TequilaAlpha
The first versions: the renderer, the materials and the app, built up and tried out.
Roadmap
Where Tequila is going.
What's being worked on now, what comes next, and what's further out. Plans move as people use Tequila and tell us what they need; what has actually shipped is on What's new.
Updated November 7, 2026
Where Tequila is now
In beta.
Ready for real work, and still changing quickly.
Beta
Every main feature is in, on Windows, Mac and Linux. What that means for you:
- Use it for real work, client renders included.
- Updates come often. Help › Check for updates installs them and keeps your materials and settings.
- Some things are still rough. Windows and Mac warn you when you first open it, and some of the newest features haven't met real hardware yet.
- Tell us what breaks, on the Discord.
Stable
When these are done:
- Tested on many more computers and graphics cards.
- The newest features tried on real hardware: see Now below.
- A signed Windows installer, so no warning when you open it.
Now
The work for the next release.
A portable Windows version
Tequila as a zip, with nothing to install: extract it on a USB drive or any folder you can write to, and open it. It keeps your settings, materials and plugins in a data folder beside it, not in the computer's own folders, and updates by extracting the next version's zip over it.
The 3D mouse on a Mac, with 3Dconnexion's driver
On a Mac, 3Dconnexion's driver keeps the 3D mouse to itself, so Tequila can't read it while the driver runs. Tequila will go through the driver instead, as other apps do: the mouse keeps working everywhere, and the settings in 3Dconnexion's preferences apply in Tequila too.
Reported by the communityPreview at the render's size, and screenshots
Keep the preview at the final render's pixel size instead of the window's, so a big monitor no longer slows it down. And a Screenshot button that saves the preview to a folder you choose, on P as in KeyShot; pausing the view moves to Shift+P.
Asked for by the communitySelecting and moving, tidier
Clicking empty space deselects again, and so do Esc and Ctrl+Shift+A (⌘⇧A on a Mac). The move gizmo gets smaller, and stays the same size on any screen instead of growing with the window.
Asked for by the communityDenoise on or off in one click
A switch on the viewport's toolbar, for the preview and the final render separately, and a closer look at why denoised textures can come out soft.
Asked for by the communityStudios and Snapshots
The saved shots in your project become Snapshots, so Studios means one thing: the Library's ready-made setups of lights, backdrop and cameras.
Asked for by the communityTested on more machines
Choose Help › Test this computer…: it renders a small scene with every engine and graphics card it finds, checks the pictures and gives you a short report. Paste it on Discord. Reports from AMD cards, several cards at once, and Intel and Apple-silicon Macs help most.
New features, on real hardware
A SpaceMouse turning the view, Substance materials with Adobe's own files and tools, USDZ files on an iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro, and Rhino files side by side with Rhino. Each is built and tested against its format, but not yet used on the real thing. Have one? Tell us how it goes.
Next
Planned once the work above ships.
Faster, and staying fast
Tequila can slow down over a long session with a detailed model, or one with many parts. We'll measure where the time and memory go and fix it, add a small performance readout to the app, then go over the whole app: start-up time, memory, and loose ends in the interface.
Duplicate, and patterns
Duplicate a part with Ctrl+D, or repeat it along a line or around a circle. The copies share the original's geometry, so a large pattern stays light, and the pattern stays editable.
Asked for by the communityBackdrops and simple shapes
Add a plane, cube, cylinder, sphere or disc to the scene, and backdrops: a back wall, or a curved sweep from floor to wall with its width, height and curve set by numbers or handles. Each takes materials like any other part.
Asked for by the communityMove, turn and scale at once
One gizmo with arrows, rings and scale handles together, as in KeyShot. W, E and R still pick one at a time.
Asked for by the communityTexture mapping you can see
A texture laid on flat, around a cylinder, around a sphere or from three sides, drawn as a wireframe of that shape on the part, with handles to move, turn and size it right in the viewport.
Asked for by the communityPreferences
One place to make Tequila your own: theme and interface size, gizmo size, preview size, mouse navigation like KeyShot, Blender or Maya, your own shortcuts, the default engine and folders, and how much room caches take.
A signed Windows installer
Free signing through the SignPath Foundation, so Windows stops warning about Tequila the first time it runs.
More animation
Exploded views, camera fly-throughs, part reveals and motion blur, on top of today's turntables.
KeyShot materials, closer
Materials from KeyShot scenes matched more closely to how KeyShot renders them.
Later
Wanted, but not scheduled yet.
AI image tools
Restyle a finished render, change its background or upscale it, guided by the render's own depth, normals and masks.
Review scenes together
Look over a scene with others and leave notes on it, made practical by Tequila's open file format.
Recently shipped
Already in Tequila.
The last three releases. Everything that was under Now and Next on November 3 shipped on November 6. Every version's full notes are on What's new.
2026.11.06.0224
Everything that was under Now and Next: USDZ export for AR, Rhino, FBX, 3MF and PLY, Substance materials, glossy reflections and fibres finished, suedes and Faux Fur Camel, previews ready from the start, bottles in Cycles, Test this computer, SpaceMouse, Studios and the UV editor.
2026.11.02.1748
The palma P8 handheld as a third sample scene, what lies just behind a thin lens shown right, textures found beside their project, and AI apps with every tool again.
2026.11.01.1340
A full UV editor, wireframe renders, KeyShot scenes, real fibres, spectral rendering, AMD cards and every card at once, Cycles on Linux, and Intel Macs.
Something you need?
Tell us on Discord, or open an issue on GitHub. What people using Tequila ask for shapes what moves up this list.