Table of Contents
- What Are Virtual Tours?
- Comparing Matterport Virtual Tours vs PhotoUp
- The Results – Which Is Best?
- PhotoUp Makes Affordable Virtual Tours Easy!
Virtual tours have become a popular tool in real estate marketing and sales.
Using virtual tours leads to better buyer experiences, happier sellers, and faster sales at higher prices.
There are dozens of virtual tour services. However, many don’t deliver the results that they promise. So, how do you decide which virtual tour provider to use?
Therefore, In this post, we will compare two major providers, Matterport vs PhotoUp, to see which virtual tours are best.
But first, let’s talk about what a real estate virtual tour is.
What Are Virtual Tours?
Virtual house tours are cutting-edge technology that provides potential buyers with a realistic online experience of almost any property using their phones, tablet, or laptops.
These virtual tours give buyers the feeling of being in the property, allowing them extended access and prompting more serious interest in a listing.
Buyers and sellers love these tours. Why? Because they offer many benefits and conveniences, including:
- They save buyers time and effort by helping them narrow their search without having to visit every property in person
- Virtual tours are easier on sellers, reducing the disruption of in-person showings
- Using virtual tours allows sellers and their agents to reach a larger pool of potential buyers
- And even better, virtual tours allow sales agents to highlight a property’s best features carefully
And in case you’re wondering, virtual tours are highly effective sales tools. A Quicken Loans study found that nearly 50% of potential buyers would make an offer on a home based solely on a virtual tour.
Now that you understand the benefits of virtual tours, let’s compare two leading providers – Matterport vs. Photo – to see which is best.
Comparing Matterport Virtual Tours vs PhotoUp
One of the better-known names in the real estate marketing industry, Matterport caters to high-end commercial and residential real estate brokerages and the tourism and hospitality industry.
The company is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has offices in San Francisco, Chicago, Kansas, London, and Singapore.
Founded in 2011, Matterport is best known for its virtual tours. But they offer a wide array of real estate visual marketing services, including:
- 3D architectural renderings
- Virtual staging
- Floor plans
- Single property websites
- Real estate advertising
Several of their services are available through their easy-to-use mobile app.
Our other leading virtual tour provider is PhotoUp.
Created in 2011, PhotoUp is a global real estate marketing company with a highly skilled team of photo editors and designers in the Philippines. Their marketing and sales support team are in the US.
Working with clients both large and small, PhotoUp offers a broad range of real estate marketing and sales services, including:
- Real estate photo editing
- Virtual house tours
- Virtual staging
- Single property websites
- Floor plans
- Video editing
- Property flyers
- Custom house portraits
- And virtual assistants
All right, now that we’ve introduced these two companies, we are going to compare their virtual tour services with the following in mind:
- Account creation & basic pricing
- Additional costs
- Virtual tour quality
- Turnaround time
So, let’s get our comparison underway.
1. Account Creation & Basic Pricing
Matterport requires you to open a monthly account to use any of their services. In terms of their monthly service plans, here’s a pricing overview:
- Free – no cost – allows for 1 active tour
- Starter – $9.99 a month — this allows one user to create up to 5 virtual tours but with limited sharing options
- Professional – $69 a month — this plan allows up to five users to make up to 25 virtual tours with a few sharing options
- Professional plus – $129 a month – allows for 50 active virtual tours
- Business – $309 a month — this plan is designed for teams and allows for up to 100 virtual tours as well as the Matterport 3D video camera
There are also enterprise plan options that provide more tours but for an additional cost.
PhotoUp also requires opening an account to use their services. It takes less than 5 minutes to open a PhotoUp account, which is free.
Here are the pricing details for PhotoUp’s virtual tours:
- To try PhotoUp’s services out, you can create one virtual tour for free
- For just $29 a month, the company provides up to 5 virtual tours and 5 single property websites, plus unlimited hosting
- And the Pro plan costs $79 per month and includes 50 virtual tours and 50 single property website
PhotoUp uses a credit system for other marketing services, making payment as easy as possible. And there are discounts for bulk buying of credits.
The above is basic pricing for monthly plans and basic tour costs. However, we can’t stop our comparison simply by considering basic expenses, we also need to consider the issue of additional costs.
2. Additional Costs
This section in our comparison is essential. To use any one of Matterport’s standard virtual tours, you must purchase a Matterport 3D camera.
Here are the camera pricing options:
- Pro2 Basic Camera – $3,395
- Pro3 Advanced Camera – $5995
- Pro3 Acceleration Kit – $7,995
But wait, there are other costs to consider as well. You’ll also need special battery packs, tripods, and other camera gear, which range from $149 to $199 per item.
Also, Matterport’s virtual tours, like most others, contain hotspots. Depending on the details of the hotspot, each one ranges from $25 to $79 per hotspot.
Add-ons cost extra, ranging from $19.00 for floor plans to $2,000 for commercial virtual tours.
In contrast, there are no hidden or special additional costs using PhotoUp’s virtual house tours. For example:
- PhotoUp’s virtual tour pricing is straightforward and easy to understand
- No special, expensive camera is needed
- Tour add-ons are highly affordable
As mentioned in the section above, PhotoUp’s Pro plan costs $79.00 per month for up to 50 virtual tours and 50 single property websites at any given time with unlimited hosting.
Next, we’ll turn our attention to comparing the quality of the virtual tours.
3. Virtual Tour Quality
Both Matterport and PhotoUp provide online samples of their virtual tours. And looking at them reveals that both companies do excellent work and offer attractive and realistic virtual tours.
The virtual tours of both companies feature hotspots, custom branding options, and the ability to add floor plans and other special features.
Take a look at sample virtual tours from each provider.
Example of a Matterport Virtual Tour
Example of a PhotoUp Virtual Tour
4. Turnaround Time
Regarding turnaround times, the two companies significantly differ concerning how long it takes to get your finished virtual tour.
For example, Matterport’s turnaround time depends on many variables:
- First, you’ll need their special 3D camera, or you’ll need to order one
- Then you need to upload your video and images
- Matterport then takes about 24-48 hours to create the virtual tour and 3D model
In contrast, PhotoUp’s virtual tour turnaround times are as follows:
- Easily upload your images and video from any 3D camera
- Your virtual tour will be ready in around 5 minutes
- Tour add-ons and other features can be finished in 24 hours or less
Okay, our comparison is nearly complete. All that’s left to do is analyze our results.
The Results – Which Is Best?
Now that we’ve examined the virtual tours of both services, let’s review the results of these two platforms to see which one is the best.
Both Matterport and PhotoUp offer excellent services. And yes, Matterport can produce elaborate, highly-detailed 3D renderings, models, and tours. But for a high price.
And let’s be honest, most residential properties don’t require an expensive, high-end, complex virtual tour to sell quickly and for solid prices.
While the quality of both companies’ virtual tours is excellent, the significant differences are the cost and ease of use. For example, look at the following:
- A basic Matterport virtual tour can cost close to $4,000 once you add up the expense of the camera, equipment, and tour features
- PhotoUp offers 5 virtual tours for $29 a month or 50 virtual tours for $79 a month and you can use any 360 camera, plus as many single property websites as a bonus
Again, consider these additional differences:
- PhotoUp charges much less for the same or similar services
- You don’t need to buy an expensive camera
- And, PhotoUp also has the advantage in terms of production turnaround time, getting you finished, hi-res virtual tours a day or two faster than Matterport
Therefore, in terms of our areas of comparison — ease of use, turnaround time, and above all, price — we think PhotoUp is your best option.
PhotoUp Makes Affordable Virtual Tours Easy
PhotoUp can create a professional and compelling virtual tour in as little as 5 minutes.
And we make using virtual house tours as easy as possible:
- No special camera needed – Use any 360 camera that shoots JPEGs
- AI enhancement – Let AI enhance and perfectly stitch your photo edges
- Simple pinning – Customize your tour with simple image pinning for each scene
- You choose the highlights – You control what the buyer sees and can point out a home’s amenities, updates, and unique features
- White Labeled – Virtual tours can be white-labeled for a premium viewing experience
You can add other tour features, such as floor plans or 3D virtual stagings, to your orders.
Work With PhotoUp for All Your Real Estate Marketing Needs
By now, you understand the many benefits of using virtual tours, including better buyer experiences, happier sellers, and faster sales at higher prices.
But don’t limit yourself to just virtual tours. PhotoUp offers a wide array of real estate marketing services to help grow your real estate business, including:
- Real estate photo editing
- Virtual staging
- Single property websites
- Floor plans
- Video editing
- Property flyers
- Custom house portraits
- And virtual assistants
So, do yourself a favor. Take the first step toward quicker and better sales today.
Sign up for a free PhotoUp account, and we’ll help you take your real estate marketing to the next level.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post, Matterport vs PhotoUp, which virtual tours are best. Also, the additional free resources below are worth checking out:
