THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OUR PREVIOUS SITE, THE VIRTUAL DESIGN MENTOR, ON NOVEMBER 8, 2021. THERE HAVE SINCE BEEN CHANGES TO THE CHIEF ARCHITECTURE SOFTWARE STRUCTURE AND PRICING.

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It’s crazy to think it’s been almost three years since I wrote my ever-popular blog post, An Interior Designer’s Guide to Home Designer Pro vs. Chief Architect Interiors, on my original home to all things Chief Architect and Home Designer, www.kellyfridlinedesign.com. As of today, the blog has been read or viewed by thousands of Interior Designers, Residential Designers, Architects, and even Homeowners. The topic is still widely discussed, reviewed, and consistently questioned within the various Facebook groups, forums, and emailed to me. In addition to the popularity of the blog, I’ve also released several very successful online courses full of detailed instructions for all three versions and equate to over 45 hours of recordings.

Which version is right for you?

Since my last post, the software has now been upgraded twice and those promotions have really added some amazing features to all three versions. Oh, and yes, the three options we will be discussing are Home Designer Pro 2022, Chief Architect Interiors X13, and Chief Architect Premier X13. To start, I’m going to give you a very basic understanding of what the differences are between the three versions, I will then go a little more in-depth as to what each option includes. I will mention that of the three Home Designer options I will only be discussing Home Designer Pro, due to the extreme limitations, from a professional viewpoint, I do not recommend Architectural nor Suite.

Home Designer Pro + Chief Architect Interiors + Added Features = Chief Architect Premier

Home Designer Pro vs. Chief Architect Interiors vs. Chief Architect Premier

I think the best way to explain the differences is to think of the software Home Designer Pro and Chief Architect Interiors having ‘industry specific’ features which are all available in Chief Architect Premier. Specifically, Home Designer Pro has the architectural, structural, and engineering functions and capabilities, but lacks the cabinetry, millwork, and customization options applicable in Chief Architect Interiors. I like to tell the designers I talk to that with Home Designer Pro you can design a house (aka. built more for a DIY’er), but you can’t develop the interiors and add as much detail as you could in Chief Architect Interiors.

Additionally, some of the other big differences/limitations that Home Designer Pro has when comparing it to Chief Architect Interiors (and Premier), are the following:

• Limited Catalogs - No access to Cabinetry and Millwork Manufacturers

• Single Page Layout sets (lots of Save As) - You can’t have all your drawing sheets in a single layout file, you’d need to save each sheet as individual files

• No Plan or Layout Templates -you can’t edit and save templates to auto-open with each new model/layout

• No SSA (this includes software support, version upgrades, additional catalogs, 3d Viewer)

• No Custom Layer Sets - Can not add layers or build custom sets

• No Polyline Solids (I teach workarounds in my course)

• No Symbol Customization/Assigning - basically if you bring a 3D model in from an outside source you can’t customize how it interacts with the model

• Limited cabinetry customization

• Limited Custom Material Settings

• No Traditional Raytracing (CPU)

• No Generate Pattern from Texture option - be able to build a hatch/pattern using the image of the material

• No NKBA Dimension Standards- These are really just preset dimension settings that you can edit to match manually in Home Designer Pro

• No Custom Style Palettes - You can not make these in Home Design Pro, but you can import them (drag and drop)

There are definitely more features that aren’t available in Home Designer Pro compared to Chief Architect Interiors, but these are the features that come to mind that either impact an interior designer’s workflow and detailing, or I’ve developed an alternate method for visualizing your design intent in my course, Home Designer for Interior Designers. As I reiterate with my colleagues, if you’re providing design concepts of kitchens, bathrooms, space planning, decorating, and general material selections, then Home Designer Pro is a great place to start. The reason I say this is because you’ll still have all the features you need to be able to produce a beautiful set of construction documents, you may just rely more on notes, elevation call-outs, and schedules. The key to using Home Designer Pro, especially if you tend to have more detailed drawing sets, is to make sure you’re well organized and have a very streamlined methodology to file management (this also goes from Chief Architect, but is 100% required of Home Designer Pro).

Okay, so now you must be wondering what the differences/ limitations are of Chief Architect Interiors when compared to features in Home Designer Pro:

• No Framing or Structural Modeling

• Limited Exterior Detailing -to include corbels, frieze, roofing details, exterior shutters, etc.

• No terrain/topography options

• Railings are limited to interior styles

• Lack the ability to add corner boards and quoining - this would be a tool you’d want if you design with a lot of board and batten trim work

• Limited Custom Roof options - this impacts how skylights, dormers, and ceiling styles by being impacted by the design

• Custom Foundation details - you can still model in everything you would need to model a basement

• Library Provided CAD Details limited to Interiors

• Can not edit any features limited to CA Premier or Home Designer Pro (structural, terrain, and landscaping)

There are definitely more features that aren’t available in Home Designer Pro compared to Chief Architect Interiors, but these are the features that come to mind that either impact an interior designer’s workflow and detailing, or I’ve developed an alternate method for visualizing your design intent in my course, Home Designer for Interior Designers.

Now, keep in mind that the limitations/missing/different features between Home Designer Pro and Chief Architect Interior are elements and options available in Chief Architect, plus these ADDED Features:

• CAD Detail from View

• Custom Dimension Text - be able to override a dimension

• Match Properties - be able to match the properties of a same type of element

• Toolbar sets

• Revision Clouds

• Automatic Story Pole Dimensions

• Define Conditioned or Unconditioned spaces

• Auto-Generate Interior and Exterior Elevations - I actually don’t recommend this function because you don’t get the choice where the elevations cut through, you can still pull interior and exterior elevations in the other two versions.

• Isometric View Tools

• Customize Shadow Intensity

There are far more defined features available in Chief Architect Premier, I just made sure to not the ones that will have a greater impact on Interior Designers using the software.

NKBA Graphic Standards in Chief Architect Interiors Explained

A pretty common question/assumption I get from Interior Designers is about the NKBA Standards built into Chief Architect Interiors. First of all, these settings are mainly associated with layers and dimension sets/settings, all things you can manually edit in both Chief Architect Premier and Home Designer Pro* (minus the sets).

Basically, the NKBA layer settings are based on line weights, wall graphics, and dimension styles. Specifically, the layer set turns on the ‘Main Layer Only’ layer, which in floor plan view does not include the grey hatched area with lines that represents the framing/stud walls. Instead, you’ll only see two lines with the finished wall depth including the 1/2” drywall on either side (this is a default setting), so a nominal 2x4 wall with the actual stud size of 3.5” will show as 4.5” because it includes the 1/2” drywall. I’ve included a comparison of what the walls look like with the stud layer turned on and off. With this in mind, you can actually control these settings yourself by either turning the layers on and off in Home Designer Pro OR using a different layer set in Chief Architect Premier.

The dimension settings associated with the NKBA standards are also something you can apply and customize in the other two versions. This is because they are set up to read as inches, rather than the architectural standard of feet to inches, and the dimension arrows snap to the wall surface, rather than the stud/framing. Again, all settings you can edit manually OR decide prior to starting the project and opening an Interiors Template (rather than a residential one) when starting a project.

Drafting Capabilities

Construction Documents and Design Drawings, yup, they’re definitely a thing and SUPER important for any design industry, but definitely is key to Interior Design and Architecture. For those who don’t know, before I went out on my own I worked at a few companies, including a highly regarded architecture firm in Upstate New York. While working there I was taught what beautiful construction drawings looked like and the importance of Graphic Standards. At the time, the company was still working in AutoCAD and taking pain-staking hours on the little details and line weights that made their sets look like works of art. I then began working for a design-build firm with no formal background in design nor those beautiful graphics I just spoke of. While I did learn how to convert Chief Architect’s standards of blue and yellow walls with blue text to the Architectural graphics I’d learned to draft, it wasn’t until I went out on my own that I realized just how much more flexible Chief Architect could be. I did have to ‘let go’ of some of the control that you have in AutoCAD when you draw every…single…line…, but the time savings and still professional graphics are worth it. As an example of just what you can do, I’ve added a few sheets below of a single project I did the modeling and drafting for using Chief Architect X13. I’ve removed my client’s information, logos, and anything else. Just know that if you’re a stickler for making your CD’s look like art, then you can still do so with Chief Architect and Home Designer Pro. Oh, and I teach you in my courses.

Rendering Style Options

Okay, okay I know one of the main features you’re really interested in knowing more about is what rendering styles are available between the three versions.

Home Designer Pro 2022 - Using Model from Home Designer for Interior Designers Course

Chief Architect X13- Interiors & Premier - Using Model from Chief Architect for Interior Designers Course

360 degree Rendering using PBR and Real Time Raytracing (only applicable with specific video cards)

360 degree Chief Architect X13 Rendering | CPU Raytracing

Pricing and Investment Details

When it comes to making the investment in the software you need to consider more than just the features, your computer hardware and specs, and your business goals as I discuss in my two previous blogs PC vs MAC | Does it Matter? and PC vs MAC | Does it Matter really? . You also need to consider the cost of the software, especially when there are more drafting, modeling, and rendering options than ever before.

One of the nice things about Chief Architect is that they provide two payment options for your initial license. You can either purchase it outright or choose a lease-to-own or Rent plan. Both options are noted below.

Home Designer Pro 2022* - $595 ($119 -$99 for each supsequent upgrade) OR RENT for $59 per month

Chief Architect Interiors - $2,395 (SSA include for the first year) or Lease to own for $199 (15 months cumulative)

Chief Architect Premier - $3,295 (SSA included for the first year) or Lease to own for $199 ( 22 months cumulative)

How easy are they to learn?

I’ll be honest with this, it really depends on the person who is learning the software. That said, I’ve trained many, many designers and can honestly tell you even my most ‘computer illiterate’ trainees have picked it up. I do offer 1:1 training if you need a little extra assistance, but I 100% recommend taking my courses first. These will give you my overall approach to the software and allow the 1:1 time to be for project specifics or things you may be getting ‘stuck on’. You can check out more information via our Training and Courses sections of this website.