Respaced vs magicplan: 3D Property Workspace or Floor Plan Workflow?

Choose magicplan when your workflow is centred on creating and editing floor plans, structured forms, estimates and exported reports. Choose Respaced when your workflow is centred on a navigable 3D property record where issues, measurements, photographs, documents and conversations remain attached to the rooms and surfaces they concern.

Both products can begin with mobile capture and both can add contextual information. The right choice depends on whether the floor plan or the spatial workspace should be the main working surface.

At-a-glance comparison

What magicplan is built to do

magicplan is a mature mobile floor-plan and field-documentation product. Its official product overview describes several ways to create a plan: AR or LiDAR scanning, manual drawing, square rooms and drawing over an imported plan. Users can edit plans, add objects, attach photos and notes, render in 3D and export in multiple formats.

Its Report offering can produce structured PDF or web reports with sketches, notes, images, videos and forms. magicplan also documents integrations and API access on relevant plans. Estimating capabilities can calculate materials and costs when that add-on and workflow are appropriate.

This makes magicplan a strong candidate for:

• Restoration and claims documentation
• Inspection forms tied to rooms or objects
• Remodel and trade estimating
• Floor-plan creation and correction
• Teams that require standard exports or connected systems
• Android-inclusive field teams

What Respaced is built to do

Respaced begins with RoomPlan capture and retains the property as an editable spatial document. Teams can arrange rooms, correct model details, save measurements and add point-of-interest records such as observations, issues, repairs, quotations, photos, proposals and documents.

The public output is not simply a generated report. A recipient can open a read-only browser link, navigate the selected rooms and inspect the evidence categories included by the workspace owner. Internal users can work through role-based access and comments.

Respaced is particularly suited to:

• Survey and inspection findings that benefit from exact room position
• Maintenance issues that need surrounding context before attendance
• Existing-space design discussions
• Property records that must survive staff or supplier handovers
• Professional businesses that want independent ownership around one address

The spatial property records guide explains this category in more detail.

Floor plan first or room context first?

A floor plan is an efficient abstraction. It shows room arrangement, openings and dimensions without visual noise. For estimating, area take-offs, standard forms and 2D client documents, that abstraction is often ideal. magicplan’s editor and export options are built around it.

A navigable 3D room preserves another kind of information: height, surface relationship and the surrounding view. A photograph pinned below a particular window is easier to interpret when the recipient can see the wall, adjacent opening and room. Respaced makes that context the main interface.

Use this question in a workshop: if a new colleague receives the record six months later, will they primarily ask “what is the plan and quantity?” or “where exactly was this and what surrounded it?”

• If plan and quantity dominate, start with magicplan.
• If location and surrounding evidence dominate, start with Respaced.
• If both are essential, test whether a combination or an export handoff is appropriate rather than forcing one product to replace every specialist tool.

Capture methods and field realities

magicplan supports a broader set of capture and drawing methods. Its documentation covers compatible Apple and Android devices, AR scanning, LiDAR scanning, manual methods, Bluetooth laser measures and imported floor plans. This flexibility matters when a field team has mixed hardware or must update an existing drawing.

Respaced focuses on LiDAR-equipped Apple devices and Apple RoomPlan. A user plans a survey, captures individual rooms, reviews them locally and deliberately queues them to sync. Local work remains available while signed out or offline, and queued uploads resume after connectivity and authentication return.

Apple explains that RoomPlan recognises walls, windows, openings, doors and furniture categories through the device camera and LiDAR Scanner. That output is structured, but it still requires review. Neither workflow should encourage teams to leave site without checking missing openings, occluded surfaces and critical dimensions.

Reporting and client delivery

magicplan’s Report plan documentation lists structured reports, custom forms, photos, notes, plan exports and web reports. This is compelling when the client expects a repeatable document with fixed fields and sections.

Respaced’s client deliverable is an interactive selected view of the property workspace. The owner chooses scans and point-of-interest categories, decides whether a passcode is required, can set an expiry and controls model downloads. Recipients can inspect the shared information but do not consume an internal seat and cannot edit or comment through the public link.

Neither delivery model is inherently superior:

Respaced explicitly does not replace a certified survey, assessment or required professional report. Its spatial view can accompany or support that deliverable.

Team structure and permissions

magicplan provides Workspaces and Teams for managing projects, users and permissions. Its model suits an organisation that wants staff to work within a common project environment.

Respaced has organisation roles and property-workspace roles. Owners and Admins manage the organisation; Managers, Editors, Commenters and Viewers determine actions on a workspace. A business can invite internal members and grant workspace-specific access without making a public link editable.

Respaced also connects independent professional workspaces to a lasting address. A public structure can provide a reusable spatial foundation, but a snapshot excludes private observations, notes, photographs, documents, textures, branding, share links and conversations. This is useful when each firm must control its own record.

Editing and outputs

magicplan is the stronger fit when detailed plan editing, a large object library, export formats, forms or estimates are requirements. Verify the exact export and integration against the current plan before procurement.

Respaced’s editing is designed to improve and work within the captured property model. It supports room organisation, labels, materials, focused geometry edits, measurements and spatial records. Source model downloads can be allowed or blocked per public share, but Respaced should not be purchased as a general CAD or estimating system.

A five-step pilot

Run the same real property through both products:

1. Capture: record the same rooms using supported devices and note any missed geometry.
2. Correct: time the work needed to produce an understandable plan or model.
3. Document: add one defect, one measurement, three photographs and a follow-up question.
4. Deliver: ask a colleague or client who was not on site to locate the issue and explain the next action.
5. Reuse: return a week later, update the record and assess whether the history remains understandable.

Do not score only capture speed. Score the complete route from site to decision.

When magicplan is the better choice

Choose magicplan when:

• Your main output is a floor plan, structured report or estimate
• Forms and repeatable field data are central
• The team uses both Android and iOS devices
• You need its documented exports or partner integrations
• A plan-based interface matches staff training and client expectations

When Respaced is the better choice

Choose Respaced when:

• A navigable 3D property record is the ongoing work surface
• Evidence must stay attached to exact room locations
• Client and contractor sharing should reveal selected spatial context
• Independent businesses need separate ownership around one address
• Apple LiDAR capture and offline review fit the field workflow

Review how to choose property documentation software before final procurement, and compare Respaced with Polycam if general 3D exports also matter.

Conclusion

magicplan is a strong floor-plan, field-reporting and estimating platform. Respaced is a 3D property-workspace platform. Their overlap does not remove the central difference: magicplan generally turns the site into an editable plan and report, while Respaced turns it into a continuing navigable record.

If the Respaced model matches your process, open the interactive demo, review current plans or request a workflow discussion.