Software · head to head
Mari vs Inventor
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; Inventor autodesk publishes no licence price through UK G-Cloud: every listing found there is reseller delivered training at 750 to 1,500 pounds per day rather than software licensing, and neither AWS Marketplace nor GSA carries the product
- They diverge on capability: Mari covers High-resolution painting, Inventor covers Parametric modeling.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Mari and Inventor actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), pricing model (subscription), 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 Inventor
- Parametric modeling
- Assembly design
- Sheet metal
- Simulation
- Rendering
- Technical documentation
- Frame generator
- AutoCAD
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 Inventor
- Handling very large multi-UDIM texture sets in a look development pipelinenot Inventor
Inventor
- Mechanical designnot Mari
- Product developmentnot Mari
- Manufacturing documentationnot 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
Inventor
- Autodesk publishes no licence price through UK G-Cloud: every listing found there is reseller delivered training at 750 to 1,500 pounds per day rather than software licensing, and neither AWS Marketplace nor GSA carries the product
Pricing, plan by plan
Mari
$29/month- Mari$1906/month
- Full features
Inventor
$29/month- Inventor$2085/month
- Full mechanical design
- Simulation
- Documentation
- Product Design & Manufacturing Collection$2475/month
- Inventor + AutoCAD + more
Which should you pick?
Choose Mari if
- You need high-resolution painting.
- You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
- You also want udim support.
Choose Inventor if
- You need parametric modeling.
- You work on Windows.
- You also want assembly design.
Questions people ask
- Is Mari or Inventor better?
- Neither clearly leads. Mari starts at $29/month and Inventor at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Mari or Inventor?
- Mari starts at $29/month and Inventor at $29/month.
- Does Mari or Inventor run on more platforms?
- Mari runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux. Inventor 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 Inventor is typically brought in for.
- What can Mari do that Inventor cannot?
- Mari covers High-resolution painting, UDIM support, Procedural layers, Baking. Inventor covers Parametric modeling, Assembly design, Sheet metal, Simulation. Both handle Windows support.