8 Best Room Planner Apps in 2026 (Free & Paid)

Start with the free plan and platform columns, not the headline price. A free tier with a watermark on every export behaves differently from a free tier with unlimited projects, and a per-project price behaves differently from a subscription once you plan more than one room.

"Free" is not one thing: Planner 5D and Homestyler publish genuinely usable free tiers, Floorplanner watermarks free exports, and Magicplan publishes no free plan at all.

A room planner answers one question: what goes where in this room. You set dimensions, drop in furniture from a catalog, and check clearances in 2D or 3D. The output is a measured layout, not a building design and not a finished image.

Full home design software goes further — walls, roofs, stairs, multi-floor structures, sometimes permits and materials lists. If the job is a whole house rather than a room, see the home design software comparison, the floor plan software comparison, or the architecture software guide. Room-specific jobs also have dedicated guides: kitchen design software and bathroom design software.

AI rendering software sits after the plan. It takes an image — a screenshot of your layout, a photo, a model export — and produces a photorealistic interpretation. It does not measure or place furniture; it shows what the plan would look like built — see the AI interior design generator and this comparison of AI interior design tools.

Five questions expose the practical difference between apps:

1. How does the room get measured? Some apps take typed dimensions, some convert an uploaded floor plan, and some scan through the phone — Magicplan uses LiDAR on iOS Pro devices, IKEA Kreativ scans via the IKEA app. Automated conversions still need checking against a tape measure.
2. How big is the catalog, and is it real brands? Homestyler lists 100,000+ free 3D models and Roomstyler over 120,000 branded items; Planner 5D gates half its catalog behind Premium. IKEA's planners contain IKEA products only — ideal if that is what you will buy, useless otherwise.
3. What does the render output cost? Homestyler renders unlimited at 1K for free, Floorplanner exports SD with a watermark, and Planner 5D keeps 4K for Professional.
4. Which platform do you need?Floorplanner and Homestyler are browser-first; Planner 5D spans web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and visionOS; RoomSketcher runs as a desktop and tablet app; IKEA's kitchen planner does not work on mobile.
5. How is usage priced? Flat subscriptions (Planner 5D), subscription plus credit metering (RoomSketcher, Floorplanner), per-project pricing (Magicplan), and no published price at all (IKEA, Roomstyler). Price the exports and upgrades, not just the plan.

Render a House ranks first because it delivers the outcome a room plan is drawn for — a photoreal image of the finished room. The seven planning apps below are then ranked on a usable free tier, a clear job each app does best, and honest published pricing.

1. Render a House — best for seeing the planned room photoreal

None of the planning apps below is built to produce a photorealistic image of the room you planned — their previews stop at schematic 3D, watermarked SD exports, or 1K renders. Render a House is the step after planning: export a screenshot, plan view, or photo from any app below, upload it, and get a rendered image back in the browser. It accepts PNG, JPG, and WebP images plus SKP, GLB, GLTF, OBJ, and STL models — not PDF, so export the plan to PNG or JPG first.

Two tool pages fit this workflow directly. AI living room design starts from a living room photo, sketch, screenshot, or render and lets you describe furniture, materials, flooring, wall finish, lighting, decor, and mood. AI bedroom design takes a JPG, PNG, or WebP bedroom photo or render and tests beds, finishes, lighting, color, and style. For plan exports specifically, floor plan to 3D render covers that path, and virtual staging handles empty-room photos. The render cost calculator prices a batch before you commit.

Pricing is credit-based rather than per project. A standard render costs 1 credit at 1K (1.5 at 2K, 4 at 4K with the Pro model). The free tier gives 3 credits a day at 1K with a watermark; Basic is $19/mo for 120 credits a month, Pro is $39/mo or $312/yr for 240 credits a month, and Studio is $99/mo or $792/yr for 1000 credits a month. Video is available on paid plans, checkout is card-only, and everything runs in the browser with no GPU needed. See plans and pricing for current terms.

Limitation: Render a House is not a space planner. It does not take measurements, draw layouts, or produce furniture schedules, and the AI render can change details in the source image. Keep the measured plan in the planner app; use the render to see and communicate the result.

Published price used in this comparison: Free: 3 credits a day · Basic: $19/mo · Pro: $39/mo or $312/yr · Studio: $99/mo. See the first-party product page for current terms.

2. Planner 5D — best for free all-round 3D room planning

Planner 5D is the best starting point for most people. The free plan is genuinely usable — unlimited projects on web and mobile with half of the furniture catalog — and the app covers more platforms than anything else on this list: web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and visionOS. Premium at $4.99 per month billed annually adds floor-plan upload to a 3D project, the full 10K+ catalog, standard renders, and a budget widget; Professional adds unlimited 4K renders, custom model upload, 360° walkthroughs, and CAD export.

The honest limitation: the free tier's 50% catalog and the paywalled floor-plan upload mean the features you see in tutorials often sit behind Premium, and render quality beyond standard needs Professional.

Published price used in this comparison: Free $0 · Premium $4.99/mo billed annually ($59.99/yr) or $19.99 month-to-month · Professional $33.33/mo billed annually ($399.99/yr) or $49.99 month-to-month. See the first-party product page for current terms.

3. RoomSketcher — best for measured floor plans

RoomSketcher is the pick when the plan itself is the deliverable. It produces measured 2D and 3D floor plans, prints to scale, adds your own branding, and computes measurements and total area — the features realtors and contractors actually need from a plan.

It runs as a desktop and tablet app, and captures a room with iPhone or iPad LiDAR. The free tier is a taster: 2 credits, one free AI conversion, and watermarked 3D Snapshots. Beyond that, credits meter the output — 3D Photos cost $4 per render on free, an AI Convert $20 per floor — so Pro at $12 per month billed annually is where measured work lands. Prices are USD and exclude VAT.

The honest limitation: credit metering on 3D output makes costs less predictable than a flat subscription, and free output carries a watermark with a limited furniture library.

Published price used in this comparison: Free $0 · Pro $12/mo billed as $144/yr · Team $35/mo billed as $420/yr; prices in USD exclusive of VAT. See the first-party product page for current terms.

4. Homestyler — best for free unlimited 1K renders

Homestyler is the generous free option for visualization. The Basic plan includes a cloud 3D floor planner, unlimited 1K rendering, and a library of 100,000+ free 3D models and materials — the closest thing on this list to a free room renderer.

Paid tiers start from $6.8 per month for Pro+ (75 renders each at 2K and 4K per month, watermark removal, 180 AI credits) and $11.8 per month for Master+ with unlimited 4K. A single 4K render is $1.99 — $9.99 for ten — and students get 35% off personal memberships except monthly subscriptions.

The honest limitation: the "starts from" figure hides its billing term behind a one-time vs auto-renew toggle, free renders are capped at 1K, and 4K needs a plan or a per-render purchase.

Published price used in this comparison: Basic Free $0 · Pro+ starts from $6.8/month · Master+ starts from $11.8/month · Team starts from $19.6/seat/month; a single 4K render costs $1.99. See the first-party product page for current terms.

5. Floorplanner — best for casual browser floor plans

Floorplanner is the casual pick: open a browser tab, draw the room, furnish it, export. The free Basic tier covers up to 5 projects with 3 floors — enough for most home projects — and the pay model is unusual in a useful way: upgrades are per project, not per month. Credits buy one-time upgrades: 2 removes the watermark, 5 exports at HD 1920x1080, 10 at 4K, 20 at 8K. One-off credit packs run from 5 for $8.15 to 100 for $163.00; Plus ($5/mo, 4 credits) and Pro ($29/mo, 25 credits) add a monthly allowance. Prices exclude VAT.

The honest limitation: free exports are SD 960x540 with a watermark and a 10-minute cooldown between them, so presenting a finished plan almost always costs a few credits.

Published price used in this comparison: Free $0 · Plus $5/mo incl. 4 credits · Pro $29/mo incl. 25 credits; prices exclude VAT, extra credits from $1.18–$1.36. See the first-party product page for current terms.

6. IKEA planners — best for planning around IKEA furniture

IKEA's planner family is the best option when the shopping list is already IKEA. There are room planners for bedroom, kitchen, living room, bathroom, outdoor, office, hallway, dining room, and children's room — each producing a detailed technical plan including windows, outlets, and pipes — plus product planners for PAX wardrobes, BESTÅ, BILLY, KALLAX, and sofas.

IKEA Kreativ is the 3D side: choose a room, build a room, or scan yours with the IKEA app, then furnish a scale-accurate space with real IKEA products. The US site also offers a free remote kitchen planning appointment. No price is listed on the planner pages (checked October 2026), so no subscription is published.

The honest limitation: the catalog is IKEA only. If you are mixing brands or already own the furniture, a generic planner fits better, and the kitchen planner does not run on mobile devices.

Published price used in this comparison: No price listed on IKEA's planner pages (checked October 2026). See the first-party product page for current terms.

7. Roomstyler — best for decorating with branded furniture models

Roomstyler is a browser 3D room planner from Floorplanner.com built around real products: you decorate with more than 120,000 items from named brands, then share to a community with contests and moodboards. The press page offers free sign-up, and no paid plan is published (checked October 2026).

The honest limitation: it is an older planner (its press page dates the launch to 2013) built around a community, and with no published paid tier or plan terms it suits casual decorating better than professional client work.

Published price used in this comparison: No paid plan published; free sign-up (checked October 2026). See the first-party product page for current terms.

8. Magicplan — best for measuring an existing room with a phone

Magicplan solves the opposite problem from the rest of this list: not designing a room, but capturing one that already exists. It builds floor plans in real time from manual and laser-assisted measurements, supports LiDAR scan on iOS Pro devices, works offline on phone or tablet, and exports ESX (Xactimate) and FML files plus PDF reports and estimates.

Be clear about who it is for now: Magicplan is sold to restoration and contracting crews — "run the whole job from what your crew sees on-site" — priced per project, billed monthly in USD. PROFlex is $40 per project month-to-month ($400/mo for 10 projects), PRO12 $30 per project on a 12-month term, PRO24 $25 on 24 months. Unlimited users, all features, unused projects roll over.

The honest limitation: there is no published free plan, and per-project business pricing is overkill for measuring a single room at home.

Published price used in this comparison: PROFlex $40/project month-to-month ($400/mo for 10 projects) · PRO12 $30/project on a 12-month term · PRO24 $25/project on a 24-month term. See the first-party product page for current terms.

The right app depends on the job, not the feature list. Match the starting situation to the shortlist:

Two-app stacks are normal: measure with Magicplan, arrange in Planner 5D, render in Render a House. Related guides cover neighboring jobs: paint color visualizer apps and home remodel apps.

Most apps here offer some free access, but the allowances differ in kind:

• Render a House: 3 credits a day at 1K with a watermark, for the rendering step rather than the planning step.
• Planner 5D: unlimited projects on web and mobile, 50% of the furniture catalog.
• RoomSketcher: 2 credits to start, 1 free AI floor plan conversion, watermarked 3D Snapshots, limited furniture.
• Homestyler: unlimited 1K rendering and 100,000+ free 3D models and materials; 4K is purchased per render or via a plan.
• Floorplanner: up to 5 projects and 3 floors, with SD watermarked exports on a 10-minute cooldown.
• IKEA planners: no price is listed on the planner pages, so no subscription is published.
• Roomstyler: free sign-up, and no paid plan is published.
• Magicplan: no free plan published on the pricing page.

Read the free tier for what it meters: projects (Floorplanner), catalog share (Planner 5D), render resolution (Homestyler), or credits per 3D output (RoomSketcher).

A room planner produces a layout, not a contractor plan. None of these apps outputs permit-ready drawings, structural checks, or building-code compliance — IKEA's own planners stop at a technical plan of the space, which is still a shopping document.

Catalogs are not your room: an app with 120,000 items still will not contain your exact sofa, so treat placed furniture as dimensioned stand-ins. Scans and AI plan conversions from Magicplan, RoomSketcher, or IKEA Kreativ need checking against a tape measure before you trust a clearance.

Renders are not final finishes either. A planner's 3D preview or an AI render shows the room's look, not its construction — treat every rendered image as a concept, not a record.

Prices were checked in October 2026 against first-party vendor pages, from a US connection in USD:

• Planner 5D pricing and the Planner 5D homepage for the platform list
• RoomSketcher pricing and features — prices shown in USD exclusive of VAT
• Homestyler pricing — paid figures are "starts from" prices; the billing term sits behind a one-time vs auto-renew toggle
• Floorplanner pricing — prices exclude VAT; USD shown via the page's EUR/USD toggle
• IKEA planners and IKEA home design — US pages; no price listed for the planners
• Roomstyler and its press page — free sign-up, no paid plan published
• Magicplan pricing and the Magicplan homepage

Render a House figures come from the plans and pricing docs. Vendor prices and billing terms change; confirm the linked first-party page before purchasing.