3D Floor Plans & Room Design

The "I want to see what this couch looks like in this room before I buy it" + "I need a floor plan to give the contractor" overlap. Two flavors: AR / LiDAR capture (you scan, the app generates) and drag-and-drop floor planning (you draw walls, place furniture). For the renovation lifecycle around this see Renovation & DIY Project Management; for full photogrammetry see Photogrammetry Mobile Apps; for the contractor / pro CAD side see Mechanical CAD and 2D Drafting.

AR / LiDAR room capture (iPhone Pro / iPad Pro)

• ★ ★ RoomPlan (Apple, iOS 16+) — free Apple framework; scan a room in 3-5 minutes with a LiDAR-equipped iPhone Pro / iPad Pro; outputs USDZ + dimensions + recognized walls / windows / doors / furniture. The 2026 default for "give me a quick floor plan" if you have the hardware. Many third-party apps embed it (most below).
• ★ Magicplan — paid + free; cross-platform; LiDAR + AR + manual drawing; symbol library for HVAC, plumbing, electrical; estimating tools. The default if you don't have a Pro iPhone or want non-Apple devices.
• Polycam — paid + free; LiDAR room scans + photogrammetry of objects; exports to USDZ / OBJ / GLTF. See Photogrammetry Mobile Apps.
• Canvas (Occipital) — paid; pro-flavored room scanner.
• MeasureKit / AR Ruler — free + paid; simple AR distance measurements; useful for "is the fridge gap 30 inches."

Drag-and-drop floor plans (free / freemium)

• ★ Sweet Home 3D — free OSS desktop (Win / Mac / Linux); draw walls, drop furniture from a library, render in 3D. The 2026 default OSS pick for "I want to plan my apartment layout for free." 20+ years old, still actively maintained.
  • https://sweethome3d.com/
• ★ SketchUp Free (Web) — free; the de-facto inspiration tool for woodworkers + DIY-ers + casual planners. Pro tier paid. Web-only on free; some features locked.
• HomeStyler — free + paid; web + mobile; furniture catalog; renderings. Owned by Easyhome, China-flavored.
• Planner 5D — paid + free; mobile-first; AR view of plans; furniture catalog includes AR placement.
• IKEA Kreativ — free; scans your room and lets you place actual IKEA SKUs in it. The "I'm IKEA-shopping anyway" pick.
• RoomSketcher — paid + free; web + apps; pro tier for real-estate listings.
• Floorplanner — paid + free; web; nice rendering; widely used for real-estate marketing.
• HomeByMe — free + paid; web; product partnerships.
• Live Home 3D — paid; macOS / iOS / Windows; native; rich.

Pro / CAD-leaning

• SketchUp Pro — paid (~$300/yr); contractor / designer favorite.
• Chief Architect Home Designer — paid; consumer-flavored architect software.
• Punch! Home Design — paid; long-running consumer product.
• AutoCAD LT — paid; pro 2D drafting; see 2D Drafting.

Furniture / room visualization specifically

• IKEA Kreativ — best free option for IKEA furniture.
• Wayfair / West Elm AR view — most major retailers now have AR in their iOS apps; useful for "does this couch fit / clash."
• Houzz View in My Room (3D) — same idea, broader product catalog. See Renovation & DIY Project Management.

Free outputs you actually need

• PDF floor plan with dimensions — for contractors / leases / insurance.
• 3D walkthrough — for spouse buy-in.
• Furniture-blocked plan — to confirm "the bed will fit on this wall."
• Top-down rendered image — for the family chat.

Most tools above export at least the PDF + image. Check before paying for a tier.

License / pricing

• RoomPlan: free Apple framework; requires LiDAR-equipped device.
• Sweet Home 3D: free OSS (GPLv2).
• SketchUp Free: free; web-only; SketchUp Pro paid.
• Magicplan, Planner 5D, HomeStyler, RoomSketcher, Floorplanner, HomeByMe, Polycam: paid + free tiers.
• Live Home 3D, Chief Architect, Punch!, AutoCAD LT: paid only.
• IKEA Kreativ: free.

Pick this if…

• Have a Pro iPhone / iPad, want a quick scan: RoomPlan or any app embedding it (Magicplan).
• Cross-platform AR / LiDAR floor plan: Magicplan.
• Free, OSS, drag-and-drop on desktop: Sweet Home 3D.
• Free, web-based, woodworking-flavored: SketchUp Free.
• Mobile drag-and-drop with AR view: Planner 5D.
• IKEA-shopping: IKEA Kreativ.
• Native macOS, willing to pay: Live Home 3D.
• Pro-flavored output for permits / contractors: SketchUp Pro or Chief Architect.