Pricing for home users

SketchUp for Web SketchUp Free
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I was wondering if there are any options for non professional home users.

I am not a professional but since I discovered Sketchup I have had a lot of fun using it to create some drawings. The problem I encounter is that the web version seems to work great until you get about half way through the drawing and then the number if elements seems to cause frequent pausing which makes it quite a poor user experience.

I explored purging unused elements etc and it hasn’t helped.
I’m using the Brave browser and my macbook is the latest M2 model with 96GB of Ram so I don’t think it’s a pure performance issue. In fact the interface is extremely fluid until I attempt to edit my drawing and then randomly my interface pauses for around 15 seconds before the interface recovers and resumes. When the interface resumes any mouse clicks and drags that occurred as it paused very quickly get actioned and sometimes the results can be quite devastating to my drawing.

I then decided to just purchase a license so I could install it locally an see if that helps but the pricing seems to be targeting progressional users and I can’t justify that cost just for a bit of fun.

My goal is to create some drawings of a small holiday villa I want to build and while I am not good enough to create actual plans, I wanted to use Sketchup to create some initial concept renderings to give to an architect to help explain my thinking and ideas.

If there’s no pricing for home users then I will just go back to hand drawn sketches but I thought it was worth asking to see if there’s a cheaper plan for us non professional tinkerers.

Alternatively, the free web version suits me just fine. I love the interface and the intelligence of how it I can select corresponding points and surfaces when creating objects. I find the technology quite amazing. The only issue being the frustrating pauses occurring once my drawing grows in complexity.

Any help or a better pricing plan would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

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Мені теж дуже подобається ця програма, я теж не професіонал і б хотіла в своєму будинку змінити деякі кімнати, і проблема в мене така ж)
Але я думала що це в мене поганий ПК
Якщо Вам хтось відповість то і ви мені відпишіть
Дякую

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web-based performance isn’t exactly dictated by your machine but by your browsers and connexion.
they both have a bottleneck effect that running SU Pro directly on your machine don’t have.

that’s true of any webapp vs local app, on a local app, there is no communication with a server, using a browser with limitations, over a variable speed connexion.

I understand what you’re asking, and yes, there is an in-between version called Go.
But I get it, you would like a local desktop version at a lower cost, there is none, and there won’t be anytime soon.

However, I’m wondering, you’re saying you want to build a small holiday villa. I’m not familiar with construction costs in Australia, nor with the terrain prices, but I’m gonna assume they’ve both been climbing up these last few years just like everywhere else, isn’t the 350$ per year completely worth it in regard to the cost of building a complete villa ?

I mean, a quick look on google,

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics, as of April 2022, the average cost of a new house build in Australia is roughly $473,000.

If I were to start a project that will cost me several hundred of thousands of dollars over several years, I would probably pay the extra 350 to have the complete software.

but that’s just me :slight_smile:
(I’ve had more expensive hobbies, at least you’re getting a house in the end)

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I have read several times in the past that allthough SketchUp Free needs an internet connection to start, It runs completely in the browser after loading the app…
So the connection bottleneck you are talking about shouldn’t be a problem for SketchUp Free.
It is a known fact that SketchUp Free has problems with big files though…

@page.gary , I’m wondering if you have downloaded entourage from the 3DWarehouse?
There’s a lot of overly detailled models in the Warehouse that can cause problems for your SketchUp model!!

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well, it’s a problem like you say, when you start, but it can also be a problem whenever you need to communicate with the server… saving for example. but yeah, day-to-day tools shouldn’t be limited by bandwidth.

The rest remains valid though, big / bloated file is a problem, browser bottleneck… just fire up a browser, open a few tabs, and you’re already soaring in RAM usage, now add 3d modelling to the mix, and yeah, not as powerful as a native tool.
restarting the browser from time to time might also help. browsers are RAM hoarders.

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Maybe you would find this suggestion interesting.

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I’ve never used the web version, not even the Go that is included with my subscription license, but all the 3D softwares on the market have issues with big files, some can handle more than others but eventually you’ll get it cause all the softwares I know use just one thread so if you get the desktop version the performance will be limited by the power of your cpu and gpu. If I were you I’d invest on sketchup pro, specially for LayOut, the software included with it, it allows the making of 2D plans out of the sketchup 3D model in a very easy way, it’s also very intuitive and the learning curve isn’t steep at all, you can learn the basic to be able to create great document just in a few hours.
You can get sketchup pro for free for a week, it’s not enough time to master it but you can see if it works for you. It used to be 1 month the trial period but for some reason that no one understands yet, it was reduced to one week.

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Yes, the cost of building is very high in Australia. I am planning to build in Indonesia and the entire project is only about AUD 20K.
That’s not the point though, I am not an architect but really enjoy being able to visualise my ideas in 3D. So indeed it will cost me to get the plans made but I wanted to have something very visual to start with to help convey my ideas to the architect.
As for Internet connection, I have moved to another location today with faster Internet so I will hopefully learn if that is the cause.

Thanks for your feedback.

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Hi,
I have downloaded heaps of models etc because I am trying to visualise the space I am creating. And I the problem keeps getting progressively worse since I am adding lots of detail in the models.
I think you are right.
I have purged all the unnecessary stuff and have also started to use tags now so I can literally turn everything off except for the walls which so far is helping. Unfortunately I have not had time to do any more drawing since I tagged everything but while I was doing it things were flowing much better than before so I am hopeful this is the secret to making the web version useful.
Thanks.

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Yes, that’s the reason I was looking to skip the “go” version and move up to the installable app version. I was thinking that my PC is fast enough to make it a breeze but with a browser and an internet connection in the mix it isn’t a good user experience.
I have to go to work now so let me see how it goes when I get some play time over the week. As I mentioned earlier I tagged everything so I can turn off all my details to make editing the structure easier and faster. If that works then it will be a suitable solution for my situation.

I am really enjoying using Sketchup but can’t justify the cost just for me to play with to throw ideas around. Convert the subscription into IDR and it pays for a lot of building hardware. Money is really tight at the moment so every dollar saved brings me closer to project completion.

Thanks again

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If you are sidestepping an architect by doing the design yourself, then expect others to provide you with free tools, that is expecting more than the industry should provide. If designing your home with excellent visual tool like Sketchup isn’t going to be worth the cost of software, that is simply being cheap, not smart.

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Perhaps you missed the part where @page.gary wrote:

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This will only be beneficial during startup and saving, not during modelling as I explained before!

This is the centre of your problems and it’s what you should focus on.
Don’t download entourage directly into your model but into an empty one, inspect them for being suitable for your project. That means no overly detailed stuff and no huge materials used in them! A good hint is the file size given in the Warehouse , compare them and choose wisely…
Purging now and then is good practice, keep that up.

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You could search the internet for the “SketchUp2017 Make” installer which is free to use.
Do keep in mind that this version is no longer supported and you will have to use it at your own risk.
Biggest issue i encounter with this version, it gets slow pretty fast, so one needs to save, close and restart the drawing/program again to be able to work in a normal pace until it gets slowed down again.

At least it could be worth a try :wink:

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If you attach a model that is slowing down I’m pretty sure people will be able to point out issues with your workflow.
Addressing those issue will go further than throwing money at a pro version or a better computer.

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So true. Due to the way 3D modelling applications are built, a model that is slow on an average computer will still be slow on an ultracool whizbang monster workstation. If something takes, say, 10 seconds on your computer you won’t be much happier if you use some thousands of money to make it take only 8½.

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Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.
For the moment it looks like the problem is largely solved by reducing the number of elements in my drawings but mainly from tagging and hiding all the details like furniture and fixtures while I am not using them.

My work is suddenly very busy at the moment so I won’t have any time to play with Sketchup for a while.

Thanks to all who have contributed. I think you solved my problem which means I am free to play around with my ideas when I have some time off.

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Try to find a 2017 or earlier version. Those are free to use.

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But for non commercial purposes only.

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Abe exactly what the OP wanted to