Polycam vs ReconstructMe

Polycam is AI reality capture software for professionals who document, measure and design. It uses AI-assisted photogrammetry and LiDAR to capture spaces, construction sites, facilities, products and materials in 3D, and it can create shareable 3D object models. Users can generate customizable 2D floor plans; paid plans also list instant 3D and editable 2D floor plans. Drone footage can be processed into expansive 3D models. Polycam is available on Android, iOS and web browsers, though Space Mode scanning is limited to compatible iOS devices. Listed exports include GLTF, OBJ, FBX, DAE, STL, USDZ, point cloud formats and DXF; named workflows include Blender, Unity, SketchUp and Xactimate. Free access has limited space, object and AI captures, with GLTF exports and public link sharing. Basic costs $150 a year, equivalent to $12.50 per month when billed yearly. Seven-day trials are offered with annual Basic and Business plans, but not monthly plans or Enterprise. Business is listed at $400 a year and Enterprise at $1,200 a year.

ReconstructMe is Windows software for real-time 3D scanning and reconstruction. Move a supported sensor around an object to digitize it, from a human face to an entire room. Scans use metric units and export to STL, OBJ, 3DS, or PLY. Color from the scanned object can be captured when the sensor supplies a color stream. Listed sensor families include ASUS Xtion, PrimeSense Carmine, and Microsoft Kinect, with Intel RealSense R200 and F200, Orbbec Astra and Astra L, and ASUS Xtion Pro and Xtio also supported. Its C-style SDK supports real-time and multi-sensor applications, OpenCL GPU scanning, mesh noise removal, hole closing, triangle reduction, and CSG operations. Marker detection and tracking can identify real-world positions or place a scan volume relative to a room marker. Unlicensed SDK output carries watermarks and mesh generation is delayed. A recent graphics card and driver are required for hardware-accelerated real-time computing. The non-commercial scanning application costs nothing.