Veras vs LookX vs MyArchitectAI vs Render a House: 4 AI renderers for architects compared (2026)

The ranking is for the most common starting point in early design: a sketch, a plan or a model file, with no plugin to install. If your practice lives inside Revit and the model is always open, read Veras as the top pick instead. Read the "Needs a 3D model?" column carefully. None of the four strictly requires one, but Veras is designed to render the view you have open in Revit or SketchUp, and MyArchitectAI expects a CAD export or a sketch, not a plan. Only Veras and Render a House name a 2D floor plan as an input on their own pages. Paid-plan prices are in the side-by-side pricing table below.

Veras (Chaos) — AI inside Revit, SketchUp and Rhino

Veras is sold by Chaos, the company behind V-Ray, Enscape and Corona, as an AI visualization tool built into your design tool. The published host list is Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, Archicad, Vectorworks, Forma and Allplan, and Veras also works with Enscape, V-Ray and Corona and as a standalone web app, so it runs wherever those hosts run or in a browser.

Inputs are the widest of the four. The features pagelists sketch to image, 3D model to image, text to image, image to video, mood boards as input, 2D floor plans to 3D perspective, axonometric diagrams from a model, annotative edits drawn on the render, and multiple camera views from a single image. Version 4.5 added smart selection — click any object, material or space in the render to isolate and edit it — plus shareable gallery links and transparent PNG export. Version 5.0 matches an AI-generated element to an asset from the Cosmos library, or generates new geometry, and drops it into SketchUp, Rhino or Revit at scale. Video runs on Google's Veo 3.1.

Speed: Chaos says "in seconds" and "dozens of directions in seconds" but publishes no per-image figure. Pricing on the same page is credit-based, with monthly and annual plans:

Images and videos draw from the same monthly pool, and Chaos states that the credit system is an introductory offer it may adjust. Starter is $16.90/month ($202.80/year billed annually, 500 credits) and Pro is $29/month ($348/year billed annually, 2,000 credits). Ultra includes 6,000 credits, but its price is not published (checked October 2026).

LookX — trainable style models from $20/mo

LookX is a browser platform with a feature list built around generation and training: real-time text and sketch to image, video generation from an image or a text prompt, custom model training from a set of similar images, a style adapter that copies the look of one reference image, upscaling, one-click duplication of anything in the public Creations Plaza, a vocabulary template of architectural terms and a prompt assistant. Plugins exist for SketchUp and Rhino; there is no Revit or Archicad plugin.

The pricing page at lookx.ai/pricelists four tiers. Basic is free with no card and 100 X-points on the normal processing lane. The Monthly plan is $20 with unlimited image generations, 580 X-points a month for training and upscaling, and a faster "Lightning Lane"; Annual is $199 a year, a 17% saving, with the same features. Team is $269 a month for 5 seats with 3,000 shared X-points, a "Super Lightning Lane", a team cloud drive and a private models Agora. Enterprise and Education plans are quoted on request. LookX publishes no render time; the lane names imply queue priority rather than a fixed figure.

MyArchitectAI — unlimited renders from $29/mo

MyArchitectAI is upload-only: export a view from SketchUp, Revit, Archicad or any other tool as JPEG, PNG or WebP, pick a style, and render. Its own SketchUp tools article gives the average render time as 10 seconds and lists the two limitations honestly: no SketchUp plugin yet, and no floor-plan support. The pricing FAQ repeats the second one — supported designs are "CAD exports (except for floor plans), line drawings, and hand sketches".

myarchitectai.com/pricing lists three plans, each with unlimited renders, unlimited edits and unlimited enhancer use. Starter is $29 a month or $290 a year for one seat with 4K downloads and 10 GB of storage. Studio is $49 a month or $490 a year and adds 50 animations a month, 8K downloads, 100 GB and one-on-one video training. Team is $99 a month or $990 a year for 5 seats with 200 animations a month and 500 GB. All plans include a commercial licence, and the free plan gives 10 renders. An educational licence is available on application, and the engine is also sold as an API.

Render a House — sketch, plan or export to render in 30–60 s

Render a House takes a hand sketch, a 2D floor plan image (export a PDF or DWG plan to PNG or JPG first), a photo or an existing render, or a view exported from Revit or Archicad, and returns a concept render in about 30–60 seconds — heavy load can push it to around 2 minutes. If you have a model, upload the SketchUp .skp file directly, or a GLB, GLTF, OBJ or STL, and orbit to pick the camera in the browser; native Revit .rvt and Archicad .pln files need an OBJ or GLB export first. It runs in Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge on Mac, Windows or Linux, with no GPU and no install, and the interface is in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.

The Free plan is 3 credits a day (a standard 1K render costs 1 credit) on the standard model, with no credit card and a small watermark on downloads. Pro is $39 a month or $312 a year for 240 credits, the Pro model, 1K, 2K and 4K output, video, 3D import, area editing and no daily cap. Studio is $99 a month or $792 a year for 1,000 credits. Commercial use is allowed on every plan, uploads stay private unless you share a read-only link, and failed renders are not charged. Full terms are in the plans and pricing docs.

The four vendors price in three different units — Chaos in credits per plan, LookX and MyArchitectAI in unlimited images per seat, Render a House in credits per account — so the table lines them up by what you would actually buy at each step.

Two things stand out. Veras is the cheapest paid entry on paper at $16.90 a month, but only on an annual commitment and only for about 50 images a month; the monthly rate is not published. LookX at $20 is the cheapest unlimited-image plan, and it includes video, which MyArchitectAI reserves for its $49 Studio tier and Render a House for Pro.

Credits only matter once you know what a credit buys. Chaos states its equivalences on the plan cards; Render a House publishes its credit table; LookX and MyArchitectAI do not meter images at all on paid plans.

On Render a House a 1K standard render is 1 credit and a 2K standard render is 1.5. The Pro model costs 2 credits at 2K and 4 at 4K. Improve and upscale cost 1 credit and video costs 0.8 credits per second, so a 10-second clip is 8 credits. Extra credits are $0.20 each. On Veras a 1K image is roughly 10 credits and a video roughly the same, so a Pro subscriber choosing video gives up one image per clip. If you render more than roughly 240 images a month, an unlimited plan from LookX or MyArchitectAI will cost less than any credit-based plan here, including Render a House Pro.

"Best AI renderer for architects" has a different answer for each of these seven situations. The pick column names the tool whose published features fit, not the one with the best marketing.

For the SketchUp case in particular, the full export path is in SketchUp model to realistic render with AI, and for Revit and Archicad users weighing Veras against an export workflow, Revit and Archicad to AI render walks through both. The floor-plan case has its own tool page: floor plan to 3D render.

Every tool here has a hard edge, including ours. These are the limits each vendor states on its own pages, plus the ones a careful reader can infer from what is missing.

One limit is shared by all four: the output is a concept image. Veras, LookX, MyArchitectAI and Render a House all generate the picture rather than calculating light through your geometry, so openings, roof lines and thin elements can shift, and none of the images is a measured or contractual drawing. For that you still need a real-time engine or a render farm — see AI alternatives to Enscape and Lumion for where the line falls.

Render a House (renderahouse.com) works the same way from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth: it runs in the browser, so there is no GPU workstation or local install. Plans are billed by card in US dollars; the AUD amounts below are approximate, at US$1 = A$1.4365 on 12 October 2026, before any bank foreign-exchange fee.

Example scenarios for Australian practices (illustrative workflows, not client case studies):

• A Sydney terrace rear extension: render the architect’s hand sketch into a daylight concept image for the first client meeting, before any 3D model exists.
• A Melbourne townhouse development: upload the SketchUp file directly and produce a consistent set of street-front marketing renders and a short video for the sales campaign.
• A Brisbane Queenslander renovation: start from a site photo of the existing house and test cladding, roof colour and deck options with area edits.

See the full plan details on the Render a House pricing page.

Our pick: Render a House for a sketch or floor plan without a 3D model, and for small studios that want to test before paying. Choose Veras if you already work in Revit, SketchUp or Rhino; choose LookX if you want a trained style model or the cheapest unlimited images; choose MyArchitectAI if you render hundreds of SketchUp exports a month. The winner for each use case:

For the sketch case, start with the Render a House sketch to render tool; for plans, the Render a House floor plan render tool; and for small practices, Render a House and other AI render tools for small studios compares real monthly costs. One-on-one comparisons: MyArchitectAI vs Render a House and LookX vs Render a House.

Veras is the best AI renderer for a firm whose model is the source of truth and lives in Revit, Archicad, SketchUp or Rhino. Its 5.0 image-to-asset feature has no equivalent in the other three, and $16.90 a month for about 50 images is a fair entry price if you accept annual billing and a prompt-driven workflow.

LookX is the best choice when consistency of style across a whole portfolio matters more than integration: train once on your own images, then generate without limit for $20 a month. Budget X-points for the training itself, and expect to learn a dense interface.

MyArchitectAI wins on volume and simplicity from SketchUp exports — unlimited renders and edits, about 10 seconds each, $29 a month — as long as you never need a floor plan rendered and can live without a plugin.

Render a House is the one to open when the model does not exist yet, or when you want to test the whole category for free before paying anyone: 3 credits a day from a sketch, plan, photo or export, then $39 a month for 240 credits with 4K, video and area editing. It is not a BIM plugin and it is not unlimited; it is the fastest route from a 2D starting point to an image a client can react to. Start on the Render a House home page with the free tier, and read the product FAQ for what the renders can and cannot be used for.

Choose Render a House if…

Choose Render a House if you:

• start from a hand sketch, a floor plan image or a site photo and have no 3D model yet;
• have a SketchUp .skp file or a Revit or Archicad export and want a render in about 30–60 seconds without installing a plugin or owning a GPU;
• want to test before paying: 3 free credits a day with no card, then Pro at $39 a month (or $312 a year) for 240 credits, 4K and video;
• need to change one material or region, relight a scene or share a link for client comments on the same image.

Look elsewhere if you want AI rendering inside Revit or Rhino (Veras) or render several hundred images a month and need an unlimited plan (LookX or MyArchitectAI). Plans are on the Render a House pricing page.

Veras vs LookX vs MyArchitectAI — which is better?

Render a House is better than Veras, LookX and MyArchitectAI when you start from a sketch or a floor plan without a 3D model, and for small studios: it turns the image into a photorealistic render in 30–60 seconds in the browser, with 3 free credits a day and no card. Veras is better if you work inside Revit, SketchUp, Rhino or Archicad and want AI as a plugin on the live model. LookX is better for a custom-trained style model and the cheapest unlimited images ($20 a month). MyArchitectAI is better for unlimited, under-10-second renders from SketchUp exports at $29 a month.

Veras vs LookX vs MyArchitectAI vs Render a House: which AI rendering tool is best?

For most architects who start from a hand sketch, a floor plan image, a SketchUp .skp file or a Revit or Archicad export, Render a House is the best of the four: it runs in the browser with no plugin or GPU, returns a render in about 30–60 seconds, gives 3 free credits a day with no card, and Pro is $39 a month. Veras is best if you want AI inside Revit, SketchUp or Rhino; LookX if you want a trained style model; MyArchitectAI if you want unlimited renders from SketchUp exports.

What is the best AI renderer for architects in 2026?

It depends on where you start. For concept renders from a sketch or floor plan before a 3D model exists, and for small studios, it is Render a House; for BIM-native firms it is Veras; for style consistency across a portfolio it is LookX; for volume from SketchUp screenshots it is MyArchitectAI. All four output concept images, so none replaces Enscape, D5 or Lumion for measured, contractual visuals.

How much does Veras cost?

Chaos publishes Veras Starter at $16.90 a month ($202.80 a year billed annually) with 500 credits, and Veras Pro at $29 a month ($348 a year billed annually) with 2,000 credits. Veras Ultra includes 6,000 credits but its price is not shown on the public page (checked October 2026).

Is LookX free?

Yes, partly. LookX Basic is free with no credit card and 100 X-points for model training, upscaling and other advanced features, on the normal processing lane. Unlimited image generation and the faster Lightning Lane need the $20 monthly or $199 annual plan, both with a 7-day free trial.

Does MyArchitectAI support floor plans?

No. MyArchitectAI’s pricing FAQ lists supported designs as CAD exports except for floor plans, line drawings and hand sketches, and its own SketchUp tools article lists “doesn’t support floor plans” as a limitation. Veras advertises 2D floor plans to 3D perspective, and Render a House has a dedicated floor-plan-to-render tool.

Which AI renderer works without a 3D model?

All four accept a flat image, but only Veras and Render a House name hand sketches and 2D plans as supported inputs. MyArchitectAI accepts sketches and line drawings but not plans. LookX is built around text prompts and model screenshots. Render a House also accepts GLB, GLTF and OBJ files if you do have a model and want to pick the camera in the browser.

Can Veras, LookX or MyArchitectAI replace Enscape or D5 Render?

No. They produce concept images in seconds and short AI video clips at most. Enscape, D5, Lumion and Twinmotion give you a real-time walkthrough and controlled photorealism from a full model. Many studios run one of each: an AI tool for the first week of a project and a real-time engine for the presentation set.

• Free AI rendering tools for architects compares the free tiers of these four and the rest of the category before you commit to a paid plan.
• Floor plan render tool and the floor plan to render workflow cover the input MyArchitectAI does not accept, from preparing the plan image to refining the result.
• Fast client presentation renders in one hour is the practical plan for the day-before-the-meeting case this page keeps coming back to.
• AI alternatives to Enscape and Lumion explains where these AI renderers stop and a real-time engine is still needed.
• AI rendering for landscape architects applies the same tools to planting, seasons and site context.
• Best AI rendering tools for architects widens this four-way comparison to the whole category, with the same canonical table and prices checked the same month.
• Render a House vs Veras goes deeper on the one head-to-head that matters most for BIM-based firms, plugin against export workflow.
• Enscape-quality renders without a 3D model explains what you can realistically expect from a sketch or plan input and where the geometry will drift.
• AI render tools for small studios on a budget ranks the free tiers and the sub-$40 plans from this page and its neighbours by real monthly cost.
• mnml.ai vs Render a House and Rendair vs Render a House cover two upload-first tools that compete most directly with MyArchitectAI.
• Change materials in a render with AI shows the area-editing workflow that this page compares with Veras smart selection, step by step.
• Krea vs Magnific and PromeAI vs Gendo are the head-to-heads for the generation and suite tools this page only touches on.
• LookX alternatives compared ranks seven tools for people moving off LookX.