Best Interior Design Tools Online

Designing rooms can be tricky, and it's often hard to visualize what the end result will be but you don't have to be a professional room designer to create. In fact, wouldn't it be great if there was a room decorator app to see what your design ideas actually look like before you implement them? There is — and it's free! The following list of the best free online virtual programs for planning and designing your home is all you need.

We found the programs below to be easy to use for room designing, even if you've never used a online room planner before. You can accomplish most of your room design tasks, such as crafting the perfect layout for your space and choosing the right décor.

12 Best free home design apps

These are our favorite online room decorator tools and apps:

Planner 5D
Roomstyler
Ikea Home Planner Tools
Design a Room
Homestyler
The Home Renovator
Sweet Home 3D
SmartDraw
HomeByMe
MagicPlan
Amikasa
DecorMatters

1. Planner 5D

Planner 5D bills itself as the most extensive free room design app on the market. Easily design rooms down to the smallest architectural details, including windows, stairs, and partitions. Don't stop at interiors; this room designing app also lets you do landscaping and pools — all with stunning 3D graphics.

You can also get inspiration from their gallery. Explore new and trendy designs created by other virtual room designers.

Rating: 4.3 stars on both the App Store and the Google Play Store.

Download Planner 5D on the App Store or on Google Play .

2. Roomstyler

Use this outstanding room design app to upload your own floor plan or play around with preloaded room layouts. The Roomstyler 3D Home Planner allows you to insert walls, doors, and windows and select from a gallery of interior finishes.

The interface is relatively simple to use and allows you to view your plan and 3D image at the same time. You can move the camera around the plan to see different views and choose from more than 120,000 brand-name items to insert into your model, which includes anything from small kitchen appliances to garden tools.

If you love the decor you put into your rendered model, click the "Available for purchase" button to find out the price and purchasing options. You can use the software for free without joining. But if you join, you can upload your model to Facebook for your friends to see.

Rating: 2.0 stars on the App Store.

Download Roomstyler on the App Store .

3. Ikea Home Planner Tools

When you flip through the Ikea catalog, do you ever wish you could see how a certain bookshelf and desk would look in your space? You can Ikea now has a room designing software! With the free, easy-to-use Ikea home planner tool online, you can configure your floor plan, choose from the store's gallery of furniture and decor, calculate the cost, and print out your wishlist for in-store browsing.

Room-specific tools include a virtual kitchen planner, a bedroom planner, a bathroom planner, and storage planning solutions.

Rating: N/A

Download the Ikea Home Planner Tools . Note they are not available on the App Store or on Google Play.

4. Design a Room

Stop taking home dozens of material samples to try out all the combinations in your space. Instead, try the Armstrong 3D room decorator app that allows you to see different color combinations of flooring, cabinetry, ceilings, walls, and countertops from the comfort of your home.

Design a Room allows you to choose a room in your home, pick a style (like contemporary, traditional, global fusion) and virtually play around with colors, textures, and finishes. You can even coordinate Sherwin Williams, PPG, and Benjamin Moore paint colors to go with your design.

One of the best things about this free tool is the ability to learn about the products before you buy them. For example, when designing a bathroom, you might see a note saying hardwood flooring isn't recommended. This ensures that your room designs will be functional and stylish.

Rating: N/A

No download needed. Try the Armstrong Design a Room tool online .

5. Homestyler

Autodesk, the creator of AutoCAD, REVIT, and 3ds Studio Max, is well-known for its professional design programs. It also created the Homestyler room design app, which they sold to Easyhome in 2017.

This user-friendly program doesn't require formal training like the other professional programs the company offers. Simple drag-and-drop functions allow you to create your own designs and dream up floor plans. Homestyler's 3D floor planner and 3D room designer tools are perfect for an amateur virtual room designer.

The furnish and decorate tool allows you to choose cabinetry, appliances, furniture, and nearly every decor item you can think of. Then personalize your space with area rugs and finish items by several manufacturers. Once your design is complete, you can print it out.

Rating: 4.5 stars on the App Store and 3.9 stars on the Google Play Store.

Download Homestyler on the App Store or on Google Play .

6. The Home Renovator

Room decorator apps are all well and good, but The Home Renovator lets you plan for and budget the materials you'll need for your renovation project. The Home Renovator lets you choose from insulation, drywall, paint, ceramic tile, ceiling tile, and deck projects. You can use the site's free worksheets to measure your space, enter your measurements, and review your tool requirements. This room designing software will then get a report telling you how much material is required for your project, a budget price that can be used to negotiate with local dealers, and illustrated instructions that show cutting and placement of materials.

Rating: N/A

No download required. Use the tool online at The Home Renovator .

7. Sweet Home 3D

This 3D room design app is for those who want more customization options for their room layout. The online software is free, though login information is required. You can also download a more advanced version of Sweet Home 3D (at an extra price) that allows you to save, export, and manipulate your home plans. The interface has four sections:

The furniture catalog allows you to choose components by name, then drag and drop components directly into the floor plan.
The home furniture list displays the dimensions of each piece by name and size.
The home plan shows you in a 2D format where the walls, windows, doors, and furniture are placed (as viewed from above).
The home 3D view shows your plan in three dimensions so you can visualize the plan as you design.

To bring in your floor plan, import it into Sweet Home 3D, scale it, and trace over your plan to remove the guesswork. This program can be simple, but it has advanced features for those who want more from their 3D virtual planning experience.

Cost: Free to download or use online here. $13.99 on App Store.

Rating: 3.5 stars on the App Store.

Download Sweet Home 3D on the App Store . No version available for Google Play.

8. SmartDraw

Smartdraw is a suite of programs for visual graphics and presentations, including project charts, timelines, marketing charts, and flowcharts. Under the flowchart application is a feature to design floor plans and individual room plans. You can use SmartDraw to plan office spaces, apartments, individual rooms, and even building elevations.

SmartDraw works well for individuals and businesses that don't want to spend a lot on design software. This room designing software has a free trial period and if you're satisfied, you can purchase the full program. With an almost infinite selection of furniture, cars, building materials, and preloaded plans, SmartDraw offers a lot of bang for the buck.

Cost: Free to try. $9.95/mo. or $297 for a single license.

Rating: N/A

Download SmartDraw or try the online version on the SmartDraw website .

9. HomeByMe

HomeByMe is a web-based room design app. Start in 2D and build your room from the ground up, finishing with furniture and accessories. Once you're ready, convert it to 3D, where the walls fall away and you can look inside the interior design plan you created.

Cost: Free to try. $14.99 for the full version.

Rating: N/A

HomeByMe is fully web-enabled .

10. MagicPlan

MagicPlan is a room design app for iOS and Android that creates floor plans from user-scanned photos. This makes creating a room design a snap, with "No need to measure or draw." It's the perfect app for those new to designing floor plans. As you might expect, it isn't as detailed in its creations as more advanced apps, but it's useful for quickly creating interior layouts for a novice room designer.

Cost: Free (first two projects), then $9.99/mo.

Rating: 4.7 stars on the App Store and 4.4 stars on the Google Play Store

Download MagicPlan on the App Store or on Google Play .

11. Amikasa

Amikasa is a room design app that's won a Webby award thanks to its aesthetically pleasing interface. Users also praise the ability to create their room layouts using real brand products.

Once you've finished your design, there's a 3D walkthrough feature that allows you to take a virtual tour of your new space. Plus, you can share designs on social media to get feedback. The iOS version recently had a $0.99 price-tag added, and there's no Android version available. There's a beta Windows version that can be downloaded for free.

Cost: $0.99 for iOS version; free Windows version.

Rating: 2.9 stars on the App Store. No Android version.

Download Amikasa on the App Store or from the Amikasa website .

12. DecorMatters

If you want to gamify the process of room design, then DecorMatters is for you. This iOS app brings augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology to the process of room design. And users are loving it.

There are leaderboards, virtual coins, and levels, plus special rewards for participating in design challenges. Users can create new virtual rooms based on templates, or they can tweak their real-life room with augmented reality. Rooms can be posted online and you can browse through other's creations to get inspiration. Eventually, the team says content creators can be compensated through profits received from product recommendations and copyright authorizations.

Rating: 4.7 stars on the App Store.

Download DecorMatters on the App Store . No Android version available.

Ratings and pricing as of Jan. 7, 2021.

The bottom line

There are plenty of free online 3D virtual programs and room design apps that will allow you to plan, design, draw and view your space. You too can be a room designer with these room designing apps and software. Choosing the right one depends on your skill level, objective, and how you want to present your final drawings.

Whether you want to play around or start building a home to your personal specifications, this list of top 10 best free online virtual programs and tools will help you get started.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best app for interior design?

That depends on what type of interior design you need to do, along with your knowledge and skill level in using these types of 3D software tools. Try several and see which one meets your needs the best.

How do I use a room design app?

Use one of the room design apps above to plan your next design project, or to have a little fun with design inspiration. Interfaces vary based on the specific app but play around with whatever free solution you choose. You'll be inspired to tackle your next project in no time!

Where can I find inspiration for interior design?

Inspiration for interior design is all around you. Take note of your surroundings wherever you go, or pick up some design magazines and books. You can also play with the tools in our guide to get more inspiration.

Steven Walters contributed to this post.

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