What tools convert CAD models to web-ready 3D without coding?

This site does it in the browser for free: STEP or IGES to GLB, and GLB to USDZ for Apple AR, with no install and no upload. Blender does it free on the desktop with more control over materials, after some learning. Commercial converters such as CAD Exchanger read native CAD files directly. For most product pages, a STEP export and the converter here are all that is needed.

What is the best 3D format for the web?

GLB. It is a single file holding geometry, colours and part names, every web 3D library and store reads it, and it is the binary form of glTF, the open standard written for exactly this. Use USDZ alongside it for AR on iPhone and iPad.

Can I convert a SolidWorks or Fusion file directly?

No browser tool can read the native files — their formats are closed. Export STEP from the CAD program first, which takes a few seconds; the guides on this site show the exact menu for each program.

Will the parts of my assembly stay separate?

Yes. Each part in the STEP file becomes its own named node in the GLB, so a viewer or a script can still show, hide or highlight it. You can also leave parts out before converting.

Is my CAD model uploaded?

No. The STEP file is read and converted by your own browser. The CAD reader is downloaded once from a public code network the first time you open a STEP file; your model is not part of that request.

How to convert a CAD model to web-ready 3D, without coding

Export a STEP file from your CAD program, drop it on the STEP to GLB converter here, and download a GLB — the format every web 3D viewer, online store and AR tool reads. For iPhone and iPad, turn that GLB into a USDZ. No code, no account, and the model never leaves your computer.

We read STEP and IGES, not native SolidWorks, Inventor or Fusion files — export STEP first, as below. And we do not host the result: the GLB you download goes on your own site, store or viewer.

CAD to the web in five steps

Export a STEP file from your CAD program
File → Export → STEP (AP214 or AP242)
Every CAD program writes STEP. In SolidWorks it is File → Save As → STEP AP214; in Fusion, File → Export → STEP; in Inventor, File → Save As → Save Copy As → STEP; in Onshape, right-click the Part Studio → Export → STEP.
Choose AP214 or AP242 if asked: both carry the part colours, which come through to the GLB.
Convert it to GLB here
Drop the STEP file on the STEP to GLB converter. The model appears in 3D with its parts listed; switch off any you do not want on the web — fasteners, internal parts — before you convert.
The detail control decides how many triangles the curved surfaces become. Medium is right for most product pages.
Check the weight
Look at the triangle count and the file size beside the 3D view. For a product page, a few hundred thousand triangles and a few megabytes load quickly on a phone. If it is heavier, lower the detail and convert again.
Make the Apple version
iPhone and iPad open AR models as USDZ, not GLB. Drop the GLB you just made on the GLB to USDZ converter. Colours and parts come across.
Put it on a page
Most website builders and stores take a GLB as product media directly — upload it like a photo. On a page you control, Google’s free model-viewer component shows it with one tag, and turns on AR when you give it the USDZ too.
<model-viewer src="part.glb" ios-src="part.usdz" ar camera-controls></model-viewer>

Exported it? Check the file here

Drop the STEP or IGES you just made. It opens in your own browser — nothing is uploaded — and you choose what to do with it: check it came out whole and the right size, look at it in 3D, or convert it.

Drag the STEP or IGES you exported here, orchoose a file.

The file is read on your own computer. It is never uploaded.

Why STEP to GLB is the whole job

A CAD model is exact geometry: a cylinder is stored as a cylinder, with a radius. A web browser cannot draw that. It draws triangles, so somewhere the exact surfaces have to be cut into triangles, and doing that well — enough of them on the curves, few on the flat faces — is the step that makes a CAD model web-ready.

GLB is the format to cut them into. It is one file holding the triangles, the colours and the names of the parts, it is the format three.js, Babylon, model-viewer, Shopify and every AR tool read, and it is to 3D roughly what JPEG is to photographs.

Everything else people ask for — "web-ready", "lightweight", "for AR" — is a question about how many triangles, which the converter lets you see and change before you download.

How heavy a web model should be

A product page has to load on a phone over a mobile connection. As a rule of thumb, keep a GLB under 5 MB and a few hundred thousand triangles; a small part needs far fewer. The converter shows both numbers as you change the detail, so you can watch them fall.

This site writes plain GLB, without Draco compression. Draco can shrink the geometry to a fifth of its size, but a Draco file needs a decoder at the other end and will not open in most viewers on its own. If you need it, run the GLB through gltf-transform afterwards; most product models do not.

Colours, materials and what does not come across

Part colours set in the CAD program come through, packed inside the GLB. Surface finishes, textures and decals do not, because a STEP file never held them — it has flat colours only. If the model needs a realistic material, the usual route is to open the GLB in Blender, assign materials, and export a GLB again.

Threads, tolerances and manufacturing notes are dropped, which is the point: none of them mean anything to a web viewer, and they would only add weight.

Where the GLB goes

A store. Shopify and most other commerce platforms accept GLB as product media, alongside the photographs. Upload it like an image.

Your own page. model-viewer is a free web component from Google that turns a GLB into a rotatable, zoomable model with one HTML tag, and adds an AR button on phones when you also give it the USDZ. No other code is needed.

A sharing site. Sketchfab and similar services take a GLB and give you an embed code to paste anywhere — useful when you cannot host files yourself.

Where we can actually help

Every step in the middle happens here. Start with STEP to GLB; the USDZ page makes the Apple version from the GLB you download.

Questions

What tools convert CAD models to web-ready 3D without coding?: This site does it in the browser for free: STEP or IGES to GLB, and GLB to USDZ for Apple AR, with no install and no upload. Blender does it free on the desktop with more control over materials, after some learning. Commercial converters such as CAD Exchanger read native CAD files directly. For most product pages, a STEP export and the converter here are all that is needed.
What is the best 3D format for the web?: GLB. It is a single file holding geometry, colours and part names, every web 3D library and store reads it, and it is the binary form of glTF, the open standard written for exactly this. Use USDZ alongside it for AR on iPhone and iPad.
Can I convert a SolidWorks or Fusion file directly?: No browser tool can read the native files — their formats are closed. Export STEP from the CAD program first, which takes a few seconds; the guides on this site show the exact menu for each program.
Will the parts of my assembly stay separate?: Yes. Each part in the STEP file becomes its own named node in the GLB, so a viewer or a script can still show, hide or highlight it. You can also leave parts out before converting.
Is my CAD model uploaded?: No. The STEP file is read and converted by your own browser. The CAD reader is downloaded once from a public code network the first time you open a STEP file; your model is not part of that request.

Where to go next

Related guides

About these formats

Checked against current software versions on 2026-10-15