10 Best Free Interior Design Software for Beginners

Proper interior design is essential for a place 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.

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

Some interior design software 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 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 that you can 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 the lighting effect.

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

Best Free Interior Designing Software for PC & Mobile

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

• SketchUp – 3D modelling & rendering software
• Floorplanner – Online editor for 2D & 3D floor plans
• Planner 5D – 2D/3D home designing for your dream home
• HomeByMe – For 3D space planning online
• Sweet Home 3D – 3D floor planning & furniture addition
• DreamPlan – Detailed landscaping & architectural plans
• HomeByMe – Trending home designs & decoration ideas
• Infurnia – Kitchen & interior designing software
• IKEA Home Kitchen Planner – For planning for personal kitchen space
• Homestyler – Online home designing & 3D rendering

• SketchUp

SketchUp Free 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 designing.

There are many SketchUp 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 Free 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, JPG formats and export them in PNG, SKP, STL formats.

• Mobile Compatibility: SketchUp app on both iOS and Android to view 3D models on the go.

Compatible Platforms: Web browser on Windows 10, Mac OS 11+ (Big Sur), Mac OS 10.15+ (Catalina) and Mac OS 10.14+ (Mojave); iOS, Android.

Price to Upgrade: The Professional plan for SketchUp starts at around Rs 8000 per annum.

• 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).

Compatible Platforms: Web-based

Floorplanner Price to Upgrade: Floorplanner pricing for companies starts at around Rs 4000 per month.

Suggested Read: Top 10 Furniture Design Software | 3D Furniture Design for Free

• Planner 5D

Planner 5D is an immersive free interior design software that offers drag and drops 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.

Planner 5D 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.

Compatible Platforms: Web-based, Mac, iOS, Android, Windows

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.

• 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 it to a digital format with this 3D home designer.

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

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

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

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

Compatible Platforms: Web-browser, Android, iOS

HomeByMe Price to Upgrade: Available at the one-time plan of Rs 1450.

Suggested Read: List of 12 Best Graphic Design Software

• 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 drops 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.

Compatible Platforms: Web-browser (supports WebGL), Windows, macOS, Linux and Solaris

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

• 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.

Compatible Platforms: MacOS

DreamPlan Price to Upgrade: It’s free interior design software for Mac users.

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• 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 drops 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.

Compatible Platforms: Web-browser

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.

• Infurnia

Infurnia 3D interior 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 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.

Compatible Platforms: Web-browser (recommended: Chrome)

Infurnia Price to Upgrade: Infurnia Business plan is available at Rs 2000 per month

• 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 planner, living room planner, bedroom planner, 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 for designing the new kitchen.

Compatible Platforms: Web-browser

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

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• 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. Hometsyler ensures beautiful visualization of your interior designs with panorama view 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.

Hometsyler 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.

Compatible Platforms: Web-browser (Google Chrome PC version, Internet Explorer latest version), iOS, Android

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

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Conclusion

All the free home designing software options listed here are easy to get started with. You can try all the options compatible with your device and decide which one best meets your needs.

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