LumionComparison

Lumion vs Foveate

These are not competing purchases. Lumion is where you produce the rendering. Foveate is where that rendering, and everything else in the proposal, gets delivered and tracked.

An architect walking a client through a proposal

At a glance

Lumion or Foveate?

The short answer, before the detail. The full comparison follows.

Best for

Lumion

Rendering and animating a design in one app

Foveate

Delivering the render and seeing what the client did with it

Starting price

Lumion

From about $200/yr for the View plan.

Foveate

Free to start. Starter from $16/mo, billed annually.

Prices as of October 2026, from public list prices. Check the vendor's site before you buy.

01/Lumion

What is Lumion?

Lumion producing a real-time architectural visualization
Lumion renders from your design model, with a deep content library behind it.

Lumion is a real-time rendering application with a large library of materials and landscaping. It renders your model into stills, video, and 360 panoramas, ready to bring into your proposal and is not designed to be used as a proposal delivery tool.

02/Foveate

What is Foveate?

The finished pursuit as the client receives it, one link, on any device.

Foveate is where the visuals you produce become a proposal that wins the work. Everything sits inside one live link, tailored to what a client responds to, and reports who opened it and what held their attention.

The comparison

Lumion vs Foveate

Where each tool sits in the work of winning a project.

Core strength

Lumion

Fast, atmospheric real-time visualization with a large content library.

Foveate

Delivering a pursuit and measuring engagement.

Enhancing the render

Lumion

Lumion's output is the final image. Enhancement happens in other software.

Foveate

Upscale, remove backgrounds, or animate a still into video, all built in.

Where it runs

Lumion

Desktop application on Windows, with a GPU requirement.

Foveate

The client's browser, on any device.

Client access

Lumion

Exported images, video, or panoramas that you then send.

Foveate

A link. Nothing to install, no account needed to view.

Proposal content

Lumion

Visualization output. The proposal is assembled in other software.

Foveate

Model sits alongside narrative, team, fee, schedule, forms, and PDF export.

Engagement reporting

Lumion

Not a rendering tool's purpose.

Foveate

Per-viewer identity, section-level dwell time, open notifications.

01

What Lumion is for

  • 1.1Photorealistic stills or animation, where quality is the deciding factor.
  • 1.2A render that stays in step with the model as the design develops.
  • 1.3Landscape, context, and atmosphere, with a content library that saves you days.
  • 1.4Art-directed output, given the Windows hardware and the time in the schedule.

02

What Foveate is for

  • 2.1Putting that rendering in front of the client as part of a full proposal, with fee, schedule, and team alongside it.
  • 2.2Reaching decision-makers who will open it on a laptop or phone with nothing installed.
  • 2.3Knowing who read what before you follow up.
  • 2.4One link that stays current as several stakeholders look at it at different times.

Built to work together

Lumion produces the rendering. Foveate is where that rendering lives once it needs to reach a client, exported as a still, an animation, or a 360 panorama and placed straight into the proposal alongside your narrative, fee, and schedule. Firms that win consistently tend to run both, because Lumion was never built to report on who actually opened what it made.

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Lumion output inside a Foveate proposal?
Yes, and this is the normal way the two are used together. Stills, video, and 360 panoramas produced in Lumion can be placed in a Foveate proposal alongside an interactive model, so the client gets both the rendered imagery Lumion produced and the ability to explore the space themselves, inside a link you can track.
Is Foveate a replacement for Lumion?
No, and it is not meant to be. Lumion is a visualization tool with a live connection to your design model and a higher rendering ceiling. Foveate is where the finished rendering gets delivered to a client and tracked. They handle different stages of the same project.
Does Foveate import Lumion files directly?
No. Foveate reads glTF and GLB. Export your geometry to GLB from your authoring tool such as Revit, Rhino, or SketchUp, and export imagery or video from Lumion separately, since Foveate's job starts once the design is ready to present.
Which is better for a client who is not technical?
A browser link generally has the lowest barrier, because there is nothing to install or open. A rendered video is equally easy to watch but does not let the client look where they want, which is why the two are typically combined rather than chosen between.
Do I need a powerful computer for either one?
Lumion is a desktop application that depends on a capable GPU. Foveate renders in the browser, so the demand sits on the viewer's device and is tuned for ordinary laptops and phones rather than workstations.

Better clients. Higher fees. No silence after the send.

Start free with 200 credits. Pro is $39 per person a month, billed annually. Or bring a pursuit you're running now and we'll walk it through with you.

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