Alternatives
Civil 3D Alternative
Civil work for one plot: the ground from survey levels, terraces and retaining walls, roads and drives at their grades, drainage at its falls, and the building on it.
Civil 3D: $2,205 a year. Home 3D Plan (home3dplan.com): Free.
What Civil 3D does, and where it is here
Drives and roads
Driveways, footpaths, streets and access roads with kerbs and footways. See the tool
Terrain and grading
Spot levels, contours and breaklines shape the ground; the house sits on it at its floor level. See the tool
Terraces and walls
Flat platforms cut into the slope, and straight or curved retaining walls with their levels and batter. See the tool
Pipe networks
Soil and waste pipes, chambers and rainwater, laid at their falls. See the tool
Car parks
Car parks with the bays set out, laid on the survey. See the tool
Home 3D Plan and Civil 3D, side by side
| Feature | Home 3D Plan | Civil 3D |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $2,205 a year, or $320 a month |
| Free option | Start in the browser with no account | 30 day trial. Free education licence |
| 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 | IFC export |
| DWG and DXF | DWG and DXF in and out | DWG native |
| Structure | Columns, beams, braces, footings and gridlines, with a reinforcement bar schedule | See vendor |
| Services (MEP) | Electrical, plumbing and heating, drainage, ventilation, gas and solar PV | Pipe networks for drainage and utilities |
| Site and terrain | Survey levels, terraces, retaining walls, roads, paving and planting | Surfaces, grading, corridors, roads and pipe networks |
| Quantities | Takeoff by storey, element, function and material, as CSV or a workbook | Earthwork volumes and quantity takeoff |
| Drawings and sheets | Sections, elevations, 1:5 details and sheet sets to PDF, DWG, DXF and SVG | Plan and profile sheets |
| 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 | Autodesk Docs, sold separately |
| AI and agents | MCP server with 38 tools for Claude, ChatGPT and other agents | Dynamo scripting and an API |
Civil 3D prices as published on 10 October 2026 (https://www.capterra.com/p/199886/Civil-3D/). "See vendor" means the vendor does not publish the fact or we could not confirm it. Civil 3D is a trademark of Autodesk. Home 3D Plan is not affiliated with Autodesk.
What Civil 3D does that Home 3D Plan does not
- Corridors, alignments and profiles for real road design.
- Earthwork volumes and mass haul.
- Large sites, subdivisions and infrastructure.
- Survey data processing and point clouds.
Moving from Civil 3D
Open the Civil 3D drawing here as DWG and place the spot levels from the survey on the plot.
Send the site and building back as DWG or IFC4.
Which one fits your work
Pick Civil 3D when
- You design roads, subdivisions or infrastructure.
- You need earthwork volumes and alignments.
- You process survey data and point clouds.
Pick Home 3D Plan when
- You work on one plot with a house or small building on it.
- You want the site and the building in one model.
- You work in a browser on any computer.
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.
Civil 3D and Home 3D Plan, answered
Can Home 3D Plan replace Civil 3D?
For the levels, drives, terraces, retaining walls and drainage of a single plot, it covers the ground in the same model as the house. Road design, earthworks and large sites belong in Civil 3D.
How much does Civil 3D cost compared with Home 3D Plan?
Civil 3D: $2,205 a year, or $320 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
- Roads and Drives: Driveways, footpaths, streets and access roads with kerbs and footways.
- Landscape design software: Gardens, terraces, paths and planting around the house.
- Vectorworks Landmark alternative: Levels, hardscape and planting round the house, in the browser.
- Lands Design alternative: Landscape design without Rhino, in the browser.
- All alternatives: Every product we compare against, with its price.