UPDATED 9/29/2021: SketchUp Studio has a new price and new features.
SketchUp used to be solely desktop software, offered on Mac and PC. Nowadays, there’s SketchUp on your phone, SketchUp on your tablet, SketchUp in your browser. What versions of SketchUp are now available? Is SketchUp still free? Let’s try and clear up the confusion.
Is SketchUp still free?
While there are paid versions of SketchUp, there is also still a free version of SketchUp. Although Trimble has retired development of the free desktop version, called SketchUp Make, you can still download the last version of SketchUp Make 2017 here.
To replace SketchUp Make, Trimble launched an entirely web-based SketchUp platform on which you’ll find SketchUp Free. There are several differences between the desktop and browser versions of SketchUp. Most notably, you can only use extensions on the desktop versions of SketchUp. 😥 You’ll learn more about the differences between all the various SketchUp products below.
To recap, the current free version of SketchUp is called SketchUp Free, which is a web-based version of SketchUp that runs right in your browser. You can start using it right now, at app.SketchUp.com
The SketchUp foundation
What you’ll find in all of the SketchUp 3D modeling platforms is an easy-to-use, fun 3D modeling program. SketchUp is, at its core, a surface polygon modeler, meaning, everything is either a face or an edge. That’s sort of the beauty behind SketchUp. It is whatever you want it to be.
There is no “Wall tool”, or “Floor tool”, but you’re free to draw a rectangle and extrude it and hereby declare that this extruded rectangle shall now be known as a “WALL”. Of course, you can group it and label it, and assign it a tag that you name “wall”.
But my point is, you’re not confined to working within certain tools for certain types of objects that the SketchUp team has decided you should be creating. You have ultimate freedom. Decide for yourself that this will represent a wall or a floor.
Although SketchUp is not parametric by nature, there are some extensions, like Medeek Wall, you can install in SketchUp Pro that introduce parametric features, and include several object-specific tools.
The simplicity behind being able to organize faces and edges into an infinite number of nested groups and components gives you control over how you want to organize your model. Tags provide additional control on object visibility, regardless of where objects are nested. Combine all this with an intuitive inference system and universal measurement input, and you get incredible speed, flexibility, and accuracy that allows you to get creative, without having the tool get in your way.
There are currently three main flagship SketchUp Products: SketchUp Free, SketchUp Shop, SketchUp for iPad, and SketchUp Pro. All of these products provide an excellent 3D modeling platform, whether you are modeling for 3D printing, architectural design, landscape design, interior design, woodworking, film, gaming, or just visualizing some remodeling ideas in your own home. And while the fundamental features of each SketchUp platform feel familiar, there are some distinct differences between the three current SketchUp platforms, and the recently retired SketchUp Make platform.
SketchUp naming conventions
Part of what makes the different versions of SketchUp so confusing is that there are really two distinctions to be made with each SketchUp name:
- The software name.
- The marketing name under which the software is sold or downloaded.
Sometimes, the software name and the marketing name are one and the same, which makes it easy. However, there are times when the marketing name actually refers to a bundle of software, and that’s where things get confusing.
For example, when you subscribe to “SketchUp Pro” at $299/yr, the software you actually receive is SketchUp Pro, Style Builder, and LayOut, along with several other apps and services. You actually get multiple programs when you purchase what’s marketed as “SketchUp Pro”. (As you may have noticed, they’ve made things even more confusing by using the marketing name SketchUp Pro, while also naming the software SketchUp Pro.) You still with me? Hopefully, I can clear things up for you.
The following chart shows you which software is included under each marketed name.
(Keep in mind, SketchUp Make has been discontinued, but you can still download the last version, SketchUp Make 2017, as of the date this article was published.)
SketchUp software name vs marketing name
| Software/Service Included | Free | Shop | Pro | Studio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SketchUp Make | |||||
| SketchUp Free | |||||
| SketchUp Shop | |||||
| SketchUp Pro | |||||
| SketchUp for iPad (BETA) | |||||
| LayOut | |||||
| Trimble Connect | 10GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | |
| 3D Warehouse | |||||
| SketchUp Viewer | |||||
| SketchUp Mobile Viewer | |||||
| Extension Warehouse | |||||
| PreDesign | |||||
| Style Builder | |||||
| SketchUp Viewer for VR | |||||
| SketchUp Viewer for Hololens | |||||
| Sefaira | |||||
| Point Cloud Scan Essentials | |||||
| V-Ray for SketchUp | |||||
| Choas Cosmos Library | |||||
| Cost | Free | Free | $119/Yr | $299/YR | $699/YR |
(Side Note: SketchUp Viewer for desktop and SketchUp Viewer for mobile are technically licensed separately, but basically I just wanted to show that they are available to anyone, no matter which version of SketchUp you own.)
SketchUp Version Feature comparison
(I will be adding SketchUp for iPad to this chart once it is out of beta and publicly released.)
| Make | Free | Shop | Pro | Studio | |
| Simple, fun, 3D modeling | |||||
| Subscription fee | |||||
| Desktop Software | |||||
| Commercial Use License? | |||||
| Viewer mobile app? | |||||
| AR mobile viewer? | |||||
| Outliner (Organize groups & Components) | |||||
| Custom Materials | |||||
| Custom Styles | |||||
| Custom Sketchy Styles | |||||
| Solid Tools | |||||
| Create Dynamic Components | |||||
| Live Components | |||||
| Animations | |||||
| 2D documentation in LayOut | |||||
| Import/Export | 15 | 6 | 21 | 33 | 33 |
| Cloud Storage | 10GB | 10GB | ? | ? | ? |
| Extensions? | |||||
| Offline use? | |||||
| No watermark? | |||||
| Sefaira | |||||
| V-Ray for SketchUp | |||||
| Scan Essentials | |||||
| Cost | Free | Free | $119/Yr | $299/YR | $699/YR |
The Entire SketchUp Product Family
In addition to the three main SketchUp modeling programs, there are some other secondary SketchUp products such as model viewers, a style editor, a 2D documentation program, and some custom versions of SketchUp for educators. The complete SketchUp product family now spreads across desktop, web, mobile, and AR/VR, with various types of product offerings on each platform to serve different needs.
SketchUp for Desktop – Mac & PC
- SketchUp Pro Subscription: SketchUp Pro is a bundled software subscription that includes three separate programs, listed below, along with many additional apps and services. Trimble is currently on an annual release schedule, releasing a new version every year.
- Includes SketchUp Pro – The most complete commercial version of SketchUp.
- Includes LayOut – The 2D documentation tool for annotating your SketchUp models.
- Includes Style Builder – Create your own custom SketchUp Styles.
- RETIRED SketchUp Make 2017 (Free) – Still available, but no longer being updated.
- SketchUp Viewer for Desktop (Free) – View SketchUp models, but can’t edit. Great for having your clients view your models because it has a simple, limited interface.
SketchUp for Web – Any device with a modern browser and mouse
- SketchUp Free (Free) – A limited, free version of SketchUp for personal use.
- SketchUp For Schools (Free for educators) – Customized for educators and students.
- SketchUp Shop ($119/yr) – Commercial version of SketchUp Free, with added features and expanded cloud storage.
Mobile – Android/iOS
- SketchUp Viewer (Free) – Browse/measure your models on your phone. Android, iPhone
- SketchUp for iPad (Currently in BETA) – Fully featured SketchUp, similar to SketchUp for Web, but optimized for iOS, pencil and touch input.
Other
- Sefaira – Energy analysis software for SketchUp. Included in SketchUp Studio subscription bundle.
- SketchUp Viewer for Hololens – View your SketchUp model in Augmented Reality on the Microsoft Hololens.
- SketchUp Viewer for VR – Works with Oculus Quest, Rift, Vive, etc. View your SketchUp models in VR.
- Trimble Connect – Cloud storage, model management, and collaboration platform. SketchUp Free and SketchUp Pro include 10GB of cloud storage. SketchUp Shop includes unlimited. Trimble Connect SketchUp extension.
- Scan Essentials Extension – Convert point cloud data into SketchUp geometry.
- 3D Warehouse – Browse and download thousands of free SketchUp models, including collections created by the SketchUp team.
- PreDesign – Climate impact design research tool. See my review of PreDesign here.
- Extension Warehouse – Browse and install hundreds of SketchUp extensions, including extensions created by the SketchUp team.
- SketchUp Forums – Get help and talk SketchUp on the SketchUp Forum.
- SketchUp Talk – The official SketchUp podcast iTunes blog Stitcher
- SketchUp YouTube – The official SketchUp YouTube channel
SketchUp Free
SketchUp Free runs inside your browser, so you need an internet connection, and any device that runs a modern browser will technically work. I mean, you could open up the browser on your phone and run SketchUp Free, but it’s not really designed for touch input, so unless you’ve got a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, I wouldn’t recommend it, lol. SketchUp Free is licensed for personal use only.
The SketchUp for Web interface is completely different than the desktop interface, but you’ll find pretty much all of the familiar tools and panels. All the tools pretty much behave the same as desktop SketchUp, but they have slightly different icons. All the native keyboard shortcuts work in SketchUp Free too. You can download my SketchUp Free keyboard shortcut guide here.
A benefit of SketchUp Free is that you get 10GB of free cloud storage on Trimble’s cloud-based collaboration platform called Trimble Connect. This enables you to use SketchUp wherever you are, from any computer, as long as you have an internet connection. Trimble Connect is also linked to the SketchUp Viewer mobile app (Android, iPhone), so you can pull up any of your models right on your phone and view them.
Comparing feature to feature, SketchUp Free did see a net reduction in features when compared to its predecessor, SketchUp Make. No Outliner, can’t create custom materials or styles, and most notable of all, no extensions. Since extensions offer the potential to radically enhance SketchUp, this is a huge blow to the free version of SketchUp.
Since SketchUp Free is essentially a stripped-down version of SketchUp Pro, but on a web-based platform, the best way to compare its features is to point out what it doesn’t have.
Limitations
- Personal Use only – SketchUp Free is not licensed for commercial use.
- No Outliner – There’s no way to browse the hierarchy of groups and components in your model in SketchUp Free. Although to be clear, you do still have the ability to create groups and components. (You can upgrade to SketchUp Shop to get this)
- No Custom Materials – SketchUp Free doesn’t allow you to edit materials/textures or save custom materials, however, you are able to import models that have custom materials in them.
- No Custom Styles – SketchUp Free doesn’t allow you to edit styles or save custom styles, however, you can import SketchUp models that have custom styles in them. (FYI, if you import a model with a custom style, the watermark still appears in SketchUp Free.)
- No Solid Tools – If you’re looking to perform actions on solid groups and components such as Union, Subtract, Join, Trim, Intersect, or Split, you won’t get that with SketchUp Free. This was also a limitation of SketchUp Make, so no surprise it’s not available in SketchUp Free.
- No LayOut – LayOut is a program that comes with SketchUp Pro, which enables you to create construction documents and other 2D presentations of your model.
- Import/Export – You’re limited to importing SKP, JPG, and PNG. You can only export SKP, STL, and PNG. Basically, you can only work with SketchUp models and images. If you’re using SketchUp for 3D printing, the STL export is a very nice feature to export direct to your 3D printer.
- No Extensions – This is a huge drawback with SketchUp Free. You can’t install extensions, which add all sorts of custom features to SketchUp.
- No Offline Usage – Because this is a web app, you need to have an active internet connection to use it.
- Watermarked – All SketchUp Free styles include the SketchUp logo watermarked in the top right corner.
- Lower Performance – Under the hood, you’re just not going to get the same performance from a browser-based 3D modeling program compared to the desktop version.
SketchUp Shop
This is one step up from SketchUp Free, for professional users who are looking for an inexpensive 3D modeling platform but don’t need 2D documentation tools offered with LayOut in SketchUp Pro. SketchUp Shop runs on SketchUp for Web, so you have access to it wherever you have internet. At $119/yr, it’s a really affordable way to use SketchUp commercially, without having to invest in SketchUp Pro.
With SketchUp Shop, you get access to all of the features that are locked in SketchUp Free. You can use the Outliner to view the group and component hierarchy in your model. You can create custom materials and custom styles, and the watermark is removed from your models. You also get additional import/export features such as DWG/DXF, so you can work with CAD files. The other value add is that you get unlimited storage on Trimble Connect, which will allow you to conveniently access all your work wherever you are.
Unfortunately, you also cannot use extensions in SketchUp Shop. You must upgrade to SketchUp Pro to use extensions (or use SketchUp Make 2017, which is no longer being developed.)
It hurts a little bit when you realize that most of the features you “unlock” with SketchUp Shop are features that used to be included for free in SketchUp Make. So they actually removed features from their free version, in order to artificially create more value with their paid version. Usually, with software, we see companies add features to premium products instead of taking features away from their free products that have been there for years.
But at the end of the day, paying less than $10/mo for great 3D design software that you can use commercially is a bargain. I think Trimble realized that there were a lot of people using SketchUp Make commercially (you know who you are, shame on you!), even though it is not licensed for that, so they had to make a tough choice to remove several features in order to keep SketchUp profitable going into the future. Creating the new “SketchUp for Web” platform sort of disguised that, but it is what it is. I’m happy that they’ve created SketchUp Shop as a middle ground for people not able to pay the full price for SketchUp Pro, instead of just forcing people to upgrade to SketchUp Pro.
SketchUp Pro
The most powerful version of SketchUp is SketchUp Pro. SketchUp Pro is a desktop software bundle for Mac/PC and includes three programs: SketchUp Pro, LayOut, and Style Builder. (Style builder lets you create custom sketchy edge styles.) SketchUp Pro is the desktop version of SketchUp, and has advanced features like superior import/export options, Solid tools, Dynamic Component creation, and the ability to install extensions. You can view available extensions on the Extension Warehouse, and some additional extensions available on the Sketchucation plugin store.
LayOut
LayOut is the 2D counterpart to SketchUp. It allows you to create viewports of your SketchUp models, lay them out on paper, and add dimensions and annotations to them. LayOut is used to create complete sets of construction documents. The biggest benefit to LayOut is that the model remains dynamically linked to your SketchUp model, so any updates to the model are quickly updated in LayOut.
Hopefully, that clears up some of the confusion over the different SketchUp platforms and how they are sold? Or did I make it worse? I probably made it worse, lol.
