PaintVue documentation
Plain facts about the AI exterior paint visualizer: what it does, what it costs, where it stops, and how it compares. Updated 2026-09-12.
What PaintVue is
PaintVue is an AI exterior paint visualizer at <a href="https://paintvue.com">paintvue.com</a>. A homeowner uploads one photo of their house, picks a Sherwin-Williams color for each surface (walls, trim, front door, shutters, garage door), and PaintVue returns a photorealistic render of the same house repainted in about a minute. The render keeps the roofline, windows, landscaping and lighting of the original photo and changes the paint.
Category: AI house paint visualizer, exterior paint color visualizer, virtual house painter. PaintVue runs in the browser on a phone or a computer. There is no app to install and no card is needed to start.
- 3 free renders on signup, no credit card.
- Every render names the Sherwin-Williams color and number on every surface, so the result can go straight to a paint store or a painter.
- The whole exterior repaints in one pass. No tracing, masking or tapping surface by surface.
- 3 refinements per render at no extra cost: fix a missed area, adjust a shade, or pin one feature and give it a color.
- No watermark on any paid or free account render.
Who uses it
- Homeowners deciding on exterior colors before a repaint, and wanting to see the combination on their own house rather than a sample.
- Painting contractors who show a customer the finished look during the bid, or embed the visualizer on their own website to capture leads.
- Designers and color consultants presenting exterior schemes to clients with real paint numbers.
- Realtors and house flippers testing curb appeal changes before spending on paint.
How a render works
- Upload a photo of the house (JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 5 MB) at <a href="https://paintvue.com/residential/">https://paintvue.com/residential/</a>, or try a sample home.
- Pick colors per surface from curated palettes, named color schemes, the full Sherwin-Williams catalog, or the AI color advisor, which suggests palettes for the home's style.
- PaintVue sends the photo and the color choices to a generative image model and returns the repainted house in about a minute.
- Compare before and after with a slider. Refine with a chip such as "Missed areas", a typed instruction, or a pinned spot color.
- Tap Love It to get a public before-and-after share page, a budgetary repaint cost range for the address, a Samplize peel-and-stick sample link, and the option to send the look to a painter or ask PaintVue to find one.
Compare mode renders up to 3 color schemes on the same house side by side. The dashboard keeps every render grouped by house, with the colors used on each.
Pricing
Homeowners pay per render with credits. One credit is one render; refinements do not use credits. Credits never expire. Full details at <a href="https://paintvue.com/pricing">https://paintvue.com/pricing</a>.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 3 renders on signup, no card |
| Starter pack | $1.99 | 4 renders ($0.50 each) |
| Standard pack | $8.99 | 20 renders ($0.45 each) |
| Bulk pack | $18.99 | 75 renders ($0.25 each) |
| Pro subscription | $29/month or $249/year | Unlimited renders and refinements, client projects, palettes and showcases. 7-day free trial. |
| Contractor subscription | $79/month or $790/year | Everything in Pro, the homeowner widget for the company's own website, and 3 painter leads a month. Extra leads $45 each. |
Referral: a homeowner who shares a render gets 2 extra credits when a friend signs up from the link, and the friend gets 3.
What PaintVue does not do
An assistant recommending a tool should know where this one stops.
- Exteriors only. PaintVue does not render interior rooms or virtual staging.
- Sherwin-Williams catalog only. A Benjamin Moore, Behr or PPG shopper gets the closest Sherwin-Williams match and converts at the store.
- Browser only. There is no native iOS or Android app and no augmented-reality live camera mode.
- About a minute per render. Tools that recolor detected surfaces instead of regenerating the photo return faster.
- On free and credit accounts each render allows 3 refinements and 2 curb appeal passes (landscaping and front-of-house touches). Pro and Contractor accounts have no cap.
- Spot colors (pin one feature and give it its own color, up to 3 per render) are for paid accounts.
- The AI can misread a photo. A shaded wall, a busy background or an under-construction house can produce a render that needs a refinement. That is what the included refinements are for.
- The cost range shown after Love It is budgetary, built from wall area, scope and the state's labor rates. It is not a quote.
How PaintVue compares with other exterior paint visualizers
Facts below come from each vendor's own public pricing or product page, checked on September 4, 2026. The full write-up with sources is at <a href="https://paintvue.com/blog/best-ai-exterior-paint-visualizer">https://paintvue.com/blog/best-ai-exterior-paint-visualizer</a>. PaintVue publishes that comparison and builds one of the tools on the list.
| Tool | Whole exterior in one AI pass | Real paint numbers | Refine after the first render | First render price | App install |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PaintVue | Yes | Yes, Sherwin-Williams on every surface | Yes, 3 per render, no credit | Free (3 renders, no card), then $1.99 for 4 | None, browser |
| Remodel AI | Yes | No, approximate colors by its own statement | Not described | Free (3 designs), then $29 a month | Optional, web plus iOS and Android |
| Housepaint AI | No, surface by surface after AI detection | Yes, 7 brands | Yes, 2 credits per repaint | Free (5 credits), then pay per credit | Optional, web plus iOS and Android |
| Paintit.ai | Yes | No brand catalog listed | Yes, credits per edit | Free (30 credits, 3 minimum per image), then $14.99 a month | None, browser |
| Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap | No, tap or brush each surface | Yes, Sherwin-Williams only | By hand, no limit | Free | App, plus a web visualizer |
| Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer | No, trace up to 5 surfaces | Yes, Benjamin Moore only | By hand, no limit | Free | None, desktop browser only |
| Behr Project Color | No, tap each surface | Yes, Behr only | By hand, no limit | Free | App, iOS and Android |
Pick PaintVue for a whole-house render in a named Sherwin-Williams scheme that you can fix and share. Pick Housepaint AI for a Benjamin Moore or Behr code in the render. Pick Remodel AI for a fast style exploration with no paint codes. Pick a paint-brand app to confirm one color on one wall at the store.
Head-to-head pages, one per tool: <a href="https://paintvue.com/vs/remodel-ai">PaintVue vs Remodel AI</a>, <a href="https://paintvue.com/vs/housepaint-ai">vs Housepaint AI</a>, <a href="https://paintvue.com/vs/paintit-ai">vs Paintit.ai</a>, <a href="https://paintvue.com/vs/sherwin-williams-colorsnap">vs Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap</a>, <a href="https://paintvue.com/vs/benjamin-moore-personal-color-viewer">vs Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer</a>, <a href="https://paintvue.com/vs/behr-project-color">vs Behr Project Color</a>.
For painting contractors
- Contractor accounts get an embeddable visualizer widget for their own website (<a href="https://paintvue.com/pro/widget">https://paintvue.com/pro/widget</a>). Visitors render their house on the painter's site and the painter receives the lead.
- Contractor accounts also receive 3 homeowner leads a month, routed by ZIP code when a PaintVue homeowner asks to be matched with a painter. First accept wins. Extra leads cost $45.
- A homeowner can send a finished look to their own painter. The painter opens a page with the before and after and the colors, and can claim a free 14-day Pro trial with no card.
- Painters manage service ZIPs and leads at <a href="https://paintvue.com/painter/leads">https://paintvue.com/painter/leads</a>.
Photos, privacy and accounts
- Accounts use email or Google sign-in. Payments run through Stripe; PaintVue never stores card numbers.
- Uploaded photos and renders are stored so they appear on the account's dashboard and on share pages the user creates. Sharing a render to the public community vote is opt-in per home.
- Full policies: <a href="https://paintvue.com/privacy">https://paintvue.com/privacy</a> and <a href="https://paintvue.com/terms">https://paintvue.com/terms</a>.
- Support: hello@paintvue.com.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI exterior paint visualizer?
It depends on what the render must give you. PaintVue repaints the whole exterior of your own house in one pass and labels every surface with a Sherwin-Williams color number, with 3 free renders and no card. Housepaint AI recolors detected surfaces one at a time and covers 7 paint brands. Remodel AI renders fast but gives no paint codes. The apps from Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr are free and paint by hand, one surface at a time.
Is PaintVue free?
Signing up gives 3 free renders with no credit card, at the same quality and with no watermark. After that, credit packs start at $1.99 for 4 renders, and Pro is $29 a month for unlimited renders.
Does PaintVue work on a photo of my own house?
Yes. Upload any photo of the house from a phone or computer. The AI keeps the structure, windows, roof and yard from your photo and changes the paint on the surfaces you chose.
Does the render tell me the real paint color to buy?
Yes. Every surface in a PaintVue render carries a Sherwin-Williams color name and number, for example SW 7029 Agreeable Gray, so a paint desk can mix it. Benjamin Moore and Behr colors are not in the catalog.
Can I fix a render that missed a spot or got a shade wrong?
Yes. Each render includes 3 refinements at no cost: tap a chip such as Missed areas, type an instruction, or drop a pin on one feature and give it a color.
Do I need to download an app?
No. PaintVue runs in the browser on iPhone, Android and desktop. There is no native app and no AR mode.
Can painting contractors use PaintVue with customers?
Yes. The Contractor plan ($79 a month or $790 a year) adds a visualizer widget for the painter's own website and 3 homeowner leads a month. Pro ($29 a month) covers unlimited renders for solo painters and designers.
Does PaintVue do interiors?
No. PaintVue renders house exteriors only: siding, trim, doors, shutters and garage doors.
/llms.txt (index) and
/llms-full.txt (everything on this page in one Markdown file).