Lands Design

Overview

Lands Design is a landscape-design plugin for Rhino or AutoCAD, aimed at professionals creating gardens, public green spaces and broader landscape projects. It is strongest when terrain, planting and construction elements need to stay connected to a live 3D model and project documentation. The trade-off is a dependency on a separately licensed host application and a license that runs on only one machine at a time.

Key features

Terrain can be built from contours, meshes or point clouds, or imported from satellite maps, DEM and GIS files. That range suits projects with existing survey or geographic data as well as early-stage design, though the work takes place inside Rhino or AutoCAD rather than a standalone application.

The plant database contains more than 8,000 filterable species, with botanical descriptions and 2D and 3D representations. Plants can be placed singly, in rows or in mass groups, with species mix, density and distribution configurable. This gives landscape teams practical control over both planting layouts and their visual representation.

Drawing in 2D builds a live 3D model at the same time, including elements such as contours, plants, paths and walls. Parametric walls, fences, ramps and stairs, along with urban furniture, extend the workflow into hardscape design. For project tracking, changing designs update lists covering plants, furniture, terrain, walls, paths, fences, irrigation and zoning; those lists can be exported to Excel.

The Rhino version integrates with Grasshopper and is compatible with V-Ray, Enscape, Lumion and Twinmotion. Irrigation design and planting plans are supported. These connections make Lands Design more useful to teams already working in Rhino-based modeling and visualization than to buyers seeking a self-contained design environment.

Pricing

The Evaluation plan costs nothing and lasts 60 days. It offers a defined trial period before a purchase decision, rather than an ongoing free tier.

The Educational license costs €95, paid once, billed Pay once, use forever. It is for students and educators and includes a perpetual license, making it the lower-cost route for learning or education use; it is not the commercial-use option.

The Commercial license costs €795, paid once, billed Pay once, use forever. It permits full commercial use with a perpetual license, which suits professionals who prefer a one-time payment to a subscription. Either paid license still requires the corresponding Rhino or AutoCAD license. A Lands Design license can be installed on multiple machines but can run on only one at a time, so it does not provide simultaneous use across a team.

Platforms

Lands Design supports Windows. The download requirements specify Rhino 7 or 8 on Windows 10 or 11, or AutoCAD 2021 or later on Windows 8.1, 10 or 11. The product page lists AutoCAD or Civil 3D 2021–2026 and Rhino 7 or 8. Buyers should check the host application and version requirements before committing, particularly if their workstations use different environments.

Who it's for

Lands Design is a good fit for landscape architects and for urban planners, civil engineers, environmental consultants, designers and draftsmen who need terrain, planting and hardscape in a coordinated design workflow. It is less suitable for someone who wants a standalone tool, does not already use Rhino or AutoCAD, or needs the same license running on several machines at once.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Terrain modeling accepts contours, meshes, point clouds and several geospatial sources, supporting varied project inputs.
• Pros: A large species library and configurable group planting help teams develop planting layouts with meaningful control.
• Pros: Live 2D-to-3D modeling and updating project lists connect design changes to documentation and Excel exports.
• Cons: Rhino or AutoCAD is a prerequisite, adding a separate software dependency and license cost.
• Cons: The Windows-only platform excludes teams seeking a native macOS workflow.
• Cons: The single-machine-at-a-time license limit restricts concurrent use even when installed on multiple computers.

Alternatives

3D Landscape Design Software is a useful starting point for comparing the category. Choose PRO Landscape+ if Android or iOS support matters alongside Windows; its annual plan is priced at $75 a month, billed annually. Choose Vectorworks Landmark if macOS or web access is important; its Annual plan is $127.50 a year, billed $1,530.00 billed annually.

Realtime Landscaping Architect is another Windows option, with a $599, paid once plan and no subscription required. For a free starting point, Arcadium 3D offers a browser-based free plan, but caps it at two projects, 30 objects per project and one floor plan generation. DATAflor LANDXPERT is a web and Windows alternative with custom pricing.

Choose Planting F/X if its CAD, Revit, Rhino and SketchUp coverage and floating license suit your workflow; its plan costs $695 a year. AIGardenPlanner offers a browser-based 3D editor with one free project, making it an option for a no-cost initial design. DynaScape Creator is another alternative to consider.

Verdict

Choose Lands Design if your landscape practice already uses Rhino or AutoCAD and needs terrain, planting, hardscape and project schedules tied together. Its broad modeling inputs and connected documentation are compelling reasons to adopt it, particularly with a perpetual commercial license. Look elsewhere if you need macOS support, standalone software or simultaneous use on multiple machines.