VTuber agent development almost always hits the same wall: finding a Live2D model. Paid ones come with wildly varying license terms, and free ones are hard to even locate. Here's a curated list of sources worth using, gathered from digging around myself.
Official Sources
These are sample models distributed directly by Live2D, Inc. The main advantage is guaranteed Cubism SDK version compatibility, and the licenses are clearly stated in the official documentation — making them the safest choice for dropping into a personal project. The selection isn't huge, but they work out of the box as SDK integration examples, which makes them useful early in development.
| Site | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Live2D Official Samples | 20+ free official models (Cubism 4/5) | live2d.com/en/learn/sample |
| nizima | Live2D's official marketplace (free + paid) | nizima.com |
| nizima ACTION!! | Official tool with a large collection of free Live2D assets | site.nizima-action.com |
Community Marketplaces
Honestly, this is where to start — it's the fastest path. BOOTH is a platform where Japanese creators upload VTuber assets, and there are over 1,500 free Live2D models alone. Search "Live2D 無料" and high-quality results pour out. The catch: each model has its own terms around commercial use and modification, so you have to read the listing page for every model you use. The mix of English and Japanese in those terms makes it a bit of a pain, but that's the trade-off.
| Site | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|
| BOOTH (recommended) | 1,500+ free Live2D VTuber models, many high quality | booth.pm |
| BOOTH (VTuber tag) | Filtered specifically for VTuber content | booth.pm |
GitHub Model Collections
These are repos where someone has aggregated and organized models themselves. The collections are fairly large, but game-ripped models are mixed in, so licenses need to be verified individually — check each repo's README and each model's folder. Better suited for local testing and development prototyping than commercial distribution.
| Repo | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Eikanya/Live2d-model | Large-scale Live2D model collection | GitHub |
| L01den/live2d-models | Collection of game-extracted models | GitHub |
| xiaoski/live2d_models_collection | Assorted model collection | GitHub |
| Live2D/CubismWebSamples | Official Web SDK samples | GitHub |
Individual Free Models (Popular on BOOTH)
Models that are actually widely used within BOOTH. Lisette is a full-body model with a large set of expression parameters, making it the go-to for testing VTuber systems. ShiraLive2D samples are clearly high quality, but the usage terms are fairly detailed — read the listing page carefully.
| Model | Features | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Lisette | Full body + rich expressions/animations | BOOTH |
| ShiraLive2D Sample | High-quality free sample | shiralive2d.com |
Recommended Order of Exploration
If you're just getting started, go to BOOTH first. The volume is overwhelming, and quality is reasonably consistent. Check the Cubism version, read the license, and go from there. Use the official samples when you need guaranteed compatibility for an SDK-based project, and visit nizima when you need premium quality.
I'll write up the process of porting models into the Geny preset separately, once I've worked through it hands-on.