Rhino vs MatrixGold: which one does a jewellery designer need?
MatrixGold runs on top of Rhino, so the real question is whether its jewellery tools are worth the difference. What each does, what it costs over time, and the plug-ins in between.
Short answer: MatrixGold is not an alternative to Rhino; it runs on top of it. Rhino 8, at US$995, is the precise modeller underneath. MatrixGold, at US$5,995 including Rhino 8 or US$5,495 if you already own Rhino, adds jewellery tools: a parametric history, gem placement, pavé and profile builders, and gem maps and reports. Rhino alone suits varied work, learning and Mac users. MatrixGold earns its price when you build conventional rings and settings every day on Windows.
Prices are as listed on rhino3d.com and gemvision.com on 22 October 2026, in US dollars, before tax.
| Rhino 8 | MatrixGold 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A general-purpose NURBS modeller | Jewellery software that runs inside Rhino 8 |
| Price | US$995, permanent licence | US$5,995 with Rhino 8, or US$5,495 without |
| After you buy | No maintenance fees | Membership at US$695 a year; a new licence includes six months |
| Jewellery tools | None built in; added with plug-ins | Built in |
| Runs on | Windows and Mac | Windows 10 and 11 only, not ARM |
| Free trial | 90 days, full program | 15 days, in selected regions |
What does Rhino do on its own?
Rhino is a general-purpose NURBS modeller: it builds exact mathematical surfaces rather than a mesh, so curves stay true and dimensions stay exact at any scale. It has no jewellery tools of its own, no stone library and no prong generator. What it offers is precision, stability and file compatibility, which is why most jewellery plug-ins are built for it.
A commercial licence is US$995, permanent, with no maintenance fees, and an education licence is US$195. The 90-day evaluation is the full program; after it, saving and plug-ins stop working. Rhino 8 runs on Windows and on Macs with Intel or Apple processors.
What does MatrixGold add?
MatrixGold, from Gemvision (a Stuller company), puts jewellery-specific tools inside Rhino 8:
- A parametric history, so you can step back and change a stone size or a profile without rebuilding the piece.
- Smart Tools for gem placement, pattern libraries and profile builders, which is where the speed on rings and pavé comes from.
- Rendering for customer approval.
- Gem maps and technical reports for manufacturing.
Version 4 added an offline mode of up to 12 hours, Scoop, Thickness Analysis, Multi-Prong Edit and a Gem Creator. The licence can be installed on several computers but is active on one device at a time.
What does MatrixGold cost over time?
The licence is a one-time purchase. Gemvision also sells a membership at US$695 a year, which renews automatically and can be cancelled at any time. It covers technical support, the Online Academy, quarterly seminars and 10 per cent off upgrades and certification. Gemvision's own pages differ on whether membership includes software updates, so ask before you rely on it.
Moving to MatrixGold 4 from version 2 or 3 costs US$1,290 with Rhino 8, or US$695 without. Formal training is extra: Level 1 certification is US$1,995 for four days in person in Lafayette, Louisiana, and a one-to-one session is US$299.
On those figures, three years of MatrixGold with Rhino 8 and a membership kept up comes to about US$7,700: the US$5,995 licence plus two and a half years at US$695. Rhino alone is US$995. That gap is what you pay for the speed.
Do MatrixGold files work without MatrixGold?
As finished geometry, yes. Exported as STL or STEP, a MatrixGold model is an ordinary file that any caster or CAD program can use. What does not travel is the parametric history: the steps and settings that let you change a stone size later live in MatrixGold. Gemvision also warns that MatrixGold 4 files may not fully open in older versions unless the history is removed first.
If someone else will edit the model, a STEP file is the safest handover either way.
The middle road: Rhino with a jewellery plug-in
Between bare Rhino and MatrixGold sit plug-ins that add jewellery tools to a Rhino you already own. Rhino's jewellery page lists, among others:
- RhinoArtisan 7: US$4,700 including Rhino 8, or US$3,500 for owners of Rhino 7 or 8. Perpetual, with six months of updates and a 15-day trial. Windows only.
- CrossGems: sold in Pro, Lite and education editions, priced in euros on its maker's store.
- Pro-J: price not published; runs on Rhino 8 for Windows.
- Peacock: free, for Grasshopper, Rhino's visual programming tool.
- Grasshopper Gold: Grasshopper definitions that are entirely open source.
None of these is a straight swap for MatrixGold, and each works differently, so use the trials side by side before you choose.
Can you use MatrixGold on a Mac?
No. Rhino 8 runs natively on a Mac, but MatrixGold, CounterSketch and RhinoArtisan list Windows only. Rhino's own requirements rule out running Rhino for Windows under Parallels or on ARM processors, which is how Windows runs on an Apple silicon Mac, and MatrixGold 4 needs Rhino 8 for Windows. Jewellery CAD software for Mac covers what does run.
Which should you buy?
- You are learning, or your work is varied rather than mostly rings: Rhino, adding a plug-in when the work demands it.
- You build rings, settings and pavé every day and speed is money: MatrixGold, on Windows.
- You want jewellery tools for less than MatrixGold, on Windows: try RhinoArtisan or CrossGems against it.
- You use a Mac: Rhino 8, or look at 3Design.
- You sell from a design library at a counter: CounterSketch, from US$2,995 with Rhino 8. Its designs cannot be exported for outside 3D printing; manufacturing goes through Stuller.
Or let someone else own the licence
If CAD is a few designs a month rather than a daily job, the arithmetic often favours outsourcing your jewellery CAD: you pay per design, only when there is a job. We model in Rhino with jewellery tooling, and the full software comparison covers 3Design, ZBrush and Blender too.
