For a few years, Spatial was one of the best-known places to build a 3D art gallery in the browser — especially during the NFT boom, when artists and collectors filled it with virtual showrooms. If you're searching for "spatial.io closing" or "is Spatial shutting down," here's the short version, as of October 6, 2026:
- Spatial ended its creator platform on July 27, 2026. In a May 28 post, Spatial said it would sunset its Free and Pro subscription tiers and "discontinue 3D World hosting for those tiers."
- Uploaded files were to be deleted. Spatial said files would be "permanently deleted from our servers" after the deadline. Download links for raw files were emailed beforehand; there was no way to export a finished world.
- Only Enterprise and Education continue. "If you're an Enterprise customer, nothing changes." Spatial's pricing page now redirects to its enterprise page, and the company is focusing on its games studio.
If your gallery lived on Spatial, it's gone. This guide is about where to rebuild it — and how to avoid losing it again.
Here's a room you could have up and running this afternoon:
Why Spatial shut down creator hosting
Spatial's own explanation was cost: "The cost of hosting and scaling open multiplayer 3D worlds has grown significantly." Live multiplayer worlds are expensive to run, and the free tier was paying for servers that hosted every visitor in real time.
It's not the first time. Mozilla Hubs closed in 2024, and Artsteps no longer lets anyone edit exhibitions. Each time, artists who had built something had to rebuild or move their work.
What Spatial cost before it closed
For reference, Spatial's last public price list (archived May 18, 2026) had a Free plan with up to 5 people at once and 500 MB per space, and a paid Personal plan (the "Pro" tier in the shutdown notice) at $20 a month — for "Non-commercial use only." Embedding a space on your own website was an Enterprise feature.
What to look for in your next virtual gallery
The lesson from Spatial is less about features and more about what happens to your work over time. Before you rebuild, check four things:
- Can you publish for free — or do you pay every month to stay online? On a subscription, your gallery only exists while you keep paying.
- What happens when you stop paying? Look for the answer in the platform's FAQ, not its homepage.
- Does it depend on expensive live servers? A gallery that a visitor walks through alone is far cheaper to keep online than a live multiplayer world.
- Does your work look good? Image resolution, lighting, and framing decide whether a virtual room flatters your work or flattens it.
Where Spatial artists are moving
| Free to publish? | Price | If you stop paying | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metasteps (Artsteps' successor) | No — 14-day trial | €14–€99 / month, plus credits | Spaces unpublished | Multiplayer and VR; mobile browser "not recommended" |
| Kunstmatrix | No — free plan can't publish | €10–€50 / month | Exhibitions unpublished | Long-running, gallery and institution focus |
| ArtPlacer | No — 14-day trial | 3D exhibitions from $27 / month | Not stated that exhibitions stay public | Strong mockup and sales tools |
| FrameVR | Yes — trial tier, up to 8 people at once | $10–$200 / month per space | Not stated | Built for meetings and events |
| Xibit360 | Yes — 1 room, 5 works | One-time purchases, no subscription | Nothing to stop | Built for exhibitions; works on phones |
We look at each of these in more detail in our guide to the best virtual gallery platforms.
Cost over time: what rebuilding will cost you
Say you're rebuilding a 20-work gallery. On Xibit360, that's the free room (5 works) plus one extra exhibition room (15 works): $25, paid once. On the two closest art-focused platforms, you pay every month the gallery stays online.
Euros are converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of October 5, 2026 (€1 = $1.1204). Taxes are not included.
Total paid (USD) over the first 24 months of keeping a 20-work gallery online. Horizontal axis: months. The ring marks the month Xibit360 becomes the cheaper option.
| Months online | Xibit360 | Kunstmatrix Basic (€10 / month) | Metasteps Creator (€14 / month) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25 | $11.20 | $15.69 |
| 3 | $25 | $33.60 | $47.07 |
| 6 | $25 | $67.20 | $94.14 |
| 12 | $25 | $134 | $188 |
| 24 | $25 | $269 | $377 |
| 36 | $25 | $403 | $565 |
Xibit360 is cheaper from month 2 against Metasteps and from month 3 against Kunstmatrix — and then the gap keeps growing every month.
Why Xibit360 is built to stay
Xibit360 was designed as an exhibition, not a live world:
- No live servers per visitor. Each visitor walks the room in their own browser, so keeping a gallery online costs very little. That's what makes "pay once, open for good" sustainable.
- No subscription to lapse. You publish a free room today; larger shows are one-time purchases. Your room stays open until you close it.
- A public promise. Our terms commit to at least 90 days' notice if the service ever closes, with published galleries reachable and files downloadable throughout.
- Phone-first. The same room opens from one link in a phone's browser, with nothing to install.
What Xibit360 doesn't do: live multiplayer, avatars, voice chat, or VR headsets. If you need a shared space for live events, a multiplayer platform is the right tool. If you need a gallery that shows your work beautifully and is still there next year, that's exactly what we built.
What you get on Xibit360
- A free room you can publish today — 5 works, every frame style, no card, no time limit.
- Pay once to grow. An extra exhibition room (15 works) is $25, single artwork slots $3, and the Video Pass for video works $20. Themes are $8, layouts $5, and extra storage $10 per GB (100 MB included free).
- Works displayed at up to 1,600 px under gallery lighting, with frames, mats, and soft shadows set per work.
- A narrated, guided tour — captions read aloud in a natural voice.
- Share it anywhere — one link, an embed for your website, a walkthrough video for social media, and a catalogue.
- Your work is never used to train AI.
FAQ
Is Spatial.io shutting down? Spatial ended its Free and Pro creator platform and world hosting on July 27, 2026. Its Enterprise product and games studio continue.
What happened to my Spatial gallery? It stopped being hosted on July 27, 2026, and uploaded files were scheduled for permanent deletion. Spatial emailed download links for raw files before the deadline; finished worlds could not be exported.
Is Spatial still free? No. The free tier ended on July 27, 2026. Spatial now offers only Enterprise and Education plans, priced on request.
What's the best Spatial alternative for an art gallery? For a live, multiplayer space, look at Metasteps or FrameVR. For an artist's exhibition that stays online without a subscription, Xibit360 lets you publish free (5 works) and pay once to grow — $25 for a 20-work show.
Rebuild it today
Walk through the demo gallery, then create your free room. If you saved your images from Spatial, you can have your gallery back online in minutes.
Facts and quotes were checked on Spatial's announcement and website, an archived copy of its pricing page, and press coverage on October 6, 2026.