The short answer
- Capture it with a phone app. Tour apps turn a phone into the camera. Someone still goes to the property and shoots every room.
- Scan it with a phone or a video. 3D scanning apps build a model from a walk-through video or the phone's depth sensor. Also on site.
- Have it rebuilt from the photos you already have. A 3D artist models the place from the listing photos and the floor plan, then renders the tour. Nobody goes there.
A slideshow or a video made from flat photos is sometimes called a virtual tour too. It is easy to make in a video editor, but the viewer cannot look around or choose where to go.
1. Phone capture apps
Several tour platforms, Matterport among them, offer a capture app that works with a recent smartphone instead of a 360° camera. You stand in each room and turn on the spot while the app takes and stitches the frames, then the app links the rooms into a tour.
- Good for: one property you can get into, at little or no cost.
- Watch out for: stitching seams near the camera, mirrors and moving people, light that changes from room to room, and on some platforms a subscription to keep the tour online.
2. 3D scanning from a phone or a video
Scanning apps reconstruct a room as a 3D model, either from the depth sensor on Pro-model iPhones and iPads or from a video you walk through the space. The model can be measured and viewed from any angle.
- Good for: measurements, quick records of a space, single objects.
- Watch out for: glass, mirrors and plain white walls confuse the scan, rooms come out soft or blotchy next to listing photos, and it still needs a visit.
3. A tour rebuilt from the photos you already have
If a property already has listing photos, most of what a tour needs is already recorded. A 3D artist builds the walls and openings from the floor plan, matches furniture and finishes to the photos, sets the daylight from the way the windows face and renders a 360° view at each point. This is what Walkly does: see virtual tours from listing photos.
- Good for: listed or photographed properties, portfolios of many units, homes that are far away or occupied, and apartments that are not built yet.
- Watch out for: it is a reconstruction, not a measurement. Corners that no photo shows are built from the plan and kept plain.
AI tools that turn one flat photo into a 360° image are a different thing. Each image is generated on its own, so rooms do not connect and details can be invented. A rebuilt model keeps every view consistent, because they are all rendered from the same apartment.
Side by side
| Phone capture app | 3D scan app | Rebuilt from photos | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visit needed | Yes | Yes | No |
| Equipment | A recent smartphone, often on a tripod | A phone with a depth sensor, or a video | None |
| Your time | Shooting every room, then editing | Scanning every room | Sending a link to the listing |
| Cost | Free to low, often with a hosting plan | Free to low for the app | From $149 per tour, hosting included |
| Looks like | Real photos, stitched | A 3D model, softer than photos | Photoreal renders matched to the photos |
| Before the building exists | No | No | Yes, from the floor plan |
Which one to choose
If you can get into the property and need one tour, a phone capture app is the cheapest route. If you need measurements, scan it. If the property is already photographed, far away, occupied or not built yet, or you need tours of many units, have it rebuilt from the photos. Send us one listing and we build a free demo tour within 3 days, so you can compare for yourself.
Matterport is a trademark of Matterport, Inc. Walkly is not affiliated with Matterport.
Questions
Can you make a virtual tour from regular photos?
Not by stitching them: ordinary photos do not cover the whole sphere around a point. They can be the source for a 3D rebuild, which is how a walk-through tour is made from listing photos.
Do I need a 360 camera for a virtual tour?
No. A phone app can capture the panoramas, and a tour can also be rebuilt from existing photos with no camera at all.
Is there a free way to make a virtual tour?
Phone capture apps often have a free tier for one tour. Check whether hosting stays free once the tour is published.