Best Room Design Apps

Our top pick, Homestyler, is inexpensive yet has sophisticated programming

By
Shivani Vyas
Shivani Vyas
Shivani Vyas
Shivani Vyas is a freelance writer for MyDomaine who covers interior design, decorating, and home improvement.
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Published on Jun 30, 2022

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Best Room Design Apps

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Room design apps are interactive programs that allow homeowners to plan and visualize their dream spaces in 3D. Unlike professional-grade software, these apps make it easy for anyone who doesn't have prior architectural or interior design experience to test out their ideas. By showing you a digital preview of your furniture, color, and layout choices, room design apps let you perfect the concept before anything is done to the actual space, saving both time and money.

Some home software includes all-in-one interior design platforms with 2D floor plans and 3D models, while others are inspiration drivers, enabling you to create moodboards and organized shopping lists. To help you find the best room design app for your project, we compared top-rated programs that are beginner friendly.

Best Room Design Apps of 2022

Best Overall: Homestyler

Homestyler room design app

Homestyler
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Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Basic version is free to use
  • Unlimited 1K rendering
  • Massive catalog of furniture, decor, and other objects
  • Compatible with iOS and Android devices

Cons

  • HD and Ultra HD rendering costs extra
  • Slow to drag items in 3D mode

Why We Chose It

Though it boasts an intuitive interface, Homestyler still makes it simple for not-so-tech-savvy users to learn the application’s features through a series of extensive user guides and video tutorials. The best part? You can view your finished designs in 8K or 12K panoramas and video renderings. Plus, Homestyler has a furniture catalog of more than 100,000 3D models and materials, giving users the ability to customize every design detail—from the color of a window to the wooden texture of a door. 

Although standard rendering is free and fast, HD and Ultra HD renderings only become accessible when you upgrade to a Pro or Master plan (or pick the pay-as-you-go option). Homestyler offers its basic plan for free so anyone can design and render an entire interior design project without committing to a paid membership. And the app allows you to design more than one room at a time, including multiple levels and exteriors. It should be noted that some customers have reported lag times when using a few of the tools.

Homestyler Plans and Pricing

  • Basic: Free
  • Pro: From $16/month
  • Master: From $32/month

Best Product Library: HomeByMe

HomeByMe room design apps

HomeByMe
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Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Ability to furnish with brand-name products
  • HD photorealistic renderings
  • Can switch from 2D to 3D instantly
  • Some packages include 360-degree images

Cons

  • 3D mode can cause objects to disappear temporarily
  • Takes hours to render low-quality images

Why We Chose It

With HomeByMe, you can create 2D floor plans from scratch using the app’s "Draw Walls" feature or from a ready-made room template. Once the layout is set, furnish in 3D using a large selection of branded products from retailers like Wayfair, Pottery Barn, and AllModern. Unlike other room design apps, HomeByMe’s free plan does not limit your design options, giving you five projects to test the software’s most sought-after features (like HD images).

The program's Premium plan (from $25 per month) comes with unlimited projects and five 360-degree images, a number that resets every time you renew the subscription. Despite HomeByMe’s affordability and flexibility, we've found that its 3D function can be glitchy. And low-quality renders sometimes take hours to load, though HD renders are completed much quicker.

HomeByMe Plans & Pricing

  • Starter: Free
  • Premium: From $25/month
  • Unlimited+: From $53/month

Best Customization: Morpholio Board

Morpholio Board room design apps

Morpholio Board
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Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Gigantic library of products
  • Ability to see what objects will look like in your space
  • Automated furniture list
  • AR color-capture feature

Cons

  • No building tools
  • Not available for Android or Windows

Why We Chose It

Morpholio Board is a moodboard and collage tool that syncs seamlessly with iOS and Mac devices. When you discover a piece of decor or furniture that you like in the product library, you can add it to custom folders (each one with its own auto-generated shopping list) and use AR to visualize the object in your actual home. If you need more precise planning and sketching tools to create 2D floor plans or your own 3D models, try Morpholio Trace.

While the free version of Morpholio Board has plenty to keep you busy—and allows you to connect your Pinterest account so that your inspiration is all in one place—the Pro plan (around $12 per year) unlocks the best customization features, including a color-capture functionality that matches hues you find out in the real world. Morpholio also has prompt customer service and a YouTube channel that hosts masterclasses on various topics.

Morpholio Board Plans & Pricing

  • Morpholio Board: Free
  • Board Essentials: $4.99/year
  • Board Premium: $7.99/year
  • Board Pro: $11.99/year

Best for Floor Plans: Live Home 3D

Live Home 3D room design apps

Live Home 3D
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Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Advanced floor plan tools and VR capabilities
  • Accommodates multi-level designs
  • Ability to create custom materials
  • Thousands of 3D models available to download

Cons

  • Inconsistent features between Mac and Windows
  • No direct support from customer service

Why We Chose It

This multi-platform room design app delivers detailed CAD-like 2D floor plans and 3D renderings. One of the program's best features is its ability to shoot Ultra HD interior movies and 360-degree panoramas of your designs. Though the software is compatible with iOS, Mac, and Windows, some features are not available on all devices. For example, the ray-tracing rendering technology, which creates realistic lighting effects, can only be used on Macs.

Live Home 3D lets you work both inside and outside of the app, meaning you can make changes in the program and then export your projects as floor plans, 3D models, videos, and screenshots. The software also generates 2D elevations to give you a side perspective of your design and even allows you to build a 3D terrain based on your actual landscape. There isn't phone support for this app, but you can submit help requests via email or directly on the site.

Live Home 3D Plans & Pricing

  • Basic: Free
  • Standard: $4.99/month
  • Pro: $9.99/month

Best for Shopping: Wayfair

Wayfair app

Wayfair
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Pros & Cons

Pros

  • User-friendly interface 
  • Access to more than 7 million products
  • 3D View in Room feature
  • Purchase and track items directly within the app

Cons

  • View in Room feature not available for every product
  • Unsaving items from the favorites list can be glitchy

Why We Chose It

The Wayfair app has impressive augmented reality (AR) and 3D room planner tools that allow you to fully furnish a space before spending a single cent. There are several ways to decorate within the app, the first being the View in Room 3D function, which uses your phone camera and AR to place items in your home. You can even walk around to different rooms and the object will move with you.

The app's imaging tools are also great for visualization. An interactive photo feature lets users add as many products as they want to images of a room so they don't have to be in the actual space to start the interior design process. And if you find decor inspiration out in the real world, you can upload a picture of an object that you like and Wayfair's search with photo function will comb through thousands of products to find similar options.

Wayfair Plans & Pricing

  • Wayfair app: Free

Best for Multiple Projects: Planner 5D

Planner 5D room design apps

Planner 5D
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Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Smart Wizard tool auto-generates room layouts
  • Allows users to upload images of existing floor plans
  • AR-driven virtual tour capabilities
  • Color, pattern, and material customization

Cons

  • Free version has a limited number of products and customization features
  • Access to interior design tools requires a yearly subscription

Why We Chose It

Planner 5D's multiple automated tools aim to expedite the design process so that you can focus your efforts elsewhere. This also makes the app an ideal choice for individuals who are working on more than one room at a time. When using the Smart Wizard room generator, you're prompted to choose between a series of existing templates. Your selections inform Smart Wizard's layout and style recommendations, which can then be customized to your liking. 

If you already have a floor plan mapped out, the app's AI Plan Recognition feature will convert your 2D blueprint into a 3D model. This saves you the hassle of having to build the walls and input the windows and doors yourself. Once you furnish the space with objects from the digital product catalog (which has more than 5,000 items), you can walk through your design using the AR-Driven Interior Projecting function. Objects adjust to your screen so it feels like you're actually standing inside your newly designed room.

Planner 5D Plans & Pricing

  • Basic: Free
  • Premium: $15.99/year
  • Interior Design: $59.99/year
  • Lifetime: $89.99

Final Verdict

Room design apps let you visualize layout, furnishings, and more before you commit to any design elements. But how you pick which app to use largely depends on your individual project. 


If you’re looking for extensive 3D modeling capabilities and 2D floor plans, Homestyler, HomeByMe, Live Home 3D, and Planner 5D have the right tools. When it comes to the best visuals, Homestyler slightly ekes out the other apps thanks to the quality of its photorealistic HD renderings. Live Home 3D, however, is the only application that offers a 2D elevation view.


In terms of simplicity, Wayfair is the least technical software but also produces the quickest results. Morpholio Board is also easy to use and should be the first app you download to gather inspiration for your remodel. 


With a room design app, you don’t need third-party designers to conceptualize your initial ideas. These programs also serve as great communication tools if you’d like to present your concept to a professional designer, architect, or builder.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is There an App for Exterior Home Design?

There are several free design tools specifically aimed at exterior home projects. ProVia’s Design Center tool is a free online program that lets you customize design elements like shutters, add textures like stone, and test different paint colors.

What Is the Best Landscape Design App?

While a few of the room design apps listed here allow for some exterior remodeling in order to provide the most realistic renderings possible, there is better software if you're strictly focused on changing up your landscape. An app like iScape lets you design directly onto photos of your yard so that you can get an accurate preview of the transformation. Planner 5D also offers free landscape design software.

How Much Does an Interior Designer Cost Per Room?

How much you spend on an interior designer depends on a few factors. Some designers charge by the hour (typically in the range of $100-$500), but others set their fees according to the project scope (from several thousand dollars to well into the five figures). Another standard method is to charge by square footage (so your cost per room will depend on its size).

Choosing a designer is all about finding someone who fits your budget, resonates with your design style, and is experienced in the service you need. For example, some designers specialize in kitchens and baths, while others have dual degrees in architecture. When you have a design project that requires furniture and light design as opposed to a complete remodel, your cost per room will likely go down.

Methodology

To make our recommendations for the best room design apps, we researched and tested more than 40 programs. The ones that survived the initial round of cuts were all designed for the average homeowner rather than professionals and came with an abundance of resources that clearly demonstrate how to use the software. In order to narrow down the list further, we looked at the following criteria:

  • Price
  • Subscription options
  • Whether or not there's a free trial
  • Quality of visuals
  • Available features
  • Compatibility with various devices
  • Customer support options

All of our final picks have free versions and the most expensive plan on the list doesn't exceed $53 per month. The average price for the paid plans featured is $13.50 per month.