Are you an interior designer struggling to take your designs to the next level? Is managing your workload and simultaneously striving to scale your business proving to be a tough ask? We have good news. Advanced interior design software solutions are available on the market that can effectively automate your tasks. This means you can focus on communicating and engaging with clients and improving their experience while the software does all the hard yards for you. Take up more projects without worrying about your bandwidth and scale up your business efficiently.
You might think the wide-ranging functionalities of interior design software tools must make them expensive, but that’s not true. Many free interior design software solutions offer advanced features without paying you a single penny.
In this blog, we will talk about the 15 best free interior design software tools that can help you grow your business and create awesome designs effortlessly and efficiently.
What is Interior Design Software?
Best interior design software is a design tool that helps designers create floor plans, visualize rooms in 3D, and design various aspects of the space – for both aesthetic and functional purposes. All of it is done digitally to create a realistic visual of a particular space. Simply said, interior design tools let you visualize and design a space virtually before it can be built.
The design journey on interior design software usually starts with well-thought-out floor plans. It includes 360-degree renderings of the 3D design, transforming the look of any room with virtual furniture and accessories, and changing colors, textures and lighting plans of the room.
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These tools are among the must-have assets for a modern-day interior designer. So, to help you choose your ideal interior design tool, we’ve prepared this table comparing 8 free interior design software programs.
Read also – How To Learn Interior Design Software?
15 Best Free Interior Design Software for Designers
- Foyr Neo®
- Sketchup®
- 3Ds Max®
- HomeByMe®
- Planner 5D®
- SmartDraw®
- Roomsketcher®
- Roomstyler 3D
- Revit®
- AutoCAD®
- Floorplanner®
- Coohom®
- Maya by AutoDesk
- Blender
- Houzz Pro
1. Foyr Neo®
Foyr Neo is a completely cloud-based and highly feature-rich interior design software solution. It has a variety of tools dedicated to different interior designing processes like mood boarding, building floor plans, selecting and organizing design elements and visualizing the final output in 3D.
Most users do not have any prior CAD or CAM experience. Foyr Neo is perfect for them as it requires no prior knowledge of using design software. Therefore, if you are a student a new interior designer, or an investor looking to flip for profits, then Foyr Neo is the best interior design software for you. The software tools are incredibly easy to learn and use, even for beginners and first-time designers.
The efficiency and effectiveness with which Foyr Neo’s various tools perform complex tasks like rendering designs and creating 3D walkthroughs will enable you to direct all your attention to the client-facing aspects of your business, thereby helping you delight existing clients and acquire new ones. In a nutshell, you can focus on growing your business with Foyr Neo helping you manage your administrative, day-to-day operations, as a robust 3D interior design software.
Let’s look at some of Foyr Neo’s standout features –
1. High-quality renderings within minutes
Foyr Neo’s AI-driven, cloud-based rendering system allows you to render your design in photo-realistic details within minutes. The auto-lighting and auto-material features mean the ideal design elements will be auto-selected in your designs, saving you valuable time and effort in manually searching for the right materials.
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Read also – 15 Best Kitchen Design Software
2. Highly curated interior design elements and textures library
With over 60 K plus furniture, lighting, materials and textures to choose from, you will be able to find exactly the elements you envision. Looking for a ‘light pink velvet’ fabric texture? Just put in a query on the search bar and see exactly what’s on your mind, pop up!
3. Render-ready design inspirations
Foyr has 1500+ high-quality, render-ready design inspirations you can choose from. Drag-and-drop elements from a design or extract the entire inspiration to the Foyr Canvas. Customize as per your client’s requirements and generate renders or walkthroughs. And that’s it! Reduce design time by 75% with this functionality.
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4. Easy-to-use, AI-driven user interface
Foyr boasts of the most interactive and intuitive UI amongst its competition. You can switch between 2D and 3D with a click, drag and drop products with ease, and select and apply textures in 2 clicks among many such smart functionalities. Customize your experience and create your own workspace on Foyr’s AI-driven Canvas!
- Auto lighting: No need to worry about getting a perfect lighting in your render. NEO’s AI driven intelligent auto lighting system automatically fills up your design with subsequent lighting, such that you always get a perfectly brightened render output without worrying about it.
- Auto punching: The tool that effortlessly creates holes for your kitchen sink on the base cabinet and skylight on the ceiling.
- Auto baseboards: Need to add baseboards on your room with custom requirements? Using NEO’s auto baseboard feature, baseboard automatically comes in all your room which can be very easily customized as your design requirements
Read also – Why Do You Need an Interior Design Sketching Tool?
5. Generate 3D walkthroughs in no time
Foyr allows you to create an immersive, panoramic 3D walkthrough of your design in a jiffy.
- Click on generate walkthrough button
- Neo auto places 360 cameras on your design
- Click on submit button to submit walkthrough for rendering
- After 10 minutes of rendering time, your walkthrough is ready and can be experienced across any device with a link shareable over WhatsApp or iMessage.
6. AR
Experience the magic of augmented reality! With our AR view feature, you can now place NEO products in real-life settings, offering a level of immersion that was once unimaginable. Showcase your designs in an entirely new way.
Reasons to Buy NEO
- Industry-leading high-speed rendering (in just 10 minutes)
- Highly curated furniture and texture library with 60K plus elements
- Simple and easiest-to-learn yet highly capable AI-driven interface
- Generate walkthroughs in a few clicks
- 24×7 chat support
- Render-ready 1000+ inspiration library, reducing design time by 75%
2. SketchUp®
SketchUp is a powerful and intuitive 3D modeling software that empowers individuals and professionals alike to bring their ideas to life. Whether you’re an architect, designer, or hobbyist, SketchUp provides a user-friendly platform to create stunning 3D models with ease.
Key Features:
- Versatile Modeling Tools: From basic shapes to intricate designs, SketchUp offers a range of tools to create complex 3D models with precision.
- 3D Warehouse: Access an extensive library of pre-built models, textures, and components to enhance your designs and speed up your workflow.
- Extension Ecosystem: Customize and expand SketchUp’s functionality with a wide array of extensions from the Extension Warehouse.
- Collaboration and Sharing: Collaborate seamlessly with others by sharing your models online or working in real-time with colleagues and clients.
Pricing:
- SketchUp Free: SketchUp has a completely free, web-based version that you can access with an internet connection on any device.
- SketchUp Go: $119 per year
- SketchUp Pro: $299 per year
- SketchUp Studio: $699 per year
Read also – Top 10 SketchUp Alternatives for Designers
3. 3Ds Max®
3Ds Max is a powerful software that empowers interior designers to bring their creative visions to life in the realm of 3D. With its extensive set of tools and capabilities, 3ds Max offers a comprehensive solution for creating stunning and immersive interior designs. From modeling and texturing to lighting and rendering, 3ds Max provides the necessary tools to visualize and present interior spaces with exceptional detail and realism.
Key features:
- Animation and Visualization: Bring your designs to life with animated camera movements and walkthroughs, allowing clients to visualize and experience the design in a compelling manner.
- Material Editor: Apply realistic materials, textures, and finishes to surfaces, allowing for accurate representation of different materials like wood, metal, fabric, and more.
- Post-Production Effects: Enhance the final renders with post-production effects, including color correction, image compositing, and depth of field, to achieve a polished and professional look.
Pricing:
- 3Ds Max offers a one-month free trial
- The paid version of 3Ds Max costs $235 per month
Read also – 10 Best Free Furniture Design Software
4. HomeByMe®
Home by Me is a user-friendly and powerful interior design software that allows homeowners and design enthusiasts to visualize and plan their dream spaces. With its intuitive interface and extensive features, Home by Me empowers users to bring their design ideas to life and create stunning 3D representations of their homes.
Key features :
- Extensive Furniture Catalog: Access a vast library of furniture and decor items to furnish and accessorize your space, with options for different styles and brands.
- Virtual Reality (VR) Experience: Step into your design with virtual reality integration, allowing you to explore and experience your space in a more immersive way.
- Cost Estimation: Get a detailed cost estimation of your project, including materials, furniture, and decor, to plan your budget effectively.
Pricing:
- Starter plan: Free, lets you design 5 projects
- Premium plan: $29 per month for unlimited projects
- Unlimited +: $63 per month with more advanced features and benefits
Read also – 20 Best Home Renovation Apps & Software
5. Planner 5D®
Planner 5D is a powerful and user-friendly home design software that empowers individuals to create and visualize their dream spaces. With its intuitive interface and extensive features, Planner 5D allows users to bring their interior design ideas to life seamlessly and engagingly.
Key features:
- Room Planner: Design and furnish individual rooms or entire homes, ensuring that every inch of your space is carefully planned and utilized.
- Mood Board Creator: Create mood boards by collecting and organizing design inspirations, materials, colors, and textures to refine your vision and create a cohesive aesthetic.
- Realistic 3D Visualization: Experience your designs in stunning 3D, with realistic textures, lighting effects, and shadows for a lifelike 3D visualization of your space.
Pricing: Planner 5D is free for all users.
6. SmartDraw®
SmartDraw is a versatile and powerful diagramming software that revolutionizes the way we communicate visually. With its intuitive interface and extensive features, SmartDraw empowers users to create professional diagrams and visuals with ease, making complex concepts easily understandable and visually captivating.
Key features:
- Intuitive Drag-and-Drop Interface: Create diagrams effortlessly by simply dragging and dropping shapes, symbols, and elements onto the canvas, ensuring a smooth and efficient workflow.
- Automated Diagramming: Save time and effort with SmartDraw’s intelligent automation, which automatically aligns and arranges shapes, connects elements, and applies formatting.
- Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrate SmartDraw with other popular tools and platforms, such as Microsoft Office, G Suite, and project management software.
Pricing:
- SmartDraw offers a 7-day free trial
- SmartDraw’s individual plan costs $9.95 per month.
- The Team plan costs $8.25 per user/ per month.
- The Site plan has a fixed annual price of $2995.
Read also – 15 Best Free Home Design Software and Tools for 2024
7. Roomsketcher®
RoomSketcher provides a comprehensive platform for individuals, design enthusiasts, and professionals to create and visualize their dream spaces. From remodeling projects to interior decorating ventures, RoomSketcher empowers users to unleash their creativity, explore possibilities, and transform their living spaces into personalized havens.
Key features:
- Interactive Walkthroughs: Take virtual tours of your designs, walking through rooms and exploring different angles, perspectives, and details.
- Precise Measurement Tools: Ensure accuracy in your designs with measurement tools that allow you to calculate distances, dimensions, and areas effortlessly.
- Easy-to-Use Design Tools: Effortlessly create and customize floor plans, add walls, windows, and doors, and arrange furniture with a user-friendly interface.
Pricing:
- RoomSketcher offers a completely free version with limited features
- The premium version costs $2 per project per month
- The pro plan costs $10 per month
- The High Volume plan costs $60 per user per month
Read also – 10 Best Free Furniture Design Software of 2024
8. Roomstyler 3D®
Roomstyler 3D is a cutting-edge interior design software that allows users to unleash their creativity and bring their space to life. With its advanced features and realistic rendering capabilities, Roomstyler 3D empowers individuals to design and decorate their dream spaces with ease and flair.
Key features:
- Customizable Design Elements: Personalize your space by adjusting colors, textures, materials, and finishes to create a design that reflects your unique taste and vision.
- Realistic 3D Visualization: Experience your designs in stunning 3D, with lifelike textures, lighting effects, and shadows that bring your vision to life.
- Virtual Reality (VR) Experience: Immerse yourself in your design with VR integration, enabling you to explore and experience your space in a virtual environment.
Pricing: Roomstyler 3D is absolutely free to use.
9. Revit®
Revit is a design and architecture tool that is loved by many architects and designers around the world. It’s widely used for BIM projects, and to create commercial, professional designs at scale, visualize in 3D, and generate ready-to-build construction drawings. Users around the world say the learning curve is steep, and even after years of using it, they need to access materials and support groups to design better using Revit. The tool is quite old and causes errors while working on it. It’s tough to create custom products, and some features may not favor an absolute beginner. There are frequent lags, and changing one aspect of a design can have a ripple effect and affect other parts too.
But, all those frequently cited cons aside, here are some features Revit is loved for:
- Great Plug-ins and Integrations: Allows you to sync the design tool to several project management tools, and stakeholder management tools like BIM track, LetsBuild, H2X, Accruent, ProjectSight, etc, and enables smooth data flow.
- Excellent for Complex Designs: Can help you produce hundreds of drawings from one 3D model. You don’t have to open several drawings to make changes. The material library is huge and gives great variety to incorporate into residential and commercial interior design.
- Allows for Collaboration: Preferred by many to collaborate with the client, construction contractor, and other contractors so it’s easier to get feedback and work on it.
Pricing: $365 per month
10. AutoCAD®
It’s a 2D and 3D software with design automation capabilities and engineering toolkits. Suitable for freelancers, and mid-to-large enterprises alike. Users report that integration with other software is tough when you use AutoCAD. If you’re working on designs on scale, you may need third parties to handle 3D renderings, since it takes a long time to generate even basic designs. It can be super expensive, has clunky UI, demands high-end hardware, and is very slow for someone just getting started.
But, all those frequently cited cons aside, here are some features AutoCAD is loved for:
- High Precision: You can generate designs accurately, so much so that designs are ready to build. Intuitive tool to curate the right dimensions, and ensure a thorough, detailed design approach.
- Versatile Features: Versatile material library that makes almost impossible designs possible. Has several easy shortcuts to make moving one product or element from one place to another easy, and minimize waiting time. Particularly useful for complex, commercial designs. Extensive knowledge base and supportive help community.
- Amazing for Project Management: Allows you to collaborate, share, and take feedback from all stakeholders involved in the project easily, without having to switch between tools.
Pricing: $220/month
11. Floorplanner®
Floorplanner is a web-based design tool that allows users to create detailed and accurate floor plans. It’s widely used by real estate agents, architects, interior designers, and homeowners for various purposes. Users frequently report the tool allows for only one floor or dimension design at a time, so working on a project with multiple levels feels like working on multiple projects at once. It’s tough to change any one design feature without messing up the whole project. It causes many glitches, and the screen freezes often. Needs a lot of commands and keys to move anything, and needs intuitive features.
But, all those frequently cited cons aside, here are some features Floorplanner is loved for:
- Ample Choice of Materials: You can choose materials tailored to your design by scouting through the library, and you can customize them to any extent.
- Free to Use: Free forever, unless you want to generate 3D renders on a mass scale.
- Great to Create Ready-to-Build Designs: Amazing for beginners to work on the early stages of the design process.
Pricing: $5/month
12. Coohom®
Coohom is built exclusively for interior designers and is an all-in-one, cloud-based design tool that takes care of end-to-end designing, including design fixtures, lighting, furniture, decor pieces, 3D modeling, and collaboration. Users frequently report that they can’t switch between two or more screens constantly, which is a big part of the design process for any designer. When you’re on the free trial, the tool doesn’t allow you to download 3D renders and assess the tool for its full functionality. The library is also pretty limited, and hard to navigate or shortlist. Even for premium users, downloading images in 4K or 8K is hard.
But, all those frequently cited cons aside, here are some features Coohom is loved for:
- Super-real Renderings: Produces photo-realistic 3D renderings, and they are loved by designers and homeowners alike. It has a simple learning curve to take you from start to finish. Allows for ample API integrations.
- Awesome Video Templates: Video design templates help you visualize pre-built design layouts easily, and make changes according to the client’s preferences.
- Easy to Customize Designs: Whatever your design workflow is, you can implement it on the tool, the interface is simple and easily navigable. It balances an array of features useful for beginners and experienced designers alike.
Pricing: $29/month
13. Maya by AutoDesk
If you are more inclined towards creating a visual tour for your clients, then Maya, by Autodesk, is a nice designer software to use. This design software is often used to create video games and animation films because of its seamless transition into films.
You can create nice presentations for your clients with a 3D visualization model and a virtual tour. You can use 3D rendering, simulations, and a lot more specialized design tools for a high-quality, photorealistic space planning model. You can choose different forms of real-time home styler patterns as well.
The design software offers you a free version available for a month, after which you must choose a subscription plan. It is quite expensive as compared to Foyr Neo which provides the same features faster and more efficiently. But for professional interior designers, it may be worth it to create a 3D view of all their designs.
Homeowners and investors found it downright confusing so we do not recommend it for anyone who does not have prior CAD and CAM experience.
Pricing: $225/month
14. Blender
Blender is convenient to use and features 3D rendering, photorealistic animations, creating a simulation, etc. for a real-time effect. Don’t you think it would be nice to have a high-quality 3D view of your design ideas? You can view your room layout, space planning, and all your design ideas with a bit of effect.
It is fairly easy to use as the features help in adding effects to images.
Although this software is popular because people use it to add effects to social media pictures, you can certainly create a dramatic 3D image of your design ideas. This design software is helpful for those who want to create simplistic designs with a little bit of effect afterward. For example, if you want to design a simple living room that can double into party-central, with smoke machines and multi-colored lights. You can add these design ideas for a 3D view of your room.
It is noteworthy that most of the features in this design software are intended to add more flair to the complete picture, not designing the room itself. If you are looking for professional interior design software, then this is not for you.
Pricing: $11.18/month
15. Houzz Pro
The Houzz Pro software tools are a helpful addition to your trade as they provide business management options. It offers design tools along with options for tracking your design contracts and their progress. It also provides an online payment option to collect payments from your clients, instantly.
Houzz Pro functions on a paid subscription model. Given the set of amenities it provides, we don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Easy and powerful but expensive to get all the features necessary. The cost of a subscription may be a bit high for fresh interior designers, students, or one-time designers creating designs for your own home. But if you run a business for interior design, you may find their features helpful.
You can create a free profile and directory listing in Houzz. However, to access the full business management and design features, you have to purchase a subscription.
Pricing: $60/month to $399/year
Conclusion
If you are an interior designer striving to deliver your best work without compromising on efficiency, adopting a software solution from the ones discussed above is your best bet. While all interior design software tools that we mentioned above are powerful and feature-rich in their own right, Foyr Neo stands out among them. Its cutting-edge, industry-leading 3D rendering capability and advanced, AI-driven automation functionalities make it an obvious choice for you if you want the maximum output for minimum input.
It not only automates tasks for you but also allows you to bring your creative ingenuity to the fore by letting you customize designs to the very last detail. With Foyr Neo at your disposal, you can scale your business and acquire new work while delivering great value to your existing clients. Put every tool to the test and see for yourself how efficient Foyr Neo truly is. So, surprise yourself with your own designs by signing up for Foyr Neo’s 14-day free trial!
FAQs
AutoCAD, SketchUp, and Foyr Neo are prominent choices. AutoCAD is renowned for precision drafting, SketchUp for user-friendly 3D modeling, and Foyr Neo for its comprehensive design and visualization features.
AutoCAD is a widely used tool in interior design even now. It’s valued for its precision in drafting. Many designers use AutoCAD alongside other specialized software..
High-performance laptops with powerful processors, and tablets with stylus support, like iPad Pro or Microsoft Surface, can also come in handy. You can check out our top picks for the best laptops for 3D rendering and modeling.
AI can be employed in interior design for tasks like space planning, furniture recommendations, and even predicting design trends. AI-driven interior design tools and virtual assistants also do the job.
You can design a home online using various virtual design platforms that allow you to plan layouts, select furnishings, and visualize your ideas remotely. Online tools like Foyr Neo and Homestyler enable users to create and experiment with home designs.
Nichole Samuel
Interior Designer
Blog Reviewed By
Goddess Interiors LLC
goddessinteriorss@gmail.com
www.goddessinteriors.com
good information for interior designers
good information for interior designers
Hey Sophia,
Glad to know that you enjoy our content! Please let us know if there are any topics that you would like us to cover specifically
As a fellow interior designer, I am sure you would enjoy our product as well!
Happy designing 🙂
Hi Sophia,
Glad to see you enjoy our content!
keep reading 🙂