Virtual tour real estate cost: 2026 prices in £ and $

Ask three people what a property virtual tour costs and you'll get three answers that are all right: one for a hired Matterport scan, one for doing it yourself with a 360 camera, and one for doing it with the phone you already own. The gap between them is hundreds of dollars or pounds per listing, so it's worth laying the numbers side by side.

All prices below were checked in October 2026 on the pages linked. They change often, and photographer rates vary a lot by area, so treat them as a guide and get quotes before you commit.

Virtual tour real estate cost at a glance

Option	Upfront	Ongoing	Per property (approx.)
Hired Matterport scan, US	Nothing	Hosting, often ~$20/month	$350–$1,000 by size
Hired Matterport scan, UK	Nothing	Hosting, £60–£99/year after any included period	£249–£574 by size
360 camera + Kuula Pro	$549.99 / £519.99 (Insta360 X5 launch price)	$20/month	Fee split across your listings
360 camera + 3DVista	Camera + €499	Hosting from €99/year	Fee split across your listings
Matterport Pro3 Plus Package	$1,995 / £1,595	$245 / £195 a month for 24 months	Fee split across 50 spaces
Matterport Pro3 (camera only)	$3,995 / £3,195	Paid plan on top, from $108 / £86 a month	Fee split across your spaces
Phone + Matterport Free	Nothing	Nothing	$0, one active space
Phone + RoomTour	Nothing	Nothing during the launch	$0

Sources for each row are in the sections below.

Key takeaway: if you only need a tour or two a year, paying someone is cheaper than buying kit. Once you're doing several a month, the camera stops being the big cost; the monthly platform fee and your time per property are. And if you want to start without paying anything, phone-only options exist today.

3D virtual tour real estate pricing: hiring a Matterport scan

Matterport doesn't just stitch panoramas. Its scanners build a measured 3D model with a dollhouse view and floor plans, which is why it's the default for premium listings and why it costs more.

United States. The Future 3D, a US capture provider, lists residential scans at $350–$500 under 2,000 sq ft, $350–$600 for 2,000–3,000 sq ft and $600–$1,000 for larger homes, with hosting billed separately at $20 a month per space. Amplifiles puts typical photographer pricing lower, at $200–$300 under 2,000 sq ft and $350–$400 for 3,000–4,000 sq ft, and notes that floor plans can push a listing past $500 in expensive metros.

United Kingdom. Fewer UK providers publish rate cards, but we found three:

Property Photo Guy (Bristol and Bath) charges £249 up to 1,000 sq ft, £329 to 2,000 sq ft, £429 to 3,500 sq ft and £549 to 5,000 sq ft, with 12 months' hosting included and £99 a year after that.
Houses and Properties (London) prices by bedrooms: £374 for a studio or one-bed, £454 for three beds and £574 for six or more.
360 Virtual Tours prices on floor area from £350 per scan, with Matterport hosting at £60 a year per scan on top.

None of the three says whether its prices include VAT, so ask. That puts a typical UK home at roughly £250 to £575 before hosting, with London at the top of the range. Three firms is a small sample, not a market survey.

If you need accurate measurements, a dollhouse model or a tour that holds up on a high-value home, a hired Matterport scan is the better choice than any panorama tour, camera or phone.

360 virtual tour real estate pricing: doing it yourself

Shooting your own 360 tours splits the cost in two: a camera you buy once, and a platform that stitches, links and hosts the tour, which almost always bills monthly or yearly.

The camera. The Insta360 X5 launched at $549.99 in the US and £519.99 in the UK, according to road.cc; discounts are common. Add a tripod or a monopod with feet. Other models and prices are in our guide to the best 360 camera for real estate.

The platform. Three examples with public prices:

Kuula. Its pricing page shows a free Basic plan (up to 300 posts), but the virtual tour editor sits in Pro at $20 a month billed monthly. Business is $36 a month and adds a custom domain.
3DVista. Virtual Tour Pro is a one-off €499 for unlimited tours. It's desktop software; if you don't host tours on your own server, its hosting starts at €99 a year.
Matterport. It also accepts compatible 360 cameras. Per its official price list (updated 9 October 2026, and matching matterport.com/plans), Professional 10 costs $108 / £86 a month, or $1,080 / £864 a year, for 10 active spaces. With its own scanner there are two routes, per its hardware price list: the Pro3 on its own is $3,995 / £3,195 and needs a paid plan on top; the Pro3 Plus Package is $1,995 / £1,595 upfront for the Pro3 kit and commits you to 24 months of Professional 50 at $245 / £195 a month.

Work it out per listing: on Professional 10 billed annually, each active space costs about $9 a month if all ten slots are full. If you only have three listings live, you pay the same.

The phone-only option

This is the cheapest route and the slowest per room. A phone can't capture the whole sphere in one shot, so an app takes several photos per room and stitches them. No camera, no tripod.

Matterport Free. The price list says the free plan doesn't accept spaces from Matterport's pro cameras, and only smartphone captures can be shared publicly. You get one active space: fine for a trial, not for a pipeline of listings.
RoomTour. This is our app: guided capture on an iPhone, no 360 camera or LiDAR, free for early users. How it works is below.

Compared with a 360 camera, a phone asks for more time and care in each room. If you shoot several properties a day, a 360 camera is faster. There's a fuller comparison in 360 virtual tours without a 360 camera.

Doing it with RoomTour, for nothing

RoomTour is our app, so read this as the option we know best, limits included. A tour costs you time and nothing else:

Capture each room on your iPhone. The app shows one target at a time, about 30 shots per room, and stitches the 360° panorama on the phone. No tripod, no 360 camera, no LiDAR iPhone needed.
Check the floor plan. The phone's motion tracking draws an approximate plan (typically within 10 to 20 cm). It helps buyers find their way round the tour; don't use it for measurements.
Share the link. Every tour has a link for WhatsApp or email, your website (embedded as an iframe) and the listing, if the portal accepts it.
Print the QR poster. An A4 window poster that opens the tour, in English or Spanish.
Watch the views. The app counts how often each tour is opened, and during the launch tours carry no watermark.

It's on the App Store, iPhone only, and free for early users. Open the example tour on your phone to see what a buyer gets. If you need reliable measurements or a dollhouse model, a scanner such as Matterport is still the better tool.

How to make a virtual tour for real estate on a small budget

Start with what you own. A phone and a free plan (Matterport Free or RoomTour's launch offer) cost nothing beyond your time.
Prepare the property as for photos. Lights on, blinds up, clutter away, doors open. A 360° view has no "out of shot".
Capture one panorama per room from roughly the centre, turning on the spot rather than walking around.
Check every room on your phone before you publish: stitching seams, blown-out windows, your reflection in a mirror.
Put the link everywhere. Your listing page, replies to enquiries, an email to your buyer list, a QR code in the window. Check whether your portal feed or CRM has a virtual tour field before assuming Rightmove, Zoopla or Zillow will show it.

The step-by-step version is in how to make a virtual tour with your phone.

Hidden costs to ask about

The headline price is rarely the full price. Before you pay, ask about:

Hosting. Hired tours often include a limited hosting period, then bill monthly or yearly, as in the $20 a month and £60–£99 a year examples above. A tour that stops loading on a live listing looks worse than no tour.
Active spaces. Matterport charges for tours live at the same time, not tours made. Archive sold properties to free the slot.
Extras. Floor plans, video fly-throughs and file exports are usually priced separately. Matterport's plans page says floor plan, CAD and BIM exports carry additional charges.
Travel and VAT. UK quotes are often ex-VAT, and mileage outside a set area may be extra.
Your time. If you shoot it yourself, count the visit, the capture, the editing and the upload. Past a few listings a month, that's the biggest cost.

What to charge if you sell virtual tours

If you want to offer tours as a service to homeowners or other agents, the public reference points are the ones above: roughly $200–$1,000 per home in the US depending on size, and roughly £250–£575 for a Matterport scan in the UK.

To set your own rate:

Work out your cost per tour. Platform fees divided by the tours you publish each month, plus your time and travel.
Price by floor area or number of rooms, as most providers do, so a large detached house doesn't come in at a studio flat's price.
State the hosting included (for example 6 or 12 months) and the renewal price. Expired hosting is the most common complaint.
Price the extras: floor plans, video, rush jobs, mileage.
Be clear about tax: quote ex-VAT or inc-VAT in the UK, and say which.

If you're an agent and the tour is part of your listing service, you may not charge for it at all. Then the number that matters is cost per property, and that's where a phone or a 360 camera on a low monthly fee makes more sense than hiring someone every time.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a virtual tour cost for real estate?

Hired in, a Matterport scan of a home runs about $350–$1,000 in the US depending on size, per The Future 3D, and roughly £250–£575 in the UK on the rate cards we found (Property Photo Guy, Houses and Properties, 360 Virtual Tours). Done yourself, the cost is a 360 camera (about $550 / £520 at launch for an Insta360 X5) plus a monthly platform fee, or close to nothing with a phone.

How much does a 3D virtual tour cost for real estate?

Per Matterport's official price list, Professional 10 costs $108 / £86 a month for 10 active spaces, or $1,080 / £864 a year. A Matterport scan bought as a service typically costs a few hundred dollars or pounds per home, plus hosting.

What does a 360 virtual tour cost for a property?

If you shoot it yourself, the main costs are the camera and the tour platform: Kuula Pro is $20 a month, 3DVista Virtual Tour Pro is €499 one-off. Spread over several listings a month, that is a few dollars per tour plus your time.

How do you make a virtual tour for real estate?

Capture a 360° panorama of each room, from one spot at roughly chest height, then link the rooms in a tour platform and share the link. You can use a 360 camera on a tripod or a phone app that guides the capture; see how to make a virtual tour with your phone.