What "free" usually means in this space
Before we get into the actual list, it's worth being honest about a pattern: in 2026, most software marketed as "free warehouse design software" is one of three things:
- A free trial that expires after 7 to 30 days, at which point you pay or lose your work.
- A freemium tier with file count limits, export blocks, or watermarks that make the free version useless for real work.
- A demo requiring a sales call before you're allowed to touch the product.
This list excludes all three categories. Every tool below is either truly free with no expiration, or free during an active preview period with no payment required.
Quick comparison table
| Tool | Genuinely free? | Pallet rack-aware? | Browser-based? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RackCity | Yes (preview) | Yes | Yes | Pallet rack layout + counts |
| SketchUp Free | Yes | No | Yes | 3D models, low complexity |
| AutoCAD Web (Free) | Limited | No | Yes | Viewing .dwg files |
| SweetHome 3D | Yes (open source) | No | Desktop | Residential-style layouts |
| Floorplanner | Free tier limited | No | Yes | Quick 2D floor plans |
| Lucidchart Free | 3 docs max | No | Yes | Generic diagrams |
RackCity
The only racking-aware tool on this list. Free during private preview.
RackCity is browser-based pallet racking design software currently in free private preview. There's no credit card, no trial limit, no export watermark. You enter an email, you get access, and you start designing.
It's the only tool in this list that actually understands pallet racking — meaning it knows what a flue space is, generates back-to-back rack pairs automatically, calculates pallet positions, and handles column burying. Every other tool on this list is a general-purpose drawing app that you fight to make into a racking tool.
The honest caveat: pricing is going to exist eventually. RackCity is free now during preview, but at some point in the future it will move to a paid model. If you sign up now you're an early-access user and we expect to grandfather meaningful pricing benefits to that group, but we won't pretend the free preview is forever.
Pros
- Built for pallet racking specifically
- Auto-counts pallet positions
- No install, no credit card
- Full product, not a stripped tier
Cons
- Free preview only — pricing eventually coming
- 2D only
- No stamped drawing export yet
SketchUp Free
Solid free 3D modeling. Just don't expect any warehouse-specific features.
SketchUp Free is the genuinely-free version of SketchUp Pro. It runs in the browser, supports basic 3D modeling, and has cloud storage. For learning the basics of 3D layout, or for sketching a rough warehouse concept for a stakeholder, it works.
What it can't do: pallet position counts, rack-aware geometry, .dwg export, plugin support, or large-file performance. The free tier is genuinely useful for hobbyist or learning work; for production warehouse design you'll quickly outgrow it.
AutoCAD Web (Free Tier)
Free for viewing and light editing of .dwg files — not for real design.
AutoCAD has a free web tier that lets you view, comment on, and make minor edits to .dwg files. If your role is occasional markup on drawings the engineering team produces, this is enough. It's also useful as a "second opinion" viewer when you don't want to spend $1,800/year for a single seat that only opens files twice a month.
It is emphatically not a tool for designing a warehouse from scratch. Most of the actual drafting commands require a paid subscription. Don't be fooled by the brand.
SweetHome 3D
Open-source 2D/3D layout software. Built for homes, but the geometry works for warehouses too.
SweetHome 3D is fully open-source, runs on Windows/Mac/Linux, and is genuinely free with no strings attached. It was built for residential interior design (the name is a hint), but the underlying engine — draw walls, place objects to scale, view in 2D or 3D — works for warehouses with some patience.
You'll be importing rack shapes manually, your pallet positions will be eyeballed, and the UI feels like a 2010-era Java desktop app. But it's free forever and you own your files. For a back-of-envelope first pass on a small warehouse, it's a reasonable option.
Floorplanner
Free tier limited to one floor plan — enough to try, not enough to use.
Floorplanner is a browser-based 2D/3D floor plan tool with a generous interface and a low learning curve. The free tier gives you one project and basic export. It's designed for real estate and residential, but plenty of small operators use it for warehouse mockups.
The free tier limitation kicks in quickly: one project, low-res exports, and a watermark on screenshots. If you want anything to leave the tool unmarked, you're paying. Call this useful for a single one-off layout, not as an ongoing workflow.
Lucidchart Free
Free for 3 documents and 60 objects — useful for an org chart, not for a warehouse.
Lucidchart is a popular browser-based diagramming app with a free tier. It includes basic warehouse and floor plan shape libraries. For non-engineering visualization — drawing a high-level zoning diagram for a leadership meeting, for example — it gets the job done.
The free tier limits hit fast: 3 documents, 60 objects per document, no advanced shape libraries. A real warehouse layout will exceed 60 objects in about five minutes. Treat this as a slide-deck visualization tool, not a design tool.
Which one should you actually use?
If your goal is to lay out pallet racking and get accurate position counts, your options collapse to one: RackCity. It's the only tool here that knows what a pallet rack is. SketchUp Free, SweetHome 3D, and Floorplanner are all general-purpose drawing tools that you can torture into warehouse use; Lucidchart and AutoCAD Web aren't even close.
If you don't need racking-specific logic — you just need to draw a warehouse outline for a presentation — SketchUp Free for 3D or SweetHome 3D for 2D will get the job done, free, forever.
If multiple "free" warehouse design tools showed up in your Google search and you're not sure which is real: open each, try to design a single 50,000 sqft warehouse with 200 pallet positions, and try to export the result. The ones that ask for payment before you finish are the ones that aren't really free. The ones that finish the job without a paywall are.
If you want a tool that knows what flue space, back-to-back pairs, and dead bays are without you teaching it, RackCity is the one. If you're willing to do all the math manually, SketchUp Free is the next best browser option.