Short answer: if you only need empty rooms furnished, a staging-only app such as Virtual Staging AI or Collov AI is quick and cheap, and Apply Design lets you pick and place each piece yourself. If you shoot bracketed photos and want them edited at volume, AutoHDR, Fotello and Autoenhance.ai are built for that, mainly for photographers. If you want a person to do the work and can wait a day or two, BoxBrownie is the best-known human service. If you are an agent working from your own photos or your photographer’s, and want staging, object removal, sky and lawn fixes and privacy blur in one place, that is what CasaVivid is built for.
We make CasaVivid, so read this with that in mind. We have tried to be fair: every competitor price below comes from the vendor’s own pricing page in October 2026, and each tool has a section saying when it is the better choice.
| Tool | Best for | Price (Oct 2026) | Speed | Staging | AI photo edits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CasaVivid | Agents and property managers, with their own photos or their photographer’s | Free during open beta; paid plans coming | Under 30 seconds per photo for staging and edits; HDR: a 20-set shoot in about 5 minutes, 70 sets in about 15 | Yes, incl. multi-angle by AI and your own instructions | Yes: object removal, sky and twilight, lawn, people and signs, privacy blur, custom prompt, HDR |
| Virtual Staging AI | Fast, cheap staging only | $16/mo for 6 photos up to $79/mo for 150 ($2.67 to $0.53 per photo) | About 10 to 15 seconds | Yes, widest style choice | No (furniture removal only) |
| Collov AI | Low-cost staging with chat edits | $19 to $127/mo credit plans; 5 free watermarked renders | About 10 to 15 seconds (multi-angle: 3 business days) | Yes; multi-angle done by hand | Yes on $49/mo plan and up: furniture add/remove, twilight, seasons, pool, lawn |
| Pedra | All-in-one agent toolkit, priced in euros | €29/mo for 100 credits (1 credit per staging or enhancement) | About 15 minutes per listing | Yes, incl. renovation | Yes: enhance, sky, twilight, privacy blur, plus video and 360 tours |
| Apply Design | Hands-on control of furniture choice and placement | Pay per image: about $7 to $15 (1 to 1.5 coins at $7 to $10); first image free | 10 to 15 minutes (AI); DIY editor is up to you | Yes, AI or drag-and-drop from 18,000+ pieces, incl. 360° and multi-angle | Furniture removal only |
| REimagine Home | Item-by-item staging with real products | 5 free designs; monthly credit plans | About a minute for a batch | Yes, shoppable furniture | Item swaps, colours, object removal, landscaping |
| AutoHDR | Photographers and teams editing at volume | 10 free photos/mo; $265/mo for 500 ($0.53 each) | Automated (AI) | Yes | Yes, the widest automated set: HDR, twilight, sky, object removal, lawn, fire, TV, lot lines |
| Fotello | Photography businesses (editing plus booking and delivery) | Free tier (watermarked); $0.50 per photo, $1 per staging or twilight pay-as-you-go | Instant AI; next-morning standard delivery | Yes | Yes, with human revisions |
| Autoenhance.ai | Photographers wanting fast HDR and an API | Pay per image or monthly plans (see their calculator); free watermarked preview | 5 to 10 minutes per shoot | Not listed | HDR, window pull, sky, perspective, privacy |
| BoxBrownie | Human editing, any request | Pay per photo: $2 enhancement, $5 day-to-dusk, $30 virtual staging | 24 hours (edits), 48 hours (staging) | Yes, by human editors | Yes, by human editors: item removal $5 to $10 |
CasaVivid
A web app for agents, brokers and property managers. Use photos you shot yourself on a phone or camera, or the edited photos your photographer delivered. Upload them and you can stage empty rooms in the style you pick, add your own instructions, and keep the same furniture across several angles of one room, remove objects by clicking them or drawing around them, remove people and yard signs, swap in a blue or twilight sky, green up the lawn, blur license plates and family photos, or describe any other edit in plain English. If you shoot bracketed exposures it merges them to HDR too. Share links, 360° tour videos and MLS disclaimers on edited photos are in the same project.
Where it falls short: it is new and in open beta. There are no human editors to revise a result, and there is no public API yet (one is planned). If you are a photographer editing hundreds of bracketed shoots a month, AutoHDR and Fotello are built around that workflow.
Virtual Staging AI
Does one thing: furnishes empty rooms (and can remove existing furniture first) in 50+ styles, in about 10 to 15 seconds, with unlimited re-renders and no watermark on paid plans. Plans run from $16 a month for 6 photos to $79 a month for 150, and you can try an upload without signing up. The API is on the top plan only.
Pick it if staging is all you need. You will need another tool for skies, clutter or anything else on non-staged photos.
Collov AI
AI staging with chat-based edits, furniture add and remove, twilight, weather, seasons, pool and lawn. Plans start at $19 a month for 60 credits; the editing tools start on the $49 plan. Credits reset each month. Multi-angle staging (the same furniture across several views of a room) is done by Collov’s team by hand and takes 3 business days.
Pick it if you want cheap single-photo staging with a chat interface for changes, and you will use your credits every month.
Pedra
A European agent toolkit: staging (furnish, empty, renovate), enhancement, sky, twilight, privacy blur, watermarking, plus auto-generated video with voiceover, 360 tours and floor plans. €29 a month for 100 credits, with a free trial.
Pick it if you want marketing video and tours bundled with staging at a low monthly price. It does not merge bracketed HDR shots.
Apply Design
Virtual staging with two modes: one-click AI staging, or a drag-and-drop editor where you choose and place each piece from a catalog of more than 18,000 items. It stages 360° panoramas as well as regular photos, keeps furniture consistent across angles, and includes unlimited revisions and a money-back guarantee. You buy coins with no subscription: an AI-staged photo is 1.5 coins and a DIY one is 1 coin, at $7 to $10 a coin. The first image is free.
Pick it if you want to decide exactly which sofa goes where, or need 360° tours staged. It costs several times more per photo than the AI-only apps, takes 10 to 15 minutes, and does not edit photos beyond staging.
REimagine Home
Run by Styldod. AI staging with real, shoppable products and conversational edits: swap one item, change a color, remove an object, redo the landscaping. Batch uploads of listing photos with compliance flagging. Five free designs, then monthly credit plans.
Pick it if you want to adjust staged rooms item by item. Styldod also sells human editing if you want a person to do it.
AutoHDR
The broadest automated editor in this list: HDR, virtual twilight, sky replacement, object removal, lawn greening, staging, fire in the fireplace, TV screens, repainting, lot lines and pins, privacy blur and prompt-based re-edits. It plugs into photographer platforms such as Spiro, HDPhotoHub, Tonomo and Aryeo. Ten photos a month are free; paid plans start at $265 a month for 500 photos, and you only pay for what you download.
Pick it if you, or your photographer, edit hundreds of photos a month. The entry price is steep for an agent doing a few listings.
Fotello
AI editing, staging, twilight, AI video and 3D tours inside a full business platform for photographers: booking, branded delivery galleries and payment before download. In-house editors handle revisions. There is a watermarked free tier, pay-as-you-go at $0.50 per photo and $1 per staging or twilight, and per-listing plans.
Pick it if you run a photography business and want editing and delivery in one system. It is less suited to an agent who just wants to fix a few photos.
Autoenhance.ai
Fast automated HDR, window pulls, sky replacement, perspective correction, camera removal and privacy blurring, with a mature API that many photo platforms build on. A full shoot takes about 5 to 10 minutes. You can preview a watermarked result without an account; prices come from a calculator on their pricing page.
Pick it if you are a photographer or platform that needs fast, consistent HDR and an API. Staging is not part of its main product.
BoxBrownie
Human editors, not AI. You pay per photo with no subscription: $2 for an enhancement, $5 for day-to-dusk, $5 to $10 for item removal and $30 for virtual staging. Edits come back in 24 hours and staging in 48. The free trial covers three enhancements and one day-to-dusk.
Pick it if you want a person to handle unusual requests and can wait. Staging a whole listing costs far more than with AI tools.
How to choose
One or two vacant listings a month, staging only: a staging app such as Virtual Staging AI or Collov AI. You need staging plus fixes (clutter, sky, lawn, signs, privacy) on your own photos or your photographer’s: an all-in-one tool such as CasaVivid or Pedra. You hire a photographer: ask what they use; many already deliver through AutoHDR, Fotello or Autoenhance.ai. You want a human to check every image: BoxBrownie.
Whatever you pick, try it on two or three of your own photos first, including a difficult one (a dark room, a bright window, a cluttered kitchen). Every tool on this list has a free trial or free tier.
FAQ
- How much does virtual staging cost?
- AI staging ranges from about $0.50 to $2.70 per photo on the plans listed here, often less with larger plans. Human staging from services such as BoxBrownie costs around $30 per photo and takes a day or two.
- Is virtual staging allowed on the MLS?
- Generally yes, if it is disclosed. Rules vary by MLS and state; several now require a label on altered photos and access to the unaltered original, for example California’s AB 723, in effect since January 2026. Check your MLS rules before publishing.
- Can AI remove furniture and clutter from listing photos?
- Yes. Virtual Staging AI and Pedra can empty a room before restaging; CasaVivid, AutoHDR, Collov AI and REimagine Home can remove individual objects; BoxBrownie does it by hand.
- Do I need a professional camera?
- No. AI staging and editing tools work on single photos, including phone photos. HDR merging needs bracketed exposures, which phones and most cameras can shoot.
- What is the difference between AI editing and human editing?
- AI tools return results in seconds or minutes and cost less per photo. Human services take a day or two and cost more, but a person checks every image and can handle unusual requests.