Best landscape design software for Windows and Mac (April 2023)
The best landscape design software lets you sculpt outdoor spaces. Whether you’re a professional designer or just trying out new ideas for your home, software for landscape design is built to create accurate visualizations, from mockups and blueprints to photorealistic 3D renders. Alongside the best interior design software and the best architecture software, specialized garden design apps speed up and automate workflows. This gives you the freedom to focus on crafting sustainable real-world environments – and collaborate on concepts with colleagues, clients, and friends.
With so many programs on the market – from industry-focused tools to free landscape design software for casual users with an eye for the imaginative – it can be a challenge identifying the right tool for your next project. So, we’ve tested the best landscape design software for professionals, homeowners, and designers.
As part of our review process, we’ve assessed the interface and usability of each landscaping and backyard design app, pricing plans, platform compatibility, the skills needed to create exterior spaces and its accuracy when designing for liveable exterior spaces.
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The best landscape design software of 2023
(Image credit: Idea Spectrum)
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1. Idea Spectrum Realtime Landscaping Pro
Best landscaping software for professionals
Our expert review:
Specifications
Operating system:
Windows
View at Ideaspectrum
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Reasons to buy
+
Good interface
+
Responsive performance
+
A wealth of flowers, plants and tree to use
Reasons to avoid
–
Windows only
–
No free option
Realtime Landscaping Pro (opens in new tab) is a Windows-only landscape design software focused on helping outdoor space creation. If you need to design a room, or an entire house, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
This doesn’t mean you can’t create house exteriors. Realtime Landscaping Pro lets you add houses to your design. You just can’t venture inside them.
Using the program is a delight. The easy-to-follow interface offers a fluid experience, making it one of the best landscape design software suites.
Landscaping an entire area from scratch can take some time, but the landscape design tool helps speed up the process with the use of Wizards. You have a handful of them, helping you design everything from ponds to decking.
You have the option of fully customizing your chosen template, like building materials and size of individual elements. So, the landscaping program is both a time-saver to help you get started, and a launchpad to further your own creativity.
There’s no subscription plans here. Realtime Landscaping Pro offers bags of features to help you create the garden of your dreams. The Pro version, aimed at landscape designers and homeowners, costs $279. The Plus version, which features fewer objects and is best for homeowners, is priced at $149. Existing users can upgrade to any new release at a discount rate.
Read our full Realtime Landscaping Pro review
(Image credit: TurboCAD)
2. FloorPlan Home & Landscape Deluxe
Best landscape design software for Mac and Windows
Our expert review:
Specifications
Operating system:
Windows, macOS
VISIT SITE
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Reasons to buy
+
Easy to use
+
Friendly interface
+
Great time saving features
Reasons to avoid
–
Hard to navigate in 3D
–
Could select all objects in 3D
FloorPlan Home & Landscape Deluxe (opens in new tab) from TurboCAD is a complete digital interior design and landscaping program.
It’s a single package that offers the ability to create and furnish rooms, build custom cabinets, and design outdoor living spaces – the ideal landscaping tool for the full virtual home experience.
The Templates section is especially good. Here, you’ll find a vast selection of ready made groups of items, like a table and chairs, say, or a ready-made landscape section. It’s all there to help speed up the design process. There’s also a host of tools for creating truly accessible areas.
You can create designs in very little time. Fine tuning and customizing is just as easy, and it’s only marred by a potentially glitchy 3D interface where objects occasionally aren’t selected first time.
The best landscape design software is simple and intuitive to use – whether you’re a home user or professional contractor. And for the most part, FloorPlan delivers.
You’ll find loads of features designed to make the creation process more efficient. The help menu is only ever a click away, and the interface is friendly and inviting. Experience, then, is no barrier to professional 3D landscape design.
Read our full FloorPlan Home & Landscape Pro review
(Image credit: NCH Software)
DreamPlan (opens in new tab) is a landscaping app for Windows and Mac that offers great value for money and an easy user experience. But that’s what you’d expect from a program billed as ‘home design software for everyone’.
Like FloorPlan 2021, it combines home interior design and landscape design tools. This lets you perfect floor plans and build dream rooms.
On the landscaping side, you’ll plant trees, create swimming pools, and reshape terrain just the way you like it. The software comes with a vast library of plants and outdoor furniture that you’re free to customize.
You can choose between two versions depending on your use. DreamPlan Plus is for businesses, with unlimited, single-user commercial licensing. DreamPlan Home is for personal users. Both are one-off payments, so you won’t get tangled up into a subscription deal.
NCH’s offering is an excellent piece of landscape design software, helping you create a building on multiple levels, alter it, and customize it inside and out to your heart’s content.
Read our full DreamPlan review
(Image credit: Nova Development)
Virtual Architect Ultimate with Landscaping and Decks Design (opens in new tab) is an all-in-one package for creating stunning indoor and outdoor spaces.
It’s very flexible when it comes to DIY garden design, letting you work on multiple elevations, create paths, and add lighting effects. There’s a large library of plants, arbors, and trellises for your garden. The complete plant encyclopedia boasts more than 7,500 entries and a seasonal plant care calendar. You can also add gazebos, fences, walls, and even sprinklers for ultimate realism.
In use, it’s a fairly intuitive landscape design app. But, there are a handful of clunky interface choices that mar an otherwise solid experience. Easing the burden on beginners, the software comes with a number of wizards. This includes one for quickly creating decks, potentially saving you a lot of time.
There’s no subscription fees for one of the best landscape design software suites. Just a one-off payment. The garden design app is Windows-only, but it does run on VR headsets HTC Vive and Occulus Rift.
Read our full Virtual Architect Ultimate with Landscaping and Decks Design review
(Image credit: Asynth)
5. Space Designer 3D
Best 3D landscape design software for beginners
Our expert review:
Specifications
Operating system:
Browser
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VISIT SITE
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Reasons to buy
+
Works fluidly
+
Full customisation available
Reasons to avoid
–
No free plan
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Cannot edit or customise in 3D
Space Designer 3D (opens in new tab) is an online service, which means it’ll work from a browser and you won’t need to install it onto every computer you work on.
The main focus is interior design, but landscaping your garden is possible. There is a generous library of trees, plants, and flowers on offer for you to pepper throughout your terrain. You can’t alter the ground’s elevation, though, which limits you to perfectly flat gardens.
If you’re a beginner or intermediate, that might be enough to get you started in visualizing your outside space. If you’re a veteran designer looking for powerful creation tools, then it might not be the best landscape design software for you.
The program features a range of subscriptions to suit, with personal and commercial licensing options. Business is a bespoke subscription with prices depending on your needs.
There’s also a Casual plan, which lets you pay per project. But if you want to try before you buy as it were, check out the Demo option to get a feel for what the service offers.
Read our full Space Designer 3D review
Best landscape design software: FAQs
How to choose the best landscape design software for you
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When choosing which landscape design software is best, start by assessing your needs and skill-level. Are you a professional landscape designer or looking to improve your own outdoor space (or even maybe both)? Realtime Landscaping Pro is great for professionals, for instance, but TurboCAD’s FloorPlan is easy enough for beginners and home users.
Select which devices you’ll use. Certain landscaping design tools are Windows or Mac-only, others are available across platforms – while Space Designer 3D is a wholly browser-based design canvas.
You’ll also want to determine if you’re using software to design gardens or you need tools for interior design, too. Some of the best landscape design software offer both – although it can feel ‘tacked on’ in some instances. If you’re a pro, it may be best to focus on strict landscaping designers, creating home design interiors in a separate program.
What is landscape design software?
If you’re on the hunt for the best landscape design software then there’s a good chance you’re fully versed in the benefits of such a product, but to dispel any doubts, it is software specifically designed for the work of landscape designers, allowing them to visualize their ideas on a variety of devices.
This means that before putting it all into practice, landscape designers are able to map out and plan landscaping projects, and flag up any potential problems or difficulties.
How we test the best landscape design software
Like all graphic design software, the best landscape design software should be easy to use, and packed with features and assets powerful enough to recreate your creativity on the screen.
Not all landscaping apps are the same, though – professional-grade and consumer-level design software offers different toolkits for different purposes. We believe it’s important to assess the individual merits of each one based on its audience.
Ultimately, we expect the very best landscape design software to allow your imagination flow across virtual outdoor spaces. It’s on this basis that we test and review the tools.
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