SketchUp Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Reviews & Insights

Score7.7 out of 10

192 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for SketchUp are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Business Problems Solved

SketchUp is a versatile tool that is widely used in various industries, including architecture, interior design, structural design, landscape design, and manufacturing design. Users have found SketchUp to be a fast and efficient solution for creating 3D models for designing buildings, furniture, equipment, and brochures. Its affordability and ease of learning make it accessible for both clients and consultants. SketchUp Pro, in particular, is a popular choice among organizations without extensive training. Real estate professionals rely on SketchUp to help sellers visualize different staging and marketing options for homes. It is utilized throughout all phases of design and construction documents for both residential and commercial projects. SketchUp excels at creating 3D drawings that meet various design requirements.

In addition to its architectural applications, SketchUp also finds use in other fields. For example, it provides visual assistance in test setups by allowing users to build 3D models that demonstrate the connection and transfer of forces. The software is internationally recognized for its extensive capabilities in making 3D designs easily, making it popular among architects, engineers, and industrial designers. In the construction industry, SketchUp is employed for design visualization and collaboration among team members. Nonprofit organizations utilize SketchUp to create visual representations of tradeshow displays, television studio set mockups, and graphics for printed publications. Designers in the furniture industry depend on SketchUp to quickly develop 3D models of office furniture and create prototypes.

Overall, SketchUp helps professionals from a range of disciplines connect better with their clients by providing a visual experience beyond traditional 2D drawings. It serves as the main visualization and 3D modeling tool for architects during client presentations, internal study sessions, and quick adjustments based on feedback. With its broad range of features and ease of use, SketchUp continues to be embraced by users across industries to enhance their design understanding and visualization capabilities.

Reviews

24 Reviews

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

SketchUp is a Great Conceptual Software to Start Your Design Process

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

October 7, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use it as a design tool to study different massing, skin and materials on buildings. It allows us to also model context of buildings and through Enscape, get renderings for clients. This allows us to pick the best design options and come up with solutions before putting our final design into Revit for documentation.

Pros

Quickly models massings
Quickly looks at materials
Renderings views well

Cons

SketchUp does not do well with modeling curved surfaces.
SketchUp does not let two people work in the model at once.
It is very hard to model complex geometries in SketchUp.

Likelihood to Recommend

SketchUp is great for individually studying options for building design. It is an awesome conceptual tool to be able to quickly model and manipulate a building to study different designs. It is not good for complex geometries, especially curves. Surfaces have a hard time registering and cutting into one another. It also eventually needs to go into Revit to be more realistic as it is not good as a documentation tool.

Verified User

Professional (Architecture & Planning company, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

9 years of experience

Non simple copy command

Rating: 6 out of 10

Incentivized

June 29, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I have been using SketchUp for architectural building modeling for about 6 years. and There is no direct command for copy paste and this is a big problem. To copy, it is necessary to hold down ctrl after the move command. copy should be a stand-alone command. Working with the move command is a waste of time.

Pros

Practice
Basic
Simple

Cons

There is no direct command for copy-paste and this is a big problem. To copy, it is necessary to hold down ctrl after the move command. copy should be a stand-alone command. Working with the move command is a waste of time.
All commands must have adjustable shortcuts. a waste of time selecting commands one by one from the right screen

Likelihood to Recommend

SketchUp is available in all areas associated with the design. In addition, thanks to its simple and plain interface, it can be a tool to support experimental learning for children.

Verified User

Professional in Research & Development (Architecture & Planning company, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

SketchUp is like a good friend, reliable in a pinch

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

May 19, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use SketchUp for early design-phase work. It is much easier to creatively model in 3-D than other BIM software, especially when the design is frequently being changed. I also use SketchUp to create phasing diagrams, master plans, and renders. I really enjoy linking SketchUp to Enscape to really make the model come to life.

Pros

Visualization when connected with Enscape
Easy user interface
Ability to edit materials

Cons

Lots of "bug splat" crashes
Can't always create complex geometries without plug-ins
Only one employee can work in the model at once

Likelihood to Recommend

SketchUp is very well suited for rendering, diagramming, iterative design, fly-throughs, and phasing. It is a great tool for students and senior designers alike, and eases employees into more complex BIM software.
SketchUp is not great at construction documents, or anything that requires the Layout program; this is a headache.

Verified User

Employee (Architecture & Planning company, 201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

9 years of experience

The best quick and diverse 3-D modeling software available

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

March 24, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SketchUp is our go to 3D modeling software to quickly visualize a space and share it with clients. On multiple occasions we have used it's large web based library to find objects that we integrate into our models and then export into rendering software to provide a polished 3D visual for our clients. The super intuitive nature makes it easy for anyone to 3D model, and I prefer it over our other 3D modeling programs with use.

Pros

Intuitive 3D modeling tools
Vast web based library
Exportable to a vast range of other software

Cons

Better integration of "Layers"
Having a "Free" viewer program so I can share models with clients to explore
Auto size to sheet size option for importing PDF's so I don't have to constantly scale.

Likelihood to Recommend

SketchUp itself does not always produced highly polished renderings of 3D models, but it really does not need to. It can quickly create models for us, which is typically more important since it saves time and money. When we want a highly polished image, since SketchUp is so widely used, it can export natively to most other platforms (I.E. Twinmotion, ArchiCad, etc...)

Brian Walker, AIA

Architect in Professional Services at Align Architecture & Planning, PLC (Architecture & Planning, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

17 years of experience

View profile

The Free Version is an Amazingly Solid Product for the (Non-existent) Price

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

February 15, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SketchUp two ways. The first is as a layout tool for planning video production on location and stages (ie, mapping sets, camera movement, etc.). We also use it to mock up installations for clients' approval prior to building them (for conferences, conventions, etc.).

Pros

Incredibly easy and intuitive to use
Great for simple layouts and diagrams

Cons

Sometimes buggy
Limited ability to customize and fine tune the look of printed materials (in the free version)

Likelihood to Recommend

At our company, we often need to make "down and dirty" plans for video shoots (normally corporate promotional and marketing films). These plans are intended for internal use: making sure our production team has a clear vision for what they need to accomplish in the limited time we have available. So they don't need to be fancy, they just need to be clear and easy to generate. SketchUp is great for this. It's easy to quickly mark out rough floorplans of the stages and locations where we shoot, then diagram camera placement and movements.

Matt Eddy

Creative Director in Marketing at The Buzz Lab (Marketing & Advertising, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

Quick and easy tool

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

December 20, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use SketchUp to provide sketches, layouts, elevations, and renderings for my interior design clients.

Pros

quick sketching with measurements
easy renderings
layouts of spaces

Cons

could be easier to maneuver

Likelihood to Recommend

Quick renderings in 3D of kitchens and bathrooms are great and fast. For 2D layouts, something like AutoCAD is more appropriate.

Chiara Ricci

Owner in Professional Services at Amare House & Design LLC (Architecture & Planning, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

The man, the myth, the SketchUp

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

December 20, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SketchUp for quick iterations and design studies. Particularly conceptual level things. I think a lot of people in the design field have used SketchUp in school or at other places so it is important to have it in the firm if designers have a desire to use it.

Pros

it is intuitive, the hotkeys make sense, you can pick it up and start making 3D forms really quickly and it doesn't look overwhelming out of the box.
quick and nimble to create 3d geometry, morph it around, push and pull faces, vertices, edges, etc.
visualizing 3d geometry. It's called SketchUp and I really like the sketchy quality of everything. it feels looser than say AutoCAD.

Cons

you can't do NURBS modeling or true curves. everything is mesh-based. for example, if you want to make a circle, it will really be a polygon with many facets on it.
interoperability with other software isn't great.
construction documentation? it's possible but not as good as Revit or even AutoCAD/Rhino.

Likelihood to Recommend

I think SketchUp is really well suited for nimble design iteration and visualization. you can crank out some massing studies and make sweet-looking diagrams to explain broad concepts. where it falls short is when you want to get a more precise design going and leverage that geometry into Revit.

Andrew Huss

Junior Architect in Professional Services at Hollis + Miller Architects (Architecture & Planning, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

Great tool

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

December 18, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Sketchup is my go-to program for 3D modeling of interior architecture.

Pros

Ease of Use
Good Warehouse of Components
Fast and Reliable

Cons

Always room for more components
Make creating rounded objects easier
Make it look more realistic

Likelihood to Recommend

Great for 3D modeling, and super fast and easy. I have always had to transfer the information to CAD later on in order to move forward with CDS.

Paulina Drozdzowski

Project Lead at Waring Associates (Design, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

Ideal tool for architectural design, presentation, and problem-solving

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 24, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SketchUp for design studies and renderings primarily. The flexible modelling system, easy navigation, and customizable views make SketchUp easy to teach and troubleshoot. We have used Vray and Enscape plugins with SketchUp for renderings, lately favoring Enscape for the speed and high quality. We design residential, office, and cultural projects, and SketchUp allows us to quickly get feedback from clients as well as make quick adjustments based on the feedback. We use Revit for design documentation, and the two tools are fairly compatible. Revit can be easily exported to SketchUp, although there are limitations.

Pros

3D modeling.
Rendering.
Walkthrough/Animation.
Design review.
View styles.

Cons

Complex geometry.
Parametric modelling (ex. adjustable profile extrusions).
Additional views within the modeling window.
Grouping views.
Collaborative/simultaneous modeling.

Likelihood to Recommend

SketchUp is best used to solve difficult 3D design problems. It is the best tool to quickly model solutions, move around freely to review, and try alternative solutions. Once options are set, SketchUp plugins allow quick and flexible rendering production. SketchUp is very friendly to non-technical users and works well at client meetings to give a better sense of what traditional drawings represent.

In most cases, a separate documentation tool is required. We use Revit for a number of reasons, mainly to automate updates to drawings as the design progresses. Revit and SketchUp can work together, especially exporting geometry from Revit to SketchUp. In this case, you can freely move around the exported geometry in SketchUp and make adjustments for approval before returning to Revit for slower technical modeling/drawing.

Verified User

Professional in Professional Services (Architecture & Planning company, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

Great for conceptual models and interior finishes

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

March 12, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Sketchup is used for early massing models and design studies in the conceptual phase of large scale commercial office projects, and in later stages of design for interior and retail projects. Sketchup models are often used as a basis for clean graphic exhibits, and for 3D renderings, fly-throughs, and virtual reality.

Pros

Very easy to learn.
Robust enough to manage various file types and modeling tasks
Great graphics options, easy to get clean presentation exhibits from 3D models.

Cons

Not very useful for document production, like scale drawings.
It has limited file type compatibility.
It does not have the tools for complex geometry.

Likelihood to Recommend

Sketchup is an excellent tool for quick 3D studies and the production of clean presentation graphics, from cartoony diagrams to full rendered scenes (with the right plugins). Sketchup excels particularly at material mapping, which is much more intuitive than other 3D software. The way it handles material and texture also makes it an excellent tool for creating photorealistic renderings and virtual reality walk-throughs.

Verified User

Professional (Architecture & Planning company, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience