Architectural Rendering Cost Calculator — Outsourced vs In-House
What a year of renders actually costs you — and what the alternatives cost.
Free · no sign-up · nothing uploaded — the maths runs in your browser.
Cost per year
96 images × $450 each
96 images × 4 h × $60/h
$29/month, 33 Ultra renders included
Read this as three different products, not three prices for the same thing. A studio gives you a physically accurate, art-directed final image. In-house gives you full control and eats the time. AI gives you a convincing image in under a minute with no scene setup — which is what most of these 96 images actually need to be.
What a render costs, by deliverable
Published figures from studio price pages and pricing guides, collected 20 September 2026. The middle column is where most quotes land; the outer range includes both budget freelancers and premium studios.
| Deliverable | Published range | Where most quotes land |
|---|---|---|
| Exterior still, per image | $200 – $10,000+ | $500 – $2,500 |
| Interior still, per image | $150 – $2,600 | $400 – $1,500 |
| Aerial / bird’s eye, per view | $300 – $5,000+ | $800 – $2,500 |
| 3D floor plan, per floor | $50 – $2,100 | $250 – $800 |
| 360° panorama, per scene | $200 – $8,500 | $350 – $2,000 |
| Animation, per finished minute | $1,200 – $20,000+ | $2,500 – $8,000 |
| Animation, per second | $20 – $330 | $50 – $150 |
Two studios in the sample quote interiors at $1,400–$2,600 and floor plans at $600–$1,200 — well above the rest. Those reflect their own positioning rather than a market average, which is why the middle column exists.
The costs that are not in the headline price
Every studio in the sample includes some revisions and charges for the rest. This is where an outsourced budget actually escapes.
| Item | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Revision rounds included | 2 – 3 rounds | Sample runs from 1 to 5 rounds |
| Extra revision round | $75 – $400 | Or billed hourly at $50 – $250 |
| Rush delivery | +25% – 50% | Usually for turnarounds under 5 business days |
| Volume discount | 15% – 30% | From roughly 4–5 images upward |
| Custom modelling | $25 – $200 per item | Anything outside the studio’s asset library |
| Hourly rate | $50 – $150 | Freelance to mid-tier studio |
What you pay depends on who you hire
Same deliverable, four different markets. The bottom row is the reason this calculator exists.
| Provider | Exterior still | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | $300 – $1,200 | One person, variable availability, limited revisions |
| Mid-tier studio | $800 – $2,500 | Art direction, 2–3 revision rounds, 1–2 week schedule |
| Premium studio | $2,000 – $8,000+ | Physically accurate final deliverable, full production |
| AI tools | $0.04 – $1 per image | Seconds, no scene setup, no art direction |
| Archome AI | $0.29 Fast · $0.87 Ultra | About 30 seconds per image on the $29 plan |
These are not the same product. A studio gives you an art-directed, physically accurate final image. AI gives you a convincing image in under a minute. Most practices that use both pay for CGI when the image is the deliverable, and use AI for everything before that.
Why this matters
Most practices know what one outsourced render costs and have never multiplied it by a year. The number is usually larger than expected, and it is almost never on anyone's budget line because it arrives project by project as a disbursement.
This adds it up three ways: what you pay an external studio, what the same work costs in your own time at your charge-out rate, and what an AI tool costs for the same volume. It is deliberately blunt about where AI does and does not replace the other two.
No email required and nothing is stored. The reason competitors gate this behind a form is that the number is a sales argument — but a calculator you have to pay for with your address is a calculator nobody trusts.
Worth knowing
- —AI does not replace a final, physically accurate deliverable — it replaces the early passes you would otherwise pay for or skip
- —The in-house column is usually the one that surprises people: render setup time is real time, billed or not
- —Revisions are where outsourced cost escalates; count them honestly or the comparison is meaningless
Frequently asked
How much does an architectural render cost?+
Outsourced still images commonly run from a few hundred to a couple of thousand US dollars each depending on complexity, detail and turnaround, with revisions charged separately. Prices vary widely by studio and region, so use your own quoted figure in the calculator rather than any published average.
Is AI rendering actually cheaper?+
Per image, substantially — but they are not the same product. AI gives you a convincing image in under a minute with no scene setup; a rendering studio gives you a physically accurate, art-directed final deliverable. Most practices that use both use AI for options and early client work, and pay for CGI when the image is the deliverable.
What about doing renders in-house?+
The software is often already paid for, so the cost hides in time: material setup, lighting, test frames and the machine tied up while it renders. Multiply that by your charge-out rate and it frequently exceeds what an external studio quoted — which is the calculation this tool is really for.
Does Archome have a free tier?+
Yes. Every account gets 100 free credits to start with no card, which covers three renders — enough to judge output on your own project before deciding anything.
How much does an interior rendering cost?+
Published studio prices run from about $150 to $2,600 per image, with most quotes landing between $400 and $1,500. Individual studios in the sample quote $249, $500, $550 and $600 as their entry price for a single interior. Complexity, the number of views and how clean your source model is move the figure more than anything else.
How much does an exterior rendering cost?+
Between $200 and $10,000 across the published sample, with the bulk of quotes between $500 and $2,500 per image. Studios that publish a flat rate quote $499, $700 and $750 for a single residential exterior; commercial and multi-building projects start higher, typically from $900.
How much does a 3D floor plan cost?+
Commonly $250 to $800 per floor, with published flat rates of $299 and $800 per plan and one studio offering a basic version from $69.95. A furnished 3D plan costs more than an unfurnished one, and a dollhouse or sectional view more again.
How much does an architectural animation cost?+
Per finished minute, $2,500 to $8,000 covers most quotes; the full published range runs from $1,200 to over $20,000. Some studios price by the second instead, typically $50 to $150, with published rates from $20 up to $330. A 60-second walkthrough is therefore rarely under $2,000 and often over $5,000.
Why do two quotes for the same project differ so much?+
Because the price is mostly labour, and labour depends on who does it and where. The same exterior still is $300 to $1,200 from a freelancer, $800 to $2,500 from a mid-tier studio and $2,000 to $8,000 from a premium one. Region moves it again: published guides put Asia at $150 to $800 against $600 to $2,500 in the US and Canada.
What should a quote include before I accept it?+
Number of views and final resolution, how many revision rounds are inside the price, what an extra round costs, the delivery date and the rush premium if you miss your own deadline, whether custom modelling of non-library items is included, and the licence — what you are allowed to do with the image afterwards. Most budget overruns in the sample come from the second and third of those.
Is this about 3D rendering or rendering a house wall?+
This page is about 3D architectural rendering — computer-generated images of a building. If you are pricing render as a wall finish (cement, lime or silicone render applied to a facade), this is the wrong calculator; that is a building trade priced per square metre by local contractors.
Where these figures come from
Collected 20 September 2026 from published price pages and pricing guides. Studios change prices; check the source before you quote from it.
- Trim Render — published price list
- Render3DQuick — price list and turnaround
- RealSpace 3D — pricing guide
- ArchiCGI — exterior cost breakdown
- Rapid Renders — pricing
- 7CGI — published rates
- Bella Virtual — published rates
- NoTriangle Studio — cost of renderings
- Alden Studios — 3D rendering prices
- Maverick Frame — pricing breakdown
- Freedes Studio — cost guide
- Cedreo — architectural rendering costs
Keep going
Archome AI turns a photo, sketch or CAD viewport into a photorealistic render in about 30 seconds. Every account gets 100 free credits to start with no card — start free or read the guide for architects.