Home Designer vs Live Home 3D

Home Designer is desktop software for DIY home design, remodeling, kitchen and bath projects, and cost estimation. It runs on Windows and macOS and provides 2D floor plans alongside 3D views, cross-sections, elevations, and real-time ray-trace rendering. Automatic design tools generate roofs, floors, foundations, ceilings, and framing as users work. Users can create scaled construction documents and site plans, produce materials lists, assign prices for estimates, and dimension plans manually or automatically. The software also supports customizable smart cabinets, automatic door and window framing, and materials takeoffs. Virtual tour walkthroughs can be recorded, and interactive 3D Viewer models can be exported to Chief Architect’s cloud for mobile sharing. Core, bonus, and manufacturer library items are available; bonus and manufacturer catalogs are free downloads. Home Designer is compatible with Chief Architect software for project sharing. A trial is available, but trial users cannot save, print, export, or record walkthroughs, and Library Browser functions are restricted. The monthly plan is $79 a month; annual subscription is $495 a year.

Live Home 3D is a home design app for drawing floor plans and creating 3D views of rooms, houses, exteriors and terrain. It runs on Android, iOS, macOS and Windows and is described for both amateur designers and professionals. Floor-planning tools let users draw walls, trace a plan image, mark dimensions and create multiple stories. A design can then be viewed in 3D, walked through, and changed by rearranging furniture and finishes. The Mac app page lists a library of 2,400 3D models and 2,100 materials. Listed imports include objects from Trimble 3D Warehouse and models from Sketchfab; using Sketchfab requires a free account. Mac import and export options include common 3D model formats, PDF floor plans, images, panoramas and walkthrough videos. Offline on-device ray-tracing renders are supported, while AI cloud rendering uses purchased credits. The free version is limited to two stories, and its exports contain watermarks; formats vary by platform. Paid options start at $5.99 per month, with annual and lifetime licenses also listed.