MeshLab is a 3D mesh processing software system that is oriented to the management and processing of unstructured large meshes and provides a set of tools for editing, cleaning, healing, inspecting, rendering, and converting these kinds of meshes. MeshLab is free and open-source software, subject to the requirements of the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 2 or later, and is used as both a complete package and a library powering other software. It is well known in the more technical fields of 3D development and data handling.
MeshLab is developed by the ISTI - CNR research center; initially MeshLab was created as a course assignment at the University of Pisa in late 2005. It is a general-purpose system aimed at the processing of the typical not-so-small unstructured 3D models that arise in the 3D scanning pipeline.
The automatic mesh cleaning filters includes removal of duplicated, unreferenced vertices, non-manifold edges, vertices, and null faces. Remeshing tools support high quality simplification based on quadric error measure, various kinds of subdivision surfaces, and two surface reconstruction algorithms from point clouds based on the ball-pivoting technique and on the Poisson surface reconstruction approach. For the removal of noise, usually present in acquired surfaces, MeshLab supports various kinds of smoothing filters and tools for curvature analysis and v
What is MeshLab?
MeshLab by Paolo Cignoni - VCG - ISTI - CNR (developed by Institute of Information Science and Technologies) is open-source Windows software in the 3d & cad category. It ranks 4th by popularity among 3d & cad in this catalogue. It is written in C++. Besides Windows, it is available for Linux.
Installation and requirements
The publisher provides EXE (NSIS) installers for 64-bit Windows. Installation asks for administrator rights. A silent install is possible with the installer’s documented switches.
Updates and version history
The current version is 2025.07, released on July 22, 2025. The version history goes back to March 30, 2021: 7 releases, all linked to the official files. That is about 1.6 releases a year. The last update is more than a year old.
Popularity and file types
The Chocolatey package has been downloaded 36,081 times. The source code on GitHub (cnr-isti-vclab/meshlab) has 5,882 stars. Wikipedia has an article about it in 5 of our languages. On Windows it registers 8 file types, including .stl, .obj, .ptx, .ply and .fbx. Similar programs include PrusaSlicer, Ultimaker Cura and Bambu Studio.
Project description on GitHub: “The open source mesh processing system”
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Open source: the code can be inspected and built by anyone
- Documented silent install
- Also runs on Linux
- Large user base
Cons
- No native ARM64 build
- Installation needs administrator rights
- No update for more than a year
In short: MeshLab is an open-source 3d & cad tool for 64-bit PCs. Updates have slowed down. Administrators can deploy it unattended.
Screenshots
Is MeshLab safe to download?
- The file is served by github.com, the publisher’s own domain
- The download link uses HTTPS
- A SHA256 hash is published, so you can verify the file:
3465998CB2DBDED0DD9336367BDB9D2BA9E68230C9F188E55E03C274937E70EE· Open the VirusTotal report for this hash - The link has not been checked yet
- The source code is public
- ExeAtlas does not host, wrap or modify installers
Related guide: How to check a file’s SHA256 hash on Windows
Security practices (OpenSSF Scorecard)
Automated checks of the cnr-isti-vclab/meshlab repository on GitHub by the Open Source Security Foundation, last run on October 19, 2026.
- No dangerous workflows10
- Licence declared10
- Actively maintained5
- No binaries in the repository4
- Code review3
- Restricted token permissions0
- OpenSSF Best Practices badge0
- Security policy0
- Fuzzing0
- Branch protection0
- Signed releases0
- Pinned dependencies0
- Static code analysis0
The score rates how the project is developed and released, not whether the program is safe to install. scorecard.dev
Recent versions
All 7 versions ›7 versions over 4 years · about 1.6 a year
| Version | Date | Size | Files |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025.07Latest | July 22, 2025 | — | 64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 2023.12 | December 12, 2023 | — | 64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 2022.02 | March 7, 2022 | — | 64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 2021.10 | October 31, 2021 | — | 64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 2021.07 | August 4, 2021 | — | 64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 2021.05 | May 29, 2021 | — | 64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 2020.12 | March 30, 2021 | — | 64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
Install from the command line
Silent install ›winget install --id CNRISTI.MeshLab -echoco install MeshLab -yscoop install extras/meshlabMeshLab2025.07-windows_x86_64.exe /SRelated guide: How to use winget: install and update apps
Also for other systems
brew install --cask meshlabflatpak install flathub net.meshlab.MeshLabInformation
- Publisher
- Paolo Cignoni - VCG - ISTI - CNR
- Developer
- Institute of Information Science and Technologies
- Category
- 3D & CAD
- Licence
- GPL-3.0
- Price
- Free
- Source code
- github.com/cnr-isti-vclab/meshlab
- Written in
- C++
- Content rating
- All ages
- Requires
- Windows 11 / 10
- Architecture
- 64-bit
- Installer
- EXE (NSIS)
- Other platforms
- Linux
- Version
- 2025.07
- Released
- July 22, 2025
- Added to the catalogue
- March 30, 2021
- Versions listed
- 7
- Updates / year
- 1.6
- Chocolatey downloads
- 36,081
- GitHub stars
- 5,882
- GitHub forks
- 920
- Website
- meshlab.net
- winget ID
- CNRISTI.MeshLab
- Chocolatey package
- MeshLab
- Scoop package
- extras/meshlab
File types it opens (8)
Ratings and reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate it.
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Frequently asked questions
Is MeshLab free?
Yes. MeshLab is open-source software under the GPL-3.0 licence.
Is MeshLab safe to download?
The download comes from github.com, which belongs to the publisher; ExeAtlas does not host or change the file. Compare its SHA256 hash with the one shown here, or open the VirusTotal report for that hash.
How do I install MeshLab with winget?
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run the winget command shown on this page. winget downloads the official installer and checks its SHA256 hash before running it.
Can MeshLab be installed silently?
Yes. The silent install page lists the exact command for each installer.
Does MeshLab run on ARM (Windows on Arm)?
There is no ARM64 build; Windows 11 on Arm can run the 64-bit version through emulation.
Where can I download an older version of MeshLab?
The versions page lists all 7 versions with links to their official installer files, back to March 30, 2021.
What are alternatives to MeshLab?
PrusaSlicer, Ultimaker Cura, Bambu Studio, OpenToonz and UVtools. The alternatives page compares them.
