Decato vs Spacely AI when the model is not the deliverable
Spacely AI sits next to the tools architects already use — SketchUp, Revit, AutoCAD, Rhino — and turns what is in them into photoreal renders quickly. Decato has nothing to plug into. It starts from a floor plan and finishes at a purchase order, which is a different end of the same project.
Decato
No model was built to make this. The plan went in and a parts list came out.
A rendering service built to sit inside an existing design stack, with integrations for SketchUp, Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino, an Auto Furnish capability on its pro tiers, and a claimed user base of over four hundred thousand architects, designers, realtors and owners.
A tool for the projects where nobody is going to model anything. It reads a floor plan, matches in-stock furniture against the real wall lengths and door swings, throws out what will not fit, and returns a priced spec with a client deck around it.
If the room already exists as a model, Spacely renders it faster and better than Decato can, and it fits the workflow you are already in. If the room exists only as a plan and the point is to decide what to buy, there is no model for Spacely to render.
What each one does
Works without any CAD model
It accepts photos, but is built around integrations
Plugs into SketchUp, Revit or AutoCAD
The furniture can be ordered
A piece that will not fit is refused
Priced list for procurement
Holds a furnishing budget
Buy credits without a subscription
Discounted education pricing
Renders in moments
Runs in a browser
Spacely is web-based; Decato is macOS
Neither tool wins everywhere
Spacely AI does things Decato cannot do at all. Knowing exactly where the line falls is more useful than being told one tool is better.
- Needs no model, so a project can start from a plan and a brief alone
- The furniture is inventory rather than geometry — each piece has a SKU and a price
- A collision with a wall or a door swing is caught by the tool, not by a site visit
- What you hand the client is a document they can order from, not a view to interpret
- Plugs into SketchUp, Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino — Decato integrates with nothing
- Renders in moments where Decato has a plan to read and a room to source first
- A free tier with trial credits, and credit packs instead of a subscription commitment
- A discounted education tier, which Decato does not offer at all
- Runs in a browser and serves architects working well beyond a single interior
What each one costs
- Free$0Unlimited planning on your own ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini key
- Pro$20/moSourcing from every supported store, and 25 renders
- Max 5x$100/moSame features, 125 renders
- Max 20x$200/moSame features, 500 renders
- Free$040 trial credits
- Education$30/moWith an academic email address
- Credit packs$9–$150200, 1,000 or 5,000 credits, bought outright
Spacely also lists Personal, Studio and Agency tiers, but publishes no price against them, so they are left out here rather than guessed at. What can be compared is the shape: Spacely will sell you credits outright, with no subscription at all, which Decato does not offer. Decato bills a subscription for render volume, and every tier carries identical features.
Both price lists checked August 2026If you move across
If your work already lives in CAD, Spacely stays. What moves is the projects with no model behind them, where a plan has to become a purchase order.
- A floor plan exported from your CAD tool as an image — Decato traces it into geometry
- The style direction the renders established, as the brief the sourcing works toward
- The furnishing budget, which is the input Spacely has no field for
- CAD or BIM models. Decato takes no model input, so the modelling stays where it is
- Renders made in Spacely — there is no image import path into Decato
- Credits or subscriptions, billed separately with no migration between them
Compare Decato against the next closest workflow.
If this page is close but not exact, use the routes below to compare Decato against staging-first, retail-first and render-first alternatives with the same decision lens.
Decato vs REimagineHome
Both source real furniture. REimagineHome fits it to a photo; Decato fits it to a dimensioned plan.
Staging-firstDecato vs Virtual Staging AI
Staging sells the photo. Decato specifies the room — real products, measured fit, a priced spec.
Service-outputDecato vs BoxBrownie
BoxBrownie sells edited images per job. Decato sources a room into a priced specification.
Retail-workflowDecato vs Wayfair
Wayfair plans your room and fills its own cart. Decato checks the fit and hands over a spec.
Most comparison tools judge the screenshot. Designers still have to deliver the room.
Decato is optimized for the step after concept approval: matching real products, checking fit, keeping the room inside budget and turning the output into a defendable package instead of a render to reverse-engineer.
Common questions
Does Spacely AI source real furniture?
Its site advertises an Auto Furnish capability on the pro tiers but does not say where that furniture comes from, so we do not claim either way (Checked August 2026). Decato is explicit about it: products come from live retailer inventory, and each one enters the spec with dimensions, a price and a stock status.
Can Decato work with my Revit or SketchUp model?
No. Decato integrates with nothing and takes no model input — it reads a floor plan and works from geometry it builds itself. If your process already runs through CAD or BIM, Spacely is designed to sit inside that and Decato is not.
What does Spacely AI cost?
Its free tier comes with 40 trial credits, education pricing is $30 a month with an academic address, and credit packs run from $9 for 200 up to $150 for 5,000 (Checked August 2026). Personal, Studio and Agency tiers exist but carry no published price, so we do not quote one.
Which is faster?
Spacely, comfortably — it renders in moments and Decato has a plan to read and a whole room to source before an image exists. The time Decato spends is buying something different: a list of pieces that are real, that fit, and that add up to a number you can show a client.
Can I use both on the same project?
Yes, and for a studio already modelling its work that is the sensible arrangement. Spacely renders the model for the presentation; Decato sources and prices the furnishings. Nothing transfers automatically, but a floor plan exported as an image and a budget carry across.