Complete Styldod Review: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives

Updated January 17, 2023 10:35 AM By Matt Langan

Styldod is a design technology company that serves real estate professionals. As one of the most well-known virtual staging companies, they offer a variety of staging and photo editing services for real estate listing photos. However, there are a number of pros and cons to using Styldod. In order to help you decide if they are the best fit for your needs, this article will cover:

• Styldod Pricing and Services
• Quality of Virtual Staging Designs
• Pros and Cons of Styldod
• Styldod Alternatives
• Comparison of Styldod and Stuccco

Not sure what virtual staging is? Read our definitive guide to virtual staging.

Styldod's Pricing and Services

All of Styldod's listed services are:

• Virtual staging: $16 per photo for 8 or more photos, $19 per photo for less than 8 photos
• Commercial virtual staging: $24 per photo
• Matterport virtual staging: $25 per hotspot
• Virtual renovation: $5-15 per adjustment, per photo
• Occupied to vacant: $15 per photo
• Day to Dusk: $4 per photo
• Object removal: $8 per photo
• Image enhancement: $1.50 per photo
• Floor plan: $5-39, depending on type
• 360° virtual tours: $1.50 per tour (must already have 360° photos taken)
• 3D render: $250 per room or space
• Single property website: $30 per website
• Single property video: $20 per video

This is a lengthy list of virtual home staging services--and many of the advertised prices are the lowest on the market. However, it's important to note that all virtual staging companies have various methods of pricing these options, and Styldod's pricing structure is particularly confusing.

Read more about what virtual staging costs and how pricing structures work.

Read on for more details about the quality of Styldod's services and how the pricing actually works.

 

Quality of Styldod's Virtual Staging Designs

Design is an inherently subjective topic, so it can't be broken down into exact calculations. However, there are a few ways to judge the quality of virtual staging designs.

1. Do all furniture and decor pieces look realistic?

The purpose of home staging, whether it's traditional or virtual, is to show potential buyers the full potential of every space. In turn, that increases the perceived value of the home. Unfortunately, when furniture looks unrealistic, is not placed correctly, or doesn't fit the overall style, it becomes a distraction. Therefore, when you're determining the quality of Styldod's virtual staging images, the realism should be the highest priority.

2. Does the staged design highlight the space?

Staging a home is much different than designing a space for homeowners. Instead of creating functional designs, its meant to make the property more appealing for potential buyers. Therefore, the priority is not on having stunning pieces of furniture or creative photography angles. Instead, the designs should make home buyers think of how they could live in the space.

Now, let's take a closer look at some of Styldod's example photos.

At first glance, this doesn't look bad at all. However, the first thing you may notice is the lack of realism from the plant and picture above the fireplace. In addition, the majority of furniture in the room is clustered in the middle, with most of the area being covered by the backs of two chairs.

The spacing of furniture leaves customers unsure of the actual scale and spacing.

Another important factor to note is that the actual photography of the above example. Real estate photography is an art, and it has a significant impact on a listing photo. The photo shown was clearly taken with the camera pointing up towards the ceiling, which does not help show an accurate scale of the space.

However, Styldod does not offer photography, so this is not a factor for their design quality. In fact, many of their virtual staging exampls have a watermark from VHT Studios, which is a company with real estate photographers around the country. Read our full review of VHT Studios for more details.

With a little bit of effort, you can learn how to take listing photos that best represent your listing. Start by reading our step-by-step guide to taking photos for virtual staging.

Onto a different room type. Here's an example of a living room virtually staged by Styldod:
 

While this is a better example of furniture that looks realistic, the spacing of the furniture is highly questionable. Styldod has added so many pieces of furniture that the space actually feels overwhelming and looks relatively small. They've placed furniture right in front of where the camera would be, which feels awkward at best.

This is the opposite effect that virtual staging should have on a space.

Finally, let's look at an example of a virtually staged bedroom:

The main problem in this photo is the clear lack of realistic-looking designs. There is not one piece of furniture in this photo that looks like it could legitimately be in that room.

For example, compare the above photo to a virtually staged bedroom from Stuccco:

It feels like you could walk into this room right now. It's easy to see and feel the actual size of the room, and there is not an excess of furniture and products added--the focus stays on the actual space.

And, of course, the furniture looks 100% realistic.

Here's another example to compare. Here's a virtually staged photo of a home office from Stuccco:
 

When you look at the design quality of Styldod vs Stuccco, there's a clear distinction.

Ultimately, the quality of Styldod's virtual staging is not up to par. If you're looking for virtual staging that is designed by professional interior designers and does the best job of increasing your listing's home price--Styldod is probably not the best choice.

Pros of Styldod

Here are the top three best features of Styldod:

1. 3D Renderings, Floor Plans, and 360° Tours

Styldod categorizes itself as a "design tech" company, which means it offers a few services beyond the typical scope of other staging companies. These services include Matterport virtual staging (staging your Matterport 3D tour), accurate floor plans, 3D renders, and 360° tours.

All of these services are great additions and help you market your real estate listing. However, we suggest that you look at the quality of Styldod's other renders and tours before purchasing.

2. Unlimited Revisions

Styldod offers a satisfaction guarantee and unlimited revisions, which is an extremely valuable part of any virtual staging service.

In fact, we recommend that you only use virtual staging from companies that offer a satisfaction guarantee.

3. Variety of Design Styles

Styldod offers eight different design styles for you to select when placing an order. This process is similar to the design style of Stuccco virtual staging, offering you design options so that your design can best fit the listing, location, and the market.

 

Cons of Styldod

Even though Styldod is a well-known staging company, there are a few things you should take into consideration before placing an order. These are the four biggest drawbacks:

1. Unclear Pricing Structure

If you find Styldod while searching online, the first thing you will see is "virtual staging for $16!"

However, this is rarely the case. In order to pay only $16 per photo, you have to order over eight images at once AND they must show already vacant spaces.

The average virtual staging order at Stuccco ranges from 6-12 photos. In most cases, placing an order for one property will not exceed eight photos.

In addition, the cost will only stay at $19 per photo if you are listing a vacant property.

Again, in most cases, your listing photos are not completely vacant. In extreme cases, your listing photos may need an extensive amount of object and furniture removal.

With Styldod, even having a few items in your photo will cost an additional $8-15 per photo.

That puts the actual cost of Styldod staging around $24-34 per photo.

To be clear, it is important for all virtual staging companies to offer individual pricing for different services like removing objects, adding furniture, and changing the space (i.e., changing wall color, changing appliances, etc). This helps you as the customer pay only for the services that you need.

Plus, many of Styldod's customer reviews mention the price. The overall price will still be lower than many of its competitors (namely, VRX Staging and VHT Studios).

However, Styldod advertises a price that is below the cost that most customers actually have to pay.

Pair this with the lack of quality, and the end result doesn't feel like such an amazing deal.

2. No Professional Stagers

One of the major shortcomings of Styldod is that the employees and virtual stagers are not actually professional designers with real estate staging experience. Employees are trained to use Styldods software and furniture library, but they don't actually have knowledge or experience in staging homes to sell for more money.

In addition, all Styldod employees are located in Induia although the company is based out of Delaware. Between language barriers and time zones, this makes communication extremely difficult.

However, thats not even the biggest issue with having inexperienced virtual designers across the globe. As you may guess, the real estate industry is extremely different between India and the U.S., and it's difficult for designers in a different country to cater to American buyers and American tastes.

3. Turnaround Time

Styldod's turnaround time for virtual staging is between 24-48 hours. However, if you need to combine virtual staging with any other service, that will be extended. For many of Styldod's services, they require two business days.

Compared to other virtual staging companies, this is relatively short. But in real estate, every minute matters!

However, Stuccco has the fastest turnaround time in the industry. All virtual staging services are done in 24 hours or less. Try it today!

4. Product Catalog is 100% Digital

Like almost all other virtual staging companies, Styldod's furniture and decor simply comes from digital renderings. That means that everything in their furniture library has been created with an online program and doesn't actually exist in real life.

While this can still be used to successfully sell properties, it must be done with skill. Otherwise, using furniture that is not to-scale to stage a room will look wonky at best. In fact, this is likely the primary reason why Styldod's images don't look completely realistic.

The only way to get around this obstacle is with Stuccco. We are the only virtual staging service that uses furniture from retail partners in all designs.

Not only does this result in higher-quality images, it also means that buyers could recreate the exact design in virtual staging.

For more details, check out our online interior design service.

5. Single Property Website Costs Extra

One of the many features that Styldod offers is a single property website. Single property websites are an incredible real estate marketing tool, especially when you have beautifully staged listing photos.

However, getting a single property website with Styldod is an additional fee. With Stuccco, you can create a single property website for free when you place a virtual staging order.

In fact, it's literally as easy as pushing a button.

If a property website is on your marketing to-do list, Stuccco provides the easiest and most affordable way to create one. Plus, you can automatically create property videos with the free slideshow generator.

Styldod Alternatives

Now that you have all the facts about Styldod, let's compare it with Stuccco!
 

Here are some of the most important features of Stuccco virtual staging:

• $29 per virtually staged photo
• Membership options available to unlock discounts
• Guaranteed 24-hour turnaround time
• Unlimited revisions
• 24/7 customer support
• Money-back guarantee
• Images staged by professional interior designers
• Customer ratings of 5/5
• The only virtual staging company that enables buyers to turn virtually staged designs into reality via Stuccco online interior design
• Named the best virtual staging company by The Spruce

Comparison of Styldod and Stuccco

To get started, read our step-by-step instructions to easily place an order with Stuccco.

It takes less than five minutes, and you'll receive staged images in the next 24 hours.

Ready to see the impact of virtual staging on your business? Place your order now.

Check out our other other virtual staging company reviews:

• The Best Virtual Staging Companies
• BoxBrownie Review
• Virtual Staging Solutions Review
• VHT Studios Review
• VRX Staging Review
• Padstyler Review