Representing your product as accurately as possible is important for any business—it earns customer trust while also proving you're professionals who can provide what your product looks like as accurately as possible.

However, for many industries, static images just don't cut it anymore. Many customers have been duped by photos of products that look nothing like what they get or have something they want to change about them, so they need to find other ways to ensure that they're getting something of good quality or something they can personalize. This is especially true for things like sheds and homes which are bigger, more significant purchases.

One great solution to this problem are 3D product configurators, like the one Idea Room provides for shed builders. A 3D sales configurator allows your customers to see the product you provide—in this case, sheds, carports, barns, or tiny homes—and customize them as they see fit. Because they see it in a 3D space, it's a more accurate representation of the end product, and it's fully personalizable.

Idea Room has been providing solutions for the shed industry since 2017 and has only grown since then. They continue to make the build, creation, and sales processes of shed businesses more streamlined and optimal, so that builders can do what they do best and customers can get the shed they want in a fraction of the time compared to advertising with traditional static images.

However, there are alternatives to Idea Room out there these days that may fit your business better. Here are a few of them.

About Idea Room

Main features: Specializes in shed design, so you don't have to worry about if they know their stuff or not. Provides a great breakdown/building estimate of everything you might need to know about your build right away. It's also fully 3D, lets you see the with build with the walls down so you can get a better idea of the interior, and offers plenty of options like storage lofts, shelves, and electrical packages.

Which industry benefits the most: Sheds, building materials, and carports

Pros

• Tons of options color-wise and material-wise

• Fully 3D model (it looks great!)

• Very intuitive interface

• Great breakdown of how much they estimate everything will cost

• Has some interior options

Cons

• May be overwhelming option-wise for customers who are customizing sheds for the first time

• Doesn't offer upgrades like other shed configurators

• Doesn't offer customization for certain parts of the shed, like the porch sides, railings, etc.

Idea Room has been a top player and one of the best options out there when it comes to providing configurators and solutions to both businesses and customers in the shed industry. Not only do they offer a product that aims to optimize the customization and sale processes of businesses, they do it well.

Their configurator is very impressive, and it's clear that it's been carefully constructed and revisited over time to become more streamlined and more powerful. This makes for a strong contender in the configurator space that empowers customers to make the sheds of their dreams.

Sheds, homes, and other semi-permanent fixtures are such huge investments—nobody wants to end up making hasty decisions and suffer the consequences of those decisions. Your customers are the same. They want to make sure they get exactly what they want, and Idea Room's 3D product configurator ensures just that.

Because it can display so many options, if your business offers a multitude of shed styles, different materials or colors, know that Idea Room can handle it.

All in all, it’s a great solution for the shed industry in particular.

7 Alternatives to Idea Room

Here are our top seven picks for Idea Room alternatives.

1. Tiny Easy

Main features: Designed specifically for tiny home builders, this platform simplifies the entire process from design to sale. Its user-friendly interface ensures efficient production and helps maximize conversions.

Which industry benefits the most: Tiny homes, modular homes, ADUs, and tiny houses on wheels

Pros

• The interface is simple, clean, sleek, and specifically built to configure more complex models. There are both interior and exterior design options, great for tiny homes, ADUs, and more. 

• Very intuitive as it guides the user from one decision to another. (for example, if you're choosing a skylight option, it moves the camera towards the roof to show you the skylight rather than leaving you to drag the model around to find it)

• The configurator is set up for you by the team with a step-by-step guided process for an easy plug-and-play experience

• Their team also develops a marketing implementation plan—they analyze your website and marketing channels to best implement it in your business for maximum ROI

• The base software is constantly updated and revisited, so the configurator keeps increasing its ROI over time.

• Options are displayed in a neat and orderly way without being overwhelming and avoid using drop-down menus.

• The model is fully 3D and even comes with intuitive waypoints so you can see what parts of the house would look like as if you were seeing it in person.

Cons

• It’s specifically made for the small home and tiny house industry. If you are specifically focused on storage sheds that don’t have any interior design, this configurator might not be the right option for you.

Can you imagine a building process where your customers can visualize their entire tiny home fully in 3D? Tiny Easy's 3D configurator makes this possible while keeping things simple and sleek. Their configurator is powerful and allows customers to customize almost anything and everything for any tiny home, tiny house on wheels, modular dwelling, or ADU.

If you're looking to upgrade your shed into something more customized and complex, a tiny home makes perfect sense, which makes Tiny Easy's configurator a great fit for you. People use sheds for more than just storage these days—so many use them for recreation, art, or even as an escape. Why not make it cozy and customized?

Your customers can customize everything from kitchen layouts to roofing to lofts. Most shed configurators don't have these options, so you can really get an edge over your competition with these extra features and increase your conversions.

ShedPro

Main features: Customizable pre-designed templates are available, which is great for any customer who may be overwhelmed by too many options. You can resize shed layouts based on preset size increments, enjoy lots of material selection, get estimates of living prices and quotations, and more.

Which industry benefits the most: Sheds, carports, and barns

Pros

• Fully 3D

• User-friendly

• One of the best shed configurators out there because of its scalability and easy integration with sales processes, making it a solution that tackles more than one thing at a time

Cons

• Long load times

• No complex interior layouts as it only offers shelves and work benches as interior add-ons (compared to Idea Room)

ShedPro has been around for years, changing the game for shed builders. This is a really great alternative to Idea Room, especially if your business' focus is more on the exterior of the sheds. However, the interior options are a little more limited than IdeaRoom and significantly more limited that TinyEasy’s configurator. Because they don't offer too many interior options, it can be flexible option for your customers who may not know what they want with their shed just yet.

Sheds3D

Main features: Has a great "details" area where you can find every measurement or detail you need to know about your build. It's easy to use and has a ton of templates to choose from.

Which industry benefits the most: Sheds

Pros

• Lots of options and templates to choose from

• Fully 3D model that rotates seamlessly

• Really easy to use, user-friendly interface

Cons

• Long load times

• Looking into the shed/seeing the interior was hard (unlike Idea Room)

• Model wasn't as sleek as Idea Room's

If you're leaning towards a simpler, more beginner-friendly option, Sheds3D is a great alternative. While figuring out how to see inside the shed (zoom in extra!), it still offers a ton of options and templates your customer can browse through and enjoy. Not only that, it has an exhaustive details page that breaks down every measurement, color, and other important parts of the shed your customer is building.

MyShed.io

Main features: Each template and addition has price points along the way, making it easy to see how much you're adding up as you go along.

Which industry benefits the most: Sheds

Pros

• They offer strategy and training for the configurator

• Dynamic pricing

• Fully 3D model

Cons

• Clunky interface

• Inconsistency with how buttons work (unlike others like Idea Room, ShedPro, and Tiny Easy, which makes configuration easier)

MyShed is a great option, though it's hard to find examples of their work online. Their online presence could use some work so it'd be easier to find social proof of their product. However, what's great is that they have strategy sessions to ensure your business knows exactly how to use the configurator and how you can teach your customers to use it, so if you want more of a step-by-step guide just so you can maximize the use of a configurator, this might be is a great option.

The Shed App

Main features: Has a drag-and-drop feature for add-ons that can help customize where you want certain additional parts of your shed.

Which industry benefits the most: Sheds

Pros

• Simple interface makes it easy on the eyes

• Fully 3D model

• Dynamic pricing

Cons

• Load times are pretty long

The Shed App is unique with its drag-and-drop feature, so your customers can have add-ons wherever they like on their shed. This increases its customization options compared to Idea Room and other shed configurators. If you want a bit more freedom for your customers to choose where to place certain things, this is a great option.

Simplio3D

Main features: They have highly detailed 3D models. They also provide a video tutorial for your team to best understand how to use the configurator.

Which industry benefits the most: Variety (Equipment, sheds, furniture, fashion, etc.)

Pros

• A lot of detailed customization can be done

• RHyperrealistic models

Cons

• Interface can be confusing (they're not necessarily purpose-built for sheds so it's missing some functionality)

• Asks for your information mid-build which can be distracting

• Not the most intuitive interface

Despite having a video tutorial you can view as a customer or as a business trying to show your customers how to best use the configurator, the interface itself is not the easiest to use. Still, at least they have a solution provided for that already in the tutorial in case you get lost. However, if your business prefers more realistic models, this is a great option, as the models are really well-made and rendered.

Easy Building Designer

Main features: There are tons of options and templates, even for different-sized buildings. Sheds shouldn't have to be just small, so this is great if you're looking for something more spacious.

Which industry benefits the most: Sheds, barns, and carports

Pros

• Has a tutorial

• Lots of details and options

• Has a price estimate section

• Saves your design

Cons

• Interface is a bit busy as there are CTAs and buttons all over the screen

While it's not the easiest interface to deal with considering it can look a little cluttered at times, this is the best option for you if you want even bigger sheds, carports, or barns. There are tons of options for each size, which makes for more customizability. If your customer wants a really big shed or barn, this is a great alternative.

Verdict

If you're looking for the best alternative to Idea Room, it all depends on what you need. If you want to go bigger, Easy Building Designer may be your best bet. If your business has a ton of pre-designed templates, ShedPro could be the one for you. It really just depends on what your business offers and how you can maximize the configurator to double down on your strengths.

However, when it comes to configuring tiny homes, tiny houses on wheels, modular dwellings, and ADUs, Tiny Easy is easily your all-in-one plug-and-play solution. If you're thinking of expanding your shed business by offering tiny homes—we've got you covered. Our configurator is purpose-built to create tiny homes in the easiest and most efficient way possible for both you and your customer.

If you want to learn more, give us a call or book a demo. We'd be happy to discuss your options with you!