Redraw vs Flux AI, Leonardo AI and Adobe Firefly: Which Is Best for Architecture?

Rendering a project has always meant waiting. Hours of configuration, computer locked, hoping it wouldn't crash mid-process. If you work in architecture, engineering or interior design, you know this feeling.

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But things have changed. There's now a real alternative to local rendering, and it's not just “sending to a farm.” AI cloud rendering is changing how professionals deliver projects. Faster, cheaper, and without needing a $5,000 workstation.

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In this article we compare local rendering and cloud rendering for real. With numbers, actual costs and what makes sense for your day-to-day work.

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What is local rendering, and why is it getting expensive

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Local rendering is the traditional process. You model in SketchUp, Revit or ArchiCAD, configure materials, lighting, camera, and render on your computer using software like V-Ray, Lumion, Enscape, Twinmotion or Corona Render.

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Does it work? It does. But it has a cost that most people never stop to calculate.

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First, the hardware. To run Lumion smoothly, the manufacturer recommends a high-performance dedicated GPU. In practice, that means a machine between $3,000 and $8,000. And that machine needs updating every 2 or 3 years, because software gets heavier with every version.

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Second, the software. A V-Ray license costs around $540 per year. Lumion Pro runs $1,149 per year. Enscape is around $575 per year. Twinmotion charges $445 per year for companies with revenue above $1 million. And that's per user.

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Third, the time. An interior render with V-Ray can take 20 minutes to 4 hours depending on complexity and your machine. While it renders, your computer is unusable. If you need 5 different angles, multiply that time by 5.

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For an office doing 3 projects a week, this becomes a bottleneck. It's not a question of quality. It's a question of productivity.

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What is cloud rendering

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Cloud rendering is when the processing leaves your computer and goes to remote servers. This can happen in two very different ways.

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The first is render farms. Services like Fox Render Farm and GarageFarm rent processing power by the hour. You export your file, upload it, configure it, and wait. The render runs on powerful machines and you download the result.

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Render farms solve one problem: you don't need a good machine. But they create others. You pay per hour of use, you need to configure everything the same as locally, and you still have upload and download time. In the end, the complexity of the work can even increase. The real advantage is freeing your computer and having raw processing speed.

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The second form is AI cloud rendering. And here everything changes completely.

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With AI, you don't configure materials. You don't manually adjust lighting. You don't need a super optimized file. You upload a screenshot of your 3D model, and in 20 to 40 seconds you have a photorealistic render. The work that used to take hours now takes seconds, with results that impress even those used to V-Ray.

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That's the difference that matters. A render farm is the same process, just on another computer. AI rendering is a new process entirely.

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Real comparison: Local Rendering vs Farm vs AI

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Let's put numbers side by side. For a freelance architect doing about 50 renders per month:

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Now think about total cost. With local rendering, between hardware and software, an architect easily spends $5,000 in the first year. With Redraw, the Basic plan costs $15 per month and delivers around 300 renders. That's less than $200 per year for a capacity that in the traditional model would require an investment 25 times greater.

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But what about quality?

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That's the question everyone asks. And it's fair.

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2 years ago, AI rendering was experimental. Results were generic, textures looked strange, and the project geometry was completely lost. Anyone who tried ChatGPT, ComfyUI or other generic AIs for rendering knows this. The image looks nice, but has nothing to do with the real project. The AI invents windows, changes proportions, adds elements that don't exist.

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The problem with those tools is that they weren't built for architecture. ChatGPT generates incredible images, but doesn't respect your project. ComfyUI gives technical control, but requires hours of workflow configuration. Nano Banana produces interesting results, but doesn't maintain fidelity to the original model.

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AI tools specialized in architecture solved this. Redraw, for example, was trained specifically to understand architectural projects. It doesn't invent geometry. It respects lines, proportions, and the project intent. And it does this in seconds, without complex prompts.

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I'm not saying it completely replaced V-Ray for all cases. A render for an international competition with extreme detail may still need traditional software. But for 90% of an office's day-to-day work — client presentations, facade studies, interior variations — AI delivers professional results in a fraction of the time and cost.

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Why the market is migrating to the cloud

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It's not hype. It's math.

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A 3-person office with Lumion Pro spends $3,447 per year on software alone. Add hardware and it easily passes $10,000. With AI cloud rendering, the same office spends less than $1,000 per year and delivers faster.

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There's another factor few people talk about: mobility. Local rendering ties you to a machine. If you're on-site, in a meeting, or traveling, you can't render. With cloud rendering, you open a browser anywhere, upload the image and in 30 seconds you have the result. It works on laptop, tablet, even on phone.

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The trend is clear. Traditional software is catching up. Lumion launched cloud rendering. Twinmotion integrated with Unreal Cloud. V-Ray has Chaos Cloud. They know the future is cloud. The difference is these solutions still charge by processing hour and require the same manual configuration. It's a render farm with a nice brand.

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AI changed the game because it eliminated the most expensive step: setup. It's not just processing in the cloud. It's not needing to configure.

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How Redraw works in practice

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The process is simple. You take a screenshot of your 3D model (SketchUp, Revit, ArchiCAD, any software), upload it to Redraw, and in up to 40 seconds you receive a photorealistic render.

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No installation. No powerful GPU. No configuring material by material.

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Redraw works 100% in the browser. That means it runs on any machine, any operating system. And since it's based on AI trained for architecture, it understands the image context: it knows how to differentiate interior from exterior, identifies materials, adjusts lighting automatically.

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For those who already use other render software, Redraw also works as an optimizer. You can upload a render from V-Ray, Lumion or Enscape and improve textures, lighting and realism in seconds. It's an extra layer of quality without redoing the work.

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How much you save: the real math

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Let's do the math for a small office (2 architects, ~100 renders per month):

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Scenario 1: Local Rendering with V-Ray
Two V-Ray licenses: $1,080/year
Two adequate computers: ~$4,000 (amortized over 3 years = ~$1,333/year)
Time spent rendering: ~50 hours/month
Annual total: ~$2,413 + opportunity cost of time

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Scenario 2: Cloud Rendering with Redraw
Expert plan (2 users): $32/month = $384/year
Hardware required: any laptop
Time spent rendering: ~3 hours/month
Annual total: $384

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The savings are over $2,000 per year in direct costs. But the real gain is in time. That's 47 hours per month returned to design, client service, or simply life.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Does cloud rendering need fast internet?

It needs internet, but not ultra-fast. Since you upload images (not heavy 3D files), a 10 Mbps connection works fine. AI cloud rendering, like Redraw, processes everything on the remote server.

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Does AI rendering replace V-Ray?

For most day-to-day office uses, yes. Client presentations, facade studies and interior variations are ready in seconds. For projects that require absolute technical control (complex animations, engineering detailing), V-Ray still has space, but increasingly less.

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Does cloud rendering maintain the fidelity of my project?

It depends on the tool. Generic AIs like ChatGPT, Nano Banana and ComfyUI invent elements and alter the project. Specialized tools like Redraw were trained to maintain proportions, geometry and materiality of the original model.

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How much does it cost to render with AI in the cloud?

At Redraw, the most accessible plan costs $15 per month and includes about 300 renders. That's a fraction of the cost of licenses like V-Ray ($540/year) or Lumion Pro ($1,149/year), and requires no expensive hardware.

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Try Redraw now →

V-Ray dominated rendering for years. Together with Corona Render, they were the only options for anyone who wanted hyper-realistic results. No other render engine came close. Those working with high-end architecture, competitions or commercial visualization had no choice: it was V-Ray or nothing.

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But all of this had a price. And I'm not just talking about the license.

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The V-Ray reign (and its real cost)

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To master V-Ray, a professional needed years of study. There are over 1,000 parameters that, combined correctly, deliver that level of photorealism everyone recognizes. Materials, global illumination, caustics, GI, sampling. Each render is an engineering feat.

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Render time has always been a problem too. A V-Ray render can take 1 to 8 hours depending on the scene, resolution and hardware. That's 3 times longer than software like Lumion or Enscape. And during that time, your computer is locked.

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Speaking of hardware: to run V-Ray with quality, you need a serious machine. Powerful multi-core CPU, 32 GB+ RAM, dedicated GPU. An adequate setup costs between $3,000 and $8,000.

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The V-Ray Solo license costs $540/year. That seems "ok" until you add that V-Ray is a plugin. It doesn't run on its own. It needs SketchUp, 3DS Max, Rhino or Revit underneath. So you pay the V-Ray license plus the host software license. That's two subscriptions.

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Chaos Group itself realized this model was losing ground. Simpler software like Lumion and Twinmotion were stealing market share, even while delivering inferior results. Their response? They bought Enscape. They tried to apply Chaos technology to something faster. They acknowledged the problem without saying it out loud.

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AI changed what "rendering" means

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The turning point came when AI tools started delivering satisfying results in seconds. Redraw was a pioneer in this movement: AI rendering trained specifically for architecture.

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At first, AI quality didn't come close to V-Ray. That's true. But it evolved fast. Today, the results are hyper-realistic and maintain fidelity to the original project. Proportions, geometry, materials. The AI doesn't invent. It renders what you designed.

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And it does this in 20 to 40 seconds. No configuration. No expensive hardware. No years-long learning curve.

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Work that used to take a week between modeling, setting up materials, adjusting lighting and rendering is now done in under 10 minutes with AI. That's not an exaggeration. It's the real workflow of those who use it.

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Comparison: V-Ray vs Redraw

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The math nobody does

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Take an architect who delivers 8 projects per month, with 4 renders each. With V-Ray, each render takes an average of 2 hours including setup and processing. That's 64 hours per month just rendering.

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With Redraw, the same 32 renders take under 20 minutes total. That's 63 hours given back per month.

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In cost:

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V-Ray: $540/year (V-Ray) + $349/year (SketchUp) + amortized hardware (~$1,000/year) = ~$1,889/year

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Redraw: $384/year (Expert plan) + zero hardware = $384/year

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Difference: over $1,500 per year. And 63 hours per month.

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For those still using V-Ray

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If you've invested years learning V-Ray and have projects that require absolute control of every parameter, no one is saying throw it away. For highly complex animations or projects where every detail of sub-surface scattering matters, V-Ray still has its place.

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But honest question: how many of your projects actually need that level? In most offices, 90% of renders are for client presentations, facade studies, interior variations. You don't need an 8-hour render for that.

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And even when you use V-Ray, Redraw works as a complement. Rendered with V-Ray? Drop it into Redraw's Enhance Render. In 30 seconds, textures and lighting reach another level without re-rendering the scene.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Does Redraw replace V-Ray in architecture projects?

For the vast majority of day-to-day projects, yes. Redraw delivers photorealistic renders in 20 to 40 seconds versus 1 to 8 hours with V-Ray, without requiring powerful hardware or a host software license. V-Ray remains relevant in niches that require extreme technical control, such as complex animations, sub-surface scattering and cinema visualizations. For presentations, portfolios and residential and commercial project deliverables, Redraw delivers professional results in seconds.

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How much does V-Ray cost per year compared to Redraw?

The V-Ray Solo license costs $540/year, not counting the mandatory host software (SketchUp Pro at $349/year, or 3DS Max at $2,820/year) and the necessary hardware ($3,000 to $8,000 amortized). The total annual cost of a V-Ray setup easily exceeds $1,800/year. Redraw starts at $15/month ($180/year), runs in the browser without dedicated hardware and requires no host software. Annual savings exceed $1,500 per workstation.

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Can I enhance my V-Ray renders using Redraw?

Yes. Redraw's Enhance Render feature accepts images from any software, including V-Ray, Corona, Lumion and Enscape. You upload the existing render and in about 30 seconds receive a version with enhanced textures, lighting and sharpness, without re-rendering the scene. It's the fastest path for those who already have investment in a V-Ray pipeline but want to gain speed in material, lighting and ambiance variations.

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Does V-Ray work standalone or does it need other software?

V-Ray is a plugin and does not work on its own. It requires an active license for SketchUp, 3DS Max, Rhino or Revit to run, adding two subscriptions to the budget. Redraw, on the other hand, is an autonomous platform that runs directly in the browser, with no installation and no dependency on host software, which drastically reduces total cost and setup time for solo architects and offices of 1 to 10 people.

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What is the best alternative to V-Ray in 2026 for architects?

The best alternative to V-Ray in 2026 for architects is Redraw, an AI platform trained specifically in architecture, engineering and interior design, with support in English and integration with SketchUp, Revit and Archicad workflows. Redraw delivers photorealistic renders in 30 seconds instead of 1 to 8 hours, without powerful hardware or host software license, and is the path most solo offices and small studios have taken to scale deliveries.

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Is Redraw quality comparable to V-Ray for the end client?

Yes. The latest generations of Redraw produce images indistinguishable from V-Ray renders for the vast majority of cases: residential, commercial, hospitality, retail and high-end interiors. The end client decides by emotion before reason, and what matters is the visual narrative of light, texture and ambiance — all delivered in seconds by Redraw. V-Ray renders are reserved only for architecture competitions, real estate catalogs and highly technically demanding animations.

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Try Redraw → redraw.pro

Lumion taught the market that rendering doesn't need to be complex. Before it, rendering was a specialist's job. V-Ray with hundreds of parameters, Corona with endless settings. Lumion arrived and simplified everything: drag material, position camera, click render. It was a sales leader in many countries, and for good reason. It didn't always deliver the best result, but it delivered the fastest and easiest.

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But the market changed. AI entered architecture and what was fast became slow. What was simple became laborious. And the question many architects are asking now is: "does it still make sense to use Lumion in 2026?"

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The short answer: it depends on how you use it. Let's unpack that.

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Lumion: what it did well, and where it stalled

Lumion revolutionized rendering for architects. That's a fact. Before it, rendering a project was a hours-long process with a steep learning curve. Lumion brought a massive library of materials, vegetation, people, and a visual workflow anyone could use.

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The problem is it stalled at that proposition. Rendering still depends on your machine, still takes tens of minutes, and the cost remains high. The Pro license costs $1,149 per year. To run it well, you need a good dedicated GPU. We're talking a PC between $2,000 and $6,000.

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And there's a detail few people talk about: because of that price, many professionals end up using pirated Lumion. They download from sketchy sites, risk viruses, and miss out on updates. The irony is that the results Lumion delivers, AI can already surpass, for a fraction of that cost.

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Where Redraw fits in, and not where you think

Let's be clear: Redraw doesn't compete with Lumion. At least not in the way you might be thinking.

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If you like Lumion, like the control it gives, the library, the visual workflow, keep using it. Redraw amplifies your results. With Enhance Render, you take that render from Lumion and in 30 seconds improve textures, lighting and realism. Without reopening Lumion, without re-rendering.

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You know that situation? You just finished a render in Lumion. It took 47 minutes at best, with an RTX 4090 that cost more than many residential projects. The client asks for three more finish options, a nighttime version and "that warmer lighting." That's four more hours of work.

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With Redraw, you drop that same render in and in 30 seconds have the nighttime version, different materials, the vegetation that was missing. Without opening Lumion. Without freezing your computer. Without waiting.

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That's not hypothetical. It's what over 200,000 architects already do.

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When Redraw replaces Lumion

Now, if what you want is pure speed, if you don't need that manual control Lumion offers, Redraw works standalone. And then the results are superior to Lumion's. In seconds.

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Take a screenshot of your 3D model (SketchUp, Revit, ArchiCAD), upload to Redraw, and get a photorealistic render in 20 to 40 seconds. No downloading anything, no expensive GPU, directly in the browser.

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From 2026 on, it's hard to justify hours of rendering when AI delivers hyper-realistic results in seconds. The market evolved. The results AI delivers today maintain fidelity to the original project, proportions, materials, geometry. It's not like ChatGPT or ComfyUI that invent things. Redraw was built with architecture, engineering, and interior design in mind. It understands the project and respects what you designed.

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Direct comparison: Lumion vs Redraw vs Lumion + Redraw

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Real-world cost

Let's run the numbers for a freelance architect delivering 10 projects per month with 3 renders each:

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With Lumion:
Pro license: $1,149/year
Adequate PC (amortized over 3 years): ~$1,500/year
Total render time: ~15 hours/month
Total: ~$2,649/year + 15 hours idle

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With Redraw:
Basic plan: $15/month = $180/year
Hardware: any laptop
Total render time: ~15 minutes/month
Total: $180/year + 15 minutes

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The difference is nearly $2,500 per year. And 15 hours per month that come back to you to design, serve clients, or leave early.

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For those who use Lumion and don't want to let go

If you've already mastered Lumion and have your setup in place, you don't need to abandon anything. The smartest path is to use Redraw as a complement:

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Rendered in Lumion? Drop it into Redraw's Enhance Render. In 30 seconds, textures, lighting and vegetation reach another level. Client asks for a variation? Do it directly in Redraw, without going back to Lumion. Need to render outside the office? Use Redraw on your phone.

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This combo works because each tool covers the other's weak point. Lumion gives control. Redraw gives speed.

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For those choosing now

If you haven't invested in Lumion yet, if you're just starting out or setting up a firm, the recommendation is straightforward: try Redraw first. Create a free account at redraw.pro and do your first renders.

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If the result works (and for 90% of day-to-day office cases, it does), you save thousands in licenses and hardware. If you need finer control on specific projects, then evaluate Lumion as a complement.

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The market changed. What was fast in 2022 is slow in 2026. And spending $2,500+ per year on something AI solves for $15/month needs a very good justification.

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Frequently asked questions

Does Redraw fully replace Lumion?
For most day-to-day projects, yes. For those who need absolute manual control over every parameter or do complex animations, Lumion still has a place. But an increasingly smaller one.

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Can I use my Lumion renders in Redraw?
Yes. Redraw's Enhance Render accepts renders from any software. Upload the image and in seconds receive a version with improved textures, lighting and realism.

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Does Redraw maintain project fidelity?
Yes. Unlike generic AIs like ChatGPT or ComfyUI, Redraw was trained for architecture. It respects geometry, proportions and materials of the original project.

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Does Lumion work on Mac?
No. Lumion only runs on Windows with a dedicated GPU. Redraw works on any operating system in the browser, including Mac, Linux and even mobile.

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How much does each cost?
Lumion Pro costs $1,149/year and requires a powerful PC. Redraw starts at $15/month, with no special hardware required. For those who used pirated Lumion, Redraw is the legal alternative that costs less and delivers more.

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Try Redraw now →