

I get asked all the time about which version of SketchUp is best to use for interior design purposes and what the difference is between the free and the paid version of the software, so in this post I am going to share the pros and cons of the free versus Pro versions so you can make an informed decision about which version is best for you. This makes it a fantastic piece of software not only for design professionals but also for home renovators or design enthusiasts who love to play ‘virtual house’. It is also quite easy to learn (in comparison to other design software) so literally anyone who has access to the internet can get started with playing around inside SketchUp. SketchUp has a low barrier to entry as there are both free and paid versions of the software. When Trimble acquired SketchUp, it forked the product into several tiers, keeping the free desktop version around as “SketchUp Make.SketchUp is a widely used piece of software in the design and architecture industries.Īlthough you can create 2D plans, elevations and layouts inside SketchUp - it is most well known for giving people the ability to create 3D versions of their designs so these can be pictured in SketchUp before they are built. The SketchUp web app is decent and might be good enough for many people, but for a long time, the desktop version was completely free, too. If you want the latest full desktop app, you’re looking at $300 a year for personal use. At the time of this writing, the only modern free version of SketchUp is a web app. SketchUp has changed hands a few times over the years, once having been owned by Google, and currently owned by a company called Trimble. Trimble even warns it might have security problems as it hasn’t been updated since 2017. However, as of May 2022, the official SketchUp website is no longer offering the free version (SketchUp Make 2017) for download. Update, 5/23/22: This worked when we published it in 2021. Or does it? You can still download a free desktop version if you know where to look. Originally released as free open-source software, the popular 3D-modeling program SketchUp now comes with a premium price tag.
