SketchUp

About

SketchUp

SketchUp is a 3D modeling application aimed at architecture, interior design, construction, product design, and rapid concept modeling. The software was founded in 2000 as @Last Software by Brad Schell and Joe Esch, acquired by Google in 2006, and sold to Trimble Inc. in 2012, which remains its current owner. SketchUp Free runs in a browser and is offered alongside SketchUp Go, SketchUp Pro, and SketchUp Studio commercial editions.

SketchUp was created in 2000 by Brad Schell and Joe Esch at a small Boulder, Colorado software company called @Last Software, with the explicit goal of making 3D modeling accessible to architects, interior designers, and casual visualisers rather than trained CAD operators. The signature push-pull method, draw a face then pull it into volume, remains the defining interaction pattern of the software two and a half decades later. Google acquired @Last Software in 2006 and released a widely used free desktop version, then sold SketchUp to Trimble Inc., a Sunnyvale-headquartered technology company focused on positioning, modeling, and construction workflows, in 2012. Trimble has retained ownership since, expanding the product line while continuing to offer a free web edition. The current product family covers several tiers. SketchUp Free runs entirely inside a Chromium-based browser, requires a Trimble account, saves projects to Trimble Connect cloud storage, and omits desktop extensions. SketchUp Go adds mobile access and richer import and export. SketchUp Pro provides the classic desktop application on Windows and macOS with the full extension ecosystem, LayOut documentation, and Style Builder. SketchUp Studio adds Sefaira for building-performance analysis, V-Ray for photoreal rendering, and Scan Essentials for point-cloud workflows. The 3D Warehouse component library ships alongside every tier and offers millions of ready-made furniture, fixture, and architectural components contributed by manufacturers and community users. SketchUp's community channels include the official SketchUp YouTube channel, the SketchUpOfficial Twitter and Facebook presences, an Instagram account that showcases user work, and a LinkedIn company page. Documentation, tutorial videos, and the SketchUp Campus training platform run alongside the flagship 3D Basecamp user conference. Trimble maintains a large partner and reseller network that serves the construction, MEP, landscape architecture, and film-set-design industries where SketchUp has become an industry-standard tool for schematic-design and coordination work. The free tier remains one of the most-used entry points into 3D modeling and is widely taught in secondary education and early architecture-school coursework.