How Much Do Virtual Tours Cost in the UK?

Estate agents and landlords asking about virtual tours almost always want to know one thing first: how much do they cost? The answer depends on the format, the size of the property and what is included in the price. This guide breaks down typical UK pricing for both 360 photo tours and Matterport scans — including hidden costs such as hosting fees — so you can budget accurately and judge value with confidence.

Typical UK pricing for 360 virtual tours

A 360 photo virtual tour is the most widely used format in UK residential property marketing. It is built from a series of linked panoramic photographs captured by a professional photographer on site.

Typical prices by property size:

• Studio or one-bedroom flat: £80 to £120
• Two to three-bedroom property: £100 to £165
• Four to five-bedroom home: £150 to £220
• Larger or premium property: £200 to £300 or above

These figures reflect a professional service including capture, HDR processing, hotspot linking and hosting on a dedicated platform. The finished tour is delivered as a URL for portal embedding and a shareable link within 24 to 48 hours of the visit.

What affects the price of a 360 tour?

Property size is the primary driver. A photographer needs roughly 10 to 15 scan positions for a three-bedroom house and proportionally more for larger properties. More positions mean more time on site and more images to process.

Location plays a smaller role for nationwide services like Photoplan, which use a network of local photographers to keep pricing consistent across the UK. Individual photographers in high-cost areas may charge more.

Add-ons such as a branded welcome screen, interactive hotspot labels, embedded floor plan overlay and rush delivery all add to the base price.

Hosting period affects the long-term cost. Many providers include 12 months of hosting in the production fee, with an annual renewal rate thereafter. Check what is included before comparing quotes.

Typical UK pricing for Matterport scanning

Matterport uses a specialist depth-sensing camera to produce a full 3D digital twin — including a dollhouse view, schematic floor plan and in-tour measurement tools. The technology is more advanced and the on-site time is longer, which is reflected in a higher capture fee.

Typical Matterport prices by property size:

• Flat or apartment: £150 to £200
• Two to three-bedroom house: £175 to £250
• Four to five-bedroom house: £220 to £325
• Larger property or commercial space: £300 to £500 or above

Matterport hosting fees

Unlike most 360 photo tours, Matterport models are hosted exclusively on Matterport's own cloud platform. Access requires a subscription:

• Matterport Starter (free tier): allows a small number of active spaces, suitable for occasional use
• Professional plans: cover larger numbers of active spaces on a monthly or annual subscription

For an estate agent using Matterport across a busy portfolio, the cumulative hosting cost is significant. For a developer maintaining a show home model over a 12-month sales campaign, a single space subscription is relatively modest. Understanding the hosting structure is essential before committing to Matterport at scale.

What affects virtual tour cost: a summary

Several factors push the price up or down regardless of format:

Property size and on-site time

Larger properties take longer to capture and produce more data to process. Most providers price by bedroom band or floor area rather than by the hour, so it is worth checking what falls within each tier.

Format complexity

A basic 360 tour with standard navigation costs less than one with custom branding, interactive labels on each room, an embedded floor plan, multiple language options or integration with a bespoke property microsite.

Combined packages

Booking a virtual tour alongside property photography and a floor plan survey in a single visit is almost always more cost-effective than booking each service separately. One appointment, one travel cost, all assets delivered together.

Turnaround speed

Standard delivery is 24 to 48 hours. Rush or same-day delivery costs more — typically a 20 to 40 per cent premium on the base fee. Most agents find next working day sufficient unless they are competing on a same-day launch.

Volume and agency accounts

Estate agencies placing regular orders — broadly more than 10 to 15 per month — typically negotiate a reduced rate. Volume discounts of 10 to 25 per cent below the standard per-property price are common. If your agency uses virtual tours consistently, ask about an account rate rather than booking at the one-off price each time.

Agency account vs one-off booking

For individual homeowners, landlords or agents who need an occasional tour, a one-off booking is the straightforward route. The price is predictable and there is no commitment.

For estate agencies, a volume account delivers better economics over time:

• Lower per-property cost that scales with instruction volume
• A single supplier relationship and consistent quality across all listings
• Streamlined ordering, invoicing and delivery through a single portal
• Combined packages for photography, floor plans and tours in one booking

The break-even point between one-off pricing and a volume account varies by provider, but most agencies with more than 20 to 30 instructions per month will find an account arrangement more economical.

Virtual tours vs DIY: is it worth doing yourself?

The availability of affordable consumer 360 cameras — the Ricoh Theta series, Insta360 ONE X and similar — means it is technically possible to produce your own virtual tours. For a guide to the camera landscape, see best 360 cameras for virtual tours.

The real question is total cost of ownership when you factor in:

• Equipment cost: a capable consumer camera costs £300 to £700; a prosumer model suitable for a professional-quality tour costs £700 to £1,500
• Software and hosting: platforms such as Kuula or Roundme charge a monthly subscription for professional hosting features
• Time per property: capture, processing and uploading a tour takes significantly longer without professional workflow and editing tools
• Quality consistency: consumer cameras and non-specialist editing produce less uniform results than a professional service, particularly in challenging lighting conditions

For an agent producing five or fewer tours per year, DIY may be worth exploring. For an agency with a steady volume of instructions, the per-property time cost of DIY quickly exceeds the price of a professional service — and the quality gap is visible in the finished product.

Virtual tour pricing vs value delivered

The strongest argument for virtual tours is not the absolute cost but the return relative to the value of the instruction.

For a property selling at £350,000 with a 1.2 per cent agency fee, the instruction is worth approximately £4,200. A virtual tour at £150 to £180 represents around four per cent of that fee — and the evidence consistently shows that listings with virtual tours attract more enquiries, qualify buyers more effectively and can reduce time on market.

For landlords letting a property at £1,500 per month, a virtual tour that reduces the void period by even a few days more than pays for itself in rent recovered.

The case for virtual tours as a standard line item on any instruction above a certain value — rather than an optional extra — is straightforward when viewed through the lens of total return rather than upfront cost.

How Photoplan prices virtual tours

Photoplan offers 360 virtual tours and Matterport scanning as individual services and as part of combined media packages. Pricing is based on property size, with transparent rates published online.

The most cost-effective option for most estate agents is a combined photography, floor plan and virtual tour package — all captured in a single visit, with all assets delivered together. See our guide to Matterport vs 360 virtual tours to understand which format suits your typical instruction profile.

For volume enquiries or agency account rates, contact Photoplan directly or explore the full service range.

Also explore: what is a virtual tour and virtual tours for property developers.