magicplan vs Polycam vs RoomScan Pro vs Alcovia: LiDAR Scanning Apps Compared (2026)

The short version

All four apps scan a room with the LiDAR Scanner on an iPhone Pro or iPad Pro. They split on what happens after the scan.

magicplan turns the scan into floor plans, photo reports and estimates, and its site now leads with restoration work. Pick it when the deliverable is a documented, priced job file.

Polycam captures the most detailed 3D model of the four and adds floor plans on its Business plan. Pick it for as-builts, design files and anything you hand to an architect.

RoomScan Pro LiDAR, from Locometric, sticks to floor plans, with several capture modes and a long list of export formats, for $9.99 a month. Pick it when a plan is all you need.

Alcovia uses the scan to redesign the room with AI, produce photorealistic renders and, on its Growth plan, a takeoff and quote. Pick it when you scan rooms to sell remodels.

The rule that holds across all four: choose the app whose output matches what you hand over at the end of the job. The details below are current as of October 2026, taken from each vendor's own site and App Store listing.

Side by side

Platforms. magicplan runs on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, but scans only on iOS. Polycam runs on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, with room scanning on iOS only. RoomScan Pro LiDAR runs on iPhone and iPad, with no Android or web version. Alcovia runs on iPhone and iPad.

LiDAR room scanning. All four, on the iPhone 12 Pro and later Pro models and LiDAR-equipped iPad Pros.

Without LiDAR. magicplan offers a camera-based scan on other iPhones. Polycam builds a 3D mesh on iPhone 13 and later, with no floor plan. RoomScan Pro has Touch Mode, where you tap the phone against each wall. Alcovia's scanning needs LiDAR.

Floor plans. magicplan: 2D plans with 3D and elevation views. Polycam: 2D and 3D floor plans on the Business plan. RoomScan Pro: floor plans with ceiling heights, wall areas and heat-loss figures. Alcovia: an auto-generated floor plan on the Core and Growth plans.

Detailed 3D capture. Polycam leads, with textured meshes, point clouds and photo-based capture including Gaussian splats. magicplan and RoomScan Pro export basic 3D files such as OBJ and USDZ. Alcovia builds a 3D model of the room on its Core and Growth plans.

Estimating. magicplan has a built-in estimator with your own price lists on its PRO plans. Polycam and RoomScan Pro have none. Alcovia produces a material takeoff and project quote on the Growth plan.

AI redesign and photorealistic remodel renders. Alcovia only. The other three show the room as it is.

Insurance and CAD exports. magicplan: Xactimate ESX and FML on PRO plans in North America, plus DXF and IFC. Polycam: ESX through Verisk at $19.99 per export on Business, plus DXF. RoomScan Pro: ESX, FML, DXF, IFC and more. Alcovia is aimed at client proposals rather than claim files.

Price to start. magicplan: a free Starter plan with two projects, in-app plans from $12.99 a month, PRO from $25 per project with a 10-project monthly minimum. Polycam: free, then Basic at $150 a year and Business at $400 per user per year. RoomScan Pro: $9.99 a month or $119.99 a year. Alcovia: first project free, then Basic at $29 per seat per month, Core at $49 per project or Growth at $199 per project.

magicplan: floor plans, reports and estimates, aimed at restoration

magicplan scans with LiDAR through its Auto-Scan feature, which is built on Apple's RoomPlan, and it can scan with the camera on iPhones that don't have LiDAR. You get a 2D floor plan with 3D and elevation views, and you can pin photos, notes, video and 360 tours to the plan. It also pairs with Bluetooth laser meters from Bosch, Leica, Hilti and others when you want a measured number rather than a scanned one.

The estimator is the part contractors notice. On PRO plans you build estimates from your own price lists, with quantities pulled from the plan, markups and taxes, and export them to PDF or Excel. Insurance work gets ESX exports for Xactimate.

That focus shows on magicplan's homepage, which now speaks to restoration teams. A remodeler can still get plenty out of it, but the photo and moisture reports and the claim exports are built around losses, not kitchens.

What it doesn't do: magicplan has no AI redesign and no photorealistic renders. Its help center points you to a third-party integration, Floorplanner, for renderings.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android and a web app. Android users can't scan; they draw the room or define its corners instead.

Pricing: PRO is priced per project with a minimum of 10 projects a month. That's $25 per project on a 24-month plan, $30 on a 12-month plan, and $40 month to month, with unlimited users. A free Starter plan includes two projects. Single users can buy a Sketch plan at $12.99 a month or a Report plan at $39.99 a month in the app; the estimator stays a PRO feature.

Polycam: the most detailed 3D capture

Polycam is a general 3D capture platform, and for raw capture it's the strongest of the four. On a LiDAR iPhone or iPad, one Space Mode scan gives you a 3D mesh plus 2D and 3D floor plans (the floor plans need the Business plan). Object Mode builds models from photos, Gaussian splats included, and the app also handles 360 photos and drone capture.

Since January 2026, Space Mode also works without LiDAR on iPhone 13 and later, but that version produces a mesh only, without a floor plan.

The Business plan is where the contractor tools live: floor plans, measuring tools, point-cloud and floor-plan exports (PDF, DXF, PNG, SVG and CSV), and AI reports with square footage and wall areas. Business users can also send ESX files to Xactimate for $19.99 per export. There's no estimator.

What it doesn't do: Polycam reconstructs the room as it is. It has no AI redesign or remodel renders, and no takeoff, estimate or proposal tools.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android and the web. Room scanning is iOS only; the Android app captures objects from photos.

Pricing: Free; Basic at $150 a year or $30 a month; Business at $400 per user per year, billed yearly; Enterprise at $1,200 per user per year with a three-user minimum. Annual Basic and Business plans come with a 7-day free trial.

RoomScan Pro LiDAR: floor plans, several ways to capture

Locometric has made RoomScan since 2012. The app it sells today is RoomScan Pro LiDAR. The original app, which used to be called RoomScan Pro, is now RoomScan Classic, and Locometric points new customers to the LiDAR version. If you searched for RoomScan Pro, this is the one you want.

It gives you several ways to capture a room. Brick Mode is Locometric's own LiDAR scanning, which picks up doors, windows, fixtures and furniture. There's an Apple RoomPlan mode as well, a Closet Mode, support for Bluetooth lasers from Leica and Bosch, and Touch Mode, the original RoomScan method: you tap the phone against each wall and the app draws the plan. Locometric says Touch Mode works on any device and in dim light.

The output is a floor plan with ceiling heights, wall areas and heat-loss figures, plus exports in the formats adjusters and CAD users ask for: PDF, PNG, DXF, IFC, FML, Xactimate ESX, OBJ, PLY and more.

What it doesn't do: there's no estimator, no team workspace beyond sharing project files, and no AI redesign or renders.

Platforms: iPhone and iPad. There's no Android or web version.

Pricing: Locometric doesn't publish prices on its site. On the US App Store the app is a free download with subscriptions at $9.99 a month or $119.99 a year.

Alcovia: from the scan to a priced, rendered proposal

Alcovia starts with the same LiDAR scan and gives you an auto-generated floor plan and a 3D model of the room. Then it goes somewhere the other three don't. You redesign the room with AI, by describing the changes or applying the client's inspiration photo, and get photorealistic renders of the client's actual room, exported as a client-ready PDF. On the Growth plan, the same scan feeds a material takeoff and a project quote, and you also get a material catalog, a client design portal, a contractor CRM, and project management and scheduling.

Pricing: Core is $49 per project and Growth is $199 per project, with no monthly fee on either. Basic is $29 per seat per month for unlimited AI redesigns from photos, without scanning. Enterprise pricing is custom, for contractors running 100 or more projects a year.

The limits: Alcovia runs on iPhone and iPad only, and scanning needs a LiDAR-equipped Pro model. It's in closed beta, so you join the early-access list rather than download it today, and your first project is free. It also isn't built for insurance claim files or BIM handoffs; if that's your work, magicplan or Polycam fits better. The full breakdowns are in Alcovia vs magicplan and Alcovia vs Polycam.

magicplan vs Polycam

These two answer different questions.

Pick magicplan when the plan is the deliverable and you want to price from it. You get a clean 2D plan with photos and notes pinned to it, reports a client or adjuster can read, and an estimator tied to your price lists. Android users can open and draw plans, and the web app lets the office work on them.

Pick Polycam when the model is the deliverable. Its captures are more detailed, its photo and drone modes cover objects and exteriors, and its exports go further into point clouds and 3D formats. You'll need the Business plan for floor plans, and you'll price the job somewhere else.

The pricing is built differently, too. Polycam Business is $400 per user per year. magicplan PRO starts at $250 a month for 10 projects on a 24-month plan, which only pays off if you run that volume; below it, the single-user plans in the app cost less, without the estimator.

magicplan vs RoomScan Pro

If you want floor plans and nothing else, RoomScan Pro LiDAR does it for $9.99 a month. It gives you several ways to capture a room, including Touch Mode for phones without LiDAR, and exports ESX, FML, DXF and IFC. It has no estimator, no team workspace and no Android app.

magicplan costs more and does more: photo and moisture reports, an estimator with your price lists, unlimited users on PRO, integrations with tools such as QuickBooks, CompanyCam and Jobber, and an Android app for drawing plans. If several people touch each job, or the estimate should come out of the same app as the plan, magicplan earns the difference.

Which one should you pick?

Match the app to what you hand over at the end.

A documented, priced job file for restoration or insurance work: magicplan.

A detailed 3D model for an architect, a designer or your own as-built records: Polycam.

Floor plans with plenty of export options and a small monthly bill: RoomScan Pro LiDAR.

A remodel the homeowner can see and a price they can sign, from the first visit: Alcovia.

Nothing stops you from running two of them, say a capture app for as-builts and Alcovia for the sales visit. Start with the job you do most often, and run a real room through the app before you commit to a year. If you're new to scanning, our guide to scanning a room with your iPhone covers technique, devices and accuracy.