The drag and drop interface, along with the visual characteristics of the app make it very useful to professionals doing quick designs for clients on-site.Ĭons: As with most of the apps you will see on the list, the major disadvantage is that if you want additional quality add-ons, you will need to pay. Pros: The biggest advantage of this app is the graphic quality of the three dimensional landscape elements. For Android users, they will need to find a substitute. The biggest disadvantage of the app is that it is currently only available for iPhone or iPads.

The paid service offers a larger plant library, along with additional image downloads, and project archives however, the free version is very useful for a beginner landscaper or do-it-yourselfer. The iScapes software offers a free and paid premium subscription service. Option that can get the job done, some are worth checking out. But for those designers that are looking for a cheap Have some good features – they just simply cannot match the quality of the Of these free programs compare to the professional industry standards ofĪutoCad, Vectorworks, PROLandscape, or Dynascape. Into each application – I must state that none Okay, that’s my word of warning – now onto the reviews Landscape Design App Breakdown Not only will it be fun, but you will be a better designer by doing this. If you are new to gardening or landscape design, before you purchase any app, I would highly suggest picking up a copy of The Essential Garden Design Workbook along with some essential drafting supplies and learn the old-fashioned way. There is no substitute for a poor knowledge of landscape plants or design. But before you head off and just download the iScapes or PROLandscape app, I want to give you a little piece of wisdom I’ve accrued over my years of design. I will provide some helpful insights of each app in the sections that follow, along with some common issues that may influence your decision before downloading. In case the image is too small, click here to download the pdf version. In the table below, I provided a breakdown of some of my ratings for each of the five design apps. The iScapes app is by far the best free landscape design app among its peers, having quality graphics, a solid user-interface, and a good plant library. In this article, I will review the pros and cons of the market’s five main free landscape design applications.įirst, I won’t keep you guessing – my recommendation for the best free app is iScapes. Over the past several years, I tested many free landscape design apps on various projects. Students often ask me if there are any free landscape design apps that work well for professionals. Unfortunately, this is just too expensive for many new business owners. To provide some perspective, currently the subscription for AutoCad software is around $200 per month. Students often do have access to free trials of the software, but for anyone interested in continually using them for the purposes of their professional business, eventually they will need to pay for the programs. These programs are tremendous for landscape designers who wish to use industry-standard software like regular landscape architects however, they can be very expensive. At my college, I teach a course named “Computers in Landscape Design” where I train landscape design students in AutoCad and Adobe Suite Programs, among others.

Easy to use free landscape design app