The best virtual tour software for UK estate agents in 2026

The virtual tour market in 2026 is larger and more confused than it was even two years ago. Matterport still dominates the agency conversation, but Gaussian splatting has split the field. This is a working photographer’s view of what’s worth using, what isn’t, and what to ask before signing anything.

We’re a splat studio, so the framing tilts that way. But we’ll be specific about where Matterport and the rest still win.

Matterport

The default. The platform every agency in the UK has either used, considered, or had pitched to them.

Strengths in 2026 are the dollhouse view, the auto-generated RICS-compliant floor plans, and the platform integrations with Rightmove and Zoopla that let an iframe drop in cleanly. The capture process is well-documented. Pricing for the cameras has come down (the Pro3 is now under £4k) and Matterport-certified photographers are easy to find in any UK market.

Weaknesses are visual fidelity and motion. The mesh-and-photo-wallpaper approach feels increasingly dated next to splats and even the better video walkthroughs. Buyers complain about the “blur and snap” navigation between fixed positions. Hosting fees have crept up: an active tour now runs £80-£200 a year depending on the package.

Verdict: still the right answer for agencies that need standardised floor plans as a primary deliverable. Less and less the right answer for premium stock where the tour itself needs to do marketing work.

Giraffe360

Latvian platform that’s become serious competition for Matterport in the UK over the last three years. Single-shot camera, all-in capture pipeline, reasonable pricing.

The 2025 release added support for Gaussian splat output, which is interesting. The capture is faster than Matterport (a typical three-bed in 30-45 minutes), and the bundle includes photos, the tour, the floor plan and a property micro-site, which appeals to mid-tier agencies who want everything from one source.

Where it falls down: the splat output is not as detailed as a dedicated splat capture would produce, because the camera is optimised for speed and panorama, not splat training. Think of it as a “good enough” splat baked into a workflow that does other things well, rather than a splat-first product.

Verdict: a strong choice for agencies that don’t want to think about media and prefer a single subscription that covers everything.

EyeSpy360

UK-based, marketing-led 360 platform. Works with any 360 camera (Insta360, Theta, Ricoh) and adds branding, lead capture forms and a useful “live tour” feature where you can walk a buyer through the property over a video call.

Strengths are the marketing tooling: branded viewers, in-tour CTAs, integration with most agency CRMs. The lead-capture forms are noticeably better than Matterport’s.

Weaknesses are visual fidelity. EyeSpy360 is fundamentally a 360-photo platform, not a true 3D one. It does what it does very well, but it does the older format.

Verdict: the right choice if you’re committed to stitched 360 photos and want strong marketing tooling on top.

Kuula

A photography-focused 360 platform popular with photographers more than agencies. Cheap, flexible, supports HDR panoramas. Many UK property photographers use it to deliver tours under their own brand to agencies that don’t want to be locked into a platform.

Verdict: solid for a photographer’s own portfolio of work, less of an agency-direct purchase.

Polycam

Phone-based capture app with Gaussian splat support added in 2024. Lets you record a property with an iPhone Pro, upload, and get a splat back within hours.

This is the closest thing to “DIY splatting” available right now. The output quality has improved a lot. For internal use (a director walking a property they can’t visit, a vendor looking at how a flat lays out before signing the listing agreement), it’s genuinely useful.

Where it doesn’t work: as buyer-facing marketing for a £700k home. The visual quality is below what professional capture produces, the lighting handling is iffy in shaded rooms, and there’s no facility for the kind of post-capture polish (masking out personal items, evening out exposure) that a paying vendor expects.

Verdict: useful for internal use and very low-end stock. Not a substitute for studio capture on serious listings.

Spline / Luma / studio splat platforms

A handful of dedicated splat hosting platforms. Spline and Luma both let studios upload splat captures and serve them through a viewer that runs in any browser. Most professional splat studios — us included — use one of these as the underlying viewer technology and brand it for the agency.

Verdict: not really an agency-direct choice. You’re picking the studio, who picks the viewer.

What we’d actually recommend

Three rules of thumb, based on what we see work for UK agencies.

If your average sale price is below £400k and your turnover is high, stick with stitched 360 photos through EyeSpy360 or Kuula. The economics don’t justify upgrading.

If you’re between £400k and £750k, look hard at Matterport, Giraffe360 or a splat studio. Matterport still wins on the floor-plan workflow. Giraffe360 wins if you want a single-subscription answer to all media. A splat studio wins if you want the tour itself to be the marketing differentiator.

Above £750k, splats are increasingly the right answer. The properties at this price point have layouts and finishes that benefit from the format, and the buyer pool is small enough that a meaningful improvement in qualified viewings has a noticeable revenue impact. We have a longer note on cost for anyone working through the budget side.

Above £2m and on heritage stock, the calculation gets simpler: the tour is part of the marketing, not just an option, and a splat capture is the only format that captures the building well enough to do the job.

Questions worth asking any vendor before signing

• What does an active tour actually cost a year, including hosting?
• Who owns the source files if I change platform?
• Is there a per-view cap or fee?
• Can you brand the viewer to my agency, including the URL?
• What happens to the tour if I cancel my account?

The answers to those five questions will sort the platforms more usefully than any feature comparison. We’ve written more about pricing and hidden costs here.

If you want to see what a splat capture of one of your listings would look like, send a brief at /contact. The first capture is free for any agency that hasn’t worked with us before.