack Exchange](https://blender.stackexchange.com) [Blender Market | A Unique Market for Creators that love Blender](https://blendermarket.com/) [GitHub - blender/blender: Official mirror of Blender](https://github.com/blender/blender) # Educators and Sources [CGMatter](https://www.youtube.com/@CGMatter) [Ian Hubert](https://www.youtube.com/@IanHubert2)