How to use TilePlan Pro

Quick start: pick your path

TilePlan Pro covers three jobs of increasing depth. Start where your need actually is — you can always come back for more.

If you only need a tile count, stop at the layout calculator. If you need to argue with a contractor quote, add the cost calculator. If you are actually planning the install — multi-wall bathrooms, kitchen-backsplash with outlets, anything with a niche — the Pro planner is what was built for that.

The free layout calculator

The layout calculator at /calculator is the fastest way to get a tile count without a tape measure. It draws a scaled diagram of your surface with the tile grid laid over it, then totals full tiles, cut tiles, and a deduplicated list of cut sizes. Visitors get one anonymous calculation on us — return visits ask you to create a free account, which also unlocks save, share, and branded PDFs. Signed-in users skip the gate entirely.

Step by step

1. Open /calculator. Your first calculation is free without an account.
2. Pick your units at the top — imperial (feet and inches) or metric (meters and centimeters). The inputs and the cut list both swap accordingly.
3. Enter the surface length and width. For a floor, that is the room. For a wall, it is wall width by wall height.
4. Enter your tile length and width in inches (or cm in metric mode).
5. Enter your grout joint width. Even a small change here moves the cut count, so use the real number from your tile spec sheet.
6. Pick a pattern. There are 14 options — straight, running bond, herringbone, double herringbone, diagonal, third offset, checkerboard, basketweave, double basketweave, wood-strip running bond, chevron, mosaic pinwheel, Chantilly, and Versailles. See the pattern gallery if you want to compare the look first.
7. Read the scaled diagram. Full tiles render in one color, cut tiles in another, so you can see at a glance how much waste each pattern produces against your specific dimensions.
8. Scroll to the cut list. It groups cut sizes by exact dimension (for example, 6.0″ × 3.5″) so a tile setter knows exactly what to score on the wet saw.

Try the layout calculator →

The free cost calculator

Once you know roughly how much tile you need, the next question is what the project will cost. The cost calculator at /cost-calculator layers material pricing, pattern waste, and labor on top of the basic area math so you get a single total — and an effective cost per square foot you can compare against a contractor quote. Same trial gate as the layout calculator: one free anonymous estimate per visitor, then a free account for repeat use.

Step by step

1. Open /cost-calculator. Like the layout tool, the first calculation is free without an account.
2. Enter your surface area in square feet (or square meters in metric mode).
3. Choose a tile material: ceramic, porcelain, natural stone, glass, or mosaic. Each one auto-fills a typical 2026 USD price per square foot drawn from market averages — a sane default if you are still shopping.
4. If you have a real quote, override the price field. The total recalculates immediately.
5. Pick the pattern you plan to use. Each pattern carries a built-in waste percentage — herringbone and diagonal cut more tiles than running bond does, and the calculator bakes that in. See “waste percentage” in the glossary if the term is new.
6. Enter a labor cost per square foot. If you are DIY-ing the install, leave it at 0.
7. Read material cost, labor cost, total, and the effective per-square-foot number. The per-square-foot total is the one most useful for comparing bids.

Try the cost calculator →

Browsing patterns and templates

Two galleries sit alongside the calculators — one for pattern inspiration, one for whole-room examples. Both are free and need no signup.

Patterns

The pattern gallery has detail pages for all 14 supported layouts — including running bond, herringbone, and Versailles. Each page explains where the pattern works best, what aspect ratios it needs, and what to watch for on install. Every pattern page also has a “Try this in the planner” CTA that opens the calculator with that pattern preselected.

Templates

The templates gallery has six worked examples covering the most common installs — small-bathroom-floor, kitchen-backsplash, master-shower-wall, powder-room-floor, mudroom-floor, and hallway-floor. Each template has the room size, tile size, pattern, grout width, and install notes pre-filled, plus a “Customize this layout” CTA. Clicking it opens the calculator with the template's full URL parameters — length, width, tile dimensions, pattern, and units — already loaded, so you can tweak from a real starting point instead of an empty form.

Reference guides

Four reference resources sit under the Guides menu in the nav. They exist to answer the questions that show up around any tile project — what size, what color grout, what does this jargon mean, and the everyday FAQ.

• Tile size guide — an interactive room-type selector. Pick a room (bathroom floor, kitchen wall, shower curb, etc.) and see the size range tile setters actually recommend for that space, with the reasoning spelled out.
• Grout color guide — the three strategies (match, soften, contrast) with example pairings against common tile colors. Helpful before you commit to a bag of unsanded grout you can't return.
• Tile glossary — 63 industry terms organized into 10 categories, each with a plain-English definition and a one-line jobsite context note. Searchable by anchor link.
• FAQ — 10 of the most common questions about TilePlan Pro and tile planning generally, with short answers.

Creating an account

You only need an account for the Pro planner — saving projects, sharing read-only links, and exporting branded PDFs. The calculators, pattern gallery, templates, and reference guides all work without signing in.

Step by step

1. Click “Get started free” in the top nav, or go to /signin?callbackUrl=/dashboard directly.
2. Choose how to sign up: email and password, a one-tap Google sign-in, or a magic link sent to your email (no password to remember).
3. If you picked the magic link, check your inbox and click the link to finish. Email and password accounts log you straight into the dashboard.
4. On your first visit, a five-step onboarding tour runs as a spotlight overlay on the planner — it highlights the toolbar, the canvas, the save/share controls, the cost panel, and the PDF export. Skip it any time; it never replays unless you reset it.

Sign up free →

The Pro planner: multi-wall layouts and obstacles

The Pro planner at /planner is the full tool — what you actually use when you are planning a real install rather than running a quick estimate. It steps up from the calculator in three ways: multiple surfaces in one project, draggable obstacles on walls, and full per-project customization of pattern, colors, and costing.

Three modes

The planner has three modes you toggle between at the top of the canvas:

• Floor mode — one rectangular floor surface. Best for a bathroom floor or a hallway with no obstacles.
• Wall mode — one wall, with any number of obstacles cut into it. Best for a single feature wall like a kitchen-backsplash with outlets.
• Room mode — multiple walls plus a floor in one project, with a 2.5D isometric preview at the bottom. Best for a bathroom or shower where you are tiling several surfaces together.

Adding obstacles in wall mode

Wall mode supports five obstacle types: window, door, outlet, niche, and a generic custom rectangle. Add one from the obstacle panel, set its width and height, then drag it to the right position directly on the canvas. The drag snaps to 0.25″ increments in imperial mode and 0.05 m in metric — fine enough to match real measurements without fighting pixel-precise mouse drift. The tile grid re-renders around each obstacle automatically; cut tiles on the edges of the opening update in real time.

Multi-wall room mode

In room mode, every wall is its own editable surface. Switch between walls using the wall toggle in the toolbar; each one keeps its own obstacles. The floor is a separate surface alongside the walls. Each surface can use a different tile pattern if you want to — for example, a herringbone backsplash above a running-bond floor.

Cost settings

Open the cost panel and fill in four numbers:

• Tiles per box — from your tile spec sheet.
• Price per box — your real quoted price, not a guess.
• Labor per square unit — labor rate per square foot or per square meter, depending on units.
• Waste percentage override — optional. The pattern's built-in waste % fills in by default; override only if you have a specific reason (a hard-to-find tile worth being cautious with, an unusually clean rectangle, etc.).

Color customization

The color panel lets you pick four colors on the diagram: full tile color, cut tile color, the alternate full-tile color used by the checkerboard pattern, and the grout color. Match these to the real tile and grout you are buying and the resulting PDF is much easier for a client to read.

2.5D Room Preview

In room mode, a Room Preview block at the bottom of the planner renders the floor, back wall, and right wall together in a 30-degree oblique projection with depth foreshortened to 50%. Each face uses the pattern you assigned to that surface, so you can see the three intersecting tile runs in one image — the closest thing to a render without leaving the app.

Open the planner →

Saving and sharing projects

Every project you save lives in your dashboard, and every saved project can be turned into a read-only public link your client can open without an account.

Step by step

1. In the planner, hit Save. Name the project; it appears in your dashboard immediately.
2. Go to /dashboard to see your project list. Each row has actions for open, duplicate, save-as-new (lets you keep the original and edit a copy), rename, and delete.
3. To share a project, generate a public share link from the dashboard. The link points at /share/<slug>, a read-only viewer of your layout. Anyone with the link can see it — no signup, no login.
4. Send that URL to your client. They see the diagram, the stats, and the cut list, but cannot edit the project.

Go to your dashboard →

Exporting a branded PDF for clients

The Pro planner generates a multi-page PDF you can hand to a client — scaled tile diagram, cost summary, and the deduplicated cut list, all under your company header. The export runs entirely in your browser; nothing leaves your machine.

Step by step

1. Open /settings, set your company name and contact info, and save. You only do this once — those fields ride along on every future PDF.
2. Open the project you want to export in the planner.
3. Click Export PDF. The first export of a session lazy-loads the PDF engine from a CDN, so expect a one-second pause the first time — subsequent exports are immediate.
4. The PDF saves to your downloads folder. It contains the scaled diagram, the stats summary (square footage, full tile count, cut count, waste %, total cost), and the cut list with exact dimensions.
5. Hand it to your client in person, or attach it to a quote email. The branded header makes it look like a quote document, not a printout from a stranger's web app.

See a sample on the homepage →

Plan, billing, and getting help

Free vs Pro

The free tier covers everything most browsers need: layout calculator, cost calculator, the pattern gallery, templates, and all four reference guides. No account required.

The Pro tier adds the planner with multi-wall and obstacle support, project save and dashboard, read-only share links for clients, and the branded PDF export. Pro billing runs through Flutterwave and supports USD and UGX.

Forgot password

Go to /signin and click “Forgot password.” A reset link arrives by email; follow it to set a new one. The link expires after a short window, so request a new one if you delayed.

Getting help

Anything not answered here or in the FAQ, email support@tileplan.cc. Real people read it.

See pricing →