Choosing an export format

Most of the time the answer is GLB. The other formats exist for specific destinations that cannot read it, and each one loses something on the way.

The short answer

Match the format to where the file is going:

• GLB - game engines, the web, anything modern. One self-contained file carrying mesh, materials, animation and colours. The default for a reason.
• FBX - older pipelines and DCC tools that still expect it. Widely supported, but a heavier and less predictable format.
• OBJ - the universal lowest common denominator. Geometry and basic materials only: no animation, no scene graph.
• DAE (Collada) - XML-based interchange, useful for tools that read neither GLB nor FBX.
• STL - 3D printing only. Pure triangles: no colour, no materials, no UVs.
• VOX - MagicaVoxel's format, and the only export that stays voxels instead of baking down to triangles, so another voxel tool can keep editing it cell by cell. Export only: the editor writes .vox but cannot read it back.

What only GLB carries

Skeletal animation exports as animated glTF, so a rigged voxel character keeps its clips only in GLB. The same is true of emissive and metallic materials, punctual lights (KHR_lights_punctual) and GPU-instanced scenes. If you export a lit, animated scene to OBJ, you get the geometry and nothing else.

Sprites and video, not just meshes

The pipeline also writes 2D output: PNG, animated GIF, sprite sheets, SVG and WebM screen recordings. If what you actually need is a sprite for a 2D game, exporting a sheet is usually better than exporting a mesh and rendering it yourself.

Shipping lighter meshes

For real-time use, Generate LODs (3 levels) writes progressively simpler versions alongside the full-resolution mesh so an engine can swap them by distance. The export dialog flags a model as high-poly for real-time use and suggests this before you ship it.