Best Home Design Software

Buy on Novadevelopment.com

We chose Virtual Architect Ultimate Home Design as our best overall because of the wizard-driven technology that lets you do everything from redesigning your bathroom to building your dream home from the ground up, all with just a click of the mouse. Add in the ability to use your own actual photos and the software’s landscape and deck design, and it has everything a weekend warrior or DIYer could want to help visualize their home renovation project.

Virtual Architect Ultimate Home Design with Landscaping and Decks 10 is a product developed by Nova Development. The company was founded in 1984 and is considered one of the largest publishers in the United States for software products created exclusively for consumers and small businesses. Nova Development provides products for both Windows and Apple products.

Although Virtual Architect Ultimate Home Design is a little pricier than some of its competitors, you get a lot of extra features for the cost, including a massive library with thousands of 3D graphics to help you visualize and plan your living space. You can even upload your own digital photos to use as a backdrop for your ongoing project. This version also includes Landscape and Decks, which means you can use it for both indoor and outdoor designs.

One of the best things we like about Virtual Architect Ultimate is that it is wizard-driven. This means it allows you to work on your projects both smoothly and quickly, even if you have no design experience. All you have to do is point and click. The wizards do the rest.

Buy on Turbocad.com

While some of the software on this list is cloud-based, meaning you do not install it directly on your computer but instead access it remotely from virtually any device, other options are software programs you purchase outright, often in either Mac or PC versions. We chose FloorPlan Home & Landscape Deluxe Mac 2021 as best for Mac because it is the most intuitive, easy to use, and feature-rich of all the software we reviewed that has versions designed specifically for the Mac operating system.

It is a good option for beginners, too, because it has more user-friendly tools like QuickStart that simplify creating custom home designs. We also love that it has an automatic cost estimator and interior/exterior lighting simulations.

FloorPlan was created by the TurboCad Design group, which is part of IMSI/Design. The company is considered the global leader in retail CAD (Computer Aided Design) and was founded in 1988. When it comes to home design software for professionals, this is the company to which many architects and designers turn.

Although TurboCad has a variety of products for professionals, it also provides more affordable products, such as FloorPlan for Mac lovers and homeowners who simply want to create plans for remodeling or redecorating with no experience required. On the Mac, the software is unlike normal CAD products; it's more intuitive and user-friendly.

FloorPlan Home & Landscape Deluxe Mac 2021 allows you to drag and drop thousands of symbols as you create and provides precise auto-dimensions for 2D/3D design. The program’s estimator provides a way for you to tally projected prices as you draw.

Buy on Roomsketcher.com

We selected RoomSketcher as our best option for easy use because it takes almost no effort to get started. Once you are on the website, choose what you want to do from the menu and you are ready to begin. Instructions are simple to understand, and you can quickly create images of your ideas.

RoomSketcher was founded in 2007. The company began as a spinoff from a company that created 3D visualizations for the sub-sea oil industry. RoomSketcher is privately held and is backed by venture firm Argentum and the holding company Torrey Pines AS.

Since RoomSketcher’s home design projects live in the cloud, you can sync the program across different devices and use it anytime, anywhere, even offline. Users can create their own floor plans, design rooms, and see their creations in 3D, 2D, and 360 views. It has an extensive library of furniture options and an impressive number of plant images you can use. The program even allows you to create a second floor by "cloning" your first floor and using the same outline when you start your second level. Everything saves for future use in folders, so you can come back to your projects whenever you want.

RoomSketcher allows you to start designing right away, but you’ll have to pay if you want additional features such as 3D floor plans, 360 viewing, or real floor plans. Getting set up is easy, and within minutes you can start designing and creating.

Buy on Homestyler.com

There are quite a few home design apps you can use on your phone, but they often have a "cartoonish" appearance to them when you look at the finished product. We chose Homestyler as our best mobile option because the designs actually look realistic, plus they allow you to create home plans and blueprints quickly and easily.

Homestyler is owned by the Alibaba Group and Easyhome New Retail Group. The original prototype for Homestyler was part of a project called Dragonfly and was developed by Autodesk in 2009.

The software was initially created for the real estate and design industry. Available on both mobile devices and desktops, we like that Homestyler’s plans look realistic when you create them on the app, and you can take a photo of an actual physical space and then add 3D models of real furniture to design your room. You can also build floor plans, second floors, and even swimming pools.

Homestyler is extremely easy to use; once you have downloaded your app and registered, you are ready to get started. Create a blueprint of your dream home or upload photos of the living space you want to design, then simply choose and click on the furniture items you want to use to decorate your room.

Homestyler is currently free to use, with Pro and Master options costing about $5 and $10 per month. The Pro and Master plans allow users to increase their upload limits for 3D and 2D models, remove the watermark from their images, and have access to the render editor without having to pay for it each time as you do with the free version.

Buy on Sketchup.com

There are a lot of free home design software programs out there, but you usually get what you pay for; the quality isn’t always good or there’s no real storage. Even with its free version, SketchUp provides nice, professional-looking final images. It also has a good photo library and, with 10GB of cloud storage, you can work on projects without running out of space.

SketchUp was created by Last Software founder Brad Schell back in 1999. It is now owned by the Trimble Company. 

If you’re just beginning to explore the world of home design, SketchUp is a great way to try it for free. Renderings look professional and, although the quality won’t appear as good as it does with the Pro version, it’s not half bad. Although SketchUp Free only allows limited use of its photo library, you can still do a lot with the program and it’s easy to create your designs.

One of the biggest things we appreciated about SketchUp, however, was that users have 10GB of cloud storage for their projects. There is also an active support community to assist you if you have questions. Post your question on their forum and you can receive several answers within a few hours. Accessing SketchUp is as easy as signing up for an account. There is nothing to download and once you have signed up for an account, you are ready to begin.

Buy on Landsdesign.com

If you want to design a landscape for your home, Lands Design is as real as it gets. We like that you can try for free what the professional landscapers use, and plans are available in both 2D and 3D in your trial subscription.

Lands Design was created by Asuni CAD in 1993. It is a landscaping software designed for professionals in the landscaping industry. Although the professional version has a hefty subscription price, individuals can try it for free for 90 days. 

Lands Design allows you to turn your 2D layout into a 3D design for visualization, or you can create a 2D version from a 3D version, and add plant photos, dimensions, and tags. What really makes Lands Design our top choice as best for landscaping design, however, is that the software has an extensive plant database in both 2D and 3D. It has over 8,000 species you can use to create designs based on soil type, wind resistance, and fruitification. 

The program allows you to choose one of four plan representations; select from elevations, conceptual, detailed, and realistic. You can also add elements such as irrigation and hardscapes. Since the software supports other platforms, you can import or export from other libraries on the internet when they are compatible and easily integrate them into your design plans.