SoftPlan Reviews & Product Details

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User Insights

Average based on 20 real user reviews.

Perceived Cost

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Gregory G.

Owner/Contractor

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

8/5/2022

"My key is no longer recognized and I get no help from Tech Support"

3.5/5

What do you like best about SoftPlan?

Ease of use when it's working is nice but let it get old and you're screwed. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SoftPlan?

Lack of support if it's not a "Newer" version Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Heather W.

Owner

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

11/10/2020

"Softplan is the best program for me designing residentially."

5/5

What do you like best about SoftPlan?

Softplan has come so far in the 20 years I’ve been using it. Can do 3D drawings so much easier, showing clients different views. The design process is quicker with all of the different tools that have been added along the way. The support on the Softplan site is very helpful as well when looking for help/resources. Tech is also amazing if having any issues. Symbols & several other things can be added into softplan to customize. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SoftPlan?

The biggest downside, which is probably on my end, is how often the program crashes - possibly bc I’m trying to do too much too fast & too many files open at once. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Brittany K.

Architectural Drafter and Construction estimator

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

2/2/2021

"Easy to learn the basics, customizing can get complicated"

3.5/5

What do you like best about SoftPlan?

The ability to customize, the 3D abilities, and the rough estimating that can be done using soft list. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SoftPlan?

I find there’s often glitches, or work arounds needed. The softplan forum is very helpful to get users experiences and help. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering SoftPlan:

You can’t hold AutoCAD as the standard. These are very different programs. You will need to re-learn commands but it will come easy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SoftPlan solving and how is that benefiting you?

Something as simple and doing a clean sketch for fabrication to house plans. The ability to walk through the 3D home with clients really gets them excited and gives them confidence that things are being taken care of. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Chris R.

Project Manager

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

12/22/2020

Business partner of the seller or seller's competitor, not included in G2 scores.

"Easy to Use, and Unlimited Options"

4.5/5

What do you like best about SoftPlan?

Softplan easily and quickly allows me to put together a 3d model to show clients what direction we can go in. The renderings really help with customer satisfaction. Not everyone can visualize how something will look based off a 2D drawing. The modeling and rendering capabilities really make the project jump out. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SoftPlan?

I have to trick the program on a few occasions to get the exact roof profile I am looking for. Other than that, this does most everything I need it to do. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

J.T. U.

Engineering Technologist

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/1/2020

"A+ Software"

5/5

What do you like best about SoftPlan?

I like the fact that every symbol and wall its integrated to one another and can be named, modified and adjusted to fit the design criteria you need without necessarily having to create a new block for a custom symbol every time. I also like the manual drafting tools. I find this is a good Solid 3D and 2D CAD Program. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SoftPlan?

Sometimes there are minor glitches in the system - typically in my experience this was due to a hardware issue on my end - most things are minor and most likely arise because of a lack of knowledge on how to design something a certain way. I do wish however, that there would be more integration of Canadian companies - But this also could be a package they offer that I am not aware of. Most of everything is U.S. Pricing in material lists. This can be manually inputted. So I guess its more of a convenience thing. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering SoftPlan:

I Highly Recommend giving Softplan a try if conventional 2D Based CAD is what you currently are using. It takes time to get comfortable with the commands, but there is enough resources in their manual and online to figure out it in a relatively easy way. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SoftPlan solving and how is that benefiting you?

I am solving issues of assemblies of multiple floors. I have the resources available to design a building exactly in 3D as seen in the Plan view. This ensures everything is accounted for in the design before it is built to reduce the amount of unforeseen issues when building onsite. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Michael C.

Principal

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

11/22/2020

"The architectural software with the right balance"

5/5

What do you like best about SoftPlan?

Drawing tools, great libraries, 3D on split screens. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SoftPlan?

I will it integrated tools to allow more creation of shapes with the ability to rotate solids on a 3D plane. It is rather limited, leaving us to create them in Sketchup and import. It seemed like a natural ability to include this capability within the program. Roof and stair tools can use an upgrade. The roof has a ton of tools but it still makes you trick it more than we would like. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering SoftPlan:

Overall, we found every program has limitations. This really gives us control over line weights, and every aspect of the house, including cabinetry, framing, modeling, manufacturer products etc... Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SoftPlan solving and how is that benefiting you?

This gives us control over the stacking of floors, and even add necessary framing. Site plan tools are great. We are able to to add Google earth coordinates and generate the terrain automatically from Google earth data. Construction documents are very solid. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Emily B.

Design Consultant

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

12/22/2020

"Softplan is great!"

5/5

What do you like best about SoftPlan?

The tools are very user friendly and it makes creating floorplans a breeze, much easier than autocad. I love the 3D feature and how easy and quick it is to create floorplan shells. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SoftPlan?

No complaints here yet. I have used several programs and this seems to be the most user friendly to me. Programs like Sketchup I have found force close a lot and Autocad can get very complicated Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering SoftPlan:

Just do it! Other competitors just dont have the ease of use that this program does. Your clients will be delighted at the finished product! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SoftPlan solving and how is that benefiting you?

There are many benefits. I feel I can use this program in front of a client and give them a 3D feel quickly whereas that would take me a while in AutoCad. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Andrew M.

Design Draftsperson / Drafting Supervisor

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/11/2021

"Residential BIM alternative"

4/5

What do you like best about SoftPlan?

SoftPlan's libraries are highly customizable to suit your preferred construction methods and SoftPlan+ users have access to material content which is frequently added. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SoftPlan?

In comparison with ubiquitous BIM packages such as Revit, SoftPlan lacks a solid parametric family editor. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering SoftPlan:

If you're primarily doing residential design then SoftPlan for producing documentation efficiently. However if you also require structural engineering detailing then you might need a companion package. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SoftPlan solving and how is that benefiting you?

Using SoftList to identify correct takeoff quantities which will realize cost savings for our company. Price lists can be maintained in linked MS Excel sheets and changes populated instantaneously. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Architecture & Planning

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/20/2020

"SoftPlan review from Brian Curtis"

2/5

What do you like best about SoftPlan?

The program was fairly easy to learn, even without actual "training" on the software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SoftPlan?

Some of the processes for drafting, dimensioning, etc. seemed as though they intentionally made it to be almost the exact opposite of say, Autocad. For someone who has had over 20 years using Autocad, the SoftPlan software was extremely frustrating at times. While learning the software it would take me 3 or more "extra" steps to produce something I could've completed in minutes in Autocad but in SoftPlan would take much longer to achieve the same outcome. Dimensioning was cumbersome and creating a roof was far more difficult than other programs I've used. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SoftPlan solving and how is that benefiting you?

SoftPlan was somewhat helpful when creating material takeoffs. However, it took quite a bit of trial and error on the front end to have the software produce anything remotely accurate or useful for our procurement department. It definitely required quite a bit of "tweaking" to get to that point. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.