The Best Free SketchUp AlternativesTop 3D Modelers & CAD Software like SketchUp

The best free alternative to SketchUp is Blender, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to SketchUp and loads of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to SketchUp are Sweet Home 3D, FreeCAD, Shapr3D and Wings 3D.

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SketchUp alternatives are mainly 3D Modelers, but if you're looking for CAD Software or Interior Design Apps you can filter on that. Other popular filters include iPad + Free and Mac + Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to SketchUp.
SketchUp iconSketchUp
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Versatile 3D modeling software for architecture, engineering, film, and gaming. Offers tools for both professionals and hobbyists available in free and paid versions.

More about SketchUp
SketchUp alternatives page was last updated Mar 21, 2025
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  1. Blender icon
     1688 likes
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    A comprehensive open-source 3D software suite for modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, and animating. It supports renderings, simulations including fluid and cloth dynamics, complex compositing, video editing, and Python scripting, running across all major operating systems.

    139 Blender alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • NL flagNetherlands
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    • Steam
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft

    Properties

    1.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  3D Animation
    2.  3D Sculpting
    3.  Real time rendering
    4.  Compositor
    5.  Community-based
    6.  Keyframe Animation
    7.  Texturing
    8.  Animation Rigging
    9.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    10.  3D Renderer
    11.  Texture painting
    12.  Grease Pencil

    Blender VS SketchUp

     
    Comments about Blender as an Alternative to SketchUp
    Comment summary: SketchUp is praised for its ease of use, making it ideal for quick, intuitive modeling tasks like building and room design. It is often contrasted with Blender, which is viewed as complex and more suited for 3D art and animation. While Blender is recognized for its powerful features and flexibility, it has a steep learning curve and lacks the intuitive CAD-like experience of SketchUp. Users appreciate Blender's extensive capabilities but note that it isn't geared towards quick structure modeling.
    Top Positive Comment
    naught101
    Jul 28, 2017
    47

    Good generic 3D modeller, but not as suited for quick space modelling.

    Top Negative Comment
    KariLHegg
    Jul 23, 2023
    2

    Sketchup has useful features for designing houses, furniture and similar objects quickly. It has an intuitive, simplified CAD UX and you can easily add measurements of important parts. Blender is very complex and intended for 3D CGI, not quickly designing objects. I'm sure Blender has plugins for putting measurements in and so on but it has a huge learning curve.

    Most Recent Comment
    ph soft
    Negative Sep 28, 2024
    0

    Although it seems like it has progressed a lot and there are plugins to reduce the gap with sketchup, it is not an alternative unless you already use Blender all the time. Sketchup is like paint for 3D: perhaps not the most powerful, but it does not get in your way. Blender complexity does not solve Sketchup limitations (accuracy, constraints, etc). Freecad would be better for that.

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    3 of 24 comments
    SketchUp Icon
    Blender icon
    • Some users think Blender is a great SketchUp alternative, some don't.

    • Blender is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to SketchUp.

    • Blender is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to SketchUp.

    • Blender is Free and Open SourceSketchUp is Freemium and Proprietary
  2. Sweet Home 3D icon
     302 likes
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    Open-source, Java-based software that allows users to create detailed floor plans, arrange furniture, and explore the final layout in 3D, assisting in interior design projects with ease and flexibility.

    65 Sweet Home 3D alternatives

    License model

    • FreemiumOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • FR flagFrance
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • Java

    Properties

    1.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Interior Design
    2.  Import furniture from web
    3.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    4.  3D Sculpting
    5.  Portable
    6.  Multiple languages
    7.  No Coding Required
    8.  Ad-free
    9.  Works Offline
    10.  Export to PDF
    11.  Java based
    12.  Video rendering

    Sweet Home 3D VS SketchUp

     
    Comments about Sweet Home 3D as an Alternative to SketchUp
    Comment summary: Users highlight that SketchUp is considered more versatile and suitable for a variety of 3D modeling tasks, including detailed designs. In contrast, Sweet Home 3D excels in home and furniture design but lacks the robust features necessary for broader CAD applications. Some appreciation exists for Sweet Home 3D's ease of use and assets library, but it remains a niche tool for specific design projects, rather than a comprehensive CAD solution.
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    Jan 19, 2017
    22

    If you are looking for something related to home design, SweetHome3D is an excellent solution. But it is not a general purpose cad suite.

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    Jun 29, 2016
    38

    Sketchup is far more generic and can be used for creating 3D printing models. Sweet Home 3D is a targeted application designed for laying out house designs.

    Most Recent Comment
    Guest
    Negative Dec 8, 2019
    5

    Its not general purpose, its to specific to be an alternative to virtually any other CAD program

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    3 of 11 comments
    SketchUp Icon
    Sweet Home 3D icon
    • Some users think Sweet Home 3D is a great SketchUp alternative, some don't.

    • Sweet Home 3D is the most popular Android, iPhone, iPad & Android Tablet alternative to SketchUp.

    • Sweet Home 3D is Freemium and Open SourceSketchUp is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Sweet Home 3D is CustomizableSketchUp is not according to our users
  3. FreeCAD icon
     442 likes
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    A powerful open-source parametric 3D modeler ideal for mechanical engineering, supporting Python scripting, running on Windows, Linux, and Mac, with modular architecture allowing extensive adaptability and use with scientific computing libraries.

    109 FreeCAD alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flatpak

    Top FreeCAD Features

    1.  Parametric Modeling
    2.  Drawing 2D
    3.  Interior Design
    4.  FEM
    5.  Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
    6.  Parametric
    7.  3d Drawing
    8.  DWG support
    9.  Ad-free
    10.  Procedural Modeling
    11.  No registration required
    12.  Dark Mode

    FreeCAD VS SketchUp

     
    Comments about FreeCAD as an Alternative to SketchUp
    Comment summary: SketchUp is praised for its ease of use, making it ideal for quick 3D drawings. However, it is not suitable for detailed blueprints or parametric modeling, unlike FreeCAD. Users acknowledge FreeCAD's capabilities in creating professional mechanical designs, despite its steep learning curve and lack of intuitiveness compared to SketchUp. Some comments highlight the difficulty in comparing these tools as they serve different purposes and audiences.
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    Oct 25, 2018
    6

    Love this software for 3d printing.

    Top Negative Comment
    ph soft
    Apr 4, 2023
    5

    Sketchup is for quick drawing, to think in 3D. Not for blueprints or super accurate things. Freecad can resolve constraints but is anything but intuitive of fast. They can't be compared.

    Most Recent Comment
    Guest
    Positive Dec 30, 2020
    3

    FreeCAD is a rich program for mechanical components or structures. There is more of a learning curve than Sketchup but can create professional drawings, analysis, simulation, assemblies, and more.

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    3 of 9 comments
    SketchUp Icon
    FreeCAD icon
    • Most users think FreeCAD is a great SketchUp alternative.

    • FreeCAD is Free and Open SourceSketchUp is Freemium and Proprietary
  4. Shapr3D icon
     29 likes
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    From design to manufacturing. Teams collaborate with more impact. Instinctive design meets multidevice capability and full interoperability for the ultimate 3D design workflow.

    49 Shapr3D alternatives

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • HU flagHungary
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • iPad

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Easy to use

    Features

    1.  Mechanical Design
    2.  Apple Pencil support
    3.  Sketching
    4.  Augmented Reality
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  Cloud Sync
    8. Android icon  Android Sync

    Shapr3D VS SketchUp

     
    Comments about Shapr3D as an Alternative to SketchUp
    maurosoft391
    Negative Apr 23, 2022
    1

    it's for iPad, not for Windows or Android

    SketchUp Icon
    Shapr3D icon
    • Most users think Shapr3D is a great SketchUp alternative.

    • Shapr3D is Freemium and ProprietarySketchUp is also Freemium and Proprietary
    • Shapr3D is LightweightSketchUp is not according to our users
  5. Wings 3D icon
     115 likes
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    Wings 3D is a subdivision modeler inspired by Nendo and Mirai from Izware.

    It is possible to assign materials, vertex color, UV coordinates and textures, but there will be improvements in those features before Wings goes 1.0.

    There is no support in Wings for doing animations.

    51 Wings 3D alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    Wings 3D Features

    1.  Uv mapping

    Wings 3D VS SketchUp

     
  6. pCon.planner icon
     31 likes
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    The professional furnishing 2D-/3D-tool for everybody: The pCon.planner is a cost-free application allowing you to comfortably and professionally create complex furnishing concepts and to visualize them in a photo-realistic quality. File Formats: dwg, dxf, 3ds, skp, ... Language.

    85 pCon.planner alternatives

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Windows

    pCon.planner Features

    1.  WYSIWYG Support
    2.  Support for Layers

    pCon.planner VS SketchUp

     
    Comments about pCon.planner as an Alternative to SketchUp
    Guest
    Positive May 25, 2018
    5

    Beautifully designed interface, very intuitive, wide gallery of 3D objetcs to use, and free... What's not to like.

    SketchUp Icon
    pCon.planner icon
    • Almost everyone thinks pCon.planner is a great SketchUp alternative.

    • pCon.planner is Free and ProprietarySketchUp is Freemium and Proprietary
  7. MakeHuman icon
     132 likes
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    MakeHuman is an interactive modelling tool for creating realistic 3D human characters. These models can be exported to several computer graphics and animation platforms including Blender, Unity 3D, Unreal Engine, OpenSim and Second Life.

    47 MakeHuman alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • IT flagItaly
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    MakeHuman Features

    1.  3D Sculpting
    2.  Parametric Modeling
    3.  Rendering
    4.  Texture painting
    5.  Club Recommendation

    MakeHuman VS SketchUp

     
    Comments about MakeHuman as an Alternative to SketchUp
    Guest
    Negative Aug 17, 2021
    4

    Completely different scope. SketchUp is a general modeller with a hard surface / architecture focus while MakeHuman is strictly for creating realistic human models.

    Guest
    Negative Sep 16, 2023
    1

    Makehuman makes 3D human models only whereas sketchup is intended for 3D objects like furniture or buildings.

    SketchUp Icon
    MakeHuman icon
    • Some users think MakeHuman is a great SketchUp alternative, some don't.

    • MakeHuman is Free and Open SourceSketchUp is Freemium and Proprietary
7 of 65 SketchUp alternatives