Lumion demands a workstation GPU and a four-figure yearly seat. Volexi is pay-as-you-go AI rendering on any laptop, Mac or Windows.
Volexi replaces Lumion for studios that need fast architectural stills without a workstation GPU. Upload a PNG from any CAD tool, pick a lighting preset, and receive a 4K render in about a minute. No annual seat fee.
What the numbers say
Inside VolexiA 9-architect studio in Porto switched from Lumion Pro to Volexi and reported total annual rendering spend falling from €14,400 (9 seats × €1,600) to under €1,500 in credit packs across 2026, while increasing monthly render throughput from ~90 to ~410 images.
Eight dimensions that matter when you're choosing an AI or traditional renderer for architectural visualisation.
| Dimension | Volexi | Lumion |
|---|---|---|
| Licence model | Pay-as-you-go credit packs from $9 | Annual per-seat subscription |
| Hardware requirement | Any laptop with a browser | Workstation GPU with 8 GB+ VRAM |
| Operating system | Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS | Windows only |
| Setup time | Sign up, upload image, render | Install, learn node-graph editor, import scene |
| Animation support | Not the product — still images only | Yes, keyframed animation |
| AI-native | Yes — diffusion with geometry lock | No — traditional real-time engine |
| Time to first render from install | Under 2 minutes | 45+ minutes |
| Output format | 4K PNG or WebP | 4K still, 4K video, VR export |
Lumion is a trademark of Act-3D B.V.. Volexi is not affiliated with or endorsed by Act-3D B.V.. Feature comparisons are based on publicly available documentation at time of writing.
Why teams migrate from Lumion to Volexi
Hardware friction and cost. Lumion requires a workstation GPU; Volexi runs on any laptop. Lumion bills annually; Volexi bills per render.
Studios with 5+ architects find the hardware-plus-licence cost of Lumion climbs into mid five figures yearly. Volexi shifts that to a usage-based model that typically sits under a tenth of Lumion spend for still-image workflows.
Lumion is still strong for animation and specific glass/water effects. Volexi matches or beats Lumion for daylight interior and exterior stills in most beta comparisons.
The gap is narrowest on interior daylight scenes and widest on animated water or cinematic fly-throughs. For the 80% of client work that is still-image architecture, Volexi is the faster, cheaper path.
Yes. Volexi runs in the browser, so Apple Silicon Macs work natively. Lumion has no Mac version.
This matters for architecture and interior-design studios that standardised on Mac hardware and have been forced into Bootcamp, Parallels, or a dedicated Windows box just to run Lumion.
No. Volexi is still-image AI rendering. For client animations or fly-throughs, keep Lumion and use Volexi for the stills.
Many Lumion users split: Lumion for animation deliverables only; Volexi for the dozens of still renders that bulk up a typical presentation deck. The per-render cost delta pays for both in most scenarios.
Renders produced in Volexi vs Lumion
Eight dimensions matter when choosing architectural rendering software. See how Volexi compares across the category.
Upload a CAD export and see a photoreal result in under a minute. No install, no GPU — credit packs from $9.