VOLUME vs Asteroom: phone rotator kit or phone video

Asteroom mounts the phone on a small rotator with a lens attachment and spins it to capture a panorama at each spot. The Asteroom app controls the capture and builds the tour from the panoramas. It is panorama capture made cheaper by replacing the 360 camera with the phone you already have plus a kit.

VOLUME uses the phone's standard video recording. You walk; the phone records; you upload the file. There is no mount, no spin, no app. The reconstruction builds a volumetric scene from the walkthrough.

Both are "use your phone." They are different uses of it.

Asteroom: a panorama tour with hotspot navigation, hosted on Asteroom's platform. Optional add-ons, produced through Asteroom's service rather than on-device, have included a 3D dollhouse model, 2D floor plans, and virtual staging. Check their current product list; add-ons and pricing change.

VOLUME: a Gaussian-splat tour with free movement, hosted at a public URL with an unbranded variant, an iframe embed, lead capture, analytics, and the downloadable file. No dollhouse, no floor plan, no staging.

If the deliverables matter, Asteroom offers more of them. If the walkable scene matters, VOLUME is the one that has it.

Asteroom's capture is tolerant: you place the kit, start the spin, wait, move. Mistakes are per spot and easy to redo. Stitching artifacts, moving people, and exposure differences between spots are the typical problems.

VOLUME's capture is one continuous take and less tolerant: too fast, too dark, or too little coverage means a soft tour or a failed reconstruction. The shot guide exists for this reason. In return, there is nothing to assemble afterwards, and a failed reconstruction is never charged.

Asteroom hosts tours on its platform; the rotator kit is a one-time purchase and tours are on a per-tour or subscription basis with add-ons priced separately. Check their current pricing.

VOLUME hosts on volumevirtual.com, with 12 months of hosting on a $79 single purchase, hosting included on $99 a month Solo and $299 a month Team subscriptions, and a downloadable file in every case. No kit to buy. First tour free.

Asteroom if you want panoramas plus a dollhouse or floor plan deliverable from a phone-based workflow and you are willing to carry a small kit and spend a few minutes per spot.

VOLUME if you want free movement, no kit, no assembly, and a file you own, and you can walk a space slowly in good light.

For the broader field of phone-based options, see 3D tour apps for iPhone compared.