OmaScan vs magicplan and Polycam for OT home assessments

How do OmaScan, magicplan and Polycam compare?

The general scanners measure rooms and draw floor plans; none of them lists the measurements an occupational therapist takes for a home modification, or keeps the scan with the clinical notes. A 2024 systematic review screened 698 home assessment apps and found 6 that met its criteria, and none of those 6 "used thoroughly tested assessment tools" (source 9).

What does OmaScan measure for a home modification?

Alongside the room's length, width, area and ceiling height, the doors and windows, and the furniture the scan recognizes, the floor plan in OmaScan lists the accessibility measurements a home modification usually turns on:

• door clear width and threshold height;
• turning circle and circulation width;
• toilet clearances, bath rim height, and basin and counter height;
• shower lip height and shower opening;
• stair rise, width, riser and tread.

Each measurement can be checked and corrected in the saved scan, a scan can be rescaled from one known measurement, and to-scale equipment (a wheelchair, a grab bar, a ramp) can be placed in the scanned room to see whether it fits. Units switch between imperial and metric. The OT still checks every dimension a recommendation depends on; the research on 3D scanning in OT home assessments explains why.

When is magicplan the better choice?

When the job is a floor plan and an estimate. magicplan produces floor plans, photos, notes, forms and checklists, PDF reports and estimates, and it connects to Xactimate, which is why restoration and insurance contractors use it (source 1). It runs on Android as well as iOS (on Android, rooms are drawn rather than scanned), and for exact dimensions magicplan points users to Bluetooth laser measures through its PrecisionLink feature (source 7).

magicplan has been tried in a home assessment setting. In a 2019 study, family members of patients on an inpatient rehabilitation unit used an adapted magicplan app and a laser measure to send home floor plans before discharge, and clinicians judged 24 of 43 plans (56%) satisfactory, rising to 75% with a revised training module (source 8). The plans gave clinicians the layout; the measurements an OT needs still had to be specified and checked.

When are Polycam, RoomScan or Twindo the better choice?

When someone needs a CAD file. RoomScan Pro LiDAR exports PDF, DXF and IFC for a low monthly price (source 4), Polycam exports DXF and other 3D formats on its paid plans and runs on Android (source 3), and Twindo sells finished 2D and 3D CAD drawings by the square foot, which suits a designer drawing up a major renovation (source 5). OmaScan does not export CAD files; its scans and floor plans are shared by link.

When is Matterport the better choice?

When the goal is a walkthrough tour of a whole property. Matterport's free capture app works with an iPhone, an iPad or Matterport's own cameras, and schematic floor plans are a paid add-on (source 6). For a bathroom or an entrance, a tour of the whole house is more than the assessment needs.

Can an OT and a contractor use them together?

Yes, and it is a common split. The OT does the assessment in OmaScan and shares the case by link with the contractor or vendor, who opens it in a browser with a free account and can measure in the saved scan without another visit. If the contractor prices jobs in magicplan or draws them in CAD, they keep doing that; the measurements they start from are the ones in the OT's record.

How accurate are these apps?

No vendor in this comparison, OmaScan included, publishes a study of its own app's measurement accuracy. The published research on phone LiDAR in homes is small: it finds room dimensions close to a tape measure when the software measures them, and errors of several centimetres when someone taps points on a model by hand (the research, study by study). Whichever app takes the scan, check doorway clear widths, threshold heights, toilet height and the total rise for a ramp with a tape measure before they go into a recommendation.

Common questions