Best Apps for Interior Design in 2026: 9 Apps Compared

Planner 5D is the easiest balanced choice for a homeowner planning a room, a renovation, or a whole flat. You draw walls in 2D, switch to 3D, and walk through the result, which makes layout mistakes obvious before you move furniture or order anything. The catalogue covers sofas, tables, kitchens, and bathrooms, and the app works on web and mobile, so you can sketch on a laptop and check the plan on your phone in the room itself.

Premium is listed at $4.99 per month billed annually, or $59.99 per year, and it adds more furniture, AI design help, and render allowances. The free plan is usable for real planning, but high-definition renders are capped, so do not expect unlimited photorealistic images without paying.

SketchUp teaches you to think in 3D rather than dragging furniture clip art around a flat plan. The push and pull tool turns a flat rectangle into a wall in one motion, and the 3D Warehouse offers millions of ready-made models from users and manufacturers, from sofas to staircases. That combination makes it a good step up when a simple room planner starts to feel limiting, especially for custom furniture, built-ins, or an unusual room shape.

SketchUp Free runs in a browser for non-commercial use, while Go is listed at $129 per year and adds the iPad app and more features, and Pro at $399 per year adds the desktop app and LayOut documentation. The catch is that SketchUp will not auto-generate a house for you: roofs, stairs, and construction details need manual modelling. Start free, and pay when you need desktop tools or commercial use.

Homestyler is built for beginners who want a room to look good quickly. You place furniture from real brands, change colours and materials, and render the result without learning CAD terms. That brand catalogue matters when you are shopping, because you can test a specific sofa or table in your layout instead of a generic box that only looks similar.

Paid plans start around $6.80 per month in recent comparisons, with a free Basic plan for starting out. The free tier covers basic design and renders, but higher-quality output and extra features sit behind paid tiers. Homestyler will not match a professional renderer for a client presentation, and it is less precise than RoomSketcher for a builder-ready plan.

RoomSketcher focuses on accuracy. You draw a floor plan with real measurements, add doors and windows, furnish it, and then view it in 3D or as a walkthrough. That makes it a strong choice for landlords, estate agents, and homeowners who need a plan they can hand to someone else, whether for a listing, a renovation quote, or a furniture delivery plan.

Pro is listed at $12 per month billed annually, or $144 per year, in recent comparisons, and a free account lets you start drawing. The free output has limits, so expect to pay for polished, unwatermarked plans at presentation quality. If your main need is a pretty inspiration image, a restyle app will be faster. If your main need is a plan with dimensions, RoomSketcher earns its place here.

Sweet Home 3D is the only fully free, offline option on this list, and that alone makes it worth knowing. You draw a house plan, drag furniture into rooms, and view the result in 3D, all without a subscription, an account, or a browser tab. For students, renters on a tight budget, and anyone who dislikes monthly fees, it removes the cost barrier to planning a real room.

The trade is polish. The interface looks dated, rendering is basic, and you will not get the photorealistic images or AI styling of paid tools. Choose Sweet Home 3D when budget and offline use matter most, and move to Planner 5D or SketchUp when you need prettier renders or custom modelling.

Floorplanner is the fastest way to get a usable floor plan in a browser. Open the site, draw walls, add rooms, and export a plan without installing software or learning a 3D modeller. Recent comparisons list five free projects, with paid credits for upgrades and better exports, so it suits occasional projects such as a single room refresh or a rental listing.

The limits appear when you want polished presentation output. Higher-quality exports and extra projects use credits, and the 3D view is functional rather than photorealistic. Floorplanner is a good pick for speed and simplicity, especially for a one-off plan.

Coohom sits between a beginner planner and a professional renderer. It offers room design in 2D and 3D, a large library of furniture and materials, and fast renders that look closer to a finished presentation than a basic planner. AI tools help with layout suggestions and styling, which can speed up the early stage of a project when you are still deciding on a direction.

Pricing varies by plan and region, so check the official site before you commit, and expect professional features and higher render allowances on paid tiers. Coohom is strongest for designers, e-commerce brands, and homeowners who want good-looking renders without learning a heavyweight CAD tool. It is less suited to someone who only needs a simple measured plan, where a cheaper tool will do.

HomeByMe focuses on making a room look like a photograph, with brand-name furniture you can actually buy. That matters when a design decision depends on a specific product, not just a style: you can see how a particular sofa, lamp, or table looks in your room, with lighting and materials that are closer to reality than a flat planner view. The browser-based workflow means no install, and projects can be shared for feedback.

The free plan lets you start, but full features and higher-quality output require paid tiers, and pricing is best confirmed on the official site. HomeByMe is a good choice for a homeowner choosing furniture for a real room, and for a designer who needs client-friendly visuals. It is less ideal as a first tool for measured construction plans, where RoomSketcher or SketchUp fit better.

IKEA Kreativ answers a narrow question very well: what will this IKEA furniture look like in my room. Using your phone or browser, you can view IKEA products in your actual space, try combinations, and design a room around items you can buy. For an IKEA shopper, that is more useful than a generic planner, because the sizes, colours, and products match the store.

The limit is obvious: it is an IKEA tool, not a general interior design app. You cannot plan a full renovation with non-IKEA furniture, produce a builder-ready measured plan, or model custom built-ins here. Use IKEA Kreativ as a shopping companion next to a planner such as Planner 5D, and let the planner handle measurements while Kreativ handles the IKEA purchase decision.