Window View
Window View takes a viewpoint-first approach that Shadowmap doesn’t prioritize: instead of analyzing a roof or parcel, it helps you simulate what you can actually see from a specific window on a specific floor. That makes it especially compelling when the question is “will this unit really have that view?” or “which side of the building gets direct sun?” rather than “how much solar potential is on this surface?”
It also stands out with a lightweight, accessible workflow: it’s open-source, free to use, and doesn’t require an account, which can be a meaningful advantage for casual searches and privacy-conscious teams. For quick comparisons between units, it keeps the focus on the lived experience of a space, not just a site-level solar metric.
The main trade-off is that you typically need to manually place or select the window location, because many listing platforms don’t provide exact unit coordinates. If you can tolerate that hands-on step, Window View becomes a fast way to sanity-check real estate claims, visualize occlusions from nearby towers, and understand when sunlight is likely to reach a given window.
For early-stage design and planning, it’s also a handy qualitative tool for view corridors and sun exposure from particular vantage points, complementing the more surface-centric analysis Shadowmap is known for.
Best for
Best for apartment hunters, agents, and early-stage designers who need window-level views and sunlight checks.
Standout features
- ✓Window and floor viewpoint simulation
- ✓Sun path overlay from the window
- ✓Open-source and free to use
- ✓No account required
- ✓Manual window placement workflow
