The three categories of site plan tools
Online site plan tools fall into three rough categories. First, full CAD platforms with web versions — powerful, but priced and complicated for drafting professionals. Second, home-design apps aimed at homeowners — pretty 3D renders, but weak on real dimensions and professional output. Third, contractor drawing tools — 2D, scaled, dimension-first tools built for job drawings and quotes.
For contractors, the third category usually wins: you need true measurements, fast turnaround, and a professional-looking export more than you need 3D furniture or parametric constraints.
What actually matters in a site plan maker
Ignore feature-count marketing and evaluate against the drawing you actually need to produce. A useful contractor site plan maker needs a true scale, snap-to-grid drawing, dimension lines that read in feet and inches, text labels, and a clean PDF or image export with a title block. Everything else is nice-to-have.
Also weigh the practical factors: does it run in the browser without a download, can you learn it in one sitting, can you save and reuse drawings, and does the free tier let you validate it before paying?
- Scaled grid and snap-to-grid drawing
- Feet-and-inches dimension lines
- Labels and notes on the drawing
- Title block and clean PDF/PNG export
- Browser-based with no install
- Free tier to test with a real job
- Templates so you don't start from zero
Where SiteBuildHub Draft fits
SiteBuildHub Draft sits squarely in the contractor drawing category. It runs in the browser with nothing to install, starts from a residential site plan template, measures in true feet and inches, calculates areas for takeoffs, and exports PNG and PDF sheets with a title block. The free plan includes the full editor and three saved drawings, and paid plans start at $19/month.
It deliberately isn't CAD — no DWG files, no 3D, no drafting-department workflow. If your work needs engineered site documents, pair a simple tool for quoting with a licensed professional for the stamped drawings.
How to choose in one afternoon
Pick a real job you already measured and try to produce its site plan in each candidate tool. The right tool announces itself: you finish the drawing, the dimensions are real, the export looks professional, and it took less than half an hour.
Whatever you choose, standardize on it. The compounding value of drawing tools comes when every quote ships with a drawing and every job file has one — which only happens when the tool is fast enough to use every time.