House design apps have evolved significantly over the years. There is software for everything, whether you want to test out new layouts, play with colour schemes, take a look at what your home will look like after renovations, design your own floor plans, or even just speak with a professional.

There are a number of ways that these apps function. High-tech house design applications may allow you to take a photo of a room and then create a digital render within which you can move or replace furniture. Other applications are more conceptual, providing you with inspiration and mood boards that will inspire your next renovation. There is an app for everything, from floor plans, to products, to rendering and interior design.

What house app should I use?

Choosing the right app is everything to making sure that your home plan is efficient as possible. This can be tricky as there is an abundance of choice on the market. Our advice is to have a clear idea of what you want to be able to do – for example, you cannot design floor plans on an interior layout app and vice versa – and cross-reference this with the apps that are available.

It is also a good idea to have a sense of budget. While most of these apps are free, a number of them will suggest in-app subscriptions in exchange for extra features. If you have the money and want to make the most out of your design, this is an efficient way to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. However, you can get along just fine without purchases – provided you don’t mind minimizing pesky advertisements every now and then.

To help narrow down your choices, here is a list of the best free home design software on the market, for apple and android.

Design my own house free software: the 10 best programs and free interior design apps to redecorate with

10. Houzz

Pros: Houzz is a very popular app for aspiring home designers. It is easily accessible and user friendly. You can download Houzz on IOS or android for free. It features more than 25 million photos of home interiors and exteriors which you can browse by style, location or room type (e.g. bathroom, kitchen, living room, bedroom) . It is also connected to products which you can purchase online and you can send your designs to family or friends.

Cons: A disadvantage of Houzz is that it is not specifically a design tool, which may feel a bit limiting. Houzz provides more inspirational tools such as reference ideas and mood boards.

09. Smartdraw

Pros: Smartdraw is an online web-based tool which will allow you to collaborate with a team and create flowcharts, organization charts, mind maps, project charts and floor plans. It is free to try and $9.95 a month after the trial.

Cons: Smartdraw is very technical, so you will not get the immersive experience that you may want for interior décor decisions.

08. Havenly

Pros: Havenly is an online interior design service which will connect you with professional designers for tips, advice, and suggestions. Havenly can also provide you with a curated shopping list.

Cons: Havenly will connect you with a designer rather than let you design the room yourself. Though it is free to download, it costs $79 to upgrade the service for customised design solutions.

07. My Virtual Home

Pros: My Virtual Home is a free to try 3D home design app that is formatted similarly to a video game. It is user-friendly and will allow you to walk through your project in 3D.

Cons: My Virtual Home is only available for Windows.

06. Carpetright Visualiser

Pros: Carpetright is an interior design tool which will allow you to imagine your home with various types of flooring. Simply upload a photo of the room and you will have the power to alter the flooring as well as the wall colour. You can use 2D and 3D views.

Cons: Carpetright Visualiser is very specific. It is only really helpful if you are interested in redoing your floors. It is also best used on an iPad.

05. HomeByMe

Pros: HomeByMe is a genuinely free interior design app that has all of its features available for use without a payment. The catalogue is made from real-life products with links to purchase. You can switch between 2D and 3D to design the real-world look of each room.

Cons: can sometimes be slow and may lag. Manipulating the position and size of objects takes a while to load.

04. Live Home 3D Pro

Pros: Live Home 3D Pro can give you detailed 2D floorplans, 3D rendering, a walk-around augmented reality option, customisable furniture, real-time dimensions, custom paint options and more than 2,000 furniture pieces.

Cons: Live Home 3D Pro costs $30.99 to purchase and has no access for android.

03. Roomstyler 3D Home Planner

Pros: Roomstyler is an intuitive app that will work in 2D or 3D. It is funded by the brands which provide the real-life products that you can furnish your design with, so it is a free software. You can customize colours, sizes or placements and begin by simply dropping in walls or windows.

Cons: no real-time 3D-design mode, no local save or file export.

02. SketchUp

Pros: SketchUp is one of the most commonly used software programs for interior design. Their renders are high quality and you can draw your designs by hand.

Cons: SketchUp is an industry-wide respected software, which means the price is geared towards professionals. At $440 a year, it may not be an option for someone who only wants to design their own house.

01. Planner 5D

Pros: Planner 5D is probably the best known DIY home design app on the market. It has 2 and 3D viewing, will allow custom surfaces, can let you edit items, and has a catalogue containing more than 4000 items.

Cons: The full catalogue is locked behind a paywall.