AI visualization for off-plan presales: 5 sales platforms vs AI concept renders in 60 seconds (2026)

Only PropTwin and Render a House take a plan directly, and only Render a House is self-serve with a published price. None of the five platforms lists a starting price — every one routes through "Book a demo" or "Talk to sales". That is fair; a custom twin for a 400-unit tower is not a SKU. It does mean you cannot budget the platform layer from a web page, while the AI layer budgets to the credit.

Deliverable, timeline and pricing model come from each vendor's own pages; none has a public pricing page, and the table marks that rather than filling it in.

SmartPixel — Pro, Web and Lite

SmartPixel cites 90,000+ units sold across 200+ projects. SmartPixel Pro is the showroom app — balcony views, day-to-night lighting, masterplan phasing — on touchscreen hardware; its FAQ says "most launches take 8 to 12 weeks". SmartPixel Web is the browser version shared by link. SmartPixel Lite is a 2D plan viewer embedded by iframe; its page carries the only cost signal on the site, a comparison table with timelines of 8–10, 4–6 and 1–2 weeks and budgets marked $$$, $$ and $.

Vizion — Vizion Live on Unreal Engine 5

Vizionpublishes its site in French; Vizion Live streams a project built in Unreal Engine 5 from the cloud to a browser. Buyers change materials and atmospheres, and the sales team can generate "unlimited visuals and 360° views" from the live scene — contrasted with traditional CGI where "each new view has a cost". The featured case study is Harmonia in Ciney, 110 units. No timeline or price is published.

FirstVue — 3D model, 360° drone views, live plans

FirstVuesells itself as an off-the-plan sales platform. Its distinguishing feature is true-elevation drone capture: a 360° drone is flown to each apartment's height so the balcony view in the app is real. Around that sit CRM-synced lot status, 360° interior tours, floor plans synced to the architect's live files and buyer analytics. Integrations listed are Salesforce, SAP and Runway. No timeline or price is published.

PropTwin — AI-generated 3D twins from maps

PropTwin is the one platform of the five that positions itself as AI-generated rather than studio-built. Its how-it-works page has three steps: upload site plans, floor plans or survey maps as PDF, CAD or a scanned sketch; PropTwin generates a 3D twin "ready inside your dashboard within minutes"; sales shares twin links over WhatsApp, email or the CRM. Home-page claims of "3 min avg. render per unit" and "40% shorter sales cycle" carry no published methodology. Pricing is "Talk to sales".

Prompto — studio renders plus CRM

Promptoruns a visualisation studio inside an off-plan sales platform with a CRM and 360° tours. It delivers exteriors, interiors, aerials and masterplans; its FAQ says a full package is "typically delivered launch-ready in two to three weeks", with first visuals within days. Prompto is the only vendor of the five that says how it charges: "Visualisation is priced per project, based on scope", with full usage rights on every render.

AI concept rendering — the layer none of the five sells

None of the five sells a self-serve tool that takes a plan and returns a furnished perspective in a minute. That is the layer Render a House's floor-plan-to-render tool occupies: upload the typology PNG, describe the buyer, get a concept image in about 30–60 seconds for 1 credit at 1K or 4 at 4K Pro.

What each sales stage consumes decides which layer you pay for and when.

Teaser and launch are image-hungry and time-poor: dozens of stills before the design is frozen, half to be superseded, which is where a per-credit render that is free when it fails wins. Showroom and sales suite are interaction-hungry, and no amount of AI stills substitutes; the 8–12 weeks SmartPixel publishes for Pro is why the AI layer carries the campaign in the meantime.

Inputs: typology plans as PNG, one massing screenshot or GLB/OBJ export, and a one-line buyer brief.

1. Export. Save each typology plan as a PNG and export one massing view; from SketchUp or Revit, export GLB or OBJ rather than .skp or .rvt, which the importer does not read (see the SketchUp guide).
2. Draft at 1K. Upload the plan, pick a style preset or reference image, describe the buyer, and run two or three 1-credit drafts per typology; keep the one whose openings match the plan.
3. Finalise at 4K Pro. Re-run the approved draft at 4K Pro (4 credits) for hero and brochure images; relight the exterior to dusk for the second hero.
4. Variations with area editing. Select the kitchen fronts, the floor or the facade cladding and change only that region; everything else stays fixed, so a Scheme A / B spread reads as the same apartment.
5. Clip and share. Generate a short video from the hero at 0.8 credits per second, then share read-only links and download PNG or JPG.

The worked column sums to about 109 credits — under half of a Pro month's 240.

Four of the five platforms publish no price, so rather than estimate, the table states what each vendor does say.

At $39 for 240credits a 4K Pro image works out around $0.65 and a 1K draft around $0.16, and failed renders are not charged. The AI column stops at the fourth row: a unit selector with live availability is software, and its price is the platform's quote. The AI layer wins on the first 48 hours and on variants, not the whole campaign. For listing photos and video, see AI real estate renders and marketing videos.

Four limits matter more for a developer than for an architect.

• Not marketing-grade final imagery. A Prompto studio render or a SmartPixel Pro build is modelled, lit and post-produced against the frozen design; an AI render is a plausible image generated from a plan. Use it for teasers, EOI campaigns and social variants; commission the brochure hero and the billboard from a studio once the design is locked.
• Geometry can shift. Layout is generally preserved but window counts, roof lines and thin elements can move between plan and image. Have the architect check every image before it is published, and never derive a dimension or view line from one.
• Off-plan imagery carries disclosure obligations. Many markets require images of unbuilt homes to be labelled as an artist's impression or indicative only, and some regulate what a buyer can rely on in a contract. Label AI renders as such, keep the sales plan as the contractual reference, and confirm the wording with the project's legal advisor. This page is not legal advice.
• Single-user accounts, no CRM. Render a House has no team plan and no CRM integration; sharing is read-only links and downloads. Lot status, analytics and enquiry routing are what the platforms above are for.

If the design is frozen and the showroom opens in eight weeks, the platform is the priority and the AI layer is optional. Three months from a permit with a design that changes weekly, the order reverses.

• Floor plan to 3D render is the tool page for the typology-plan step, with input requirements and examples.
• AI real estate renders and marketing videos covers listing imagery and video beyond the presales window.
• Change materials in a render with AI details the area-editing step behind Scheme A / B spreads.
• 3D model to AI video walkthrough explains how a GLB export becomes a short clip for paid social.
• AI virtual staging apps compares tools that furnish photographs of completed units.
• Planes y precios lists every plan and credit cost in Spanish.