When comparing Axure vs Origami, the Slant community recommends Origami for most people. In the question“What are the best hi-fi prototyping tools?” Origami is ranked 3rd while Axure is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Origami is:
Origami is offered to the public completely free, no monthly plans, no upfront cost whatsoever.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Supports web and mobile prototyping
Allows creation of interactive HTML mock-ups which is accessible for both websites and mobile applications.
Pro Lots of options for sharing your work
Great web options, but you can also save your wire frames out to Word and convert the notes to annotations.
Pro Resuable components
You can create a component (widget) that you can use over and over again.
Pro Cross-platform
Available for use on Windows and Mac.
Pro Collaboration tools
You can set up a project with SVN-like check-in/out system to work with others.
Pro Offers resources to help you get proficient with the software
There is a wealth of online training including videos for getting the basics down, a great community to mine, and support team to help assist with more technical details.
Pro Completely free
Origami is offered to the public completely free, no monthly plans, no upfront cost whatsoever.
Pro Powerful animations and interactions
Origami was actually built to help Facebook designers work on Paper, one of Facebook's latest apps. Every animation that is coded into Origami was first made for Paper. It uses powerful 3D effects and some of the most advanced features for scrolling, tapping and swiping to create a faithful and interactive prototype.
Pro Native testing
Developers can develop their prototypes with origami through their desktops, but the testing itself is done on the native devices.
Pro No code required
Origami is built by designers for designers. As such, it allows for quick prototyping without writing a single line of code.
Pro Open source
Origami is free and open source and it is hosted on GitHub.
Pro Like only-Mac-integration! Great app! Thank you.
Cons
Con Moderate learning curve
Con Expensive [$289-$589]
There is a free trial to work with Axure, but there is a hefty price for the standard edition at $289. Even more so, the Pro edition will cost $589.
Con Steep learning curve
Origami is a toolkit for Quartz Composer, and unfortunately the learning curve for it is quite steep. Especially for beginners.
Con Mac only
Since Origami is not an app in and on itself, but a plugin for Quartz Composer, which is built by Apple. Therefore, Origami is only available for Mac and for a developer to download and use it, they need to register as an Apple Developer.
Con Mouse driven interactions
There's no way to directly test the tactile interface.