How much does a virtual tour cost? Prices explained
How much a real estate virtual tour costs: doing it yourself, hiring a photographer or using Matterport. What goes into the price and how to choose.
How much does a virtual tour cost? It depends mostly on who makes it. Doing it yourself costs a 360 camera, which you buy once, and a platform to build and publish the tour, which can be free for your first homes. Hiring a photographer is a fee per home. A Matterport tour costs the most, because it needs dedicated equipment and a platform subscription.
This article explains what goes into the price of each option and how to pick the one that fits the number of homes you list.
Three ways to get a virtual tour
| Option | What you pay | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | A 360 camera (once) and a platform (free or monthly) | Agents who list every month |
| Hire a photographer | A fee per home, often with photos included | Agents with few homes a year, or luxury homes |
| Matterport | Its own scanner or a service, plus the subscription | Homes where a 3D view and measurements matter |
There is no single right answer. The question that decides it is simple: how many homes will you publish in the next twelve months?
Doing it yourself
From the moment you own the camera, this has the lowest cost per home.
What you need
- A consumer 360 camera with two lenses, which captures the whole room in one shot. You buy it once and use it for hundreds of homes.
- A tall, thin tripod, so the camera sits at eye level and the tripod barely shows.
- A virtual tour platform, where you upload the photos, link the rooms and publish the link.
How long it takes
An average apartment is quick to shoot, with one photo per room and one more at each important passage. Building the tour usually takes less time than shooting it, if the platform lets you upload every photo at once and link rooms by dragging.
Hidden costs
- Editing photos outside the platform. If every photo goes through an editing program to cover the tripod or fix the colour, the time adds up. Choose a platform that does it for you.
- Paying per published tour. Some platforms charge for each active tour. If you have many homes, a subscription with unlimited tours costs less.
- Essential features locked in expensive plans. Check which plan includes the contact form, your own branding and statistics. Those features turn a tour into a listing that brings leads.
Hiring a photographer
A real estate photographer delivers the finished tour, often together with the regular listing photos. You pay per home, and the price varies with the size of the home, the area and what is included.
It makes sense when you have few homes a year, when the home deserves a more careful production, or when you would rather not spend time learning. The downside is depending on someone else's calendar during the first weeks of a listing, which get the most attention.
When you ask for a quote, ask:
- whether the tour is hosted on the photographer's platform or yours, and for how long;
- whether the tour can carry your brand, your contact and a form that sends enquiries to you;
- who pays if a room needs to be shot again after a repair or a clean.
Matterport and other 3D tours
Matterport builds a 3D model of the home, with a dollhouse view, a floor plan and automatic measurements. The result is impressive, but it needs its own scanner or a service provider, and a subscription to keep tours online.
It makes sense for high-value homes, new developments and cases where exact measurements matter. For most apartment and house listings, a well-made 360 photo tour shows the home with the same effect for the buyer, at a fraction of the cost.
How to tell if it pays off
A virtual tour pays for itself in two ways: the viewings you no longer need to do, and the listings it helps you win.
- Viewings you skip. Someone who has seen the whole home on screen before asking for a viewing already knows what to expect. Fewer viewings with people who turn out not to like the layout are hours you get back every week.
- Listings. Showing a seller, at the appointment, how you will present their home is a strong argument for an exclusive listing. More in our guide on how to get real estate listings.
Run the numbers with your own figures: how many hours a week go into viewings that lead nowhere, and what each of those hours is worth to you. For most agents, skipping one viewing a month already pays for the platform.
What it costs on Vistura
On Vistura you can have 3 tours online at a time for free, with no time limit and no card. Sold tours don't count towards that limit. When you need more, the Pro plan gives you unlimited tours online, your own brand, viewing bookings and the owner report. Current prices are on the pricing page.
To understand how a tour works and how it is built, start with the complete guide to the virtual tour for real estate.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to make a virtual tour yourself?
The main cost is a 360 camera, a one-off purchase you use for every home after that. Then the platform where you build and publish the tour, which can be free for a few homes or a monthly subscription if you publish regularly.
Is it cheaper to hire a photographer or do it myself?
It depends on how many homes you list a month. For one or two homes a year, a photographer can make sense. If you list every month, doing it yourself usually pays off within a few months and puts you in control of timing.
What is the difference between a 360 photo tour and Matterport?
Matterport uses its own scanner and builds a 3D model of the home, with a dollhouse view and measurements. A 360 photo tour uses a simpler camera and links photos together. It is cheaper and faster to make, and enough for most listings.
Which 360 camera should I buy for real estate?
A two-lens 360 camera you can trigger from your phone, with multi-exposure photos to balance windows and interiors. Add a tall, thin tripod that almost disappears in the shot.
