Floor plan guide
A floor plan costs $15 for a phone scan, $24–$38 a floor to have a plan you already have redrawn, $700–$3,500 for a measured drawing of your home and $2,500–$15,000 for an architect's renovation plans. Floor plan software and AI tools charge by the month instead: $5–$79 and $12–$20. The right one depends on what the drawing is for.
This page is part of our floor plan guide. For what a floor plan shows and the four kinds, start with what is a floor plan
Eight routes, from software you draw in yourself to an architect. Two things decide which end of the scale you land on: whether someone has to come and measure, and whether someone has to design the building and sign it off rather than draw what is already there.
Floor plan software
$5–$79 a month
AI floor plan tool
$12–$20 a month
Scanning app
$15–$65 a scan
Redraw service
$24–$38 a floor
Real estate photographer
$99–$200 and up a home
Measured drawing
$700–$3,500 a home
Drafter's plans
$800–$3,500 a set
Architect's plans
$2,500–$15,000 a set
US dollars per job, log scale
| Route | What you get | Typical price | How long | Someone on site? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floor plan software (you draw it) | You measure the home and draw the plan yourself; images or PDF from home programs, CAD files from professional ones | $5–$79 a month: Floorplanner Plus $5, RoomSketcher Pro $24, AutoCAD LT $70, Home Designer $79 | Your own time: RoomSketcher puts one floor at 15–20 minutes of drawing, once you have the measurements | Yes: you measure it yourself |
| AI floor plan tool | A plan redrawn from your sketch, an old plan or a written description, changed as often as your credits allow | $12–$20 a month; on FloorDrafter that covers about 50 plans, $0.24–$0.38 each | A minute or two a plan | No: it works from what you give it |
| Scanning app (CubiCasa) | A listing plan made from a scan you take with your phone | $15 for 2D, $65 with 3D; a basic plan at $0 | About 5 minutes scanning, the plan within 24 hours | Yes: you walk the home with your phone |
| Redraw service | A person redraws the plan or measured sketch you send, in the service's house style | $24–$38 a floor | 24–48 hours | No: you supply the plan or the measurements |
| Real estate photographer | A listing plan from the photographer's own scan or measurements, usually booked with the photos | $99–$200 and up a home | A visit, then a day or two | Yes |
| Measured drawing (as-built) | The home as it stands, measured room by room: the drawing a designer or builder works from | $700–$3,500 a home: $700–$1,300 in cost guides, $2,000–$3,500 in bills owners posted; or $0.40–$2.50 a sq ft | A visit, then about a week | Yes |
| Drafter or home designer | Technical drawings of a remodel, an addition or a house, drawn to a design you agree | $800–$3,500 for drafting alone; $30–$120 an hour | About a week of drafting | Usually, unless you supply a measured drawing |
| Architect (plans only) | A design and the drawings a builder and the building department need, stamped where required | $2,500–$5,000 for a kitchen or bathroom; $8,000–$15,000 for a whole-house renovation | Something to review within about a month | Yes |
Prices are what each provider or cost guide published on 22 September 2026, in US dollars before tax. The average of about $1,300 that cost guides quote for a floor plan mixes all eight rows together, which is why it fits almost nobody's job.
Take one existing home: a single-storey, three-bedroom house of 1,500 sq ft. Here is the same job worked through at each route's published rate, so you can put your own numbers in instead.
| Route | Published rate | Working | For this house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scanning app (CubiCasa PLUS) | $15 for a 2D plan | 1 floor, scanned by you | $15 |
| AI floor plan tool (FloorDrafter Pro) | $19 a month for 150 credits; 3 credits a plan at 2K | 150 ÷ 3 = 50 plans in the month | $19 |
| Floor plan software (RoomSketcher Pro) | $24 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly | 1 month, and you measure and draw it | $24 |
| Redraw service | $24–$38 a floor | 1 floor × $24–$38 | $24–$38 |
| Measured drawing | $0.40–$2.50 a sq ft | 1,500 sq ft × $0.40–$2.50 | $600–$3,750 |
| Drafter, remodel plans | $0.75–$1.50 a sq ft for additions and remodels | 1,500 sq ft × $0.75–$1.50 | $1,125–$2,250 |
| Architect, plans only | $8,000–$15,000 for a whole-house renovation | One flat fee for the set | $8,000–$15,000 |
| Architect, full service | 8–15% of the construction cost | 8–15% × a $150,000 renovation, as an example | $12,000–$22,500 |
The first four rows buy a drawing of the house as it is; the last four buy a measured record or a design, which is why the price jumps. HomeGuide gives a measured drawing both ways, $700–$1,300 a house or $0.40–$2.50 a sq ft; at this size the square-foot rate spreads wider, and one owner paid $3,500 for measured drawings of a 1,500 sq ft house. Structural engineering, permit fees and printing come on top of the professional routes; printing runs $0.05–$40 a sheet, depending on the paper.
Start from what the drawing is for, and the route follows. The costly mistake runs both ways: a stamped set bought to list a flat, or a listing plan taken to the building department.
| What the drawing is for | Who to ask | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Listing a home for sale or rent | A scanning app, a real estate photographer or a redraw service | $15–$200 and up |
| Working out a layout change before paying anyone | An AI tool or floor plan software, on the plan you already have | $5–$79 a month (software), $12–$20 (AI), or your own time |
| Getting builders to price the same job | A measured plan of what is there, with the change marked on it | $700–$3,500, or measure it yourself |
| Applying for a building permit | A drafter or an architect, depending on your state and whether the structure changes | $800–$3,500 (drafter), $2,500–$15,000 (architect) |
| Building a new house | An architect, or a designer or drafter working with an engineer; stock plans for a standard design | $10,000–$30,000 (architect), $2,000–$10,000 (designer), $500–$5,000 (stock) |
| Keeping a record of your home | A redraw of the builder's plan, or a measured drawing if none exists | $24–$3,500 |
| Showing a client a layout option | A redrawn or AI presentation plan made from your own drawing | $24–$38 a floor, or a monthly AI plan |
Only two rows need drawings a building department will accept: the permit and the new house. Every other row is a drawing to look at and talk about, and a stamped set buys nothing there you would use.
Only drawings that meet the department's requirements, made by someone the law allows to make them. Who that includes is set state by state, not by what you paid.
| Route | Can you submit it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Architect's plans | Yes | That is what they are for: a full set with structural details and specifications, stamped by a licensed architect where the state or the project requires it. |
| Drafter's or home designer's plans | Often, for a house | Many states let someone without an architect's licence draw a single-family home. Structural parts may still need an engineer's stamp. |
| Measured drawing | As part of a set | It records the home as it stands: the existing-conditions sheets the new drawings are designed against. |
| Your own drawing, in software | Sometimes, for simple work | Where the law lets anyone draw the plans, a to-scale drawing with everything the department asks for can be submitted, and home design programs such as Chief Architect's Home Designer are sold for that job. The department still checks it against the code. |
| Redraw service | No | It redraws what you send without measuring anything, and the services say so: Sketchplan's plans are “intended for listings, brochures and marketing, not for planning applications, building work or legal documents”, and RoomSketcher “can't guarantee they meet the requirements for building permits”. |
| Scanning app or listing plan | No | It is made to show buyers how the rooms connect. CubiCasa prints “deemed highly reliable but not guaranteed” on its plans, and Matterport says the sizes on its floor plans are approximate. |
| AI floor plan, ours included | No | It is not measured, not drawn to a stated scale, and carries no structure or code information. Use it to settle what you want, then hand that to whoever draws the set. |
This chapter does not prohibit any person from preparing plans, drawings, or specifications for any of the following: (1) Single-family dwellings of woodframe construction not more than two stories and basement in height.
Any part that departs from conventional wood framing has to be drawn by, or under, a licensed architect or registered engineer and carry their stamp, under subdivision (b) of the same section.
All residential structures 10,000 sq. ft. or larger must be designed by an architect and/or professional engineer.
Below that size, the state board says many small, one-storey projects may be designed by people who are not licensed, and points you to your local building officials to confirm.
Ask your building department what it accepts before you pay for any drawing. A plan it will not take can still do useful work: settle the layout on it first, and the paid hours go on drawing the house rather than deciding it.
Yes, usually by thousands of dollars on a house. Architect vs draftsman comes down to the licence, not the drawing: an architect designs the building and can stamp the plans; a drafter, or draftsman, draws it and cannot.
| Architect | Drafter | |
|---|---|---|
| What you are paying for | The design itself: layout, structure, code and, on full service, watching the build | Technical drawings of a design, whether yours, a designer's or an architect's |
| Can they stamp the plans? | Yes, in the states where they are licensed | No; where a stamp is needed, an architect or engineer signs off |
| How they charge | $100–$250 an hour, $2–$15 a sq ft (mostly on new construction), a flat fee for plans only, or 8–15% of construction cost for full service | $30–$120 an hour, or $0.35–$5.00 a sq ft; drafters who posted their own rates charge $0.50–$3 |
| Plans for a house | $2,500–$5,000 for a kitchen or bathroom; $8,000–$15,000 for a whole-house renovation; $10,000–$30,000 for a new house | $800–$3,500 for drafting alone |
| How long | Something to review within about a month | About a week of drafting |
| Hire them when | The structure changes, the site is awkward, the design is custom, or your state requires it | The design is settled or simple, and your state lets a drafter draw it |
Architect figures are from tald.co and drafter figures from HomeGuide, both checked on 22 September 2026; the posted drafter rates are in the table of what people paid, further down.
A measured drawing, or as-built drawing, is someone coming to the house, measuring every room and drawing what is there. It costs $700–$3,500 for a typical house, and it is the drawing every renovation design starts from.
Walls, doors, windows, stairs and fixed fittings where they actually are, with their dimensions, usually as a PDF and a CAD file. It records the house; it does not design anything.
HomeGuide puts it at $700–$1,300 for a house, or $0.40–$2.50 a sq ft. Owners who posted their bills paid more: about $2,000 for an 1,800 sq ft home and $3,500 for 1,500 sq ft. Both are in the table of what people paid, below.
Measure room by room with a tape and write the numbers on a sketch. A redraw service, at $24–$38 a floor, or an AI tool turns that into a clean plan with your numbers written on it. It costs your time, and the plan is only as good as your measuring.
Measuring it yourself? The room-by-room method, with a printable sheet, is in how to measure a room for a floor plan
$15 to $200 and up in the US, and the price depends on who walks the home. A floor plan for a real estate listing is a marketing drawing: it shows buyers how the rooms connect, and it is not a measured record.
| Route | Price | What you do | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scanning app (CubiCasa) | $15 for 2D, $65 with 3D; $0 for a basic plan | Walk the home with your phone for about 5 minutes | A 2D plan within 24 hours |
| Matterport 3D scan | $19.99 a floor plan on the Starter plan, from $14 a month | Scan the home in 3D first | A black-and-white plan with room sizes within 48 hours |
| Real estate photographer | $99–$200 and up a home | Book the visit, usually together with the photos | A plan in the photographer's style alongside the photos |
| Redraw service | $24–$38 a floor; BoxBrownie from $24 | Send the builder's plan, an old plan or a measured sketch | A clean plan in the service's style within 24–48 hours |
| UK redraw service (Sketchplan) | £18 ($25) for homes up to 2,000 sq ft, all floors included | Send a sketch with your measurements | A plan ready for Rightmove or Zoopla within 48 hours |
| AI floor plan tool | $19 a month on FloorDrafter Pro | Upload the builder's plan or your sketch | A redrawn plan in a minute or two, as many versions as the credits allow |
The photographer prices are the starting prices of the six local photographers listed on CubiCasa's own site; the visit is part of what you pay for. In US listings, a 2D colour floor plan usually means one with floor textures and furniture drawn in; in the UK, a plain plan with room dimensions is the norm.
Cost guides publish averages. These are single quotes and bills, in the words of the people who paid or charged them, each linked to where they said it. Dates are when they posted.
| Amount | What it bought | In their words | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300 | A building supplier's draftsman drew the blueprint from the owner's own floor plan | “I drew my own floor plan and took it to a building supplier’s draftsman to draw the blueprint. It cost me $300.” | r/floorplan2024-03 |
| $1,117 | Blueprints (floor plan, elevations, electrical plan) from the owner's rough drawing, by a draftsman the builder recommended | “Our builder recommended a draftsman he works with. Took a few months to fine tune my original rough drawing. We just picked up the blueprints and paid her $1117.” | r/Homebuilding2025-01 |
| $2,300 | House plans from a local draftsman, quoted as a $2,000 flat fee | “A local draftsman charges a $2k flat fee but ours ended up being more work than he thought so we paid $2300. I had it pretty much designed before we brought it to him.” | r/Homebuilding2023-01 |
| $0.50 a sq ft | A side-hustle drafter's starting rate for 2D drawings, no engineering | “If I'm just doing architectural drawings (no engineering required), I'll start at $.50/SF (everything under roof) for 2D plans only.” | r/Construction2024-11 |
| $1.75 a sq ft | A draftsman's own rate for home designs, with a minimum | “I’m a draftsman that charges 1.75/sqft. … I take 50% up front and a minimum charge of $2500 total.” | r/Homebuilding2024-07 |
| $2.50–$3.00 a sq ft | The starting rate of a drafter at a small architecture firm in Missouri | “I am a drafter for a small architecture firm I’m Missouri and the basic starting charge is between $2.50 and $3.00 a square foot for any above ground finish floor” | r/Homebuilding2025-03 |
| $2,000 | An as-built package for an 1,800 sq ft home: floor plans, elevations and property lines, in a week | “My 1800 sq ft home cost about $2k and turnaround was a week.” | r/floorplan2024-11 |
| $3,500 | Measured CAD drawings of a 1,500 sq ft single-family home | “(Owner) paid $3500 for measured cad drawings of a 1500 sq ft single family home recently and I think that was a good deal.” | r/Architects2025-01 |
| $100 | What an agent pays for the floor plan, on top of the photos | “For photography, I pay $200-300 depending on square footage. Floorplan $100.” | r/realtors2026-02 |
| $129 | A photographer's price for a listing floor plan in Chicago | “In the Chicago market, $129. It's almost a requirement for listings with proper marketing.” | r/RealEstatePhotography2023-02 |
| $400 | A full-colour floor plan from a separate vendor, for a higher-end listing | “If it's a higher-end property, I will use another floorplan vendor with full-color floorplans and those run $400 just for the plan itself.” | r/realtors2025-01 |
| $100 a sheet | Redrawing scanned hand-drawn plans in AutoCAD, through Fiverr | “Search for AutoCAD designer. Costs about $100 per sheet.” | r/AutoCAD2024-10 |
| $4,000 | A quote to put an owner's hand drawings of an 1,100 sq ft cabin into CAD for a permit, plus $500 for an engineer's stamp | “I just got a quote from a CAD draftsperson for $4000 to take my hand drawings, put them in CAD for printing, and get her engineer friend to stamp for another $500.” | r/Homebuilding2026-03 |
| $3,000 | An architect's drawings for an 1,800 sq ft addition, from the owner's sketch on paper | “I drew on a piece of paper what I wanted and found an architect in NORTH Jersey for $3k to draw an 1800 sq foot addition.” | r/Homebuilding2024-02 |
| $10,000 | An architect's bill for kitchen remodel plans, before any construction drawings | “Hired an architect to draw up plans...got a 10k bill and we don't even have construction drawings yet...” | r/HomeImprovement2018-06 |
| $15,000 | An architect's plans for an addition and changes to the existing house, over three rounds of drawings | “We paid 15k for plans to add an addition to our home that included new primary bed/bath and downstairs living room area, with renovations to existing structure like increasing ceiling height and re-doing stairs.” | r/Homebuilding2025-03 |
| $52,000 | An architect's drawings for a new 1,600 sq ft house, plus $4,000 for the structural engineer | “We spent $52k on architect and $4k on structural engineer for construction drawings on 1600 SF slab on grade custom design (2 bed/2 bath).” | r/Homebuilding2025-03 |
Single cases, not a survey. They show how far one bill can sit from the average, not what yours will be. The $10,000 row quotes the title of its post and the $52,000 row the post itself; every other row quotes the comment linked.
Two quotes for a floor plan can differ a hundredfold and both be fair. Six things move the number.
A floor plan is one sheet. What a builder works from is a set: plans, elevations, sections, structure and services. Quotes often differ because one prices a sheet and the other a set.
By the floor, the plan, the sheet, the hour or the square foot, as a flat fee, or as a share of construction cost. Put every quote into the same unit before you compare them.
Measuring on site is a large part of a professional's price. If you already have a plan, or measure the home yourself, that part falls away.
A licensed stamp carries liability, and structural work brings in an engineer, typically $1,000–$5,000 or more on top of the drawings. The permit is a separate bill again: typically $500–$3,000 on a residential project.
Flat fees usually cap the revisions; hourly work bills every change. Ask how many rounds are included before you sign anything.
Bigger and more complicated homes take longer to draw, and faster costs more: Sketchplan adds 50% for delivery within 24 hours.
Most of the saving comes from doing the unbilled work before a professional starts the clock: finding the plan, measuring, and deciding what you want.
The builder, a previous owner or the local building records may hold one. Having it redrawn costs $24–$38 a floor; commissioning a new one costs hundreds.
If you only need to see the layout, a tape measure replaces a $700–$3,500 measured drawing. A redraw service or an AI tool then draws a clean plan with your numbers written on it: a drawing to look at, not a measured one.
Try the options on your own plan first. An architect's flat fee caps the rounds of changes, and hourly work bills every one.
A design, or drawings a builder can work from? Engineering, site visits and revisions in the fee, or charged on top?
A listing needs one plan per floor, not a set. A permit may need a set, but not a 3D rendering.
Full service at 8–15% of construction cost pays for the architect to watch the build. On a straightforward job, plans only cost a fraction of that.
Working out a renovation on a plan you already have? Try the change on it first: floor plan for renovation
An AI floor plan tool redraws a sketch, an old plan or a written description in a minute or two, for a monthly price that covers dozens of plans. It does not measure your home, and nothing it draws can go to a building department.
FloorDrafter uses 3 credits a plan at 2K and 6 at 4K. Pro is $19 a month for 150 credits, about 50 plans; Studio is $39 for 400; a 100-credit pack is $29. That comes to $0.38 a plan on Pro, or $0.24 billed yearly, if you use the credits; the least you can pay for a file without a watermark is $19. The first plan needs no account, and signing up adds 3 credits for one more; those last 30 days.
Starting from a paper plan or a sketch? sketch to floor plan
Wondering whether a general chatbot does the job? We ran the same sketches through it: can ChatGPT make a floor plan
Plans and credit packs side by side: FloorDrafter pricing
Every third-party price on this page and where it was published. All were checked on 22 September 2026 from the US; prices change, so check with the provider before you buy. The forum quotes are linked in their own table above.
Short answers, with the numbers from the tables above.
Upload a sketch, an old paper plan or the builder's drawing and get a clean floor plan back in a minute or two. The first one needs no account.
