Gridsnap vs Sweet Home 3D: Which Free Floor Plan Tool Fits You?
Sweet Home 3D is a rare thing: genuinely free, open-source (GPL) home design software, maintained since 2006, with a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, an online version, and 10,000+ furniture models. Gridsnap is also free at its core, but it’s a different kind of tool: a browser CAD engine focused on accurate drawings — millimetre walls, automatic elevations, plan checking, scaled vector PDF and layered DXF export. Sweet Home 3D shines at furnishing a home and previewing it in 3D; Gridsnap at producing drawings you can measure, check and hand over.
Gridsnap vs Sweet Home 3D
| Gridsnap | Sweet Home 3D | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free; $19 once for one project (90 days), or $9/mo · $90/yr ongoing | Free, open source (GNU GPL); donations welcome |
| Free tier limits | Full drafting, exports and core plan check free; 1 synced cloud project | Everything included — there is no paid tier |
| Platform | Browser (nothing to install); works on any OS | Desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux (Java), an online browser version, and mobile apps |
| Drafting precision | Millimetre-exact drafting with typed dimensions and snapping | Wall drawing with editable lengths; aimed at furnishing and 3D preview |
| Elevations | All four elevations generated automatically from the plan | Not a feature; output is plans, 3D photos and videos |
| 3D | Instant 3D with first-person walkthrough | 3D aerial view and virtual visits, photo and video rendering; 10,000+ models and 400+ textures |
| Plan checking | Built-in plan check: overlaps and in-wall errors free; blocked doors/windows, circulation, room sizes, daylight on Pro | None |
| AI features | AI assistant (Pro): explain findings, auto-fix, furnish rooms, draft a plan from a text brief | None |
| Dimensioning | One-click auto-dimensioning of plans and elevations (Pro) | Manual dimension lines |
Compared as of 2026-08-19. Sweet Home 3D details from its own published pricing and documentation; corrections welcome via the editor's feedback form.
Where Sweet Home 3D is strong
- Completely free and open source — no accounts, no tiers, works offline on the desktop
- 10,000+ furniture models and 400+ textures in the full version, in 29 languages
- Two decades of steady maintenance and a large community of users and model contributors
When Gridsnap is the better choice
Choose Gridsnap when the output is a drawing rather than a furnished preview: it runs in the browser with nothing to install, drafts in exact millimetres with anchored dimensions, generates all four elevations automatically, checks the plan for real layout errors, and exports true-vector PDF sheets at standard scales plus a layered DXF for CAD — the deliverables a builder, landlord or architect actually asks for.
When Sweet Home 3D is the better choice
Choose Sweet Home 3D if you want a fully offline, open-source desktop app with zero cost and no cloud anywhere — or if furnishing and 3D-previewing an interior is the whole job. For decorating a home from a big free model library, it’s hard to argue with twenty years of free software.
Common questions
Weighing more options? See the best free floor plan creators roundup, the full feature list, or browse ready-made templates to judge the output directly.
Is Sweet Home 3D really free? Is Gridsnap?
Sweet Home 3D is entirely free and open source under the GPL — every feature, forever. Gridsnap’s drafting core is free (drawing, elevations, 3D, PDF/DXF exports, core plan checks) with a $9/month Pro tier for expert plan checks, AI assistance and auto-dimensioning.
Which produces better drawings for a builder?
Gridsnap. It’s a CAD engine: integer-millimetre geometry, dimensions that stay anchored while you edit, automatic elevations, and scaled vector PDF sheets with a title block plus layered DXF. Sweet Home 3D’s outputs centre on the furnished plan and 3D photos and videos.
Do I need to install anything?
Sweet Home 3D is primarily a Java desktop application (there’s also an online version). Gridsnap is browser-only by design — nothing to install, and a plan opens on any OS from a share link.
Try it on your own plan
Gridsnap runs in the browser and the drafting core is free — draw a room to real dimensions and run the plan check on it in a couple of minutes.