OpenLandscape3D vs. iScape
iScape is a phone and tablet app for designing a landscape on top of a photo of the yard, or in augmented reality, with a large library of plants and hardscape and a proposal tool for professionals.
At a glance
| Question | iScape | OpenLandscape3D |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier with limited features; Pro $29.99/month or $299.99/year per user | Free, MIT-licensed; no account |
| Platforms | iOS and Android; 3D design on iOS only | Desktop and tablet browsers today; iPhone, iPad and Mac app not yet on the App Store |
| How you design | On a photo of the yard, or in AR | On a scaled plan, seen in plan and 3D |
| Plants | Thousands of plants and products to drag, drop and resize | 250 plants for three U.S. pilot regions, with sourced data marked draft |
| Time | The design as installed | Any month and year after planting; sun and shadows by hour |
| Output | Shareable photo designs, materials list, PDF proposals with pricing (Pro) | Print/PDF sheet, plant and task schedules, HD/4K renders, open JSON |
What iScape does well
- Design directly on a photo of the real yard, or in AR, so the result is easy to picture in context
- A large library of plants, pavers, furniture and hardscape items to drag, drop and resize
- Pro adds a materials list and customizable PDF proposals with pricing and your business details
- Available now on both iPhone and Android, with a free tier to try
How OpenLandscape3D differs
- Plants come with data, not just a picture: mature size, hardiness, light, moisture and sources for each catalog plant
- A to-scale plan of the boundary, beds and hardscape, with plan and 3D drawn from the same model
- Scrub months and years to see bloom, fall color, winter branches and mature spread, with sun and shadows by hour
- Ten design checks that explain crowding, sun and moisture mismatches and other problems, each with a stable id
- Free and open source, with no account; your design stays in your browser unless you export it
Where OpenLandscape3D falls short today
- No design on a photo of your yard and no photoreal images; the 3D view is a modeled scene
- The iPhone, iPad and Mac app (GPS boundary walk, AR measuring, field notes) is not yet on the App Store, and there is no Android app
- The plant catalog covers three U.S. pilot regions, its data is still draft and unreviewed, and it has no plant photos
- No branded proposals; cost figures are planning price ranges
See the roadmap for what is planned next.
Choose iScape if…
You want to show a client, or yourself, what a design looks like on a photo of the actual yard, you work from a phone or an Android tablet, or you need quick proposals with pricing.
Choose OpenLandscape3D if…
You want a scaled planting plan whose plants carry facts, and want to see how it fills in across seasons and years before buying anything, free and without an account.
iScape details are based on public vendor pages as checked on (iScape features and pricing) and may have changed; check with the vendor for current features and pricing. See also the full list of landscape design tools. Product names are trademarks of their owners; no affiliation is implied.
Start designing in your browser
OpenLandscape3D is free and open source. Draw the site, place regional plants, and scrub through seasons and years before anything goes in the ground.