> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://sketchupguide.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Is SketchUp free? What SketchUp Free in the browser can do - URL: https://sketchupguide.net/is-sketchup-free/ - Published: 2026-11-11T13:07:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-11T13:06:59.000Z - Description: The free browser modeler covers noncommercial work with specific file and cloud limits. Separate that route from paid web access, desktop Pro, school accounts and the seven-day trial. - Author: Oliver Grant - Tags: Free versions & plans **SketchUp Free lets you model in a browser without paying, for noncommercial use.** You need a Trimble ID, and there's no Free desktop installer. [SketchUp's Free plan guidance](https://help.sketchup.com/en/admin/sketchup-free?ref=sketchupguide.net) states the use restriction and the 10 GB cloud-storage allowance. A free Pro trial and a school's free account are separate routes with different tools and eligibility. I'd choose Free for a personal browser model when its file options cover the result you need. For paid client work, desktop extensions or a LayOut drawing set, identify the required license and deliverable before drawing the first edge. The [Free versions and plans guides](https://sketchupguide.net/tag/free-web-and-plans/) match each of those jobs to a plan. To begin, open [SketchUp Free](https://sketchup.trimble.com/en/plans-and-pricing/sketchup-free?ref=sketchupguide.net), choose **Start modeling** and sign in with your Trimble ID. On the Home page, choose **Create new** or a measurement template. After drawing, save a named version to your project; the steps below show how to keep a local copy too. ## Free's tools and cloud allowance You can start modeling with [a browser and a Trimble ID](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/sketchup-web?ref=sketchupguide.net), without buying a subscription. Free is an ongoing product option, not the seven-day Pro trial. That distinction matters when a search for a free download lands on the Pro trial page. The [current Saving Models guide](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/saving-models?ref=sketchupguide.net) gives non-subscribers one project, up to five collaborators and up to 10 GB of storage. A project is the container you choose when saving a model, so one project doesn't mean one model. Save related models inside that project and keep the total storage within the allowance. [![SketchUp for Web SAVE TO window in the My Models project, with the Name field and the Save here button over an Untitled model](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/08-sketchup-ui-is-sketchup-free-0-7d5fb18f91bc.webp)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/08-sketchup-ui-is-sketchup-free-0-7d5fb18f91bc.webp?ref=sketchupguide.net) Select Untitled, choose the project, enter a model name, then use Save here. Free includes 3D Warehouse access, though [some Warehouse features require a paid subscription](https://help.sketchup.com/en/admin/sketchup-free?ref=sketchupguide.net). The same Free plan guidance reserves AI-credit access for paid subscriptions and excludes SketchUp support. Browser access doesn't include every tool or service shown elsewhere on SketchUp's site. For the use restriction, Trimble's [Free Versions terms, section 2.6](https://www.trimble.com/en/legal/offering-terms/terms/english?ref=sketchupguide.net), specify use “in a non-production environment and for non-commercial purposes,” unless Trimble designates otherwise. Treat a commercial job as a licensing decision even if the shapes could be made with Free's tools. [![Quotation from Trimble's Free Versions terms, section 2.6: in a non-production environment and for non-commercial purposes](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/08-sketchup-ui-is-sketchup-free-1-f5470eb82a93.webp)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/08-sketchup-ui-is-sketchup-free-1-f5470eb82a93.webp?ref=sketchupguide.net) Trimble's Free Versions terms, section 2.6, specify use in a non-production environment and for non-commercial purposes unless Trimble designates otherwise, so treat a commercial job as a licensing decision. ## Keep the model and choose its file route An editable model, a picture and a geometry export serve different handoffs. Free accepts **SKP, JPG and PNG**; the [Web import instructions](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/creating-and-editing-models?ref=sketchupguide.net) put these in the non-subscriber list. To bring one in, choose **Import** from the Main Menu, then **My Device** or **Trimble Connect**, depending on where it is stored. DWG and DXF appear in the subscriber list, so a CAD file is already a reason to check a paid route. Web models [save to Trimble Connect unless you choose local storage](https://help.sketchup.com/en/accounts-and-administration/trimble-connect-sketchup-web?ref=sketchupguide.net). I'd keep a local SKP copy of a model worth keeping: it preserves the model file, and section 2.6 of the [Free Versions data terms](https://www.trimble.com/en/legal/offering-terms/terms/english?ref=sketchupguide.net) places no obligation on Trimble to retain data used with its non-commercial offerings. For a local copy, follow the documented [Download route](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/saving-models?ref=sketchupguide.net): 1. Open the model you want to download. 2. Open the **Menu** and select **Download**. 3. Choose **SKP**, **PNG** or **STL** for the file you need. 4. Click **OK** to download it. Those three Download choices aren't a complete list of every output route. The current [file-management table lists STL and PDF as Free exports](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/file-management?ref=sketchupguide.net). PDF's presence in that table doesn't make it a LayOut drawing set; choose Pro when LayOut is the actual deliverable. [![SketchUp for Web Main Menu open over a Garden Shed model, with the Download item and its arrow below Import and Export](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/08-sketchup-ui-is-sketchup-free-2-0a1e7d690f1c.webp)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/08-sketchup-ui-is-sketchup-free-2-0a1e7d690f1c.webp?ref=sketchupguide.net) Open the Menu and select Download to choose SKP, PNG or STL; the current file-management table also lists STL and PDF as Free exports. If a command asks you to upgrade, check the command and desired format first. An upgrade prompt on one export doesn't mean every save costs money. For an editable local copy, return to **Download > SKP**. ## Which job needs a paid plan? The [current Go and Pro plan descriptions](https://sketchup.trimble.com/en/plans-and-pricing?ref=sketchupguide.net) make the useful dividing line the surface and deliverable: - **Noncommercial browser modeling:** begin with Free if the supported file routes and cloud limits fit. - **Paid web modeling or the iPad modeler:** look at SketchUp Go, the web-and-iPad plan; buying it doesn't add the desktop application. Any subscription, Go included, lifts the one-project and 10 GB caps and adds STL, DWG and DXF imports plus DWG, DXF, FBX and OBJ exports, as the [file-management table](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/file-management?ref=sketchupguide.net) shows. - **Desktop modeling or a LayOut drawing set:** choose Pro, which adds both to the Go capabilities. - **Extension Warehouse tools:** use a desktop plan such as Pro. Those [extensions are developed for SketchUp's desktop application](https://help.sketchup.com/en/extension-warehouse/extension-warehouse?ref=sketchupguide.net), so a paid browser subscription alone doesn't supply that extension workflow. Go and Pro also include browser access. “SketchUp for Web” therefore describes a surface used by both Free and paid subscribers, rather than a promise that every Web feature is free. For the wider decision, [compare Free, Go, Pro and Studio](https://sketchupguide.net/sketchup-vs-sketchup-pro/), then check billing against [the current plan prices](https://sketchupguide.net/sketchup-cost/). ## Schools, college discounts and the Pro trial SketchUp for Schools is a separate free K-12 option. The Schools plan requires [a Google Workspace for Education or Microsoft Education account](https://sketchup.trimble.com/en/plans-and-pricing?ref=sketchupguide.net). College students and educators get discounted higher-education subscriptions, and [SketchUp's higher-education FAQ](https://help.sketchup.com/en/universities/faq?ref=sketchupguide.net) answers no when asked whether SketchUp is free for them. A college ID doesn't turn a personal Free account into Pro. The [Pro trial lasts seven days](https://sketchup.trimble.com/en/try-sketchup?ref=sketchupguide.net) and requires no credit card. It includes desktop, Web, iPad and LayOut access for evaluation. After the trial, continuing with Pro requires a subscription. If you choose Free instead, [the files stored in Trimble Connect remain available through SketchUp for Web](https://help.sketchup.com/en/studio-trial?ref=sketchupguide.net); the trial ending does not delete them. If the whole job is inspecting an SKP someone sent you, begin with the options to open a SketchUp file without a paid plan. If you need to edit it, name the final file or drawing sheet first, then choose the plan that supplies it.