TurboSquid is a great site to start out with for 3D animated models. Whether you’re looking for Rick Sanchez or something more vintage like Mike the TV, you’ll likely find what you need fairly quickly. There are over 700 models in the movie and television character subsection alone.

Conveniently, TurboSquid offers the ability to filter for movie and television characters or game characters, which helps to narrow down your search. Also, in the search criteria, you can sub-select “rigged” characters to find 3D models that are ready to move.

In terms of model quality, a lot of these models look very professional. However, quality does scale with price, for example, compare this free minion to these pricier models. Luckily, there are 3D models for all price points so you can choose what works best for your budget.

• Selection: Over 700 models from various fandoms available
• Quality: Amateur to professional
• Price: Ranges from free to hundreds of dollars for model collections
• Search: Movie and TV category is quite helpful
• Special features: Ability to filter for rigged models

CGTrader is another modeling site on our list that has many animated models. You’ll find cute little Beamo, Bob from Bob’s Burgers, and characters from The Simpsons, among many others. The selection is fairly extensive, too, with over 100 Simpsons models alone to choose from, though not all are of characters. The quality of models is good despite the comparatively low prices.

Pricing is generally higher for rigged models but tops out at around $100 to $200 for collections of animated characters, or less for individual characters. The search functionality is quite helpful because you can look for models within a specific price range. Additionally, you can sort by polycount which can help to find quick-loading files.

• Selection: Varies based on the fandom, but generally quite a few
• Quality: Amateur to professional
• Price: Ranges from free to hundreds of dollars for model collections
• Search: Ability to limit price ranges is helpful
• Special features: N/A

CadNav, while not a very well-known site, does have some nice models like these Kakashi and Patrick Star models. Unfortunately, the site doesn’t have any proper search functionality, and the models are simply in a long list that can be somewhat filtered by large categories like “Human & Character”. This is a shame since there’s a great variety of models if you put in the effort to find them!

The quality of the models is fairly amateur to mid-range, but on the other hand, all the models on CadNav are free. If you’re willing to do the work, you can find some great models for use, like this Batman. He may not be the hero we need, but he is the hero we can all afford.

• Selection: Over 200 models available
• Quality: Amateur to mid-range
• Price: All models are free
• Search: Limited search functionality makes finding specific models difficult
• Special features: N/A

Sketchfab is another good site to look for 3D models. You can find animated characters like Misa Amane from Death Note and Harley Quinn. Pricing on the models varies, but many of them are under $20, like this Ants in my Eyes Johnson from Rick and Morty.

Although it isn’t clear exactly how many models are available, it does seem to be more than you’ll need for most animated characters. Quality is amateur to mid-range for most models, though there are some higher-quality models available if you’re willing to pay. Searching has very similar functionality to CGTrader and makes it a breeze to find the models you’re looking for.

• Selection: Not specified, but appears to have a large range
• Quality: Amateur to mid-range
• Price: From $5 to $50 for most models
• Search: Ability to limit price ranges is helpful
• Special features: Ability to filter for rigged models

DeviantArt is a unique item on our list, as the site is mainly for artists to post their artwork in a wide variety of mediums. However, whether you’re looking for Sonic the Hedgehog or Gadget Hackwrench from Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, you’ll certainly find what you need from a talented artist. It should be noted that many of the artists list their work on DeviantArt but sell downloads of their models on Patreon and similar sites.

Model quality greatly varies, as do prices, since DeviantArt is a place for individual artists to display their work to get public interest. The specific characters available are usually determined by interest from the community, so you’ll likely find popular models that many people want.

There are several thousand models on DeviantArt, though not all of them are based on animated characters from films, shows, and games. Search functionality is bare-bones, but it does allow you to search for tags like “3D”, which is useful.

• Selection: Many thousands of models available
• Quality: Varies
• Price: Varies depending on the artist
• Search: Basic, but with tags
• Special features: N/A

Surprisingly enough, Steam has a set of 3D models that might come in useful, and therefore makes it to our list. Specifically, a huge range of models of Pokemon can be found through Source Filmmaker and Garry’s Mod. They tend not to match the extensive selection or high quality of some of the other sites on this list, but Steam also has an Animation & Modeling section, which can be quite useful if you’re looking for relevant software.

• Selection: Very limited
• Quality: Fairly high
• Price: Free
• Search: Basic
• Special features: Ability to download software for animation and modeling

Free3D has over 34,000 models listed under “Characters“, and in terms of recognizable characters, you can find Judy Hopps from Zootopia, Olaf from Frozen, and many others. While Free3D does have the ability to search for characters specifically, the search functionality doesn’t necessarily find well-known animated characters. Instead, it finds character models most of the time. Despite that, the models that can be found seem to be of high quality and there’s both a free and premium version of Free3D depending on what you’re searching for.

Many models fall within the range of $5 to $50. Unfortunately, the search functionality is limited unless you know the fandom you’re searching for. Many of the models are of objects or even nondescript characters, rather than well-known characters like Judy and Olaf. Conveniently, models can be sorted for rigging if you need characters that move.

• Selection: 34,000 models, though many of these aren’t unique characters
• Quality: Professional
• Price: Free to $50
• Search: Limited unless you know the fandom you want to search for
• Special features: Ability to filter for rigged models

3D CAD Browser is a fairly basic site, but they do have free 3D models that make for a good starting point, such as this model of Hopper from A Bug’s Life. Despite the simplistic appearance, the site does have some reasonable search capability, such as being able to sub-sort for male and female characters and within a cartoon subset. It even has a simple Mickey Mouse model! For the most part, the models are free, though some require you to sign up for an account to download.

• Selection: Limited selection of only around 50 models
• Quality: Amateur
• Price: Free (requires an account)
• Search: Reasonably good, but there aren’t that many models to search for
• Special features: N/A

If you’re looking for extremely professional models of animation characters, look no further than ArtStation. You can find very unique and realistic models such as this creature from the Parasyte anime and Gravity Falls characters. Although there are many models listed, the majority are of animated characters in a hyper-realistic style. Nevertheless, if this is what you’re looking for, ArtStation is a fantastic site. The extreme realism of models is what separates it from other sites on this list, for sure.

It should be noted that the majority of people on ArtStation are artists displaying their work, not necessarily for sale on the site, but as a way to have a portfolio online. However, some do sell their work on listed sites and are willing to sell to you if you contact them directly. Search functionality is average, but with the ability to select individual subcategories like character animation, which helps narrow down listings.

• Selection: Wide selection from many fandoms, including less mainstream characters
• Quality: Professional
• Price: Varies depending on the artist
• Search: Sorting by character animation
• Special features: Extremely realistic depictions of characters

If you’re looking for free 3D models of animated characters specifically, then Clara.io is the place to be. While we can’t say that these models are of extremely high quality like those you’d find on ArtStation, they’re all free, so it’s hard to argue with that! There are over 12,000 models of characters alone, though many of them are repeats of the same characters. In addition, Clara.io’s selection is mostly limited to very popular, mainstream characters, such as Mario and Iron Man.

• Selection: A huge number of models but many repeats, so the number of unique characters is less impressive
• Quality: Amateur
• Price: All models are free
• Search: Basic
• Special features: N/A