What is the best interior design software in 2026?
You draw the plan, drop in the furniture and walk through the room in 3D. The real gap between tools is the photoreal render, and what it costs you.
You want to know if the sofa fits under the window, compare two kitchen layouts, or show a client what their living room will look like once it is done. Interior design software does that in three moves: you draw walls at the right dimensions, place doors, windows and furniture, then get a 3D view and, if you want it, a realistic image.
The short answer. Sweet Home 3D is the best free option: open source, no subscription, photo and video renders included. HomeByMe is the nicest way to furnish a room with real branded products. Planner 5D is the easiest on a phone or tablet. SketchUp is what designers use to model their own pieces. Homestyler gives you the most free renders. RoomSketcher and Floorplanner are the clean floor plan specialists. Archicad is architect software, for when the project touches the building itself.
What other roundups skip: the 3D view is almost always free, but the photoreal image, the one you actually show people, is paid for in quotas, credits or a higher tier. Several lists still recommend SketchUp Make, which no longer exists. We went through each vendor's plans to tell you what you really get without paying.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
The best interior design software for what you want to do
Open source, renders included, no account
Best for real furniture30,000+ branded products
Easiest on mobileWeb, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS
Best for custom piecesPro at $399 a year
Most free rendersUnlimited 1K renders on Basic
Architect-gradePlans, BIM model and construction docs
The 8 interior design tools compared
Rank follows the reader of this page: a homeowner planning a remodel or a move, and the interior designer or decorator who needs to show a client a project. The score uses the same five criteria for every tool. That is why Archicad, a top scorer for architects, ranks last here: it is oversized and expensive for furnishing a living room.
| Best for | What sets it apart | Free plan | Team size | Visit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweet Home 3D | Best free tool | Free and open source, photo and video renders included | 4.5/5 | Free | ✓ | Homeowners, students | Visit → |
| 2 | HomeByMe | Best for real furniture | Catalog of real branded products | 4.2/5 | Free Starter (2 projects) | ✓ | Homeowners, decorators | Visit → |
| 3 | Planner 5D | Easiest on mobile | Same project on phone, tablet and desktop | 4.1/5 | $59.99/yr (Premium) | ✓ | Beginners | Visit → |
| 4 | SketchUp | Best for custom pieces | Free-form modeling, extensions, 3D Warehouse | 4.1/5 | $129/yr (Go) | — | Interior designers, millworkers | Visit → |
| 5 | Homestyler | Most free renders | Unlimited 1K renders, 100,000+ free models | 4.1/5 | From $6.8/mo (Pro+) | ✓ | Decorators, homeowners | Visit → |
| 6 | RoomSketcher | Cleanest floor plans | Crisp 2D and 3D plans, renders on credits | 3.9/5 | $144/yr (Pro) | ✓ | Realtors, home stagers | Visit → |
| 7 | Floorplanner | Quick plans in the browser | 5 free projects, pay-per-render HD | 3.8/5 | Free, credits from $8.15 | ✓ | One-off projects | Visit → |
| 8 | Archicad | Architect-grade | BIM model, construction drawings, built-in rendering | 4.5/5 | $2,414/yr plus tax | — | Architects, builders | Visit → |
Scores on five weighted criteria, explained in the method. Public prices checked in 2026 on official vendor pages, before tax, in US dollars.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
How we compared and scored
This page answers one question: which software takes you from a measured floor plan to a furnished 3D room, then to a realistic image, and what does that cost? It is written for homeowners who remodel or move, and for interior designers, decorators and kitchen designers who present projects. Full-building BIM modeling is covered by our ranking of 3D modeling software for architects.
We checked the core criterion for every ranked tool: can it go from a 2D plan to a furnished 3D view, and what does a photoreal render cost? A tool that only does half the job, like a room scanner, goes to the other tools section. A vendor that publishes no prices is ranked only if its free tier is enough to judge it, which is the case for HomeByMe.
Each tool gets a score on five criteria. Power and learning curve weigh most, 25% each, because software that is too thin or too hard to learn never finishes the project. Three-year cost is 20%, free version and platforms 15% each. SketchUp and Archicad keep the scores from our architect ranking, so a tool has one score across the site. Those scores use that ranking's weights, which favor professional power and formats: with this page's weights, Archicad would drop to about 4.2. That is part of why it ranks last here.
Finally, we read user feedback, starting with the negative: construction forums, the official Sweet Home 3D forum, the SketchUp forum, Planner 5D reviews. What keeps coming back: trials that roll into annual plans, dimensions that drift in casual tools, heavy models that crash projects, and the end of perpetual SketchUp licenses.
- Power in its disciplineDimension accuracy, walls, openings, floors, furniture catalog, render quality.25%
- Three-year costSubscription, render credits and quotas, watermarks, real cost of a full project.20%
- Learning curveTime to a first furnished plan, help, room templates.25%
- Free versionWhat you can finish without paying: projects, renders, exports, commercial use.15%
- Platforms and formatsDesktop, browser, tablet, phone; image, PDF, DWG exports, model import.15%
No affiliate link changes a score or a rank.
Render plans change often. Get ranking updates by email
Sweet Home 3D
Sweet Home 3D is free software created by Emmanuel Puybaret. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, has iOS and Android apps, and an online version that runs in your browser. Version 7.5 came out in 2025. Everything is free: no quota, no watermark, no mandatory account.
You draw walls in 2D by typing their length, drag doors, windows and furniture from the catalog, and the 3D view updates live below the plan. The full version ships with 10,000+ 3D models and 400 textures. When the layout works, you create a photo or a walkthrough video, computed on your machine with the SunFlow engine; shadows appear at the two highest quality levels.
Its hidden strength is precision. Type a dimension and it stays put. That is exactly what the most playful consumer planners lack.
The catch: looks. Low-quality renders are blurry, high-quality ones are slow, and the catalog also feels dated next to HomeByMe's branded products.
Tip: if it crashes on a big project, a heavy 3D model is almost always the culprit. Open the Furniture menu, show the "Model size" column and sort it. On very large plans, raise the memory allocation in the .ini file, as the creator recommends on the official forum.
- Free, open source, no account
- 10,000+ 3D models
- Photo and video renders included
- ✓Precise, fixed dimensions
- ✓Desktop, mobile and browser
- ✓No watermark, no quota
- ✗Slow photoreal renders
- ✗Dated furniture catalog
- ✗Furniture cannot be split into parts
The first pick for a homeowner: everything you need for an accurate furnished plan, for zero dollars. Move on only if you need catalog-quality images.
HomeByMe
HomeByMe is a consumer 3D planner. Its edge is the catalog: 30,000+ products, paints and materials from real brands. You do not place "a gray sofa", you place the sofa you plan to buy, at its true size.
The free Starter plan gives you 2 projects, a handful of Full HD images, 5 4K images, 5 aerial views and 10 360° images. Essentials unlocks unlimited projects, 50 Full HD and 5 4K images a month, importing your own 3D models, and a watermark-free 2D plan export. Pro makes Full HD and 4K unlimited, adds video, removes watermarks from images and videos, and exports to DraftSight for a drafter.
On homebuilding forums, HomeByMe is the go-to suggestion for trying a layout, checking areas and placing openings. Users praise image quality.
The catch: reviews mention fiddly object snapping, a limited number of floors and walls you cannot edit in 3D view. And 2 free projects run out fast: one house and one variant.
Tip: on yearly billing, image credits land all at once and do not roll over. For a single remodel, one well-prepared month of Essentials costs less than a year, as long as you finish the plan on Starter first.
- 30,000+ branded products
- 4K images even on the free plan
- DraftSight export on Pro
- ✓Real furniture at real sizes
- ✓Good-looking images
- ✓Quick to learn
- ✗Only 2 free projects
- ✗Walls not editable in 3D view
- ✗Yearly credits do not roll over
The best tool for deciding a layout with real products. Finish your plan for free and pay only when you produce final images.
Planner 5D
Planner 5D is the most approachable tool in this ranking. It runs in the browser and on iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, and your project follows you across devices. You drop a room, drag walls with a finger, and 3D shows up instantly.
The free plan opens half of the catalog. Premium costs $19.99 a month or $59.99 a year and unlocks 10,000+ items. Professional, at $49.99 a month or $399.99 a year, adds unlimited 4K renders and a brand profile for presenting your work.
Know this before paying: the free trial is one per person, and the top complaint in reviews is trials that roll into an annual plan charged upfront. Reviewers also report crashes while scanning a room and upsell prompts in the free version. Its Trustpilot average is low, 2.6 out of 883 reviews, even though the catalog and cross-device sync get praise.
The catch for pros: the pricing page says nothing about commercial use, and unlimited 4K sits on the $399.99-a-year tier.
Tip: if you start the trial from the App Store, turn off auto-renewal at least 24 hours before it ends. And look at Design Battles, where Planner 5D hands out Premium access.
- Web, iOS, Android, Windows and macOS
- Unlimited 4K on Professional
- Premium to win in Design Battles
- ✓The easiest to learn
- ✓Synced across all your devices
- ✓Cheap yearly Premium
- ✗Trials roll into annual billing
- ✗Half the catalog on free
- ✗Commercial use not specified
The right tool to sketch fast on mobile. Take yearly Premium only if you will use it on several projects, and watch your trial end date.
SketchUp
SketchUp is not a planner where you drop ready-made furniture: it is a 3D modeler. You draw a shape and push it into a volume. That is slower for furnishing a room, but you can build exactly what you imagine: built-in shelving, a kitchen island, a glass partition. 3D Warehouse supplies thousands of ready-made models.
Prices are per user, billed yearly. Go, at $129 a year, runs on iPad and in the browser, with no desktop app, no LayOut and no extensions. Pro, at $399 a year, adds the desktop app, LayOut for drawing sets and extensions. Studio, at $71.58 a month billed yearly, is Windows-only and brings the V-Ray photoreal renderer. In the US, SketchUp paired with a dedicated renderer is the classic pro duo.
The catch: subscription only. Perpetual licenses (Classic) stopped selling in 2020, a lapsed subscription stops working, and the software needs an occasional internet connection. The free web version is for non-commercial use only.
Tip: SketchUp Make, the free desktop version some lists still recommend, is gone. SketchUp for Web is fine for learning; once you bill a client, you need Go or Pro.
- Free-form modeling of your own pieces
- LayOut drawing sets on Pro
- V-Ray built into Studio
- ✓Build what no catalog offers
- ✓Common language with contractors
- ✓Huge 3D Warehouse library
- ✗Subscription only
- ✗Photoreal rendering only in Studio
- ✗Slower for simply furnishing
The pick for designers who build their own furniture and hand drawings to contractors. To simply furnish a room, a planner is three times faster.
Homestyler
Homestyler is the most generous tool here on rendering. Basic, the free plan, gives you unlimited 1K renders and 100,000+ models and materials. You can import 3 models and 3 textures of your own, and you get 3 AI credits in total to try its automatic features. 4K images are bought one by one.
Pro+ starts at $6.8 a month with 75 2K and 75 4K renders a month and 180 AI credits. Master+, from $11.8 a month, makes 4K unlimited with 380 AI credits. Team starts at $19.9 per seat per month. The vendor advertises a 15% saving without spelling out the billing period, so we write "from".
For a decorator sending a client several mood options, those quotas matter. Where HomeByMe counts Full HD images, Homestyler lets you produce dozens of 1K proposals before going 4K for the winner.
The catch: 1K is fine on screen but not for large prints, and free imports are capped at 3.
Tip: do every mood variant in free 1K, let your client choose, then buy 4K only for the final image.
- Unlimited free 1K renders
- 100,000+ models
- Unlimited 4K on Master+
- ✓Most generous free tier for images
- ✓Low paid entry point
- ✓AI features included
- ✗Only 3 free imports
- ✗Billing period unclear
- ✗1K too small to print
The best free tool for producing lots of images. Use it for mood boards, and a more precise tool for dimensions.
RoomSketcher
RoomSketcher focuses on readable, dimensioned, presentable plans in 2D and 3D. It is what you pick for a real estate listing or a clear remodel file rather than a mood image, and it ranks high in US floor plan roundups.
It runs on credits. The free plan gives 10 projects and 2 starter credits, then no monthly credits: each render costs $4, and 3D snapshots carry a watermark. Pro costs $12 a month billed yearly ($144 a year) or $24 monthly, with 5 credits a month, 100 projects and 2D plans included. Team is $35 a month billed yearly ($420 a year), 20 credits a month, 5 users and 500 projects. Credits refill monthly.
Do not want to draw? RoomSketcher can have the plan drawn for you, at $38 per level.
The catch: the tightest free plan in this ranking. With no monthly credit, you pay for every image, and the watermark makes free snapshots hard to present.
Tip: yearly billing halves the monthly price ($12 versus $24). If you produce plans every month, take it from day one.
- Very readable 2D and 3D plans
- Plans drawn for you at $38 per level
- Team plan for 5 users
- ✓Consistent pro-looking output
- ✓Yearly Pro at half price
- ✓Clear public pricing
- ✗No monthly credits on free
- ✗Watermark on free snapshots
- ✗Renders counted in credits
The right tool if you deliver plans to clients every month. For a single personal project, a free tool will do.
Floorplanner
Floorplanner opens in the browser, nothing to install, and gets straight to it: walls, doors, windows, furniture, 3D view. The free plan allows up to 5 projects, 3 floors and 3 variants per project, enough to compare two layouts of the same home.
Free renders come out in standard definition, 960 by 540 pixels, with a watermark. For HD, 4K or 8K, you buy credit packs: 5 credits for $8.15, 10 for $16.30, 30 for $48.90, 100 for $163. Pay as you go, no subscription.
That suits a one-off project: draw for free, buy a small pack for the final images, done.
The catch: free exports come with a 10-minute wait between them, and the catalog is simpler than HomeByMe's. Plus and Pro plans do not show their prices on the public page.
Tip: set up every view before buying credits, then export them back to back.
- Nothing to install
- 3 variants per project for free
- HD, 4K and 8K renders per unit
- ✓Pay as you go
- ✓Fast for a simple plan
- ✓Variants to compare layouts
- ✗Low-res watermarked free export
- ✗10-minute wait between free exports
- ✗Subscription prices not shown
The right pick for a one-off project: free plan, a few credits for final images, nothing else to pay.
Archicad
Archicad, by Graphisoft, is BIM software: you do not draw lines, you build a model of the building, with walls, slabs and windows that know what they are. Plans, sections, elevations and 3D views come out together, and rendering is built in.
It is the highest-scored tool on this page, 4.5 out of 5, the score from our ranking of 3D software for architects, weighted for architects. It still ranks last here because the question is different: to furnish an apartment, it is oversized, slow to learn and expensive.
Studio costs $2,414 a year plus tax, paid upfront (about $201 a month), and a 30-day trial, not renewable, lets you see if it fits.
The catch: cost and learning curve. A decorator who only does layouts would pay for features they never touch.
Tip: an interior designer working with an Archicad architecture firm does not always need the license. Ask for a plan export and do the furnishing in SketchUp or a planner.
- Full BIM model
- Linked plans, sections and 3D
- Built-in rendering
- ✓The architects' reference
- ✓Rendering included
- ✓Complete construction documents
- ✗Expensive for layouts alone
- ✗Long learning curve
- ✗30-day trial, not renewable
The right tool if your project touches the building itself. To furnish and decorate, any of the other seven is enough.
What a photoreal image really costs
Almost every tool lets you draw and walk through your room in 3D for free. The photoreal image, the one you print or send to a client, is where business models split. Here are the three ways you pay for it, at official prices before tax.
Free, no limit
Sweet Home 3D renders photos and videos on your computer, with no quota and no watermark: your only cost is compute time. Homestyler gives unlimited 1K renders on Basic. For a personal project, those two cover everything.
Quota inside a plan
HomeByMe counts images: a few Full HD and 5 4K for free, 50 Full HD and 5 4K a month on Essentials, unlimited on Pro. Homestyler Pro+ gives 75 2K and 75 4K renders a month from $6.8. Planner 5D keeps unlimited 4K for Professional, at $399.99 a year.
Credits, per image
RoomSketcher charges $4 per render with no plan, or 5 credits a month on Pro ($144 a year). Floorplanner sells credit packs, from $8.15 for 5 to $163 for 100. For a single project, that is often the fairest math: ten final images on Floorplanner cost $16.30.
- Is the photoreal render included, on a quota or on credits?
- Does the free image carry a watermark?
- What resolution do you get without paying (SD, 1K, Full HD, 4K)?
- Do unused credits roll over to next month?
- Does the trial roll into an annual plan automatically?
- Is commercial use of the images allowed on your plan?
Other tools worth knowing
These tools show up in searches. They are not ranked because they hide their prices, do only part of the job, or target a narrower audience. Here is when they are worth a look.
Chief Architect: the US residential standard
US prosChief Architect shows up in nearly every US roundup for residential design, and many pros pit it against SketchUp. Premier costs $1,995 a year or $229 a month. The price of Interiors, its interior-focused edition, is not displayed publicly, which is why it is not ranked here. If you design North American homes full time it belongs on your shortlist.
- Price
- Premier $1,995 a year
- For
- Residential designers
Cedreo: built for home builders and remodelers
ProsCedreo targets home builders, remodelers and kitchen designers who need fast plans and renders for clients. A free account, no card, gives you one project. Paid plans include monthly render credits that expire at the end of the cycle, while extra render packs do not expire. Pricing goes through a sales call. You can switch from monthly to yearly, not the reverse.
- Price
- On sales call
- For
- Builders, remodelers
magicplan: floor plans from your phone
Scanningmagicplan does not decorate: it scans an existing room with your phone and outputs a measured plan, handy before a remodel. Two full projects are free. Paid plans start at 10 new projects a month, unused projects roll over, users are unlimited, and an extra project costs $40. Plan prices are not shown publicly.
- Free
- 2 full projects
- For
- Contractors, inspectors
Coohom: cloud rendering, read the fine print
Check billingCoohom is a cloud rendering tool with a free, limited Basic plan. Its paid tiers do not state the billing period clearly, and started months are not refunded. Read the order summary to the end before you pay.
- Free
- Limited Basic plan
- For
- Mood renders
Live Home 3D: a Mac and Windows planner
Check pricingLive Home 3D is a popular home design app on Mac and Windows. Its official pricing page was not readable when we compared tools, so we do not quote one. Check the app store listing for your platform before buying.
- Platforms
- Mac, Windows
- Price
- See official store
Designing a building, not an interior?
Other needIf your project is a new house, an addition or an architect's file, our ranking of 3D modeling software for architects compares Revit, Archicad, Vectorworks and Blender. For 2D technical drawing, see our CAD software ranking.
- Read
- 3D software for architects
- For
- Architects, engineers
What ruins an interior plan
These mistakes keep coming up on homebuilding forums and in user reviews. None of them shows on a pricing page.
Trusting a tool whose dimensions drift
AccuracyIn the most playful planners, a length can shift when you move a neighboring wall. For an idea, fine. For ordering cabinets, a one-inch error blocks everything. Decide how precise you need to be, then pick a tool where a typed dimension stays fixed, like Sweet Home 3D or SketchUp.
- Check
- Does a typed dimension stay fixed?
Letting a trial become an annual plan
PriceWith Planner 5D, the most common complaint comes from users charged for a full year after a trial. Write down the end date when you sign up and cancel renewal at least 24 hours before. HomeByMe's yearly plan also drops image credits all at once, with no rollover.
- Do
- Note the trial end date
Using a free plan for paid client work
Commercial useSketchUp for Web is non-commercial only, and Planner 5D's pricing page does not address commercial use. If you bill clients, check the license on the exact plan you use, and budget for watermark-free exports.
- Check
- Commercial use on your plan
Following a list that recommends dead tools
ObsoleteSketchUp Make, the free desktop version, no longer exists, and SketchUp has not sold perpetual licenses since 2020. If an article still suggests it, it has not been updated: double-check the rest of it.
- Replaced by
- SketchUp for Web
Nail your 3D plan without paying more
A four-step method drawn from advice that keeps coming up on forums, whatever tool you pick.
Start on paper
MethodForum regulars say it again and again: sketch by hand, with sections and elevations, before opening the software. Otherwise the tool makes decisions for you, with its default walls and furniture.
- Time
- 10 minutes
Measure before you draw
AccuracyMeasure every wall, ceiling height, and the position and size of windows, radiators and outlets. Type those numbers instead of dragging walls with the mouse. For many rooms, magicplan scans a plan with your phone, with 2 free projects.
- Tool
- Laser measure or magicplan
Draw for free, pay only for renders
PriceFinish the whole plan and every variant on the free tier. Pay (one month of a plan, one credit pack) only when you produce final images. On Floorplanner, ten HD images cost $16.30 in credits.
- Saves
- A full subscription
Combine two tools
MethodNothing forces you to do it all in one app. A combo that works: Sweet Home 3D for an accurate free plan, then HomeByMe or Homestyler for mood images with real furniture. Pros do the same with SketchUp for modeling and a separate renderer.
- Free combo
- Sweet Home 3D and Homestyler
Working in remodeling or interior design? Get our next tool comparisons
Go further
These pages complement this one on 3D modeling and technical drawing.
Your questions about interior design software
What is the best free interior design software?
Sweet Home 3D. It is free, open source, needs no account and includes photo and video renders. For nicer images, Homestyler gives unlimited free 1K renders, and HomeByMe 2 free projects with branded furniture.
What software do interior designers use?
Mostly SketchUp, to model custom furniture and volumes, often with a renderer such as V-Ray (included in SketchUp Studio). In the US, many also use Chief Architect. For quick mood images, many add a planner like HomeByMe or Homestyler.
SketchUp or Chief Architect?
SketchUp if you model custom pieces and want flexibility at $399 a year for Pro. Chief Architect if you design full North American homes all day and work to US building standards; Premier costs $1,995 a year, with no French or Spanish version.
Is SketchUp free?
Only SketchUp for Web, and only for non-commercial use. SketchUp Make, the old free desktop app, is gone. For paid work, Go costs $129 a year (iPad and browser) and Pro $399 a year with the desktop app.
What is the best interior design software for beginners?
Planner 5D is the easiest to pick up, on phone, tablet or desktop. Sweet Home 3D is nearly as simple and fully free. Watch Planner 5D's trial: it can roll into an annual plan.
Can I design a room on an iPad?
Yes. Sweet Home 3D and Planner 5D have iOS apps, and SketchUp Go runs on iPad for $129 a year. Note that SketchUp Studio, the edition with V-Ray, is Windows-only.
How much does a photoreal render cost?
From zero to a few dollars per image. Sweet Home 3D and Homestyler (at 1K) are free. RoomSketcher charges $4 per render without a plan, Floorplanner $16.30 for 10 credits. With HomeByMe and Planner 5D, unlimited 4K needs the top tier.