If you’re tired of getting the same boring paint colors or worried about picking the wrong shade, then you might want to try an app to paint house walls, to test your colors first.
The main idea behind house painting apps is that you can play around with and visualize exterior paint colors and test your interior color scheme ideas, before you ever buy a can of paint. Virtual painting apps combine color theory, your current wall colors, and other factors to create a variety of options for you to choose from.
Many work like simulators, providing you with a virtual house or virtual rooms to paint, based on photos you upload. The app may suggest color schemes that look better than what you might choose on your own, and in some cases even direct you to your local hardware store or online retailer to have the paint mixed for you. Easy right?!
In this article we’ll explore the best visualizer apps to paint room and house, so you can test out your color ideas and make your real-life house paint planning much easier and quicker.
Why Use an App to Paint House?
Color planning and testing
Before you start painting, you should have an idea of what paint colors are going to be used on the outside of your home. You don’t want to take the time to paint and then decide that the color combination looked better in your head, or turned out different to how you expected it. If you use a simulation app to paint your house exterior first, then you won’t have the worry about such errors happening in real-life.
Work out the quantity you need
Another reason why you might use a house painting app is to figure out how much paint you will need. You need to buy an amount that will last long enough to get one coat of paint all the way around your home. Using a virtual house painting app will also let you choose which kind of primer and topcoats you want, as well as how many coats you’ll need. The app to paint house that you choose may link to stores and products, so you can check to make sure that the colors you like are available at your local hardware or paint shop.
Apps vs calculating house paint manually
Having said that, we still recommend you learn the skills to calculate your house painting costs and quantity yourself – for instructions, read our article How to Calculate DIY House Paint Cost and Coverage here. While using a house paint app can make this task a bit quicker, doing your own calculations will ultimately give you more freedom in calculating and tweaking your paint costs and quantity requirements. If using an app for this purpose, keep in mind that if it crashes you could lose all your calculations in an instant, or it may only recommend products from their own brand.
Best App to Paint House
Best Overall Apps to Paint House
Painting your house is a daunting task – it’s messy, time-consuming, and can often result in you ruining furniture and trim. But just because you’re a DIYer, doesn’t mean you have to put up with that. The following house painting apps and websites can help guide you through the process, from selecting colors to finishing touches like sanding and staining. While there are heaps of house painting apps out there, only a few will get you the best quality results. Here are our favorites for the best app to paint house.
Paint My Wall
- Device: iPhone, iPad, Android.
- Developer: Alexander Dr. Rieger
- Google Play (Android): Paint My Wall app
- Apple iOS: Paint My Wall app
If you’re looking for a virtual room to paint, this app is a good choice. The Paint My Wall App is based on a system of color wheels. This makes it easy to pick out paint colors that will look good together, without needing to know a lot about how color theory works. The app will tell you which colors are complementary and what colors to mix them with to get the best results.
Paint My Wall allows you to upload your own photo of the house, so you can get a house paint before and after visualization. The app will pick what paint colors look good with your house, and it can also tell if they will look good with the existing wall color. On the downside, it only allows you to choose the color of the walls and the trim, not the ceilings or floors, which means you will have to use some other means do that if required.
Pros
- Free
- Wide color range to choose from
- House paint before and after feature
Cons
- Complicated and takes time to get used to
- Cannot test ceiling or floor colors
Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap paint visualizer app
- Devices: iPhone, iPad, Android, Website.
- Developer: Sherwin-Williams
- Google Play (Android): Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap Visualizer app
- Apple iOS: Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap Visualizer app
This popular app to paint house has may high ratings and is well worth using. This handy paint visualizer app uses the colors that you have in your home to find colors that will match them.
You can then use the ColorSnap Visualizer app to find out how much paint you’ll need and where to get it. The app also lets you take and save pictures of the colors in your home. That will help prove to the contractor and insurance company that you have the correct colors and are not fooling around.
The app will search through your collection of photos to find all the different colors together, which is helpful if you have a lot of photos. Unfortunately, it doesn’t pick the exact color options for your home, but it helps you narrow them down so you can get an idea of what will look good
Pros
- Free
- Upload your own photos of the house
- Ability to search your photo collection
Cons
- Colors are not accurate
- Might take some time to get used to
- Biased towards their own brand of paint
best professional app to paint house
Benjamin Moore Color Portfolio
- Devices: iPhone, iPad, Android phones. Website.
- Developer: Benjamin Moore & Co
- Google Play (Android): Benjamin Moore Color Portfolio app
- Apple iOS: Benjamin Moore Color Portfolio app
This app uses the Benjamin Moore’s color capture system, which makes it easy to find paint colors that will match your home, whether you have a lot or a few.
It lets you mix colors and see them together before you buy them, so you’re not wasting your money on topcoats that don’t look good with the wall color. This virtual house paint app also lets you upload photos of your house, so you can see how the colors look on it.
Another nice bonus is that this app to paint house gives you step by step instructions and pictures of how to complete the painting process. Aside from it being a little tricky to use and work out, we don’t have any complaints about this one.
Professionals who are serious about their color matching can also benefit from the Color Reader and Color Reader Pro devices which are designed to accurately read color off surfaces, both of which are compatible with the Color Portfolio app.
Pros
- Free
- Handy color mixing feature
- Upload your own house photos
Cons
- A bit complicated to use
- Biased towards their own brand of paint
best App for virtual rooms to paint
Paint Tester Visualizer App
- Devices: Apple iPad.
- Developer: Luminant Software, Inc.
- Google Play (Android): Android app unavailable at this time.
- Apple iOS: Paint Tester Visualizer app
This painting simulator app is really good for creating virtual rooms to paint, especially if you’ve never done a painting project before. It lets you test and paint house virtually in whatever colors that you want, without needing to commit to any of them.
You can choose the type of primer and topcoat to use, as well as how many coats you’ll need. Then, the app will let you know how much paint and other supplies you’ll need to get the job done.
This house paint visualizer app will also give you a list of what paint colors will look good together in your home, as well as some general color suggestions that you might want to use.
It’s free to use the basic version, which includes: two paint colors, two topcoats, primer, and mixed paint color. There are other levels of service that you can pay for if you want more options. The Paint Tester app also allows you to take photos of your house and save them to your phone or tablet.
As for downsides, the free version will only save up to 20 photos, so if you want more space, you’ll need to pay an extra fee. You will also have to put in some time to figure out how the app works, and it will take time to set it up.
Pros
- Free, with paid premium option
- You can take photos within the app
Cons
- Maximum 20 photos on free version
- Takes a bit of time to set-up and learn to use
App to Paint House – Other Options
Home Harmony house paint visualizer app
- Devices: iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets.
- Developer: Cambrian Tech
- Google Play (Android): Home Harmony House Paint Visualizer app
- Apple iOS: Home Harmony House Paint Visualizer app
This virtual paint app is most suitable for commercial buildings, but as the name implies, it will also work for the home. The Home Harmony app comes with a color wheel that helps you pick out the colors that will look good together, and it also tells you how to paint. It also has a feature that lets you sketch out what you need to do for each step.
Home Harmony allows you to upload photos of the house and has a color wheel that will help you pick colors that look good together. It’s a little complicated to learn and use at first, but it will help you pick out the best colors to use if you put in the effort.
Pros
- Upload your own house photos
- In-built color wheel helps you pick color schemes
- One-time fee, allows you to create unlimited projects.
Cons
- Takes time to learn and use properly
Prestige ColorPic Paint Color app
- Devices: iPhone, iPad, and Android.
- Developer: Prestige Paints LLC
- Website: Prestige ColorPic Paint app website
Prestige ColorPic is free and easy to use house paint simulator app, that allows you to pick the right color without needing education in color theory. It has a color wheel that helps you to pick the right colors together, and it also lets you paint house virtually in those colors with the correct amounts of primer and topcoat. In addition, the app will tell you how much paint to buy, so you don’t waste money getting more than you need.
This house paint simulator app also has a feature that allows you to take and save photos of the house, as well as uploading your own photos, so you can prove to everyone else that the colors look right in your home instead of just guessing. While the goal of this app is to help you choose the right colors, a real downside is that it doesn’t really suggest whether one color scheme will look better than another.
Pros
- Free and easy to use
- You can upload your own photos
- It can calculate how much paint you need to buy
Cons
- Doesn’t give suggestions for which color schemes look better
- Can take some time to get used to.
ColorSmart
- Devices: iPhone, iPad, Android, Website.
- Developer: BEHR Mobile.
- Website: Behr ColorSmart app website
This straightforward simulator app to paint house could be a good choice if you are still on the hunt for an easy virtual room to paint. As well as the app, you can also download it on your laptop or desktop computer, which will be helpful if you’re painting a large room or a commercial building.
The ColorSmart app will tell you what type of primer and topcoat to use for each job, so you won’t have to worry about buying the wrong supplies. In addition, it lets you search for paint stores in your area that sell the paint. You will have to put in some time to get used to the app. There are also other levels of service that you can pay for if you want more options.
Unfortunately, after recent app updates users have complained about bugs and crashing, so until they get those technical issues fixed, you might want to look at one of the other apps instead. Unfortunately, due to poor technical performance, this is not the best app to paint house for mobile. However, for desktop users, there is a website browser version of ColorSmart that is more promising.
Pros
- Ability to search stores
- Suggests suitable types of paint and primer
- Easy to use and pick the right colors
- You can use it on desktop or laptop
Cons
- Takes some time to learn and get used to
- Users have reported bugs in recent app updates
- Biased towards their own brand of paint
Hardware Store Paint Visualizer Tools
Lowe’s Paint Visualizer
Lowe’s Paint Visualizer is a website that provides what you need to know in order to select the right color for your house. Use this house paint visualizer tool to test and work out whether a certain shade will work with your home’s decor and if it’s edgy enough. It is a no frills, straightforward color selection and visualizer tool, that you can use right in your browser window.
Project Color by The Home Depot
Another hardware store paint visualizer tool, the Project Color Home Depot app has surprisingly excellent customer reviews. The app is designed to help you visualize exterior paint as well as interior paint, and also has a color matching feature. The app can suggest recommended paint schemes, and once you’ve decided what you like, allow you to purchase it from your local Home Depot store.
Conclusion
If you’re trying to paint a house, then you probably don’t want it to be pink. But even if you’re not going for such extravagant colors, you still want to make sure that the shades you are choosing for your house interior or exterior look good together. Likewise, if you’re looking at buying a piece of furniture, or painting your own furniture, then you probably want to visualize the paint color to make sure it looks nice in your home first.
Even subtle differences in shades and tints can make a big difference, and that’s where an app to paint house exterior or room can come in handy. The internet has made it easier for us to create and play with virtual rooms to paint so we can test our color ideas, but even so some of us still have trouble picking out the right shade. Some of us don’t know where to find a paint color wheel, or what a color wheel even is. If this is you, then you’re not alone.
There are plenty of options for an app to paint house to choose from, which will help you to paint your house virtually and visualize exterior paint and interior paint options for your home, house, apartment or business. Some are better than others, depending largely on the features you are after. Here we have suggested a list of the best app to paint house, based on our research and investigations. If you can take the time to learn about these virtual painting apps and make a smart choice, then it will ultimately be less effort for you and you’ll spend less time messing around with an app that doesn’t work.
This article was originally published on 25 March 2022, and updated on 8 November 2024 to update information and maintain accuracy.
