8th Wall Is Shutting Down: Timeline, Impact, and the Best 8th Wall Alternative for WebAR

WebAR | 21/11/2025 | Twitter Facebook Linkedin Email Reddit

The WebAR community has been shaken by the announcement that 8th Wall will be phased out after more than seven years of innovation in browser-based augmented reality. For developers, agencies and brands, this raises practical questions: what happens to existing projects, how long will hosting remain active, and which 8th Wall alternative can support future WebAR strategies?

This article explains the official 8th Wall shutdown schedule, outlines how the change affects current users and provides a clear action plan. It also introduces AR Code as a stable, business-ready WebAR platform for those looking to continue or expand their augmented reality initiatives.

A brief look back at 8th Wall

8th Wall became a reference point in the WebAR space by allowing augmented reality experiences to run directly in the browser, without a dedicated app. By combining JavaScript, WebGL and HTML5, it enabled:

• Marketing campaigns and brand activations in AR
• Interactive product visualizations and try-ons
• Immersive storytelling for entertainment, culture and media
• Custom experiences built by agencies and creative studios

The later acquisition by Niantic, the company behind Pokémon GO, further confirmed its importance in the augmented reality ecosystem. That is precisely why the decision to wind down the service has such a wide impact.

8th Wall shutdown timeline: key dates to know

The closure of the platform is being handled in stages, with clear milestones. Understanding these dates is essential for planning exports, migrations and client communication.

Until 28 February 2026 – normal access

• Developers can log in, create and edit projects.
• Exports of projects and assets remain possible.
• New accounts can still be created, until the cutoff date.

From 28 February 2026 – platform access ends

• No more logins or new accounts.
• No editing, creation or export of projects or assets.
• Existing hosted experiences continue to run, but are locked.

28 February 2026 to 28 February 2027 – hosting-only period

• Published 8th Wall projects remain online for end users.
• Campaigns linked to these experiences can still be used publicly.
• Project management is no longer possible during this phase.

After 28 February 2027 – hosting decommissioned

• 8th Wall hosting is turned off.
• Project data is removed according to the platform’s data-retention policy.
• Any link or QR code relying on 8th Wall hosting stops working.

In practice, this gives users a window to complete ongoing campaigns, export assets and migrate important experiences before everything goes offline.

Open source plans: what they mean and what they do not

In its farewell note, the 8th Wall team mentioned that it is exploring ways to open source selected components of the technology and documentation so that the community can continue to learn from and build on that work.

This is encouraging for developers who want to study techniques, reuse ideas or experiment with WebAR building blocks. However, it is important to separate this from the needs of commercial deployments:

• Open source code does not replace a managed SaaS platform with SLAs.
• Enterprises still require guaranteed uptime, security and support.
• Brands need predictable hosting and licensing for campaigns and products.

In other words, open sourcing parts of 8th Wall will be valuable for experimentation, but companies running live experiences still need a hosted WebAR solution for day-to-day operations.

Who is affected and how

Developers

Developers who focused on 8th Wall will have to adapt their workflow to new platforms. Their AR knowledge remains useful, but APIs, interfaces and deployment models will vary between providers.

Agencies and studios

Agencies that delivered client campaigns on top of 8th Wall need to:

• Inform clients about the timeline.
• Review ongoing and evergreen experiences.
• Plan migration or replacement of critical projects.

Brands and organizations

Brands using 8th Wall for packaging, retail, events or training experiences must decide whether to keep running those experiences until the hosting cutoff or start earlier on a new platform. For any long-term strategy, it no longer makes sense to build new projects on a service that is already scheduled to end.

Why a stable 8th Wall alternative is essential

Once a platform has a fixed end date, the main risk is no longer technical but strategic. Marketing, product and training teams need continuity; they cannot depend on infrastructure that will disappear. An effective 8th Wall alternative should offer:

• Reliable WebAR hosting with a long-term outlook
• Transparent, business-oriented licensing
• No-code or low-code creation tools for non-developers
• Simple, scannable or clickable entry points such as QR codes and links
• Support for upcoming AR devices and standards

One platform that matches these needs is AR Code, which focuses on WebAR for business and marketing scenarios.

AR Code as a WebAR platform for former 8th Wall users

AR Code is a WebAR SaaS platform that lets organizations publish augmented reality content via AR-enabled QR codes and links, with no app installs required. Its tools are designed so that marketers, educators and product teams can launch campaigns without deep coding expertise.

No-code WebAR creation

Instead of hand-coding every experience, AR Code provides predefined AR content types such as:

• AR Code Object Capture: Effortlessly generate high-quality 3D models using advanced object scanning features. Get started with our step-by-step Object Capture tutorial.
• AR Splat: Automatically generate AR Codes that provide realistic 3D renderings with Gaussian Splatting technology directly from a single video upload.
• AR Text: Design eye-catching 3D messages for interactive marketing, schools, or branding initiatives. Learn more in our video tutorial for AR Text generation.
• AR Photo: Turn ordinary images into dynamic augmented reality photo experiences. Follow our AR photo creation tutorial for easy instructions.
• AR Portal: Build immersive 360° AR environments for virtual tours or storytelling. Experience hands-on AR portal development with our AR Portal step-by-step tutorial .
• AR Logo: Instantly bring logos to life as interactive 3D animations, ideal for retail, branding, and captivating product presentations.
• AR Data API: Integrate real-time data with AR content for seamless connections to dashboards, IoT devices, and analytics.
• AR Face Filters: Deliver unforgettable branded face effects for sports, marketing, and live experiences that engage your audience.
• AI Codes: Unleash the power of AI in AR, offering intelligent, interactive customer engagement experiences for maximum impact.
• AR Videos: Embed videos directly within real-world environments using advanced AR QR Codes. Learn more in our comprehensive AR Video integration guide .

Each experience is accessed by scanning or clicking an AR Code, making deployment simple across packaging, signage, print, web and in-store displays.

Built with business needs in mind

AR Code is structured for commercial use, offering scalable plans, clear licensing and resources for onboarding teams of different sizes. For organizations that previously relied on 8th Wall for advertising, retail, training or education, this provides a straightforward way to keep WebAR in their toolkit without building a custom stack from scratch.

Support for new AR devices

The platform also includes support for devices such as Apple Vision Pro, positioning brands for the next wave of spatial computing and AR-first interfaces. Choosing a solution that keeps pace with hardware evolution helps ensure that content created today remains relevant for future screens and headsets.

Migrating from 8th Wall to AR Code

Moving from 8th Wall to AR Code can be approached as an orderly migration rather than a rushed emergency. A typical path looks like this:

1. Open an account on ar-code.com and explore the available AR content types.
2. Select your most important 8th Wall experiences and recreate them using AR Code’s no-code tools.
3. Attach AR Codes to packaging, brochures, posters, email campaigns or landing pages where 8th Wall links are currently used.
4. Test on the devices that matter to your audience and fine-tune the content and user journey.
5. Once the new experiences are live, gradually retire 8th Wall URLs so that users always land on maintained content.

8th Wall has played an important role in proving that augmented reality can live directly in the browser and scale to real audiences. Its shutdown marks the end of a significant chapter but not the end of WebAR itself. The ecosystem is evolving toward platforms that combine ease of use, predictable pricing and long-term stability.

If you currently rely on 8th Wall or have projects built on top of it, this is the right moment to prepare your next step. By moving to AR Code, you can continue delivering WebAR experiences through AR-enabled QR codes and links, with a platform that is actively maintained and aligned with the needs of businesses and organizations.

To explore this path, visit ar-code.com, create an account and start testing how your next generation of WebAR experiences can look and feel on AR Code.

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