Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Principle VS Axure RP

Compare Principle VS Axure RP and see what are their differences

Principle logo Principle

Principle makes it easy to create animated and interactive user interface designs.

Axure RP logo Axure RP

The prototyping and specification software used by 87% of the Fortune 100. Beyond mockups, design interactive prototypes for business solutions, websites, and applications.
  • Principle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-19
  • Axure RP Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-14

Principle features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Principle offers a highly intuitive and easy-to-use interface, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced designers.
  • Powerful Animation Features
    The tool supports complex animations and interactive designs, enabling designers to create rich and engaging prototypes.
  • Responsive Preview
    Principle provides real-time previews of your designs on actual devices, allowing designers to see exactly how their work will look and behave.
  • Import from Sketch and Figma
    Users can easily import designs from popular design tools like Sketch and Figma, streamlining the workflow.
  • High-Fidelity Prototyping
    Capable of producing high-fidelity prototypes that closely resemble the final product, making it ideal for user testing and presentations.

Possible disadvantages of Principle

  • Mac-Only
    Principle is exclusively available for macOS, which limits its accessibility for designers using Windows or other operating systems.
  • Cost
    The software comes with a significant price tag, potentially making it less accessible for freelancers or small teams with limited budgets.
  • Lack of Collaboration Features
    Unlike some other tools, Principle lacks advanced collaboration features, making it difficult for teams to work simultaneously on a project.
  • Limited Cloud Integration
    Principle does not offer extensive cloud integration options, which can hinder version control and file sharing across teams.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic interface is user-friendly, mastering its more advanced animation and interaction features can take time.

Axure RP features and specs

  • Advanced Prototyping
    Axure RP allows detailed and functional prototypes with complex interactions, making it suitable for high-fidelity prototyping.
  • Collaboration Features
    Axure RP includes robust collaboration tools, enabling multiple team members to work together efficiently.
  • Extensive Widget Library
    The extensive library of built-in widgets and components helps speed up the prototyping process.
  • Conditional Logic
    It supports conditional logic, which enables the creation of dynamic and responsive prototypes.
  • Responsive Design
    Axure RP provides tools to create responsive designs that adapt to different screen sizes.
  • Flexible Publishing Options
    Prototypes can be easily published and shared online, making it accessible for user testing and stakeholder reviews.
  • Documentation Capabilities
    Axure RP allows the generation of detailed specifications and documentation directly from the prototypes.

Possible disadvantages of Axure RP

  • Steep Learning Curve
    New users may find Axure challenging to learn due to the complexity of its features and interface.
  • Cost
    Axure RP is relatively expensive compared to some other prototyping tools, potentially limiting access for smaller teams or startups.
  • Heavy Software
    The software can be resource-intensive, requiring high-performance hardware to run smoothly, especially for larger projects.
  • Limited Visual Design Capabilities
    While excellent for interaction design, Axure is not as strong in visual design and may need to be complemented with other design tools.
  • Proprietary Format
    Prototypes created in Axure are saved in a proprietary format, which can complicate sharing and compatibility with other tools.

Analysis of Principle

Overall verdict

  • Principle is generally regarded as a good tool for designers, especially those who need to prototype interactive and animated designs. Its robust feature set and user-friendly design make it a preferred choice among many UI/UX professionals.

Why this product is good

  • Principle is a popular prototyping tool for Mac users, known for its intuitive interface and powerful features. It allows designers to create animated and interactive user interface designs efficiently. Users often praise it for its ease of use and the ability to quickly bring design concepts to life. Offering features such as timeline animations, multi-screen interactions, and the ability to import designs from Sketch, it makes the design workflow more streamlined.

Recommended for

  • UI/UX designers looking for a Mac-compatible prototyping tool
  • Designers familiar with Sketch who want to easily import their designs
  • Professionals needing to create high-fidelity animations and interactions
  • Teams looking to demonstrate design concepts through interactive prototypes

Analysis of Axure RP

Overall verdict

  • Axure RP is considered a strong choice for UI/UX professionals who need to produce comprehensive and dynamic prototypes. Its robust feature set makes it particularly valuable for complex projects where detailed functionality needs to be demonstrated and tested early in the design process.

Why this product is good

  • Axure RP is a powerful and versatile tool for creating prototypes, wireframes, and design specifications. It allows designers and developers to create highly interactive and realistic prototypes without coding. The tool supports detailed documentation and collaboration, making it ideal for large projects and teams. Its ability to integrate with other design tools and its support for complex conditional logic and dynamic content are often highlighted as strong points.

Recommended for

  • Professional UI/UX designers
  • Product managers needing to communicate design ideas
  • Developers who require precise design specifications
  • Teams that require a collaborative prototyping tool
  • Projects requiring complex interactions and dynamic content

Principle videos

The Talos Principle (Review)

More videos:

  • Review - American Scandi Gerber Principle Knife
  • Review - The Talos Principle (Zero Punctuation)

Axure RP videos

Axure RP 9 Beta - Thoughts, Impressions and kinda a Review from a design lead

More videos:

  • Review - Getting started with Axure Prototyping | Axure RP: Noob to Master Ep1

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Principle and Axure RP)
Prototyping
31 31%
69% 69
Design Tools
31 31%
69% 69
Design Collaboration
25 25%
75% 75
Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Principle and Axure RP

Principle Reviews

11 Best Prototyping Tools For UI/UX Designers — How To Choose The Right One?
Principle is built for OS X and comes with an iOS app to mirror live prototypes. Whether you’re designing the flow of a multi-screen app, or new interactions and animations, Principle lets you create designs that look and feel amazing. The app appears very much like the UI of Sketch including other familiar aspects of alignment, art board creation, and screen connections,...

Axure RP Reviews

Top 6 Figma Alternatives: Prototyping and UI/UX Tools
Axure provides 3 plans: Axure RP 9 Pro: $495 per user for a permanent license, or $29 per user per month. Axure RP 9 Team: $895 per user for a permanent license or $49 per monthly user.
Source: fronty.com
Figma Alternatives: 12 Prototyping and Design Tools in 2024
Like Adobe XD, Axure RP is another versatile tool that allows you to build advanced prototypes with collaboration tools to make it one of the most preferred design tools today.
10 Best Adobe XD Alternatives (Free & Paid)
Axure RP is a popular desktop application for UX designers to create interactive HTML prototypes for mobile, desktop, and web applications. RP (Rapid Prototyping) is the core focus of the tool and lets you design prototypes from just rough ideas. You can also use the tool to create personas, sitemaps, user workflows, customer journey maps, and wireframes. With an easy-to-use...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Principle seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 8 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Principle mentions (8)

  • What app was used to design this animated image?
    Seeing how principle is on the list. I'm going to say principle. It's like after effect but for interface design. Source: about 2 years ago
  • A mobile shopping app we just finished
    However, I did manage to make a very simple animation with my very limited skills for another project using Principle. Source: over 2 years ago
  • How to use animations to increase conversion
    Your visitors will scan your hero image or graphic first. Take advantage of that. Create subtle animations that explain better your product or offer. How will the interface be used? How simple it is? Keep it simple. I use Principle or Figma smart animate feature. If it's too complicated for you it might be very easy for a designer. Hire one for a small gig. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • New prototype: What if Tesla had an App Store?
    I use Figma & Principle to design & prototype, usually. I show a bit of the process on my YouTube channel, if you're interested. Source: over 3 years ago
  • I made an eyes-free gesture prototype — thoughts?
    No engineering here, just smoke & mirrors! This is a set of mockups stitched together with Principle into a prototype that runs on my iPad. It uses simple keyframing for most animations and is configured to react to different touch targets. Not a single line of code was harmed in the making of this prototype ;). Source: over 3 years ago
View more

Axure RP mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Axure RP yet. Tracking of Axure RP recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Principle and Axure RP, you can also consider the following products

ProtoPie - ProtoPie is the easiest tool used to turn your UI/UX design ideas into highly interactive prototypes for mobile, desktop, web, all the way to IoT.

UXpin - Design is really about solving problems. UXPin is the UX Design Platform that gets that right.

Adobe XD - Adobe XD is an all-in-one UX/UI solution for designing websites, mobile apps and more. 

Figma - Team-based interface design, Figma lets you collaborate on designs in real time.

Moqups - The most stunning HTML5 app for creating resolution-independent SVG mockups, wireframes & interactive prototypes for your next project

Axure - The most powerful way to plan, prototype and hand off to developers, all without code. Download a free trial and see why professionals choose Axure RP 9.