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Mari vs Alibre Design

Mari logo

Mari

Software

3D painting for film and games

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Alibre Design logo

Alibre Design

Software

Affordable professional CAD

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Mari the full annual licence is $1,289 paid annually, and a short term quarterly rental is $949 per quarter; Alibre Design perpetual licences do not include updates; maintenance is a separate yearly plan starting at $50 per year for CAD support and updates
  • They diverge on capability: Mari covers High-resolution painting, Alibre Design covers Parametric modeling.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mari and Alibre Design actually diverge.

Attributes where Mari and Alibre Design differ
AttributeMariAlibre Design
Pricing modelsubscriptionone-time
PlatformsWindows, MacOS, LinuxWindows
Founded19961997

Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Mari

  • High-resolution painting
  • UDIM support
  • Procedural layers
  • Baking
  • Node graph
  • Color management
  • Maya
  • Nuke

Only in Alibre Design

  • Parametric modeling
  • Assemblies
  • Sheet metal
  • 2D drawings
  • BOM
  • Rendering
  • CAM software
  • PDM

Both cover

  • Windows support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Mari

  • Painting textures directly onto high complexity 3D assets for film and gamesnot Alibre Design
  • Handling very large multi-UDIM texture sets in a look development pipelinenot Alibre Design

Alibre Design

  • Parametric 3D solid modelling for mechanical partsnot Mari
  • Producing 2D manufacturing drawings from 3D modelsnot Mari
  • Designing parts for 3D printing and small shop machiningnot Mari

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Mari

  • The full annual licence is $1,289 paid annually, and a short term quarterly rental is $949 per quarter
  • The cheap $299 per year or $35 per month subscription is restricted to a single licence for people working alone or in small companies
  • Node-locked and floating are separate licence types you must choose between
  • All listed prices are before applicable taxes
  • A separate non-commercial licence exists, so commercial use requires a paid tier

Alibre Design

  • Perpetual licences do not include updates; maintenance is a separate yearly plan starting at $50 per year for CAD support and updates
  • Sheet metal, PDM data management and rendering are Design Expert only at $1,999
  • Scripting is excluded from the $199 Atom3D edition
  • CAM capability is sold as separate EZ-Mill, EZ-Turn and EZ-EDM products costing up to $2,999
  • A dedicated account manager is excluded from Atom3D

Pricing, plan by plan

Mari

$29/month
  • Mari$1906/month
    • Full features

Alibre Design

$29/month
  • Atom3D$199/month
    • Basic modeling
  • Design$999/month
    • Professional CAD
  • Expert$1999/month
    • Full features

Which should you pick?

Choose Mari if

  • You need high-resolution painting.
  • You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
  • You also want udim support.
Mari review

Choose Alibre Design if

  • You need parametric modeling.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want assemblies.
Alibre Design review

Questions people ask

Is Mari or Alibre Design better?
Neither clearly leads. Mari starts at $29/month and Alibre Design at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mari or Alibre Design?
Mari starts at $29/month and Alibre Design at $29/month.
Does Mari or Alibre Design run on more platforms?
Mari runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux. Alibre Design runs on Windows.
What is Mari best used for?
Mari is most often used for painting textures directly onto high complexity 3d assets for film and games, handling very large multi-udim texture sets in a look development pipeline. Of those, painting textures directly onto high complexity 3d assets for film and games and handling very large multi-udim texture sets in a look development pipeline are not what Alibre Design is typically brought in for.
What can Mari do that Alibre Design cannot?
Mari covers High-resolution painting, UDIM support, Procedural layers, Baking. Alibre Design covers Parametric modeling, Assemblies, Sheet metal, 2D drawings. Both handle Windows support.
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