# Introduction to the Asset Store

> The Asset Store contains a library of free and commercial assets that Unity Technologies and members of the community create.

The Asset Store contains a library of free and commercial assets that Unity Technologies and members of the community create. A wide variety of assets are available, including textures, models, animations, entire Editor examples, tutorials, and extensions for the Unity Editor.


**Unity's Asset Store, with a selection of assets by Unity displayed:**
![Unity's Asset Store, with a selection of assets by Unity displayed.](/api/media?file=/asset-store/media/images/AssetStore-main.png)

## Access the Asset Store

You can access the Asset Store website at [https://assetstore.unity.com/](https://assetstore.unity.com/).

In Unity 6.0 and later, you can open the Asset Store website in the Unity Editor from the **Asset Store** dropdown in the [Editor](https://docs.unity3d.com/6000.6/Documentation/Manual/Toolbar.html). You can also use this dropdown to open your downloaded assets in the [Package Manager Window](https://docs.unity3d.com/6000.6/Documentation/Manual/upm-ui.html).

In all supported versions of Unity, you can [search](https://docs.unity3d.com/6000.6/Documentation/Manual/upm-ui-search.html) for your purchased and downloaded [Asset Store packages](/asset-store/downloads/asset-store-packages.md) in the Package Manager window.

## Asset Store package types

Asset Store packages are collections of files and data from Unity projects, or elements of projects. An Editor type is either a Editor or an Editor (`.unitypackage` format). When you add an Asset Store package to your project, the Unity Package Manager unpacks the package and maintains its directory structure and metadata about assets. This metadata includes information such as import settings and links to other assets.

Both package types have their advantages, as follows:

* **Asset packages**: Best for one-off imports or sharing assets without setting up a package registry and requires fast one-off iterations. It is suited for content assets such as 3D models and UI elements that end players will interact with. For more information about asset packages, refer to [Distribute assets as packages](https://docs.unity3d.com/6000.6/Documentation/Manual/AssetPackages.html).
* **Unity Package Manager (UPM) packages (currently in beta testing)**: Can be versioned, and excluded from source control. Use UPM when you need Editor, dependency management, or plan to maintain the package across multiple projects. For more information about UPM packages, refer to [Introduction to packages](https://docs.unity3d.com/6000.6/Documentation/Manual/upm-concepts.html).

For more information, refer to [Package types](https://docs.unity3d.com/6000.6/Documentation/Manual/upm-package-types.html), and [Introduction to publishing Asset Store packages](/asset-store/publishing/introduction.md).

## Additional resources

* [Downloading and managing Asset Store packages](/asset-store/downloads.md)
* [Publishing Asset Store packages](/asset-store/publishing.md)