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Rhino 9 moved from Work-in-Progress (WIP) into public Beta in late June 2026. It's feature-complete and open to any Rhino 8 licence holder to download and test. This guide covers where things actually stand right now — release timing, what's genuinely new, and the Grasshopper 2 question that keeps coming up.

Current status: Beta, not WIP

McNeel's pre-release process for Rhino runs in three stages: WIP (early, experimental builds, sometimes called Alpha), Beta (core changes finished and tested, production-stable but not fully polished), and Final. Rhino 9 is currently in the Beta stage. You need an existing Rhino 8 licence to download and run it, and it installs alongside Rhino 8 without affecting your production install.

When will Rhino 9 be released?

McNeel doesn't commit to a fixed release date in advance — the official position is that Rhino 9 ships once beta testers confirm it's ready, not on a pre-announced schedule. For context, McNeel has historically aimed for roughly a three-year cycle between major versions, though this isn't guaranteed. If you've seen a specific month mentioned (September comes up a lot on the McNeel forum right now), treat that as community speculation rather than an official date — McNeel hasn't published one.

Does Rhino 9 include Grasshopper 2?

This is worth correcting directly, because it's a common assumption. Grasshopper 2 is a separate, long-running alpha project that McNeel has been developing and testing independently since well before Rhino 9 entered WIP — alpha builds have been released periodically since at least 2022. It is not a confirmed, finished feature bundled with the Rhino 9 release. If you're waiting for Rhino 9 specifically because you expect a finished Grasshopper 2, that's not a safe assumption to build a purchasing decision on. The current Grasshopper (v1) continues to work in Rhino 9 as it does in Rhino 8.

What's actually new in Rhino 9 Beta

Rather than generic "faster and more powerful" claims, here are specific, named changes from McNeel's official Rhino 9 change list:

• FilletEdge — added a Setback option, and fillets can now extend across joined tangent surfaces
• FilletCorners — added History support
• ExtractMeshFaces — can now extract faces from invalid meshes, including displacement meshes generated by PBR materials
• SubD — improved display accuracy for SubDs with soft creases or high face counts, plus separate Adaptive and Absolute meshing method controls
• Rendered display mode — added refraction support for transparent materials and better coloured transparency
• Section/Clipping — sectioning now works through curves, with a new "Point" layer under Section and a Reflected Ceiling Plan projection option

This is a working list during Beta — McNeel is releasing updates roughly monthly, and features can still change before Final.

Display engine: Direct3D replaces OpenGL on Windows

One of the most significant under-the-hood changes in Rhino 9 has nothing to do with modelling tools: on Windows, the default display engine has moved from OpenGL to Direct3D 11. This was confirmed directly by McNeel's Rhino lead developer, Steve Baer, on the McNeel forum.

• Why the change: OpenGL drivers were a persistent source of crashes on Windows ARM devices and in virtualised environments (Parallels, VMware, Remote Desktop) that McNeel couldn't reliably support. Direct3D resolves this.
• Performance: McNeel expects wireframe and shaded display modes to run faster under Direct3D, though actual results depend on your specific hardware and drivers.
• OpenGL isn't being removed: it remains available as a fallback option via a new GPU options page, primarily for plugins that specifically depend on OpenGL. McNeel is actively gathering feedback on why people still need it.
• Direct3D 11, not 12: this is a deliberate choice to preserve support for older hardware (such as Intel 4000-series integrated GPUs) that doesn't support Direct3D 12.

Worth clarifying: this is not a move to Vulkan. Some community discussion has conflated Rhino's change with unrelated Vulkan migrations in other software — McNeel chose Direct3D specifically for its native Windows GPU coverage, not cross-platform portability. On Mac, Rhino already moved from OpenGL to Metal back in Rhino 8, so this Windows change brings both platforms onto modern, vendor-native graphics APIs.

If you run a plugin with custom OpenGL-based rendering code, it's worth checking with that plugin's developer on Direct3D compatibility before moving production work to the Beta.

Rendering in Rhino 9: Cycles, and where Bella Render fits

Rhino 9 continues to use Cycles as its built-in raytrace renderer — the same engine behind the Raytraced viewport and the Render command since Rhino 7. Beta testers on the McNeel forum are currently working through specific use cases, including studio-style product visualisation with soft-box lighting and clean shadows on plain backgrounds.

Cycles is a capable general-purpose renderer and it's included with every Rhino licence at no extra cost. If your priority is fast, polished, client-ready studio and architectural visuals without extensive manual light and material tuning, it's worth adding Bella Render alongside it — it's built specifically around a physically-based workflow for that kind of output. The two aren't mutually exclusive: many studios use Cycles for quick in-viewport checks and Bella for final client-facing renders.

Should you upgrade to Rhino 9 now?

If you rely on Rhino 8 for production work: hold off running client projects on the Beta. Beta builds are pre-release software — stability reports and crash fixes are still being filed and resolved on the McNeel forum on a rolling basis, which is normal for this stage but not something you want mid-deadline.

If you want to test early or plan ahead: the Beta is free to download now for any Rhino 8 licence holder, and it runs alongside your existing Rhino 8 install without touching it. This is a good way to check plugin compatibility — including with the new Direct3D display engine — and get familiar with changes before Final ships.

When Rhino 9 reaches Final release, it will follow Rhino's existing upgrade model — you purchase a paid upgrade licence to move from Rhino 8 to Rhino 9 — see our Rhino 3D upgrade licence for current upgrade pricing. McNeel typically offers an introductory upgrade discount in the first three months after a new version ships. See our Rhino accounts and Cloud Zoo setup guide for how licensing and Cloud Zoo work in practice.

Plugin compatibility

Third-party plugin compatibility with Rhino 9 depends on each individual developer's own update schedule, not McNeel's release timing. If you rely on specific plugins for production work — particularly any with custom display or rendering code — check compatibility with that plugin's current version before moving any live project onto the Beta.

Have questions about upgrading, licensing, or which plugins are confirmed compatible with the Rhino 9 Beta? Contact our team — we can talk through your specific setup.