Figma vs Polycam
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and ratings
At a glance
| Dimension | Figma | Polycam |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Collaborative UI/UX design, prototyping and handoff platform | 3D scanning / reality capture app (iOS, Android, web) |
| Pricing model | Freemium (free tier; paid plans mentioned, AI credits limited on free) | Freemium (free tier; paid tiers incl. Business & Enterprise) |
| Output | Designs, prototypes, code via Make, sites via Sites, slides, FigJam boards | 3D meshes (GLTF, OBJ, FBX, USDZ...), point clouds (PLY, LAS, DXF), 2D/3D floor plans, 360 photospheres |
| Key AI angle | Figma Make prompt-to-code, Weave AI imagery/video/audio, AI agents on the canvas | AI object capture, AI floor plans with fixture/furniture detection, Gaussian splatting |
| Integrations | GitHub, Jira, Notion, Slack, Teams, Asana, Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT, Zeplin | Unity, Unreal, Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Rhino, SketchUp, Xactimate, Three.js, Apple Vision Pro |
| Primary buyer | Product/design/engineering teams building digital interfaces | AEC, forensics/claims, product design, VFX/facilities teams capturing real spaces |
Figma is a collaborative design canvas where designers, developers, and AI agents work in one shared file.
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Polycam turns phone LiDAR, photos and drone footage into 3D models, floor plans and point clouds for AEC and real estate teams.
Visit WebsiteWhat real users say: Figma vs Polycam
Not marketing copy and not our opinion — a structured sweep of public discussion (reviews, forums, communities and video comments), showing what people praise and what they complain about for each tool.
Figma
98 mentions across 5 sources · 43% positive — mixed (averaged across 5 sources)
Hacker News, YouTube, Bluesky, Stack Overflow, Lemmy
What users praise
- • Real-time multiplayer editing with excellent conflict resolution.
- • Dev Mode with MCP server integration streamlines design-to-code handoff.
- • Vector networks engineering praised for smooth, editable curves.
- • Figma Make converts prompts to interactive prototypes quickly.
What frustrates them
- • AI features forced on users with no opt-out ability.
- • MCP agent integration is complex and requires JavaScript coding.
- • Security vulnerability in MCP allowed remote code execution.
- • AI-generated prototypes reduce motivation for manual refinement.
Researched Jul 26, 2026
Polycam
64 mentions across 5 sources · 49% positive — mixed (weighted across 5 sources)
Reddit, Hacker News, YouTube, Product Hunt, App Store
What users praise
- • Fast one-visit site capture with phone LiDAR — no dedicated scanner hardware required
- • Floor plan generation with editable walls, fixtures, and room labels is genuinely useful for AEC walkthroughs
- • Wide export coverage: seven mesh formats plus six point cloud formats including LAS and Geo-LAS
- • Cross-platform (iOS, Android, web) means teams can scan on the phone they already carry
What frustrates them
- • Auto-renew after the 7-day trial has produced multiple 1-star 'scam' App Store reviews
- • Support is 'slow' and 'the worst' per Reddit — no phone line, weeks of silence on billing issues
- • Measurement accuracy is inconsistent — one App Store reviewer calls results 'very inaccurate'
- • Free tier feels like adware: 3 AI captures, 150 images, features that used to be free are paywalled
Researched Oct 14, 2026
Feature-by-feature
Polycam's feature set is entirely about capturing the physical world. Four capture modes (Spatial, Object, Floorplan, Drone/Aerial) feed into mesh exports (GLTF, OBJ, FBX, DAE, STL, USDZ, ESX), point cloud exports (PLY, LAS, Geo-LAS, PTS, XYZ, DXF), 360 photospheres, and Gaussian splatting. AI does the grunt work: object capture turns phone photos into shareable models, floor plans auto-detect fixtures and furniture, and measuring includes ruler, pen, auto, and interior modes with editable wall thickness, room labels, compass, and floor-area calculation. Photogrammetry handles up to 2000 images and 30-minute videos on Business/Enterprise. Exports land in Unity, Unreal, Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Rhino, SketchUp, Xactimate, and Three.js — engineering and AEC pipelines.
Figma's features are about creating and shipping digital interfaces. Real-time multi-user editing, auto layout with CSS-aligned spacing, advanced prototyping with overlays and transitions, Dev Mode with code inspection and an MCP Server, prompt-to-code via Figma Make, AI media generation via Weave, timeline animation via Motion, vector tools, plus FigJam, Slides, Sites, and Buzz. Integrations are the software-delivery stack: GitHub, Jira, Notion, Slack, Teams, Asana, Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT. The recent news reinforces the direction — Weave workflows now accept Figma design frames as nodes, Weave tool publishing is open, and Code Connect cut Coinbase's agent token costs by an average of 22.5%.
There is almost no functional overlap. Polycam's AI reads rooms and objects; Figma's AI writes code and generates on-brand media.
Pricing compared
Both products are freemium, but they meter completely different things, which makes a like-for-like price comparison meaningless. Polycam's free tier exists to get you scanning, with hard ceilings on the heavy stuff: the not-for list is explicit that hobbyists shouldn't expect unlimited free scans, 2000-image photogrammetry, or point cloud exports without paying. Unlocking that volume means stepping up — photogrammetry at 2000 images and 30-minute video and unlimited Gaussian splats sit on paid tiers, with Business and Enterprise holding the top limits. Enterprise is also where SSO, regional cloud storage, and dedicated support live, meaning teams with procurement requirements pay the highest tier rather than bolting on an add-on. If your scans are commercial deliverables, budget for a paid seat from day one; the free tier is for evaluation.
Figma's free tier restricts AI credits, and its not-for list flags solo designers on a tight budget for exactly that reason. Paid plans unlock the collaboration and AI surface — Make, Weave, Sites, and Buzz are all tied to the paid experience, with Sites and Buzz still in beta, so you're paying partly for features still maturing. The cost story also scales by team, not by output: you pay per collaborator across design, engineering, and PM, whereas Polycam pricing scales with capture volume and processing tier. A five-person product team's Figma bill and a five-person AEC crew's Polycam bill are not comparable line items, and no buyer is
Who should pick which
- AEC or construction team doing site documentationPick: Polycam
Floor plans with auto fixture/furniture detection, editable wall thickness, room labels, and floor-area calculations let you leave the site with 2D/3D plans, and exports feed SketchUp, Rhino, and Xactimate.
- Product designer or manufacturer capturing a physical prototypePick: Polycam
Object capture turns phone photos into shareable 3D models, and mesh exports (STL, OBJ, USDZ) drop into CAD, Unity, Unreal, Blender, or Maya for remote review.
- UX/UI team designing and handing off an appPick: Figma
Real-time multi-user editing, auto layout, prototyping, and Dev Mode with code inspection plus an MCP Server give design and engineering one shared source of truth.
- Engineering org adopting AI-assisted design workflowsPick: Figma
Figma Make for prompt-to-code, Weave for on-brand imagery/video/audio, Weave frames-as-nodes, and Code Connect — which Coinbase credits with an average 22.5% token-cost cut with coding agents.
- Design team using scanned spaces as reference in a design projectPick: Figma
No choice is required here: capture the space in Polycam, then bring the model or plan into the Figma canvas as reference material — the tools coexist, they don't compete.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I ever choose between Polycam and Figma?
No. They solve unrelated problems for unrelated buyers — Polycam captures physical spaces into 3D models and floor plans, Figma designs digital interfaces. The realistic pattern is using both: scan a real site or object in Polycam, then reference that geometry inside a Figma design project.
Can Figma open the 3D files Polycam exports?
Polycam exports meshes (GLTF, OBJ, FBX, USDZ, STL and more), point clouds (PLY, LAS, DXF), and 360 photospheres. Figma's feature set is design, prototyping, and code — no 3D mesh or point cloud import is listed. Treat any scanned geometry as visual reference material rather than an editable asset on the Figma canvas.
Does Polycam's free tier cover point cloud exports and 2000-image photogrammetry?
No — Polycam's own guidance says hobbyists shouldn't expect unlimited free scans, 2000-image photogrammetry, or point cloud exports without paying. Unlimited Gaussian splats and the largest photogrammetry jobs (2000 images, 30-minute video) are listed on paid tiers, with Business and Enterprise holding the top limits.
What does Figma's free tier actually restrict?
AI credits. That's the stated reason solo designers on a tight budget are listed under 'not for' — the AI surface (Make, Weave, plus Sites and Buzz in beta) is what pushes you onto a paid plan, on top of the collaboration features most teams need anyway.
Which one has an offline workflow?
Polycam is the relevant one, and even there you must validate it: Polycam's own guidance lists offline capture as something to test against your site conditions, and a September 2026 post compares offline capture across Polycam, Scaniverse, and WebODM. Figma's 'not for' list explicitly excludes offline-first workflows — there's no fully offline mode.
Is Polycam accurate enough to replace survey hardware?
No. Polycam's own limitations note that survey-grade or millimetric accuracy still belongs to FARO and Leica-class hardware, and builders shouldn't expect stair and code dimensions without some manual tape measuring. Use Polycam for fast documentation, not certification.
More Figma or Polycam comparisons
Don't cross-shop these. Polycam is a capture tool that turns the physical world — rooms, prototypes, job sites — into 3D models, floor plans, and point clouds you export to SketchUp, Blender, or Unity
These are not competitors and you should never be choosing between them — Polycam is a capture tool that turns a phone, drone, or LiDAR scan into a 3D model, floor plan, or point cloud, and Notion is
These two don't compete — a buyer almost never chooses between them. Polycam is a capture tool: you point a phone, drone or LiDAR at a physical space and get floor plans, meshes and point clouds you c
These two products never meet in a buying decision, and treating them as rivals would mislead you. If your problem is documenting a physical site — rooms, buildings, props, a claims scene — Polycam is
These tools don't compete — they solve unrelated problems, and no buyer shortlists both. If your problem is running open models locally (GLM, Kimi, DeepSeek, Qwen3.8) for private agentic work, LM Stud
You are not choosing between these. Polycam and Sketch solve different problems for different people, and no buyer with one budget and one job shortlists both. Pick Polycam if you need to digitise a p
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Last reviewed: September 25, 2026