“I bought Plan7Architect Pro earlier this year because I wanted something that could help me sketch out ideas for a house I might build in the next few years. I’m not an architect, but I’ve played around with different drafting programs before, and most of them are either too expensive or way too basic. Plan7 kind of sits in the middle, which is what I needed.
The first day was a bit rough, I’ll be honest. The controls aren’t the same as what I’m used to, especially in 3D. I kept losing the camera or zooming halfway across the project without meaning to. After a few evenings, though, it started to make sense. It’s not “instant” software — you do have to learn how it wants to be used. The AI voice in the tutorial videos threw me off too. It’s not terrible, but it feels a bit robotic. Still understandable, just… odd.
One thing that really annoyed me: there’s no Mac version. My main machine is a MacBook, so that didn’t help. I ended up buying a cheap Windows laptop on sale just for this program. Not ideal, but once I had Windows up and running, the software itself behaved fine.
What I actually like most is that it feels like a real architectural tool. You draw walls properly, you set thicknesses, you add details. It’s not one of those drag-and-drop toy apps where everything looks like a cartoon. I managed to draw a full layout of a ground floor and printed it out for my partner, and it actually looked like something you’d see in a planning document.
Importing objects from SketchUp was something I didn’t expect to use, but it helped with furniture and outdoor stuff. The built-in library isn’t huge, so the import option kind of fills that gap.
I’m not sure I’d recommend it to someone who refuses to watch tutorials or expects an app that works like a mobile game. But if you’re willing to sit down for a few hours and figure things out, it’s solid. I use it occasionally when I get a new idea and want to see if it fits on the plan. It does the job.
Would I buy it again? Yeah, probably. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good balance of price and capability.”
