Alternatives
Vertex BD Alternative
The design side of a framed house: walls, roofs, beams, columns, braces and footings in a browser model, ready to hand to whoever frames it.
Vertex BD: Quote only. Home 3D Plan (home3dplan.com): Free.
What Vertex BD does, and where it is here
Bracing
Diagonal members from floor to head, in the beam's own sections. See the tool
Beams and headers
Timber, glulam, steel and concrete beams with real sections and bearings, drawn with their tags and billed in the takeoff. See the tool
Posts and columns
29 columns from classical orders to steel sections, piers and pilasters. See the tool
Foundations
Strip and pad footings derived from the walls and columns, with a bar schedule. See the tool
Roof geometry
Hipped, gabled, shed and flat roofs with pitch, overhangs, caps and gutters. See the tool
Home 3D Plan and Vertex BD, side by side
| Feature | Home 3D Plan | Vertex BD |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Quote only. One directory lists $380 a month |
| Free option | Start in the browser with no account | See vendor |
| Runs on | Any modern browser: Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, iPad and phone | Windows |
| Install | None. Can be installed as a web app | Desktop install |
| IFC | IFC4 export of architecture, structure and services | See vendor |
| DWG and DXF | DWG and DXF in and out | DWG and DXF import and export |
| Structure | Columns, beams, braces, footings and gridlines, with a reinforcement bar schedule | Timber and light gauge steel framing, panels and trusses |
| Services (MEP) | Electrical, plumbing and heating, drainage, ventilation, gas and solar PV | See vendor |
| Site and terrain | Survey levels, terraces, retaining walls, roads, paving and planting | See vendor |
| Quantities | Takeoff by storey, element, function and material, as CSV or a workbook | Bills of materials and manufacturing data |
| Drawings and sheets | Sections, elevations, 1:5 details and sheet sets to PDF, DWG, DXF and SVG | Manufacturing drawings |
| Rendering | Four render tiers, the top one a GPU path tracer on desktop | See vendor |
| Team work | Organisation projects with discipline roles and live presence | See vendor |
| AI and agents | MCP server with 38 tools for Claude, ChatGPT and other agents | See vendor |
Vertex BD prices as published on 10 October 2026 (https://slashdot.org/software/comparison/MiTek-Structure-vs-Vertex-BD/). "See vendor" means the vendor does not publish the fact or we could not confirm it. Vertex BD is a trademark of Vertex Systems. Home 3D Plan is not affiliated with Vertex Systems.
What Vertex BD does that Home 3D Plan does not
- Wall, floor and roof framing member by member, in timber or light gauge steel.
- Manufacturing drawings and machine data for prefabrication.
- Bills of materials for the frame.
Moving from Vertex BD
Send the house from here to the framer as DWG or IFC4; they frame it in Vertex.
Vertex drawings can come back as DWG and open here.
Which one fits your work
Pick Vertex BD when
- You prefabricate frames or panels.
- You need machine data for production.
- You frame in light gauge steel.
Pick Home 3D Plan when
- You design the house and hand it to the framer.
- You want beams, columns and footings in the architectural model.
- You work in a browser.
How to start
Open the editor
Go to home3dplan.com and open the editor. Nothing to install and no account needed to start.
Bring your drawing
Open a DWG or DXF and turn its lines into walls, or trace over a PDF or a scan set to scale.
Build the model
Draw walls and the storeys, rooms, slabs and 3D model follow. Add roofs, structure, services and the site.
Send it out
Print sections, elevations and sheets to PDF or DWG, and send the building out as IFC4.
Vertex BD and Home 3D Plan, answered
Does Home 3D Plan frame walls member by member?
No. It models beams, columns, braces and footings. Stud by stud framing and prefabrication data stay with framing software such as Vertex BD.
How much does Vertex BD cost compared with Home 3D Plan?
Vertex BD: Quote only. One directory lists $380 a month, as published on 10 October 2026. Home 3D Plan is free to use in the browser today.
Does Home 3D Plan export IFC and DWG?
Yes. The building goes out as IFC4, with its architecture, structure and services, and the drawings go out as DWG, DXF, PDF and SVG. DWG and DXF also come in. The editor does not open IFC files.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Home 3D Plan runs in any modern browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, iPad and phones, and can be installed as a web app if you want an icon.
Read on
- Braces: Diagonal members from floor to head, in the beam's own sections.
- Footings: Strip and pad footings derived from the walls and columns.
- MiTek Sapphire alternative: Beams, columns and footings in the house model, for the designer.
- Weyerhaeuser Javelin alternative: Beams and floors in the house model, before the dealer.
- All alternatives: Every product we compare against, with its price.