Turtle Universe vs Molecule Simulator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Turtle Universe
Explore and learn about scientific phenomena through interactive microworlds. Create your own simulations using text or blocks, and engage with a global community of young learners. Discover over 100 scientific models and create computational art and games.
- Explore 100+ scientific models
- Create custom microworlds
- Code with text or blocks
- Investigate phenomena
- Engage in global discussions
- Create computational art and games
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Dive into the mesmerizing world of Turtle Universe, where you can explore and learn about various social and scientific phenomena through captivating microworlds. Unleash your creativity by coding your own microworlds with text or blocks, and join lively discussions with young learners across the globe! 1) Discover over 100 intriguing scientific models from diverse fields – with even more on the way! 2) Investigate phenomena such as traffic jams, predator-prey interactions, and the blooming of flowers. 3) Immerse yourself in enthralling storylines within the microworlds. 4) Create and play with stunning computational art and addictive games just for fun! Inspired by NetLogo, the leading multi-agent programmable modeling environment, Turtle Universe brings the limitless power of computational modeling to smartphones and tablets of young students and educators like you! Experience genuine scientific modeling shared by countless researchers and students worldwide. Turtle Universe supports most NetLogo, NetLogo Web, and NetTango models right from the start. From the creators of Physics Lab, a physics experiment simulation app loved by over 3 million learners and teachers. =========================== Term of Use: https://static.turtlesim.com/products/Term-Of-Use.txt Privacy Policy: https://static.turtlesim.com/products/Privacy-Policy.txt =========================== Copyright 2021 John Chen & Uri Wilensky. All rights reserved. Turtle Universe is authored by John Chen & Uri Wilensky and maintained by CCL at Northwestern University. If you mention the software in a publication, please include the citation below: * Chen, J. & Wilensky, U. (2021). Turtle Universe. Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
Molecule Simulator
Visualize the 3D structures of molecules using data from PubChem and Protein Data Bank. Explore molecules in various viewing modes and download an extensive library of compounds.
- 3D molecular visualization
- Space filling mode
- Ball-and-stick mode
- Data from PubChem
- Data from Protein Data Bank
- Downloadable molecule library
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This app is a molecular viewer. With the data on PubChem and Protein Data Bank, it can show us 3D structure of molecules. Both space filling mode and ball-and-stick mode. --------------------------------------------- Contains some pre-installed modes. And you can download all kinds of molecules from PubChem or Protein Data Bank.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Molecule Simulator at 100% against Turtle Universe's 67%. Turtle Universe's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Turtle Universe holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 45 and 24 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of Turtle Universe's written reviews are positive against 100% of Molecule Simulator's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Turtle Universe ships an update every 6 weeks, Molecule Simulator every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on July 29, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Turtle Universe | Molecule Simulator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (45 ratings) — better | 4.3 (24 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 45 — better | 24 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 120 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Turtle Sim LLC | 仕清 刘 |
Customer experience
Turtle Universe
Molecule Simulator
In-app purchases
Turtle Universe
No in-app purchases
Molecule Simulator
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Turtle Universe free?
Is Molecule Simulator free?
Which has better reviews, Turtle Universe or Molecule Simulator?
Do Turtle Universe or Molecule Simulator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Turtle Universe or Molecule Simulator?
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