Install Axon

Axon is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux. It is free for one person on one machine and needs no account to install or use. Check the system requirements first if you are not sure your machine is big enough.

#Download

Get the installer from the download page. It offers the right build for the system you are on, and every other build under Other downloads:

System	Build	For
macOS	Disk image (.dmg)	Apple silicon and Intel, one universal build
Windows	Installer (.exe)	Most people
Windows	MSI package (.msi)	Managed deployment — Intune, Group Policy
Linux	AppImage	Most distributions
Linux	Debian package (.deb)	Debian and Ubuntu

#macOS

1. Open the .dmg and drag Axon into Applications.
2. Open Axon from Applications.

Axon is not yet notarized by Apple, so the first launch stops with "Axon Not Opened". To get past it once:

1. When macOS says it could not verify Axon, click Done.
2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to Security, and click Open Anyway next to the message about Axon. Confirm with your password.

On macOS 14 or earlier you can instead Control-click Axon in Applications, choose Open, then Open again.

#Windows

Run the installer. It installs Axon for every user of the machine, so Windows asks for an administrator's approval.

Both installers are signed by Exaflux Technologies Private Limited. The certificate is new, and Microsoft SmartScreen warns about software it has not seen many downloads of yet, so Windows may warn twice:

1. If your browser says the installer "isn't commonly downloaded": in Edge, open the download's ⋯ menu, choose Keep, then Show more and Keep anyway.
2. If "Windows protected your PC" appears when you run it, click More info, check that the publisher is Exaflux Technologies Private Limited, then click Run anyway.

The warnings come from how new the publisher identity is to Apple and Microsoft. They do not mean anything was found in the file.

To roll Axon out to many machines, use the MSI package with your usual deployment tool.

#Linux

AppImage — make the file executable and run it:

chmod +x Axon_*.AppImage
./Axon_*.AppImage

If it will not start and mentions FUSE, install your distribution's libfuse2 package (libfuse2t64 on Ubuntu 24.04 and later).

Debian package — install it with apt, which also fetches what it depends on:

sudo apt install ./Axon_*.deb

#The first launch

The first time Axon starts, the Setup assistant offers to download the local models Axon runs on your machine — about 3.8 GB on a typical laptop. This is the only large download, and after it Axon answers without an internet connection. Getting started picks up from there.

#Updates

Axon does not reach out for updates on its own. Check when you choose: Settings → General → Check for updates, or Axon → Check for Updates… on a Mac.

#Pro

Pro is a subscription on the account you buy it with, not a different download: you upgrade the copy you already have. See Licence for activating it on a machine.

#Uninstall

Remove Axon the way your system removes any app — drag it from Applications to the Trash on a Mac, Settings → Apps on Windows, delete the AppImage or sudo apt remove axon on Linux.

Your documents are never touched: a project is a folder you already had, and Axon writes nothing into it, so uninstalling leaves every folder exactly as it was.