European Alternatives to SketchUp
Looking for a European alternative to SketchUp? SketchUp is sold by Trimble Inc., headquartered in Westminster, Colorado, and its pricing page lists per-user subscriptions billed annually in US dollars, from 10.75 dollars a month (Go) to 71.58 dollars a month (Studio).
The European tools below cover floor plans, 3D room design and BIM, from companies in the Netherlands, Norway, France, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary and Germany, including free and open source options.
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European ownership, verified
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Category fit and hands-on review
What the tool actually does, who it suits, and where it falls short — checked against the vendor’s own documentation, changelog and pricing page rather than its marketing copy.
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10 European Alternatives to SketchUp
Floorplanner
Browser-based 2D and 3D planner from Rotterdam, free for up to 5 projects
RoomSketcher
Floor plans, 3D photos and 360 views from an Oslo-area company
Cedreo
Home design and 3D renderings for builders and remodelers
Planner 5D
Room planner for web and mobile with published euro pricing
Sweet Home 3D
Free open source interior design app for desktop and mobile
HomeByMe
Free 3D home planner by Dassault Systèmes with 4K images
Archicad
BIM design software for architects, from Budapest
Allplan
BIM platform for architecture, structural and civil engineering
Roomstyler
Free room designer and moodboard community, run by Floorplanner
Blender
Free open source 3D creation suite from Amsterdam, for modelling interiors
Key takeaways
- SketchUp is sold by Trimble Inc. of Westminster, Colorado, and every plan on its pricing page is billed in US dollars, from $10.75 to $71.58 per user per month.
- Of the European tools on this page, only Archicad and Allplan are BIM programs aimed at construction drawings, so they are the realistic replacements for SketchUp Pro with LayOut.
- Sweet Home 3D is open source under the GNU GPL, stores your files locally on the desktop and costs nothing, which makes it the lowest-friction exit from a SketchUp subscription.
- Planner 5D publishes both monthly and annual prices in euros, from a free tier up to 399.99 euro a year for Professional, which is rare among the floor planners here.
- Blender, run by a Dutch foundation in Amsterdam, is free and open source but is a general 3D suite, not a floor plan tool.
Why people leave SketchUp
SketchUp is a 3D modelling program sold by Trimble Inc., a company headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.
People know it as the tool that made push-pull modelling approachable, and it is still the program many architects, carpenters and interior designers open first when a client wants to see a room in three dimensions. Its pricing page describes a family of subscriptions rather than one product: a web and iPad tier, a desktop tier, and a Windows-only tier for visualisation and BIM workflows.
The reasons to look at European software are mostly practical. Every plan is billed in US dollars, from $10.75 a month per user for Go up to $71.58 a month for Studio, all billed annually and excluding tax.
The subscriptions renew on their own for an equal term at the then-current price. Access runs through a Trimble ID, and each ID must belong to one named person, so a shared studio login is not allowed. For a household that wants to try three kitchen layouts on a Sunday, that is a lot of account to carry.
A second group leaves because the job has changed. A lot of people who buy SketchUp want a floor plan with furniture, not a general modeller, and a purpose-built planner gets there in fewer steps.
Another group wants contract certainty: a supplier established in the EU, the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, under a European court and a European data protection authority, instead of a Colorado company under US law. Both groups are served by the tools on this page, with different trade-offs.
- Dollar subscriptions that renew by themselves On 19 October 2026 the SketchUp pricing page listed Go at $10.75, Pro at $33.25 and Studio at $71.58 per user per month, billed annually, with the specialised Pro variants at $41.58 and $49.92. Prices exclude tax. Unless otherwise specified, a subscription renews at the end of its term for an equal term at the then-current price. If your budget is in euros and your use is occasional, a euro-priced or free planner removes both the exchange rate and the renewal risk.
- The desktop modeller starts at the middle tier Go is described as essential 3D design on iPad and web only. The desktop 3D modeler, the LayOut documentation tool and the Extension Warehouse sit in Pro, and Studio, which adds the Revit importer and photoreal visuals, is listed as Windows only. A buyer who assumed the entry price covered the desktop program will find that the plan that costs about three times as much. Several European planners put a free browser version first.
- Named-user accounts and support hours in Mountain Time SketchUp asks every user to sign in with a Trimble ID and says an account cannot be a generalised, shared login. Customer support is staffed on weekdays, with English hours listed in Mountain Time and German and French hours ending at 9 a.m. MT. A European studio on Central European Time gets a narrow window. A vendor in your own time zone, or an open source project with a public forum, behaves differently.
- US jurisdiction over a design archive Trimble Inc. is a US company, which puts its cloud storage and account data under US law, including the CLOUD Act that can reach data held by US providers wherever the servers stand. For a floor plan of a private home or a client site that matters less than for a patient file, but architects with confidentiality clauses, or public bodies, sometimes still want the contract to sit in Europe.
What you have to replace, not just match
What you replace depends on what you actually used. Most SketchUp users lean on three things: the modelling tools that draw arbitrary geometry, the 3D Warehouse library of ready-made furniture and fixtures, and the extension ecosystem, which the vendor puts at more than 1,000 extensions on Pro.
A floor plan planner covers the first only for rooms and buildings, brings its own catalogue instead of 3D Warehouse, and has no extension market. Plan on rebuilding any custom components, dynamic components or V-Ray scene set-ups by hand.
The second part is the paper output. Pro includes LayOut for 2D documentation, and Studio adds import of Revit files and point clouds.
If your SketchUp work ends in a drawing set, the real replacements are the two BIM products on this page, Archicad and Allplan, which keep plans, sections and schedules tied to one model. If it ends in a picture for a customer, the planners with renders are enough. Be clear about which of those two you do before you shop.
Files are the third piece. Your .skp models stay yours, but a European planner will not open them as native projects. Plan on exporting to a neutral format, drawing the plan again from your measurements, or tracing over an image. In the tools reviewed here, Sweet Home 3D accepts a blueprint to trace walls over, and Planner 5D lists upload of .obj, .fbx, .blend and .stl models on its Professional plan, which is the bridge for objects you built before.
The alternatives compared
| Position | Tool | Headquarters | Pricing | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Floorplanner | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Free for up to 5 projects (SD exports with watermark); credit packs from $8.15 for 5 credits; basic, plus and pro subscriptions (see website) | EU (Netherlands) |
| #2 | RoomSketcher | Lysaker (Bærum), Norway, Norway | Free ($0, 2 credits); Pro $24/month monthly or $12/month billed $144 yearly; Team $70/month or $35/month billed $420 yearly; Enterprise on request. USD, excl. VAT | EEA, not EU (Norway) |
| #3 | Cedreo | Saint-Herblain (Nantes), France | Free plan (one project); paid Personal, Pro and Enterprise plans, prices not readable server-side (see website) | EU (France) |
| #4 | Planner 5D | Vilnius, Lithuania | Free (0 euro); Premium 59.99 euro annually or 19.99 euro monthly; Professional 399.99 euro annually or 49.99 euro monthly; Enterprise on request | EU (Lithuania) |
| #5 | Sweet Home 3D | Milan, Italy | Free; open source under the GNU General Public License | EU (Italy) |
| #6 | HomeByMe | Vélizy-Villacoublay, France | Free to start; any paid plans were not readable on the pricing page (see website) | EU (France) |
| #7 | Archicad | Budapest, Hungary | Subscription plans (Studio, Collaborate); see website for prices | EU (Hungary) |
| #8 | Allplan | Munich, Germany | Basic EUR 123, Concept EUR 210, Professional EUR 263, Ultimate EUR 353 per user per month, billed yearly, excl. VAT | EU (Germany) |
| #9 | Roomstyler | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Free use subscription | EU (Netherlands) |
| #10 | Blender | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Free of charge; Blender states its main income is Development Fund memberships and one-time donations | EU (Netherlands) |
How each alternative compares to SketchUp
Best for: People who need a furnished plan and 3D picture quickly and do not want to install anything
Floorplanner is a Rotterdam company that runs a browser editor where you draw walls, place doors and windows, and flip to a real-time 3D view. Against SketchUp, the learning curve is the point. There is no push-pull geometry to master, because the plan is the model, and the vendor puts its furniture library at over 260,000 items.
The pricing is also different in kind. You can keep 5 projects free, and then buy credits in packs, starting at $8.15 for 5 credits, only when you need a higher-resolution export or a render. A designer who opens SketchUp once a month may spend less on credits than on a single Go subscription month by month.
What Floorplanner does better than SketchUp
- Needs no installation, and the editor opens in any browser
- Credits instead of a forced subscription for occasional users
- Terms under Dutch law with a KVK-registered entity
- Faster path from walls to a furnished 3D view
Where Floorplanner is a step down from SketchUp
- Free exports are 960 by 540 pixels with a watermark
- No arbitrary modelling, extensions or LayOut-style documentation
- Credit prices are shown in US dollars
Standout against SketchUp. Floorplanner sells exports and renders by the credit pack, so cost follows output rather than a seat.
Best for: Estate agents, home sellers and designers who hand over plans and 3D photos
RoomSketcher is a Norwegian company registered at Lysaker, so it sits in the EEA but not the EU. It turns one drawn plan into 2D and 3D floor plans, Live 3D, 3D photos and 360 views. For someone leaving SketchUp because rendering means a separate plug-in, getting several output types from one source file is the main draw.
Pro brings print to scale, measurements, your own branding and the full furniture library at $24 a month, or $12 a month on a $144 annual bill. Team, at $70 monthly or $35 on the annual bill, adds project collaboration and five users. All prices are in US dollars, and the privacy policy allows storage in the United States, so a strict residency requirement needs a written answer.
What RoomSketcher does better than SketchUp
- Print to scale and measurement tools in Pro without extensions
- 3D photos and 360 views produced from the plan itself
- Interface in English, German, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish
- Entry price below SketchUp Pro on the monthly plan
Where RoomSketcher is a step down from SketchUp
- Credit allowances cap renders per month
- Data may be processed in the United States
- Collaboration needs the Team plan
Standout against SketchUp. RoomSketcher also sells floor plans it draws for you, which turns the product into a service as well as software.
Best for: Builders and remodelers who show a customer plans and renderings in the same meeting
Cedreo comes from Saint-Herblain near Nantes, contracted as CEDREO SAS, and it describes itself as a SaaS for housing professionals rather than a general modeller. Compared with SketchUp, the output list is set: terrain, site plan, floor plan, cross-section, elevation and roof plans, a surface area table and interior and exterior renderings with automatic camera and sun.
A free plan lets you test the editor with one project, and Personal plans are bought per project with 20 rendering credits each. Prices for Personal, Pro and Enterprise could not be read from the page text, so check the site. Note that once you subscribe you cannot downgrade, and the team has an office in Atlanta alongside the French entity.
What Cedreo does better than SketchUp
- Elevations, roof plans and glass-surface tables are ready-made outputs
- Renderings with automatic camera angles and sunlight settings
- Per-project Personal plan for one-off jobs
- French register entry and B Corp status stated by the vendor
Where Cedreo is a step down from SketchUp
- No modelling freedom for furniture or custom objects
- Paid plans cannot be downgraded
- Data location is not stated on the pages checked
Standout against SketchUp. Cedreo is aimed squarely at selling a house to a buyer, with terrain modelling in the same editor.
Best for: Homeowners and freelance designers who want published prices and apps on many devices
Planner 5D is run by Planner5D UAB in Vilnius and is the one tool here whose prices are shown in euros on a readable page. Free costs nothing and allows unlimited projects, Premium is 19.99 euro a month or 59.99 euro a year, and Professional is 49.99 euro a month or 399.99 euro a year. Next to SketchUp Go at $10.75, the free tier is where it wins.
Apps exist for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS and visionOS plus the web. Professional unlocks 4K renders, 360 degree walkthroughs, CAD export and upload of .obj, .fbx, .blend and .stl files. The AI floor plan converter, included from Premium, is a vendor claim, so check the walls it generates against your measurements.
What Planner 5D does better than SketchUp
- Euro prices published on the pricing page
- Free plan keeps unlimited projects
- Apps for six platforms, including phone and visionOS
- Imports your own 3D models on Professional
Where Planner 5D is a step down from SketchUp
- The free plan hides half of the furniture catalogue
- 4K renders require Professional
- Terms and privacy pages could not be read without scripts
Standout against SketchUp. Planner 5D covers phone, tablet, desktop and visionOS with the same free tier.
Best for: Individuals who want an offline planner with no subscription at all
Sweet Home 3D is published by Space Mushrooms srl in Milan, and the project is open source under the GNU General Public License. It is a desktop application for Windows, macOS and Linux, with iOS and Android versions and an online WebGL version. Compared with SketchUp, the key difference is where the files live: on your machine, with the website hosted by OVH in Roubaix, France.
The download includes over 10,000 models and 400 textures. You draw straight, round or sloping walls with exact dimensions, switch between aerial and virtual visitor views and export PDF, image or vector graphics. Version 7.5 showed a last update of 5 May 2025, so expect steady, quiet development rather than a stream of features.
What Sweet Home 3D does better than SketchUp
- Costs nothing and has no account or renewal
- Works offline with files stored locally
- Imports a blueprint image to trace walls over
- Open source code under the GPL
Where Sweet Home 3D is a step down from SketchUp
- Single-user design with no team collaboration listed
- Rendering and styling are more basic than paid cloud planners
- Mobile apps include Firebase Analytics
Standout against SketchUp. Sweet Home 3D can be installed and used on the desktop without any subscription or renewal.
Best for: Decorators who want to pick actual sofas and rugs from a catalogue and see them in 4K
HomeByMe is a service of Dassault Systèmes SE, a French societe europeenne registered at Versailles. The workflow is draw in 2D, decorate in 3D, then produce 4K images. Compared with SketchUp, the catalogue is the difference: branded furniture, rugs and wall and floor coverings are shown, although the site states that the products are sold by partners, not by Dassault Systèmes.
Paid options were not readable on the pricing page when we checked, so assume free to start and see the website for more. The privacy policy covers Dassault Systèmes and its affiliates, which maintain offices outside Europe, so cross-border handling of personal data is possible. The vendor also offers MakeByMe, a free 3D modelling tool, for objects you want to build.
What HomeByMe does better than SketchUp
- Free to start with 4K image rendering
- Branded product catalogue, not generic furniture shapes
- Mobile app and community sharing included
Where HomeByMe is a step down from SketchUp
- Paid plan details could not be read
- Group privacy policy covers affiliates worldwide
- No construction drawings
Standout against SketchUp. HomeByMe comes with the weight of the Dassault Systèmes group behind it, and with that group's privacy policy.
Archicad
A BIM program for offices that outgrew SketchUp and need documentation tied to the model
Best for: Architecture offices that design, document and present buildings in BIM
Archicad is the BIM application of Graphisoft SE in Budapest, founded in 1982 and part of the Nemetschek Group, a German group. Against SketchUp, plans, sections, elevations and schedules update with the model, which is the job LayOut does by hand in Pro. The vendor says it is used in 108 countries and 27 languages.
Archicad Studio is aimed at solo architects and local teams and ships with BIMcloud Basic that you can host yourself. Archicad Collaborate adds cloud teamwork for multidisciplinary projects. BIMx Pro turns a model into an interactive walkthrough, and the AI Assistant and AI Visualizer are built in, according to the vendor. Prices are not published on the pages we checked.
What Archicad does better than SketchUp
- Documentation that updates with the model
- Self-hostable teamwork server on Studio
- BIMx walkthroughs for client presentation
- Educational licences and training offered
Where Archicad is a step down from SketchUp
- Prices not published, so a quote is needed
- Heavier to learn than SketchUp and not for general 2D drafting
- The imprint lists a US company as website hosting provider
Standout against SketchUp. Archicad lets Studio users run the BIMcloud Basic teamwork server on their own hardware.
Best for: Architecture and engineering firms that work across disciplines on one platform
Allplan is published by ALLPLAN GmbH in Munich and belongs to the Nemetschek Group. Where SketchUp stops at architectural form, Allplan reaches into structural engineering, civil and bridge design, and precast and steel detailing. BIMPLUS is the open BIM collaboration platform for sharing models across disciplines.
Its European shop lists Basic at EUR 123, Concept at EUR 210, Professional at EUR 263 and Ultimate at EUR 353 per user per month, excluding VAT, billed yearly. That is far above SketchUp's $71.58 top plan, and the page notes that the international shop shows US-dollar prices. A 14-day trial of the full version is offered.
What Allplan does better than SketchUp
- Covers structure, infrastructure and precast, not only buildings
- Euro prices published per edition
- 14-day full trial before you commit
- Open BIM exchange through BIMPLUS
Where Allplan is a step down from SketchUp
- Per-user monthly cost far above SketchUp plans
- A BIM platform, not a general DWG drafting tool
- Part of the Nemetschek Group, as Archicad is
Standout against SketchUp. Allplan reaches from an architect's plan to precast and steel detailing within one product range.
Best for: Hobby decorators who want to style one room and share it in a community
Roomstyler offers a 3D room planner and a moodboard creator, with more than 120,000 branded items according to its home page. It is powered by Floorplanner, and its terms name FLOORPLANNER.COM B.V. as the provider, so it adds no independent vendor. It is a place to try a layout, not a way to draw a whole building.
Read one clause before you upload: under the free use terms, you grant the vendor a perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable licence to publish, amend and use designs created under the free subscription. If your plans are private, keep them in Floorplanner or on your own disk instead. The site also runs design contests and a blog.
What Roomstyler does better than SketchUp
- Free to use with branded items and a moodboard tool
- Community designs and contests for inspiration
Where Roomstyler is a step down from SketchUp
- Perpetual licence to the vendor over free-use designs
- Not meant for scaled whole-building plans
Standout against SketchUp. Roomstyler mixes moodboards and room design in a public community with contests.
Blender
A free open source 3D suite for people who want SketchUp-style freedom without a licence fee
Best for: Users who already model in 3D and want a free program they fully control
Blender is maintained by Stichting Blender Foundation in Amsterdam, established in 2002, with source code under the GNU GPL version 2 or later. It is a general 3D creation suite, not a floor plan tool, and the pages we checked describe its video editor, not any architectural features. Against SketchUp, it is the only entry that models arbitrary geometry at no cost.
Blender states that everything you create, including movies and project files, is your sole property and can be used commercially. The download page lists Windows on x64 and ARM, macOS on Apple Silicon and Linux. There is no vendor support desk, because the project is funded through Development Fund memberships and one-time donations. The interface is far larger than a floor plan planner needs.
What Blender does better than SketchUp
- No licence fee, with the output stated to be your property
- Models any geometry rather than only rooms and walls
- Long-term LTS releases with two years of updates
Where Blender is a step down from SketchUp
- Steep learning curve and no floor plan tools on the pages checked
- No vendor support desk
- The download page lists macOS for Apple Silicon only
Standout against SketchUp. Blender has no planner at all on the pages checked, just unrestricted 3D modelling for free.
What actually breaks when you switch
The first thing to go is the file. Neither a Colorado account nor a European one gives you a clean bridge between native formats, so keep your .skp files, export what you can to a neutral format, and redraw what you cannot.
Budget a day per typical house for the first project and treat the second as the real measure of the move. Cancel the SketchUp subscription only after the first live job runs on the new tool, and check the renewal date first, since annual refund requests are accepted within 14 days of a renewal.
Then comes retraining and the paper trail. Draw-a-wall planners are quick to learn, but anyone who relied on extensions or LayOut templates will find nothing equivalent.
The BIM route is the opposite: more capable, slower to learn, with licences priced per user per month. Whatever you choose, ask in writing where project data is stored, because Floorplanner, Cedreo, Planner 5D and HomeByMe do not state a data location on the pages we read, and RoomSketcher says storage may be in the United States.
Can I open my SketchUp models in a European floor plan tool?
Not directly in most of them. The planners on this page keep projects in their own format, and none of the tool pages we checked promises an .skp import. What does work is going the other way for objects: Planner 5D accepts .obj, .fbx, .blend and .stl uploads on its Professional plan, and Blender, which is a full 3D suite, is the place to convert or clean up a model before it moves on.
For a house or an apartment, the cleaner route is usually to redraw the plan. A floor plan is a few dozen walls, and a tool like Floorplanner or Sweet Home 3D lets you draw to exact dimensions in an afternoon. The furniture is the larger job, because 3D Warehouse components will not come along as catalogue items.
Which tool is the closest replacement for SketchUp Pro with LayOut?
If your SketchUp work ends in 2D drawings for a building permit or a contractor, the closest are Archicad and Allplan, because they produce plans, sections and elevations from a single model. They are professional BIM programs with a learning curve that dwarfs SketchUp, and Allplan lists its editions at EUR 123 to EUR 353 per user per month, which is above every SketchUp plan.
If your work ends in presentation material for a home seller or a remodelling client, Cedreo and RoomSketcher fit better. Cedreo produces floor plans, elevations, roof plans and renderings. RoomSketcher offers print to scale and measurements in Pro. Neither claims to produce construction documents, and you should not use them as if they did.
Which one to pick
If you used SketchUp mostly to lay out rooms and show clients a picture, start with Floorplanner for the lowest friction, RoomSketcher if you want branded, print-ready plans, and Cedreo if you sell homes. If you spend nothing and work alone, Sweet Home 3D is the sensible default, with Planner 5D as the cross-device option that prices in euros.
If SketchUp was your drafting tool for permits and builders, the answer is Archicad or Allplan, and the question is price and team size rather than features. If you modelled freely and want no licence at all, Blender gives you the freedom and takes away the support. Whichever you pick, run one real project through it before the SketchUp renewal date.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the job. Floorplanner is the most direct pick for people who want a browser floor plan with 3D, and it is free for up to 5 projects. RoomSketcher and Cedreo suit agents and builders who need polished output. Archicad and Allplan replace SketchUp when the result must be a building document set, and Sweet Home 3D is the free offline option.
Yes, several. Sweet Home 3D is free and open source under the GPL, Floorplanner keeps 5 projects free with watermarked standard-definition exports, Planner 5D has a free plan with unlimited projects, and HomeByMe and Roomstyler are free to use. Blender is free as well but is a general 3D program. Each free tier has limits, which the comparison above spells out.
Mostly yes. Each European planner brings its own library, for instance the 260,000 models Floorplanner mentions or the 10,000 models and 400 textures in Sweet Home 3D, and none of the pages we read state that 3D Warehouse content imports directly. Individual objects can sometimes be carried over as .obj or .blend files where a tool accepts uploads.
According to SketchUp's pricing FAQ, subscriptions renew automatically at the end of the term for an equal term at the then-current price. Annual refund requests must be made within 14 days of the original purchase or renewal, and monthly plans can be refunded within 7 days of the first purchase. Put the renewal date in your calendar if you plan to leave.
All ten contracting entities are in the EU or EEA and fall under European data protection law. Data location varies. Sweet Home 3D saves files on your device, RoomSketcher says information may be stored in Norway, the United States or elsewhere, and several others do not state a location on the pages we read. Ask the vendor in writing if residency is a hard requirement.
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