Best Drafting Software in 2026 (Free and Paid)

What to Look for in Drafting Software for House Plans

A drawing program and a program for construction drawings are not the same thing. Before you compare individual tools, check these criteria:

• Lines or building objects: general CAD programs draw lines, arcs and hatches. Architectural programs work with walls, openings, slabs and roofs, so a change in one place updates every drawing.
• Complete drawing set: a house needs floor plans for every level, sections, elevations, a site plan and often electrical and plumbing plans. The more of these the program derives from one model, the fewer mistakes you make.
• Dimensions and annotation: automatic, associative dimensions save hours compared to placing every dimension line by hand.
• Sheets and title blocks: plans need to be arranged on sheets with a title block, printed to scale and saved as PDF.
• File exchange: DWG and DXF import and export are essential if you work with an architect, engineer or builder.
• Total cost: many professional drafting programs are only sold as subscriptions. Compare what you pay over several years.

Drawing Lines vs. Planning Walls: The Key Difference

Most classic drafting software, including AutoCAD LT, DraftSight and LibreCAD, is a digital drawing board. The program does not know whether two parallel lines are a wall, a window opening or a property line. Plan7Architect works with real building elements: a wall has a thickness, layers and a height, a window creates its own opening, and dimensions, sections and areas follow every change. This is what it means for typical drafting tasks:

Line-based programs are still the right choice for technical details, mechanical parts or drawings that have nothing to do with buildings. For house plans, an object-based program does much of the drafting work for you. We explain this in more detail in our article AutoCAD vs. house planning software.

1. Plan7Architect: Best Overall Drafting Software for House Plans

Price: $259.99 Original price was: $259.99.$169.99Current price is: $169.99. one-time purchase, lifetime license, no subscription
Platform: Windows desktop software
Best for: homeowners, self-builders, contractors and designers who need a complete set of house drawings, from the first floor plan to permit drawings

Plan7Architect is house planning software that produces the drawings a drafter would otherwise draw by hand. You plan with walls, floors, ceilings, slabs, roofs, dormers, stairs, foundations and beams, and the program generates floor plans, sections, elevations and the 3D model from the same data. Because nothing is drawn line by line, a change to one wall shows up in every drawing at once.

Precise Drafting with Automatic Dimensions

You enter exact lengths, angles and distances, and the dimensions are created automatically. Guide lines and virtual walls help you lay out the plan before you place the actual walls. You can switch between feet and inches and meters at any time, and our guide on creating floor plans with dimensions shows the workflow step by step.

Construction Drawings, Sheets and Title Blocks

Sections and elevations are created directly from the model. In the plan assembly, you arrange floor plans, sections and elevations on sheets with title blocks, print them to scale or save them as PDF. The simplified creation of building permit drawings is one of the main reasons why builders and designers choose Plan7Architect over a general drafting program.

Building Tools for the Whole House

• Automatic roof construction for gable, hip, shed, flat and mansard roofs, including dormers
• Stairs, foundations, slabs and custom beam structures
• Timber construction tools
• Terrain modeling with contour lines and sloped lots
• Electrical, heating and plumbing planning
• Custom windows and doors
• Living and usable area calculation
• Detailed layer management and plan variants
• Unlimited floors and buildings in one project

Working with Architects and Engineers

DWG and DXF import and export let you bring in an existing survey or site plan and hand your drawings to an architect, engineer or builder who works in AutoCAD or another CAD program. Every element you customize can be saved to the catalog and reused in the next project, which works like a block library, only with real building objects.

3D View Included

While you draft, the 3D model is always available, including a 3D walkthrough. For photorealistic images and videos, you export the model with all textures to Twinmotion.

Pricing

Plan7Architect Pro costs $259.99 Original price was: $259.99.$169.99Current price is: $169.99. once and can be activated on up to 3 PCs. For comparison: AutoCAD LT costs $1,620 over three years, DraftSight Professional $897, and Chief Architect Premier $5,985.

2. AutoCAD LT: Best for General 2D Drafting

Price: $540 per year or $70 per month
Platform: Windows and Mac
Best for: drafters and offices that create 2D drawings of all kinds and exchange DWG files every day

AutoCAD LT is the industry standard for 2D drafting. DWG is its native format, its drawing and editing tools are precise and fast once you know them, and almost every architect and engineer can open its files. Layouts with title blocks, dynamic blocks and annotation scaling make it well suited for clean drawing sets.

For house plans, everything is drawn by hand: walls, openings, sections and elevations are separate lines that you keep in sync yourself. AutoCAD LT has no 3D and no architectural objects, and the subscription never ends. If you are comparing options, see our list of AutoCAD alternatives.

3. Chief Architect Premier: Professional Residential Drafting

Price: $1,995 per year or $229 per month
Platform: Windows and Mac
Best for: professional residential designers and builders who produce construction documents every day

Chief Architect Premier is object-based software made for residential construction documents. Walls, roofs, framing, cabinets and electrical plans are generated from the model, and the layout tools create complete drawing sets. It is one of the strongest programs for professional residential drafting.

The price is the main drawback for anyone who does not draft houses full time: one year costs more than eleven times the one-time price of Plan7Architect Pro, and the learning curve is long. More comparisons are on our Chief Architect alternative page.

4. DraftSight: Low-Cost DWG Drafting

Price: Professional $299 per year, Premium $599 per year
Platform: Windows and Mac
Best for: users who need a familiar AutoCAD-like interface and native DWG files for less money

DraftSight from Dassault Systemes works much like AutoCAD: the commands, layers, blocks and sheets will feel familiar to anyone with CAD experience, and DWG files open without conversion. The Premium plan adds 3D modeling.

For house plans, DraftSight has the same limits as AutoCAD LT. It draws lines, not walls, so dimensions, openings, sections and elevations are your job, and you still pay every year.

5. TurboCAD Deluxe: Architectural Drafting with a Perpetual License

Price: $399.99 one-time or $199.99 per year; 2D-only Designer from $199.99
Platform: Windows; separate Mac version
Best for: CAD users who want 2D and 3D drafting with some architectural tools and no mandatory subscription

TurboCAD Deluxe combines 2D drafting with 3D modeling and includes architectural walls, doors, windows and roof tools. It reads and writes DWG and DXF, and you can still buy it as a perpetual license, which is rare in this market.

It remains a general CAD program at heart. Several advanced architectural tools, such as architectural sections and elevations, are reserved for the more expensive Platinum edition, and the interface expects CAD knowledge. Our page on TurboCAD alternatives compares it in detail.

6. LibreCAD: Best Free 2D Drafting Software

Price: free, open source
Platform: Windows, Mac and Linux
Best for: simple 2D drawings on a zero budget

LibreCAD is a lightweight, free 2D drafting program with layers, blocks, snapping, dimensions and hatches. It uses DXF as its native format and is easy to install on almost any computer, which makes it a good free choice for simple floor plan sketches and details.

For a full set of house plans it is very limited. There is no 3D, no sheet layout with title blocks in the usual sense, no architectural objects, and DWG files can only be read with restrictions.

7. FreeCAD: Free Drafting with 3D and BIM

Price: free, open source
Platform: Windows, Mac and Linux
Best for: technical users who want free 3D modeling, BIM objects and drawing sheets

FreeCAD is a parametric 3D CAD program. Its BIM workbench adds walls, windows, structures and sections, and the TechDraw workbench produces drawing sheets with views, dimensions and title blocks. It is the most capable free option if you want drawings derived from a model.

The price for this flexibility is usability. Many steps are manual, the workflow is technical, and it takes considerable time before you can draft a complete house with it.

How to Choose the Right Drafting Software

• You need a complete set of house plans, including sections, elevations and permit drawings: choose an object-based program like Plan7Architect, which derives every drawing from one model.
• You draft many kinds of 2D drawings and exchange DWG files daily: AutoCAD LT or DraftSight are the classic choices.
• You produce residential construction documents full time: Chief Architect Premier, if the subscription fits your budget.
• You only need occasional 2D sketches for free: LibreCAD is enough, and FreeCAD if you are willing to learn a technical program.
• You do not want a subscription: Plan7Architect combines a one-time price with complete house drawings and DWG/DXF exchange.

Plan and Draft Your House with Plan7Architect

With Plan7Architect you draft professional floor plans, sections, elevations and permit drawings with automatic dimensions, and you see your house in 3D at the same time, without CAD experience and without a subscription. Our video tutorials take you from the first wall to the finished plan sheet. Every purchase comes with a 14-day right of withdrawal: if the software is not what you expected, you can simply cancel your purchase by email.