The short answer
A treehouse kit is a package from one seller. Plans are the drawings and a materials list, and you do the shopping. We do not price kits, because a kit quote moves with the seller and the freight. We do price the list: our 8x8 fort with a roof is $3,260 in structure materials (Home Depot prices read October 2026), and that list is the yardstick for any kit.
A treehouse kit and a set of plans solve different problems. A kit is a package from one seller: some mix of lumber, hardware, brackets and instructions, shipped to you. Plans are the drawings and a materials list, and you buy the lumber and the hardware yourself. Which one wins depends on how much of the shopping and the cutting you want to own.
We do not price kits. A kit quote moves with the seller, what is in the box and the freight, so a number from us would be a guess. What we do price is the list. Our 8x8 fort with a roof comes to $3,260 in structure materials, plus $1,190 of required safety surfacing, and that list is the yardstick you hold any kit against. Home Depot prices read October 2026.
Treehouse Kit vs Plans, Side by Side
| Kit | Plans | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A package from one seller, contents vary | The drawings, the materials list and the cut list |
| Who buys the materials | The seller, or you for whatever the kit leaves out | You, at the stores you choose |
| Posts and footings | Ask: in the box, or yours to buy | On the list, with the footing for each post |
| Price | A quote for that kit and your delivery | Line by line, with the store and the date |
| Changing the size | Ask the seller, often a different kit | Change it in the designer, checked and priced again |
| Local approval | Ask what the seller’s drawings carry | Preliminary checks only: ask your building department |
Neither one is a permit. Local approval is not checked by either, and your building department decides what it needs from you. The designer also has a Canada mode that follows the NBC 2020, if you build north of the border.
Many Kits Are Hardware for a Tree
This is the biggest difference, and the name hides it. Many treehouse kits are not a house at all. They are heavy brackets and bolts for attaching a platform to a living tree, or only the slide and swing pack, with the lumber left for you to buy. That is fine if you have the right tree and mean to build on it.
If you do not have a tree, or you do not want to hang a child’s fort from one, a bracket kit has nothing to hold up the platform. Ours is the other kind: a freestanding fort on its own posts, drawn to stand with no tree. If that is what you want, read how to build a freestanding treehouse and see the tree fort plans.
What to Ask a Kit Seller
Put the kit next to our list for the fort with a roof. Our list has 6 posts and a deck 5 ft off the ground. If a kit for the same size says something very different, ask why. Then ask each of these in writing:
Are the posts and the footings in the kit?
A freestanding fort stands on its posts. If the kit does not include the posts and the footings for them, you are buying them separately.What is the guard height, and what are the gaps?
Our designs use a 38 in guard wherever the drop is more than 30 in, and no gap between 3-1/2 to 9 in, because a gap in that range can trap a child’s head. Ask what the kit’s railing does.Is the swing on its own frame?
Swings should not be attached to a composite structure like a fort. A kit that hangs a swing from the fort’s own beam is asking for trouble; ours puts the swing on a separate frame.Is the lumber treated for ground contact?
Wood that touches the soil needs a ground-contact rating, which is different from the one for wood above ground. Ask for the rating, not just the word “treated”.What is not in the box?
Lumber, concrete, fasteners and the safety surfacing under the fort are the lines kits most often leave to you.What does delivery cost?
Freight is part of any kit quote and is not on a store receipt.
Confirm before you continue
Compare line by line
A kit that looks cheap may leave out the lumber, and a kit that looks dear may include the hardware, the posts and the delivery. Mark every line on our materials list that the kit does not cover before you decide which one costs less.
When a Kit Wins
Be honest about it: a kit wins if your time is short or you do not own a saw. One order, one delivery and instructions from the seller are worth real money to some people, and a good kit with its own posts takes the guesswork out of the shopping. If the kit includes what you checked in the list above, buying it is a sound choice. You pay for the packaging and the freight, and a change of size usually means a different kit.
When Plans Win
Plans win if you want a size no kit comes in, if you would rather shop at your local yard, or if you want a list to compare against a kit. You can change the fort, see the new list at once, and keep the choice of who sells the lumber. The materials list for our 8x8 fort with a roof is $4,450, and about 46 to 68 hours of work over 3 to 5 days, and the plan itself is $29.
You also own the planning: the footing holes, the order of the cuts and the schedule. The plan’s cut list and steps are there to help with that.
Depends on where you build
Approval is local either way
A kit and a set of plans are both starting points. Whether your area wants drawings, a permit or an inspection depends on where you build and on how tall the fort is. Local approval is not checked here: ask your building department before you order either.
Next: the full set of plans for every fort we draw, the treehouse cost guide for the numbers on each one, and the designer to size your own.
Sources
Every number in this guide that does not come from our own treehouse designer was checked against these 1 documents, numbered in the order the text first cites them and read on Oct 25, 2026. 1 is a playground guide or code.
- 1U.S. Consumer Product Safety CommissionPublic Playground Safety Handbook, publication 325
