12 Best Free Interior Design Software for Beginners

Proper interior design is essential for a places where individuals spend a significant amount of time, like homes or workplaces. It’s not just about aesthetic value but improving the lighting, space efficiency, color effects, and more.

However, the use of manual drawings for interior design has certain limitations. Not only does the process become repetitive, but it is also challenging to visualize the plan in 3D. Therefore, any interior designer uses computer programs like interior design software.

Some solutions even provide the 3D rendering feature to visualize a place from different angles. You can also send mock-ups to your clients to communicate your ideas accurately and decide on the final plan.

If you are a beginner, it can be challenging to decide which software to get started with. This article discusses some of the best free interior design tools to use easily.

Why Interior Designing is Important?

Interior designing is often preferred by people to increase space utilization in the functional sense. Interior design service is often preferred by the owners of residential and commercial spaces to enhance colour effects, texture, and lighting effects.

Professional interior designers take the help of the best interior designing software to create an aesthetically appealing look.

12 Best Free Interior Design Software for PC & Mobile

Here, we have listed some of the best free interior designing tools based on factors like available features, pricing, compatible platforms, and more.

Interior Designing Software	Best For	Compatible Platforms
SketchUp Pro	3D modelling & rendering software	Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Floorplanner	Online editor for 2D & 3D floor plans	Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Planner 5D	2D/3D home designing for your dream home	Web, Windows, macOS, visionOS, Android, iOS
HomeByMe	Trending home designs & decoration ideas	Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Sweet Home 3D	3D floor planning & furniture addition	Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
DreamPlan	Detailed landscaping & architectural plans	macOS, Windows
Roomstyler 3D	For 3D space planning online	Web-browser based
Infurnia	Kitchen & interior designing software	Cloud-based, supports 64-bit version of Google Chrome
IKEA Home Kitchen Planner	For planning for personal kitchen space	Web-browser and Windows
Homestyler	Online home designing & 3D rendering	Web based
Cedreo	Creating 2D & 3D Floor Plans	Windows, macOS
D5 Render	Creating photorealistic pictures for architectural projects	Windows

1. SketchUp Pro

SketchUp Pro is a web-based interior design 3D software that is well-suited to hobbyists. It is highly flexible, and designers can easily customize the objects for interior design.

There are many SketchUp Pro tutorials and courses available online to help beginners with home interior design. Once you are familiar with the interface, you can switch to the paid version that has features like augmented reality (AR) viewing for commercial interior design.

SketchUp Pro Interior Designing Software Features

• Powerful 3D Modeler: This 3D home designer has a web-based modeler that gives flexibility as working with a pen and paper.

• Pre-Built 3D Models: Download up to 100 2D and 3D models a day from the repository (maximum 1000 per month) for your projects.

• Cloud Storage: The home designer software offers 10 GB Trimble Connect cloud storage to share and collaborate on projects.

• Support for Multiple File Formats: You can easily import files in PNG, SKP, and JPG formats and export them in PNG, SKP, and STL formats.

Price to Upgrade: The Professional plan for SketchUp Pro starts at around $349 per annum.

Pros and Cons of SketchUp

2. Floorplanner

Floorplanner Basic is an easy-to-use online home designer software for personal and professional use. For example, after designing the layout of retail, real estate, or educational space, you can add objects like accessories, sofas, and the like in a few clicks.

This home designer online also supports sharing, and 2D/ 3D live design viewing. With this interior design 3D software’s paid version, you get photorealistic pictures, HD exports, 3D tours, and more. You can even purchase credits to upgrade single projects.

Floorplanner Features

• Assets Library: Search for different furniture types in the library to choose from over 150,000 3D objects.

• Magic Layout: Select a style and get the first layout proposal in a click, which can be edited easily.

• Room Wizard: Set up your first room quickly to start working on interior design with this home designer free online tool.

• 2D & 3D SD exports: Render blueprint images or interior renderings in SD quality (960 x 540 pixels).

Floorplanner Price to Upgrade: Floorplanner pricing for professionals starts at around $29 per/month. Whereas Basic Plans is available for free.

Pros and Cons of Floorplanner

Suggested Read: Top Furniture Design Software | 3D Furniture Design for Free

3. Planner 5D

Planner 5D is an immersive free interior design software that offers drag-and-drop functionality so that even beginners can create floor plans quickly. There are several options in this home design 3D software to customize the size and material of items on floors.

You can switch between 2D and 3D designing modes as per your needs. To access additional features like photo-realistic rendering, you can use paid solutions. This is one of the few interior 3D software that is supported by visionOS.

Planner 5D Free Interior Designing Software Features

• 2D/ 3D editor: Create unlimited projects with detailed 2D/ 3D plans via drag and drop.

• Item catalog: Access over 150 items like appliances, landscape features, furniture, and more.

• Sync across all platforms: Your projects get synced across all platforms to let you work on the go in this free room design software.

• Customization: Explore and select from hundreds of different colors, patterns, and textures from a catalog.

• Multilingual support: Planner 5D supports Italian, German, Russian, Spanish, and many more languages.

Planner 5D Price to Upgrade: It’s a free interior design software that asks you to pay only if you want to access their entire catalog.

Pros and Cons of Planner 5D

4. HomeByMe

HomeByMe is a house designing software. It provides brand-based products to furnish your space. You can quickly create multiple copies of floor plans to try out different styles.

This interior design 3D software also offers a mobile app to access the projects 24/7, even in offline mode. The pro version offers 360-degree views, virtual tours, advanced customization features, and so on.

HomeByMe Features

• Digitize existing plans: Scan your 2D plan and turn into a digital format with this 3D home designer.

• Customization: Choose color, texture, dimension, and other such features to create designs as per your needs.

• Large catalog: Create different styles for decoration and furnishing available in the catalogue.

• Filtering: Search for products you want to add to the interior design based on parameters like type & brand.

• Sharing: Designs are shareable via links and HD pictures among clients, colleagues, and the HomeByMe community.

HomeByMe Price to Upgrade: Premium plan starts at $29/month/paid annually. Whereas Unlimited+ starts at $63/month/paid annually.

Pros and Cons of HomeByMe

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5. Sweet Home 3D

Sweet Home 3D is a free and open-source interior design software for homes. Users can draw irregular walls such as sloping or round ones. In addition, it offers the drag-and-drop functionality to insert objects like windows, doors, and more.

You can also add more features through additional coding or simple plug-ins. This free home designer software interface is available in 29 languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, and more.

Sweet Home 3D Features

• Simultaneous 2D and 3D views: Design your home in 2D using real-time 3D aerial or virtual visitor views in this home designer software.

• Easy-to-use catalog: Search and insert furniture items from categories like bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and so on.

• Photorealistic rendering: Change the sunlight effect to create photorealistic pictures and videos based on location and time. 

• Annotations: The free room design software supports plan annotation with text, arrows, dimension lines, compass, etc.

• Import/ Export: Import 3D models, blueprints, and textures. Export and print pictures, video clips, PDFs, and more.

SweetHome 3D Price to Upgrade: It’s an open-source and free interior design software.

Pros and Cons of SweetHome 3D

6. DreamPlan

DreamPlan 3D interior design software can be used for personal projects like designing kitchens, bathrooms, and more. In addition, this home design software allows the addition of several floors and stories to projects.

This professional interior design software also provides the option of printing and exporting models to STL or OBJ files for sharing with others. You can switch to the paid version when you want to use it for commercial projects.

DreamPlan Features

• Multiple view modes: View your designs in a 2D blueprint, 2D rendered or 3D modes.

• 2D to 3D conversion: Import 2D pictures of floor plans and change them to 3D models using the trace mode.

• In-built library: Select chairs, doors, appliances, beds, and other items from the library.

• Blueprint symbols: Insert symbols with this home designer free online tool to read the blueprints of 2D floor plans.

• Texture schemes: Import your textures or choose from a wide range of options for walls, fences, roofs, and more in the library.

DreamPlan Price to Upgrade: It’s free interior designing software.

Pros and Cons of DreamPlan

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7. Roomstyler 3D Home Planner

Roomstyler is an easy-to-use 3D interior design software that enables users to create custom rooms. Users can start with a previously saved room design or start from scratch. It provides the drag-and-drop functionality to add doors, walls, windows, and more.

You can follow other designers and get inspiration from their work. In addition, there are video tutorials of this home designer free version to help you if you get stuck while working.

Roomstyler Features

• Camera tool: Place the camera tool anywhere you want and get zoom, normal, or wide-angle 3D views.

• Newsfeed: Choose whose designs you want to view on the newsfeed in your Roomstyler dashboard.

• In-built library: Browse from over 120,000 brands (Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, and more) items in different categories to decorate your interior designs.

• Lighting: Adjust the lighting setting based on the direction and altitude of the sun at any point in time.

• Sharing: Create a copy or share your actual design to collaborate with other team members on a project.

Roomstyler Price to Upgrade: It provides a free community for interior designers to share their designs and ideas. There is customized pricing for its paid plans.

Pros and Cons of Roomstyler

8. Infurnia

Infurnia cloud-based design software is popular among freelance designers and architects. It offers the drag-and-drop feature to build custom designs.

In addition, this interior designing software helps avoid the wait time by allowing users to work on a new design while the older one is rendered. Other features include collision avoidance, smart placement, and more.

The paid versions of Infurnia house designing software offer additional features like access management, custom branding, and catalog management.

Infurnia Features

• Detailed floor plan: Create 2D floor plans as per the actual location and switch to a 3D view whenever you want.

• Custom surface design: Create custom shapes, tiling patterns, false ceiling shapes, and more.

• Admin dashboard: Manage your tasks with a centralized dashboard provided by this free home designing software.

• Catalog: Browse items like kitchen cabinets, customize the desired ones, and save them to your personal catalog.

• Import/ Export: Upload 3D models in *.obj/ *. blend format and export them in *. blend format.

Infurnia Price to Upgrade: Infurnia base design plan is available at INR 50,000 per annum.

Pros and Cons of Infurnia

9. IKEA Home Kitchen Planner

IKEA home kitchen planner is one of the several home planning tools offered by IKEA. Users have complete control over the shape and measurements of the kitchen.

In addition, you can add new items like doors, cabinets, sinks, appliances, tables, and more using its drag-and-drop functionality.

There are several ready-made IKEA kitchens on the website for inspiration. The company also offers other home designer tools like storage planners, living room planners, bedroom planners, and more.

IKEA Home Kitchen Planner Features

• 3D view: Create 2D models and get the kitchen plan in a 3D view format with just one click.

• Wide range of elements: Select kitchen islands, appliances, and other kitchen items and test their positioning to furnish the final plan.

• Customization: The free room design software lets you customize your kitchen with different styles, colors, configurations, and so on.

• Sharing: Save your design to the server and print it to share it with others.

• Budget estimates: This home designer software provides an estimate of the costs of designing the new kitchen.

IKEA Home Kitchen Planner Price to Upgrade: It’s an entirely free home designing platform.

Pros and Cons of IKEA

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10. Homestyler

Homestyler house designing software enables users to design and render interior design projects starting from scratch or using already available templates.

In addition, there are demo projects from which you can edit or get inspiration. Homestyler ensures beautiful visualization of your interior designs with panorama views and real-life-like rendering.

In addition, this online home designer software’s pro and master versions offer watermark removal, more 3D model uploads, video rendering (1080p), and other unique features.

Homestyler Features

• 2D/ 3D floor plans: Create precise 2D and 3D floor plans with this home designer tool in a few clicks.

• Furniture Library: Choose from over 100K furniture models from popular brands for space decoration.

• Customization: Change the color, material, size, lighting, and other parameters as per your needs.

• Rendering: HD quality photo-realistic renders and panorama to visualize designs (1K render for free plan).

• Shortcut keys: Use shortcut keys for copy-paste, render, zoom, duplicate, save, and more on both Mac and Windows.

Homestyler Price to Upgrade: Homestyler Pro plan starts at around INR 700 per month.

Pros and Cons of Homestyler

11. Cedreo

Cedreo, an intuitive 3D interior design software, which operates on the cloud and is widely used by interior designers to generate 2D and 3D floor plans. Equipped with an extensive library of 3D furniture, fabrics, materials, and accessories, this tool empowers designers to present clients with realistic representations of interior design projects. This helps expedite the approval process and streamline project timelines.

Cedreo Features

• Photorealistic renderings to create realistic images.
• Offers Client sign-off acceleration to expedite the designing process.
• Provides an extensive library of realistic interior designs and themes.

Cedreo Price to Upgrade: Starts at $119/month for the Pro plan.

Pros and Cons of Cedreo

12. D5 Render

D5 Render empowers users to design aesthetic interiors for residential spaces, commercial interiors, and architectural visualizations. It provides cutting-edge rendering technology along with user-friendly tools to enhance the design process. This allows designers to bring life to their creative visions.

D5 Render Features

• Offers an AI atmosphere to help with design, layout, color, theme, etc. recommendations.
• Provides an editor to edit your animation and images.
• Integrated LiveSync functionality to provide instant visual feedback.

D5 Render Price to Upgrade: Starts at $30 per month for professional and advanced users.

Pros and Cons of D5 Render

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Features to Consider While Selecting Free Interior Design Software

When evaluating free interior design software, several crucial features like UI, rendering capabilities, design flexibility, platform compatibility, etc. should be considered.

By carefully considering these key features, individuals can make informed decisions when selecting free interior design software that best suits their design requirements, skill level, and overall project objectives. These include:

• User Interface and Ease of Use: Select software with an intuitive and user-friendly interface, as well as easy-to-navigate tools. This will enhance the design process, especially for beginners.
• Design Flexibility and Customization Options: The selected software should offer a wide range of customization options, including the ability to modify objects, textures, and layouts.
• 3D Modeling Capabilities: Ensure that the software provides powerful 3D modeling features to create detailed and realistic design representations for visualizing spaces accurately.
• Access to Design Resources: Look for software that provides access to the library of pre-built 3D models, textures, and materials.
• Collaboration and Sharing Features: Consider software that facilitates collaboration and sharing functionalities, allowing for seamless teamwork and client involvement.
• Platform Compatibility and Mobile Accessibility: The software should be compatible with various platforms and devices to allow users to work on their designs across different OS.
• Rendering Capabilities: Selecting software with a high-quality rendering feature for presenting design concepts and visualizing the final look of interior space.
• File Format Support and Export Options: Verify that the software supports the import and export of design files in commonly used formats such as PNG, SKP, JPG, and STL.

How We Tested These Software?

Each software selected above, provides a unique set of features tailored to specific design needs, offering a diverse range of design templates. By carefully evaluating the essential features mentioned below, we selected them. Let’s read about them:

• User Interface and Ease of Use: Evaluating the software’s interface for intuitive navigation and user-friendly design.
• Design Flexibility and Customization: Assessing the software’s range of customization options for tailored interior design solutions.
• 3D Modeling Capabilities: Testing the software’s ability to create detailed and realistic 3D models for accurate design visualization.
• Access to Design Resources: Reviewing the software’s library of pre-built 3D models and textures to enrich design projects.
• Collaboration and Sharing Features: Examining the software’s collaboration tools for seamless teamwork and client engagement.
• Platform Compatibility and Mobile Access: Ensuring the software is compatible across various platforms and devices for flexible design work.
• Rendering Capabilities: Testing the software’s rendering capabilities for high-quality and realistic design presentations.
• File Format Support and Export Options: Verifying the software’s support for importing and exporting files in standard formats.

Compare Top 5 Interior Design Software

Criteria	SketchUp	Floorplanner	Planner 5D	HomeByMe	Sweet Home 3D
User Interface & Ease of Use	Highly flexible & intuitive	Easy-to-use online editor	Drag-and-drop functionality	Easy to use	Simple and straightforward
3D Modeling Capabilities	Powerful 3D modeling	2D/3D live design viewing and photorealistic pictures in the paid version	Shiftable between 2D and 3D designing modes	Provides 360-degree views in the Pro version	Irregular walls and drag-and-drop functionality
Access to Design Resources	Download up to 100 2D and 3D models a day from the repository	Search for different furniture types in the library with over 150,000 3D objects	Access over 150 items like appliances, landscape features, furniture, and more	Brand-based products to furnish space	Search and insert furniture items from categories like bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and more
Collaboration & Sharing Features	10 GB Trimble Connect cloud storage to share and collaborate on projects	Supports sharing and 2D/3D live design viewing	Supports sync across all platforms and sharing of projects	Designs are shareable via links and HD pictures	Create copy or share designs
Rendering Capabilities	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
File Format Support & Export	Supports files in PNG, SKP, and JPG formats, and exports in PNG, SKP, and STL formats	Render blueprint images or interior renderings in SD quality (960 x 540 pixels)	Export images, plans in HD quality	Export the 3D models in .obj/ .blend format	Import and export pictures, video clips, PDFs, and more

Best Free Interior Design Software: Conclusion

Each software excels in specific areas, such as user interface, design flexibility, 3D modeling capabilities, access to design resources, collaboration features, platform compatibility, rendering capabilities, and file format support.

Designers have a plethora of options to choose from based on their individual design preferences and project requirements. You can choose from the intuitive interface of SketchUp, the drag-and-drop functionality of Floorplanner, the customization options of Planner 5D, the digitization features of HomeByMe, the open-source nature of Sweet Home 3D, and so on.

The comparison between the software offers valuable insights for designers looking to optimize their interior design workflows and achieve visually attractive outcomes.

Top Free Interior Designing Software: Frequently Asked Questions