For an e-commerce app, the best AR SDK depends on what customers need to visualize: furniture in their homes, clothing and makeup on themselves, or a 3D product they can rotate and inspect before buying.
My recommendation is to start with the simplest technology that supports your shopping experience, rather than building a full AR engine from scratch. Here are the strongest options to evaluate in 2026.
Best AR SDKs for e-commerce
1. Google model-viewer + ARCore / AR Quick Look
(Best starting point)
Best for: Furniture, home décor, appliances, and other physical products.
A lightweight web component for interactive 3D models that can launch native AR viewing on supported devices. It is a good fit for a product page where shoppers tap “View in your room,” without requiring you to build all the AR functionality yourself.
Best for: Makeup, glasses, accessories, and face-based virtual try-on.
A commercial SDK focused on face tracking, realistic effects, and virtual try-on. Consider it if visual accuracy and a ready-made tracking pipeline matter more than minimizing licensing costs.
Best for: Browser-based AR campaigns and cross-platform shopping experiences.
Worth evaluating if customers should launch AR from a mobile browser or product-page link, rather than needing a dedicated native AR screen. Verify that its tracking capabilities match your particular use case.
Best for: Highly customized native iOS AR experiences.
Apple's native frameworks give developers control over motion tracking, scene understanding, and rendering. Choose this route if you need deep iOS integration and have engineering resources to build and maintain the experience.
Google's ARCore and Apple's ARKit are foundational AR frameworks; they provide tracking and environmental understanding, but they aren't complete virtual try-on products out of the box.
What I'd choose for your app
Furniture or home goods: Start with model-viewer and native AR handoff.
Beauty or eyewear: Evaluate Banuba first.
Custom, highly interactive AR: Use ARKit and ARCore, or a suitable cross-platform engine.
No app installation required: Prioritize a browser-based solution.
One important consideration: the quality of your 3D product models, their real-world dimensions, loading speed, and compatibility with customer devices can matter just as much as the SDK itself.
One question to narrow it down
What kind of products will your e-commerce app sell?
The "best" AR SDK for an e-commerce app depends entirely on your product catalog (e.g., furniture vs. cosmetics/apparel) and whether you want a native cross-platform build or a web-based AR (WebAR) approach that lives inside the app seamlessly.
The top choices for e-commerce, broken down by use case, include:
Apple ARKit & Google ARCore (Native)
Best for: Native mobile app performance with maximum hardware utilization.
Why it stands out:ARKit (iOS) and ARCore (Android) are the underlying native frameworks. They handle surface detection, real-time lighting estimation, and scale scaling exceptionally well.
The Catch: You have to code and maintain two separate implementations (or use a wrapper like Unity/AR Foundation), which can double your development overhead.8th Wall (by Niantic)
Best for: Web-based AR (WebAR) and cross-platform flexibility.
Why it stands out: It allows users to experience AR directly in their mobile browser or embedded web-view without forcing an app download or heavy native updates. For e-commerce conversion rates, removing friction is massive. It supports surface placement, image targeting, and face tracking.
Unity + AR Foundation
Best for: Complex, highly interactive 3D product customization (e.g., changing colors, adding parts, or animating products).
Why it stands out: Unity allows you to write your AR code once using AR Foundation and deploy to both iOS and Android seamlessly while leveraging a rich asset pipeline.
Specialized Niche SDKs (GlamAR, Banuba, or Vizbl)
Best for: Specific retail verticals like Virtual Try-On (VTO) for makeup, glasses, watches, or apparel, or furniture room-placement.
Why it stands out: If you are selling beauty products or accessories, general-purpose SDKs require heavy custom computer vision work. Specialized SDKs come pre-packaged with hyper-accurate facial or wrist mesh tracking specifically tuned for e-commerce catalogs.
To help narrow down the ideal choice, tell me:
What type of products are you selling (e.g., furniture, clothing, cosmetics, accessories)?
Is your app fully native (Swift/Kotlin/React Native) or built with a cross-platform engine like Unity or Flutter?
Do you want the AR to launch inside the native app flow or via a web-based link/browser?
For an online shopping app, the best augmented reality (AR) development kit depends on what you want customers to do: virtually try on products, preview furniture in their homes, or interact with 3D product models before buying.
As of October 2026, I'd shortlist Banuba, DeepAR, Zappar, Apple ARKit, Google ARCore, and MediaPipe. They cover commercial virtual try-on solutions as well as lower-level development frameworks. Shopify's recent AR SDK guide also highlights the importance of matching the SDK to the shopping experience and target platform.
Top AR development kits for e-commerce
1. Banuba Face AR SDK
(Best for virtual try-on)
Banuba is a strong starting point for shopping apps selling makeup, eyewear, accessories, or beauty products. It offers face tracking and real-time AR effects, helping you create a try-on experience without building the entire computer-vision system yourself.
Best features: face tracking, beauty effects, virtual try-on, cross-platform options.
Platforms: iOS, Android, web, and supported Unity workflows.
Trade-off: commercial licensing and integration costs need to be evaluated.
Ideal feature: a “Try it on” button on each product page.
Source:
2. DeepAR
(Best for interactive camera experiences)
DeepAR is worth evaluating if you want virtual try-on alongside camera filters, makeup effects, and interactive product demonstrations.
Best features: face tracking, real-time effects, camera-based AR.
Platforms: mobile and web options, depending on the SDK and integration.
Trade-off: you'll need to verify the fit and realism for your specific product category.
Ideal feature: let shoppers preview makeup or accessories in real time.
Source:
3. Zappar ZapWorks
(Best for browser-based AR)
Zappar is a good candidate when you want customers to launch an AR experience from a product page, QR code, or packaging without installing a separate app.
Best features: image tracking, face tracking, and browser-based AR experiences.
Platforms: web and other supported SDK integrations.
Trade-off: tracking requirements and SDK licensing should be checked against your intended experience.
Ideal feature: scan a product label to reveal a 3D demo, animation, or additional product information.
Source:
4. Apple ARKit
(Best for native iOS apps)
ARKit is Apple's AR framework for building custom iPhone and iPad experiences. It is particularly useful for placing virtual objects into a customer's physical environment.
Best features: motion tracking, scene understanding, and supported real-world placement capabilities.
Platform: Apple devices.
Trade-off: it provides foundational AR technology, not a complete retail virtual try-on solution.
Ideal feature: preview a sofa, lamp, or decorative item at home.
Source:
5. Google ARCore
(Best for native Android apps)
ARCore is Google's framework for building AR experiences on supported Android devices. It is a natural counterpart to ARKit for apps that need to understand a room and position virtual products in it.
Best features: motion tracking, environmental understanding, and supported surface placement.
Platform: Android and supported development integrations.
Trade-off: you'll need to build the shopping UI, product rendering, and commerce integration.
Ideal feature: “View in your room” for furniture, rugs, and home décor.
Source:
6. MediaPipe
(Best for custom development)
MediaPipe provides computer-vision building blocks for developers who want more control over tracking and interaction rather than relying entirely on a commercial AR product.
Best features: face and hand landmarks, vision pipelines, and customizable tracking workflows.
Platforms: web and supported mobile/development environments.
Trade-off: realistic product fitting, 3D rendering, and calibration require additional engineering.
Ideal feature: a custom accessories try-on system or a highly tailored shopping interaction.
Source:
Quick comparison
AR kit
Best use case
App integration
Cost approach
Banuba
Beauty and accessory try-on
Commercial SDK
Paid licensing
DeepAR
Face effects and try-on
Commercial SDK
Plan-dependent
These are use-case recommendations, not a verified ranking of user ratings. Pricing and platform support should be confirmed with each provider before committing.
Which would I choose for your shopping app?
For fashion, makeup, glasses, or jewelry
Start by evaluating Banuba and DeepAR. Test the realism of the product overlay and how well tracking works across different devices.
For furniture, home décor, or appliances
Start with ARKit and ARCore for a native app, or evaluate a cross-platform commerce-focused solution if you also need web support.
For a web store or mobile shopping website
Evaluate Zappar and browser-based AR options. Customers can access the experience from a product page without installing your app. Also consider whether your commerce platform already supports 3D product viewing.
One important caution: Don't select an SDK based on feature lists alone. In 2026, the hosted version of 8th Wall has been discontinued, although its engine has been released as open source. Verify the ongoing maintenance, hosting, and support model of any AR platform you shortlist.
Let's narrow it down
What kind of products will your online shopping app sell?
