Auto Rigging for Unity Humanoid Characters: RigMaster vs Mixamo vs AccuRIG
Last updated 2026-11-02 · Written by the Cosindra team; see the disclosure below.
Unity does not rig a mesh by itself: its Humanoid Avatar maps a skeleton your character already has, so you rig first with an auto-rigger, then set Animation Type to Humanoid. RigMaster rigs your humanoid in the browser from 18 joint markers you place, and converts the finished rig at no extra credits to a Mixamo-named FBX for Unity, from the same rig that gives you a UE5 Manny FBX and a Godot glTF; a rig costs 15 credits on a free start. Unity's automatic Humanoid mapping of that FBX is not yet tested, so if you need a Unity Humanoid today and would rather not be the one who tests it, use AccuRIG (free, and Reallusion names Unity among its export targets) or Mixamo (free with an Adobe account), and check the Avatar mapping in Unity whichever you pick. Blender, free and open source, is the route for anything that is not a humanoid.
Disclosure: we build RigMaster. Facts about the other tools were read on their official pages on November 2, 2026 (Mixamo's on November 1, 2026); the Unity steps quote Unity's own manual.
Is it free and what does it cost?
Cosindra is free to start with no card: the Starter plan gives 30 credits a month, eligible new accounts also get 50 one-time signup credits, and Starter includes one free download shared across products. Paid plans start at $9.99 a month (BYOK, 150 credits a month), and one-time credit packs cost $5 for 50 credits, $10 for 100 or $20 for 200, with credits that never expire. In RigMaster a rig costs 15 credits with 5 free polish rounds, and converting it to the Mixamo-named FBX for Unity adds no credits. For the others: Reallusion calls AccuRIG "a free software"; Mixamo's own site offers "Sign Up for Free" (read November 1, 2026); Blender is free and open source software (official pages, read November 2, 2026). Unity's Humanoid Avatar setup is part of the Unity Editor.
Official pages: AccuRIG (Reallusion), Mixamo, About Blender.
Rig first, then let Unity map it
Unity's manual describes these steps for any humanoid model file; they are the same whichever tool rigged it.
- Rig the character in an auto-rigger or by hand, and export an FBX with the skeleton and skin weights.
- Import the FBX into Unity, open the Rig tab and set Animation Type to Humanoid, with Avatar Definition on Create From This Model.
- Click Apply. Unity tries to map the bones to its humanoid, which needs at least 15 bones, and in many cases does it automatically.
- Click Configure and check the mapping: required bones must map, and optional bones such as fingers are worth mapping too. Use Mapping, then Automap, or drag bones in by hand if a slot stays red.
- Unity's humanoid wants a T-pose. If the Avatar window says "Character not in T-Pose", choose Pose, then Enforce T-Pose.
Limits
- We have not run these steps on RigMaster's Unity FBX yet, so we do not claim its mapping works.
- RigMaster's rig rests in the UE5 Manny A-pose, so plan on the Enforce T-Pose step.
| RigMaster | Mixamo | AccuRIG | Unity Humanoid Avatar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Rigs your mesh: a skeleton and skin weights from 18 markers you place | Rigs your mesh from a few markers | Rigs your mesh in a desktop app | Maps a skeleton your file already has; does not rig a mesh |
| Runs in | Browser | Browser | Desktop app | Unity Editor |
| Price (read November 2, 2026) | 15 credits a rig on a free start | Free with an Adobe account (read November 1, 2026) | Free | Part of Unity |
| File for Unity | FBX with 52 Mixamo-named bones, converted free from the rig | FBX | FBX or USD | Not applicable |
| Unity Humanoid mapping | Not yet tested by us | Check it in Unity, as for any rig | Check it in Unity, as for any rig | Automatic in many cases, per Unity's manual |
| Same rig for other engines | UE5 Manny FBX and a Godot glTF | FBX or DAE | FBX and USD for Unreal, Blender and more | Not applicable |
| Non-humanoids | No | No | No | Generic rigs, rigged elsewhere |
RigMaster for Unity: what ships, and what we have not tested
RigMaster (ours) fits the Manny skeleton first, then re-expresses the finished rig for other engines on the server, free: under Other engines, the Unity and Mixamo FBX has 52 bones with Mixamo's mixamorig names, in centimetres with Y up like Mixamo's own files, and the twist and helper bones folded into the limbs so every vertex keeps its full weight. Downloading it uses the same allowance as the Unreal FBX. What it does well: it is deterministic, so the same mesh and markers give the same rig; you choose how many fingers each hand gets; each rig includes 5 free polish rounds; and one rig serves Unreal, Godot and Unity.
What we have not done is run Unity's automatic Humanoid mapping on it. Mixamo's names are common English bone names of the kind Unity's manual recommends, but until we have tested it, treat the Avatar check as your job.
Mixamo and AccuRIG
Mixamo rigs a humanoid in the browser for free and comes with a large animation library, which is useful in Unity too. AccuRIG is a free desktop rigger from Reallusion with a strong name for hands and fingers; Reallusion says it saves FBX and USD and names Unity among the platforms it exports to. Neither rigs non-humanoids.
Honest limits
All three auto-riggers here are for humanoids. RigMaster's Unity file is untested with Unity's Humanoid mapping, rests in an A-pose, and comes with no animation library; MotionSmith, our text to animation workspace, has no Unity download of its own yet, though its FBX imports into Unity as a Humanoid. Starter includes one free download, shared across products. More downloads come with a paid plan (from $9.99 a month for 150 credits) or a one-time credit pack ($5 for 50 credits, $10 for 100 or $20 for 200), whose credits never expire and which opens downloads for 15 to 30 days.
Who should pick what
RigMaster
You ship the same character to Unreal, Godot and Unity, want a deterministic rig from markers you place, and are fine checking the Unity Avatar yourself.
AccuRIG
You want a free local rigger with good hands whose maker names Unity as an export target.
Mixamo
You want a free rig plus a free animation library in the browser.
Blender
The character is not a humanoid, or you want to build the rig by hand.
Free tools and guides for these jobs
- Free rig-ready checker: check an unrigged GLB before any auto-rigger: size, pose, facing and loose pieces
- Free FBX and GLB viewer: open the rigged FBX to see its bone tree and height before Unity
- Auto rigging for Godot 4: the same comparison for Godot, where we did test the import
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Common questions
Is it free and what does it cost?
Cosindra is free to start with no card: the Starter plan gives 30 credits a month, eligible new accounts also get 50 one-time signup credits, and Starter includes one free download shared across products. Paid plans start at $9.99 a month (BYOK, 150 credits a month), and one-time credit packs cost $5 for 50 credits, $10 for 100 or $20 for 200, with credits that never expire. In RigMaster a rig costs 15 credits with 5 free polish rounds, and converting it to the Mixamo-named FBX for Unity adds no credits. For the others: Reallusion calls AccuRIG "a free software"; Mixamo's own site offers "Sign Up for Free" (read November 1, 2026); Blender is free and open source software (official pages, read November 2, 2026). Unity's Humanoid Avatar setup is part of the Unity Editor.
Does Unity rig a character automatically?
No. Unity's Humanoid Avatar maps the bones a model file already has to Unity's humanoid; it does not create a skeleton or skin weights. Rig the mesh first, then set Animation Type to Humanoid and check the mapping.
Does RigMaster work with Unity's Humanoid Avatar?
RigMaster exports a Mixamo-named FBX for Unity, converted free from your rig, but Unity's automatic Humanoid mapping of it is not yet tested. Import it, set Animation Type to Humanoid, check the mapping in Configure, and use Enforce T-Pose, since the rig rests in an A-pose.
What is the cheapest way to rig a character for Unity?
Mixamo and AccuRIG are free, and Blender is free if you rig by hand. RigMaster is free to start: a new account's first 80 credits cover 5 rigs.
Is Cosindra free, and what does RigMaster cost?
Yes, you can start free with no card. The Starter plan gives 30 credits every month, and eligible new accounts also get 50 one-time signup credits. A rig costs 15 credits and includes 5 free polish rounds, so the 80 credits of a new account's first month cover 5 rigs. Starter includes one free download, shared across products, and Apply in UE5 through the free desktop app is never download-locked. More downloads come with a paid plan (from $9.99 a month for 150 credits) or a one-time credit pack ($5 for 50 credits, $10 for 100 or $20 for 200), whose credits never expire and which opens downloads for 15 to 30 days. The face rig is a paid-plan feature.
Official sources
Disclosure: this page is written and maintained by the team behind Cosindra, which appears in the comparison. Competitor capabilities and pricing are described as of the last-updated date above and change over time; always verify on the vendor’s own site. Spotted something outdated or unfair? Tell us and we’ll fix it.