Polycam
Phone-based 3D scanning with photogrammetry, lidar and gaussian splats for real spaces and objects.
why this verdict
Keep paying — Google has not replaced it
Google's version overlaps, but does not finish the design job, so this one still earns its $17/mo.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- Generative 3D covering prop and environment needs without any physical capture. Google, April 8, 2025 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers not the job editorial call
- Parts of it. The job still needs the tool to get finished.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 2 of 3 listed replacements have a usable free tier: Luma Dream Machine and Sketchfab.
- What the call is worth $204/yr
- $17/mo at the entry paid tier — $204 a year per seat.
- Threatened by
- Since
- April 8, 2025
- List price
- $17/mo
- Per year
- $204
The backstory
Polycam turns phone photos and lidar into measurable 3D scans of real rooms, sites and objects. Generative 3D invents plausible geometry, which is useless when you need the actual dimensions of a client's kitchen. Surveyors, contractors and set designers need capture, not imagination. That grounding in physical reality is exactly what generation cannot substitute for.
Escape hatches
Property-focused capture with hosted virtual tours
matterport.com open_in_newAlso does neural capture alongside video generation
lumalabs.ai open_in_newPublish and share the scans you capture
sketchfab.com open_in_new2 of 3 replacements have a usable free tier.