Home Designer 2026 and beyond will be subscription based

[yesimahuman]

I got into Home Designer last year as I've been doing a lot more serious DIY work around the house and been getting more value out of the tool. The thing is, I'm not a professional. I can't justify what they're charging for the full suite. What is ultimately going to happen is they are going to lose this growing market of DIYers that have no onramp into their products. Maybe they don't care about that market, and that's fine. But there's no way to really learn their products now. Compare that to Autodesk Fusion where they have a nice free tier for hobbyists and students to learn. They know they make their money from businesses, and keeping the bottom of the market happy helps build a pipeline for people learning CAD tools and taking it to future jobs. I think this is a very shortsighted decision from the Chief Architect folks.

[JohnTwo]

I am very disappointed. I started with Home Designer Deluxe in 2006 and upgraded only once since then.  I'm not a rich man so I had been saving up to upgrade again.  I'm just a hobbyist who likes to play with the software as a creative outlet.

 

After saving, and getting a new PC that could handle the newer software, I decided tonight to go look at Home Designer to prepare to pull the trigger.  And what do I see?  Its now an annual subscription of $495.  Wow.  Just wow.  I understand the need for a revenue stream but I cant do that.  So i can here just to add my voice and hope that perhaps they will reconsider this ill advised move.  From what I am reading, I'm not the only one who will not bite on that hook.

[GlasgowGrip]

On 12/1/2025 at 6:37 PM, Renerabbitt said:

You would be genuinely hard-pressed to find a software package comparable to the Home Designer line for anything near the annual cost. The value per dollar is still extremely strong.

@Renerabbit:   

If I may ask, where did you see this discount?  Was it for renewals or only for new subscribers?  Assuming it was a "Black Friday" special, what is your best guess as to whether this will be made available in the future?  If so, then the lowest cost to subscribe would be to wait until November/December, and then renew every subsequent year when "Black Friday" rolls around.  I can't afford to wait that long, I need to upgrade from the too-crippled HD Arch '25 version, but I also want to minimize the annual cost.  As usual, the little guy (DIY'er) gets the short end of the stick.