A mnml alternative for architects: arkia compared.
mnml lets you render from inside SketchUp, Revit, Rhino or Grasshopper, or from an AI assistant through its MCP connector, and it publishes team plans up to a large firm. arkia is built for a different way of working: drop a view into a browser, pick a template made for the task (people, twilight, site insertion, drone view, graphic styles), and share one studio across a whole team. Here is how they compare, with sources.
- Free to try
- No plugin
- No credit card
Nano Banana Pro
Sample input · click Generate to see the result
Try your own view in arkia
Export the view you already render with mnml
Use a plain image export of your model view, or a render you already have. arkia starts from an image, so any export works.
Drop it into Photoreal
Upload the image to the Photoreal template and run it. The camera, massing and openings of your view stay as they are.
Chain a template for the next task
Add people, planting or another material on the result with the related templates, and use Remix to relaunch a variant with one input changed.
What mnml does well
mnml offers free plugins for SketchUp, Revit, Rhino and Grasshopper, so a render can start from the active view without exporting an image first. That removes the export step at each iteration.
It also offers a connector based on the Model Context Protocol, so assistants such as ChatGPT or Claude can start renders on your mnml account. Its team plans are published with pooled credits and owner, admin, IT manager and member roles, from a three-seat plan to an enterprise tier sold through sales.
If plugins or assistant integration decide your choice, mnml is built for that.
What arkia does differently
arkia is organised around templates written for architecture tasks rather than a single general render. There are over 50, among them Photoreal, people, landscape, materials, twilight, site insertion, a Google Maps view to drone view, and graphic styles such as watercolour, axonometric and collage. You pick the task, drop the image and run it.
Every render keeps its recipe. With Remix you reopen a past render, change one input and relaunch, without rebuilding the settings. Credits do not expire, on any plan. Animate produces video from 1 to 30 seconds depending on the quality level (Draft and Standard up to 15 s, Final up to 30 s), up to 1080p. The Studio plan is $149 a month with unlimited seats, shared projects, a team wallet with per-member caps and centralised billing.
arkia has no plugin. It works from an exported image or a screenshot, so it covers any software and any version, but each new view is an export and an upload.
Moving from mnml to arkia
Nothing needs converting. Your source files stay where they are: export the same view you would send to mnml, or reuse a render you already have, and run it in the template that matches the task.
Start on the free plan to test your own views before you decide. Some teams will keep a plugin-based tool for quick looks inside the model and use arkia for finishing work with templates, variants and video.
Same view. Now a photograph.
A sample 3D view and the Photoreal render of the same view. Camera and geometry unchanged.
Drag the slider to compare
The facts, compared.
| Feature | arkia | mnml |
|---|---|---|
| Platform and plugins | Browser. Works from an exported image or screenshot. No plugin. | Browser, plus free plugins (renders use credits) for SketchUp 2026, Revit 2024 to 2027, Rhino 8 and Grasshopper, and an MCP connector for AI assistants. |
| Solo plans (monthly) | Explorer $15, Creator $49, Studio $149. Free plan available. | Lite $29, Plus $49, Studio $119. 100 free credits at signup. |
| Team plans | Studio $149 a month, unlimited seats, shared projects, team wallet. | From $179 a month (3 team seats plus an IT admin, pooled credits), up to $999 self-serve; $2,999 through sales. |
| Credit expiry | Credits never expire. | Unused plan credits roll over up to 2 months of credits; top-up credits bought on a plan do not expire; one-time credit pack valid 12 months. |
| Templates by use | Over 50 templates (people, twilight, site insertion, drone view, graphic styles and more). | Tools by input (exterior, interior, sketch, landscape, masterplan, floor plan) with controls for style, camera angle, time of day, weather and people; saved and shared workflows. |
| Video length | 1 to 30 seconds depending on the quality level (Draft and Standard up to 15 s, Final up to 30 s), up to 1080p. | 10 or 15 second clips. |
| Training on your uploads | Your uploads are never used to train models. | States that it does not train AI models on your content. |
For rendering from an image, yes. Both turn a sketch, a photo or a 3D view into a photoreal render. They differ in how you work: mnml adds plugins and an assistant connector, arkia is built around task templates, Remix, credits that do not expire and a shared team studio.
No. arkia works from an image you export or a screenshot, which means it works with any version and any software, but you export and upload each view. If you need to render from inside the program, mnml publishes free plugins for SketchUp, Revit, Rhino and Grasshopper.
No. Credits never expire on any arkia plan. mnml states that unused plan credits roll over up to two months of credits, and that purchased top-up credits do not expire. See the table for the source.
arkia Studio is $149 a month with unlimited seats. mnml lists its team plans from $179 a month for three team seats plus an IT admin, with pooled credits. Plans differ in credits, so compare the credits you need as well as the price.
Templates that pair well.
Test arkia on a view you already have.
Free to try. No credit card, nothing to install.