Upgrade or buy new? See our Rhino 3D pricing guide for upgrade costs and new licence prices, or buy online.

If you’re thinking about purchasing Rhino or upgrading from an older version, you might be wondering: should I wait for Rhino 9? It’s a fair question, and one we hear often. Rhino 9 is now in public beta, and it promises some genuinely exciting improvements. But that doesn’t necessarily mean waiting is the right move for you. Here’s an honest look at both sides.

Where Is Rhino 9 Right Now?

As of mid-2026, Rhino 9 is in public beta. McNeel is actively refining features and releasing rolling builds for Rhino 8 licence holders to test. There is no official release date announced yet, but the move to public beta signals the development is maturing.

The Case for Buying Rhino 8 Now

For many users, purchasing Rhino 8 today remains a sensible choice. Here’s why:

• Rhino 8 is mature and feature-rich — Rhino 8 introduced ShrinkWrap for 3D printing, SubD Creases, PushPull workflows, a faster render engine, better Grasshopper data types, improved drafting tools, and significant speed improvements for Mac users. It’s a stable platform for professional work right now.
• Beta access included — Rhino 8 licence holders can already download and use the Rhino 9 public beta today, for free. You don’t have to wait for the official release to start exploring the new features.
• Productivity now vs. hypothetical gains later — if you need a capable 3D modelling tool for live projects, delaying your purchase for software that isn’t finalised yet is rarely good for business.

Don't have a Rhino licence yet? You don't need to buy or wait to start finding out if Rhino 9 is worth it for you. Rhino 8 offers a free 90-day evaluation with the full toolset available and no credit card required — and when you are ready to buy, use code TRIAL5 for 5% off your Rhino 3D commercial licence from CADWAX. That licence is also what gets you into the Rhino 9 Beta. Saving and plugins are the only things that stop working, and only once the 90 days are up.

The Case for Waiting

There are some situations where waiting might make sense:

• You’re on an older version and in no rush — if your current tools are meeting your needs, it may be worth monitoring the Rhino 9 beta closely and making a decision when a release date is announced.
• A specific Rhino 9 feature is critical to your workflow — if something being developed for Rhino 9 — such as the new GD&T tools, improved fillet behaviour, or non-rectangular layout detail support — is genuinely blocking your work, it may be worth waiting to adopt it from day one.
• Budget constraints — if timing your purchase closer to the Rhino 9 release makes practical financial sense for your situation, that’s a valid consideration.

What Features Should I Expect in Rhino 9?

From what’s been confirmed in the public beta so far, Rhino 9 looks set to deliver improvements across modelling, drafting, and UI. Highlights include overhauled fillet and chamfer tools, a new SubD Knife command, the Markups annotation system, GD&T symbol support, non-rectangular layout details, improved DWG import/export, and significant performance optimisations. For a full breakdown, see our Rhino 9 Beta: New Features Confirmed So Far article.

What About Upgrade Pricing?

McNeel has not yet published official upgrade pricing for Rhino 9, as the product is still in development. However, based on McNeel’s historical approach to major version upgrades, a few general patterns tend to hold:

• Existing licence holders typically receive discounted upgrade pricing compared to the cost of a new licence.
• Upgrading from Rhino 8 to Rhino 9 requires a paid upgrade licence — it is not a free update. McNeel typically offers an introductory upgrade discount in the first three months after a new version ships, so buying Rhino 8 now positions you to take advantage of that window when Rhino 9 launches.
• Educational and commercial licences are typically handled separately, with different upgrade terms for each category.

If you’re considering a new Rhino 8 purchase now, it’s worth asking CADWAX directly about current upgrade protection policies, as these are sometimes time-limited and tied to your purchase date.

And if you'd rather not run the newest version at all, that's fine too — every Rhino 8 licence includes legacy licence keys for Rhino 6 and Rhino 7, so you can install whichever version suits your project or plugin compatibility.

If You Do Install the Beta, Treat It as a Test Environment

Because Rhino 9 beta builds are pre-release software, McNeel is clear that bugs, crashes, and even file loss are possible. If you choose to explore it:

• Always save your work frequently.
• Save important files in Rhino 8 (.3dm) format as a backup, since beta builds may not maintain full backward compatibility as development continues.
• Avoid using the beta for critical production work — keep Rhino 8 as your primary tool for client deliverables until Rhino 9 is officially released.
• Beta builds expire periodically, but McNeel always makes a newer build available before the current one expires.

A sensible way to explore it: install the beta on a secondary machine or in a test environment, and review your plugin dependencies — if you rely on third-party plugins such as VisualARQ, Karamba3D, or Grasshopper add-ons, check with those developers about Rhino 9 compatibility timelines, since plugin support often lags slightly behind major Rhino releases. Providing feedback on the beta via the McNeel Forum can also directly influence the final release.

If you decide not to wait, our Rhino 3D upgrade guide walks through the process of moving from any previous version to Rhino 8.

Related Reading

• Rhino 8 vs Rhino 9: What's New and What's Changed
• Rhino 9 Beta: New Features Confirmed So Far
• Buying Rhino 3D in the UK: Licences, Activation & Why Buy from CADWAX

View Rhino 3D V8 commercial licence details.