When it comes to landscape design software, home builders and designers are presented with a multitude of options. Each software package offers unique features, pricing plans, user-friendliness, and design elements. It’s worth noting that while some companies provide design platforms for PCs, they may not offer landscape software specifically tailored for Mac users.
As your design business expands, it becomes crucial to have scalable and integrated solutions that elevate your process and professionalism. Specifically, you require the finest landscape design software for Mac. Settling for anything less is simply out of the question.
Here we will discuss the top landscape design software options for Mac users, highlighting their key features and benefits. We will also touch on important considerations to keep in mind when selecting the ideal software for your specific needs.
4 Considerations When Choosing Landscaping Software for Mac
Before we dive too deep into the list of landscape design software options, let’s take a look at some factors to consider before you make your choice. When selecting landscape design software for Mac, it is important to take into account factors such as cost-effectiveness, user-friendly setup and interface, scalability, and the availability of both free and paid features.
Affordability
Almost any professional landscape design software for Mac is going to cost at least a little money. Whether the software offers a monthly subscription plan or a one-time download fee, you need to consider how the cost will affect the bottom line for your business and each project.
Ease of setup and use
Designers and home builders lead busy lives, juggling multiple responsibilities. They dedicate their expertise to crafting stunning, professional landscape designs, while also managing client interactions and ensuring timely delivery of exceptional results.
You really don’t have a lot of time to devote to setting up your landscape design software, and you certainly don’t have time for a complicated and frustrating user interface. Consider how the software you choose will affect your timeline for landscape design projects.
Scalability
When you are considering which landscape design software for Mac will be best for your business, you’re probably picturing how the software will work with your business right now. But what about in a year? What about five years? Can the software scale with you as your business grows?
You need to know whether your landscape design software can handle multiple projects at once, how many users it can support, and how quickly you can use it to get from one project to the next.
Features
Your final decision will probably come down to comparing features. Pretty much every landscape design software for Macintosh has an array of features, but how well do those features line up with your needs? And are they easy to use? Make sure the tool has the capacity to seamlessly support your business.
6 Best Professional Landscape Design Softwares for Mac Users
Now that we know which factors to consider when choosing a landscape software for Macintosh, let’s take a look at the best of these options. The following programs made our list of best landscape design software for Mac:
- Cedreo
- SketchUp
- Live Home 3D
- VizTerra
- SmartDraw
- Chief Architect Home Designer
Below, we provide an overview of each of these options, including their key features and pricing.
1. Cedreo
Cedreo has been included on this list because we developed our professional landscape design software specifically for Mac, aiming to address the challenges encountered by designers and builders with other design programs. Our extensive research and analysis of various landscape design software have guided us in creating the finest product on the market.
Cedreo is a complete 3D home and landscape design software that allows designers, builders, and remodelers to draw a complete design in under two hours. Completely online, Cedreo helps users draw 2D, 3D, and photorealistic landscape designs complete with patios, porches, pools, fountains, trees, plants and more. Outdoor furniture comes from a massive library of customizable decorations, and grass, gravel, concrete and tile are just a few of the outdoor flooring options.
Draw exact property boundaries and on-property structure dimensions in a few simple clicks, and add major features like driveways, decks and pools with a draw or drag-and-drop feature. As you draw in 2D, the 3D version of your landscape design will update automatically and in real time.
Key features:
- Ability to import existing landscape designs to use as a base layer
- More than 3,500 outdoor surface coverings
- Point, click and drag boundary drawing
- More than 3,000 customizable outdoor and indoor furnishings and decorations
- Easy-to-use product search bar
- Grouped furnishing and decoration packs to maintain consistent style
- Daylight and sunset renderings
- Sun orientation toggler to provide realistic landscape views
- Customizable exterior lighting options
- Neighboring home or feature display to provide context
- 2D sketches, 3D visualizations and photorealistic, tourable renderings for clients
- Landscape design export functionality for sharing with clients and colleagues
- Print to scale with PDF functionality
- Project gallery to store multiple renderings for each landscape design project
Pricing:
Cedreo offers a 100% free version that includes one user, one project, 5 watermarked renderings for personal use, and limited furniture and materials.
There is a “Personal” plan for $119 per project, which includes 1 user, 1 project, 20 renderings, blueprint capabilities, and unlimited furniture and materials.
The pro plan is the first per-month plan, and it comes in at $99.17 per month. This includes unlimited projects, 40 3D renderings each month, and phone and chat support.
At $124.17 per month, the enterprise plan allows unlimited users, unlimited projects, 80 3D renderings per month, project sharing and collaboration, and permission and role management.
Start using the best landscape software for Macintosh for free today. Build the perfect landscape design in less than half the time with Cedreo.
2. SketchUp
SketchUp is a versatile 3D modeling software used for landscape design. While it boasts an array of features, some of which cater more towards engineering, film, and video game design, SketchUp stands out in the realm of landscape design software for Mac. What sets it apart is its unique capability to showcase landscape designs through the immersive experience of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets.
SketchUp landscape designs can be brought to life with photorealistic renderings, although external programs are needed for this purpose. While SketchUp may not be the strongest contender in the photorealistic rendering aspect, it truly shines in its exceptional ability to model land contours and its extensive collection of pre-modeled 3D objects.
Key features:
- VR and AR viewing with some plans
- Unlimited cloud storage
- Web and desktop applications
- 3D modeling tools for individual objects
- 2D drawing
- Animation
- Landscape design
- Project management
Pricing:
For professional use, SketchUp offers three price points. The web-only “Go” plan, sold as the plan to “design & collaborate anywhere,” is $119 per year and gives you access to the 3D model library and AR viewing, as well as unlimited cloud storage.
For $349 per year, the “Pro” plan allows for web and desktop work, VR viewing, documentation notes inside 2D designs, and a desktop 3D modeler.
The most expensive plan, called “Studio,” is $749 per year. This is the only SketchUp plan that provides real-time visualizations as you work. It also allows for 3D animations within designs.
3. Live Home 3D
Live Home 3D is a Mac landscape software designed for homeowners and aspiring designers. While the desktop app can be downloaded for free, the free version has limited features such as terrain editing, elevation view, material customization, and project export capabilities.
The paid version of this software offers the usual features: 2D and 3D design, video walk-throughs, and a furniture and material library. But its 360-degree panoramic view feature distinguishes it from much of the other professional landscape design software for Mac.
Key features:
- 360-degree panoramic views
- Video walk-throughs
- Furniture and material library
- 2D and 3D designs
- Terrain editing
- Elevation views
- Floor plan importing
- 2,100 materials and finishes
- Adjust natural lighting and geolocation
- Over 2,400 3D objects
Pricing:
The pricing structure of Live Home 3D is a bit confusing at first glance. While the app itself can be downloaded for free, it does offer numerous in-app purchases that enhance its functionality. The full “All Extras Pack” can be purchased for $49.99.
Users can also pay a one-time lifetime subscription fee of $29.99 for the “Standard” license, and $49.99 for the “Pro” license.
Keep in mind that many other features, such as additional materials and furniture collections, cost a one-time fee to use.
4. VizTerra
While VizTerra may not be the top choice for landscape design software on Mac, it does stand out by focusing exclusively on landscape design. While you won’t find floor plan design capabilities in VizTerra, the program does offer impressive features and tools for creating stunning landscape designs.
Like many of the other landscape design software options, VizTerra has a 3D object library, but this one focuses on furniture and features for outdoor living. Fire pits, decks, and fountains are just a small sample of what’s available. Meanwhile, VizTerra also offers both 2D and 3D design, and you can click on a 2D design to generate a 3D version. Perhaps the most inventive feature of this software is the ability to add nature sounds and day-to-night transitions to client presentations.
Additionally, VizTerra provides a comprehensive range of design options, encompassing both 2D and 3D designs. By simply clicking on a 2D design, you can effortlessly generate a corresponding 3D representation. This software offers a captivating feature that allows you to enhance client presentations by including nature sounds and seamless day-to-night transitions.
Key features:
- 3D object library
- Immersive presentation mode featuring sound and daylight transitions
- Adjustable camera angles to capture landscape photos
- Resolution up to 8K
- Instant dimensions
- Topographic terrain
- Wood desk design software
Pricing:
VizTerra offers a free trial, but following the trial period, users are required to subscribe for $97 per month to continue using the program. Structure Studios, the creator of VizTerra, also provides two other design programs that focus on landscape design.
For $147 per month, you can get all of VizTerra’s features, plus Pool Studio, for water features and pools.
And at $197 per month, Vip3D includes all of the features of VizTerra and Pool Studio, but adds VR and 360-degree views, spec sheets, and an advanced landscape shadow display.
5. SmartDraw
When it comes to professional landscape design software for Mac, SmartDraw
stands out for its exceptional 2D sketching capabilities. However, it falls short in terms of advanced 3D modeling or presentation modes. This limitation can be attributed to the fact that the program is primarily used for non-landscape design purposes, such as creating diagrams and flowcharts.
Nevertheless, SmartDraw does offer a selection of landscape design templates that showcase a relatively sophisticated 2D representation of a typical landscape.
Key features:
- Integration with common workspace tools
- Third-party import and export options
- More than 4,500 templates for diagrams, charts, and designs
- Cloud collaboration
- CAD tools
- Roadmapping
- Drag and drop editor
Pricing:
SmartDraw offers a 7-day free trial, after which it charges users $9.95 per month billed annually for a single user, and $8.25 per month billed annually for multiple users.
A “Site License” which is described as “A fixed price for your entire organization” comes to $2,995, and you have to contact SmartDraw to set this up as it is part of their Enterprise plans.
6. Chief Architect Home Designer
Chief Architect Home Designer is the DIY version of the Chief Architect line of home and landscape design programs. The premium version, known as Chief Architect, comes at a higher price point but provides an extensive range of CAD-style features.
The landscape design features offered by this program are uncommon among professional landscape design software for Mac. Notable examples include the capability to import real photos as backdrops for 3D renderings and the inclusion of outdoor kitchen planning features.
Key features:
- In-program tools designed specifically for patio and deck design
- Terrain and lot tools to show setbacks, slopes, and irregular shapes
- Outdoor kitchen products
- A library of more than 3,600 plants
- Photo import for 3D backdrop use
- Space planning assistant
Pricing:
Chief Architect Home Designer has three software options, Suite, Architectural, and Professional.
Suite comes in at $129 to purchase and download and has the least amount of features included. Architectural is $249 to download and will have most of what you need for landscape design.
The professional package is available for a one-time purchase and download fee of $595, and includes all features and capabilities that the Home Designer Software line has to offer.
Which Software Is Right for Your Business?
The realm of landscape design software for Mac is vast, teeming with numerous options. The choice that suits you best will hinge upon the specific features you require, your proficiency in traversing intricate user interfaces, and the unique demands of your design or construction enterprise.
While the software platforms described above have their strengths and weaknesses, we believe Cedreo offers the most intuitive and functional option for landscape designers, home builders, and remodelers. That’s because we offer a wide variety of user-friendly features and a completely free version to allow professionals to try Cedreo before they buy.
You have nothing to lose if you try Cedreo for free, but there is a lot to gain. With Cedreo, you can create stunning 2D and 3D landscape designs, cut design time in half and scale your business. Ready to get started? Contact us online or start using Cedreo today.
