Can You Get a Free Copy of Maya? 17 Oct 2025

For all our students starting with us in our next scheduled class, Autodesk offer an education copy of Maya for free – you can download it from the official Autodesk site.

Autodesk Maya has been the dominant software package in 3D animation for over 20 years. I first used Maya 1.0 on “The Iron Giant”, back in 1998.  And today it remains the most powerful package for the creation of 3D animation, still by far the most widely used in industry.

Animator’s Survival Kit

Maya Student License
Our students at Animation Apprentice can download a free student license for Maya, which is restricted to non-commercial use.  The license lasts for 3 years; you won’t need it longer than that because each year Autodesk releases a new version of the software.

Autodesk Maya “Indie License” – for Commercial Use
Autodesk has also launched a “Maya Indie License“, allowing students who have learned to animate using the free student version of the software to enter the marketplace at a much-reduced price.

Find Animation Apprentice at Autodesk
To find Animation Apprentice at the Official Autodesk Education Site, look under University/Post-Secondary in the United States; we are listed there as an Online Animation School.

USA Listing – Not UK

Note that Animation Apprentice are not listed at the Official Autodesk Education Site under the UK, we are listed under University/Post-Secondary in the USA.

Proof of Enrolment
You may need to send Autodesk a “Proof of Enrolment in order to access the software. If so, ask us for a Certificate of Enrolment – which we will send you right away.

Maya Resources