Molecules vs Molecular Constructor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Molecules
Explore and interact with 3D molecular models on your device. Rotate, zoom, and pan structures using intuitive touch gestures. Visualize molecules in different modes and load custom structures from various sources.
- 3D molecule rendering
- Finger-based manipulation (rotate, zoom, pan)
- Ball-and-stick visualization
- Spacefilling visualization
- Load custom molecular structures
- File sharing and iCloud import
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Molecules is an application for viewing three-dimensional renderings of molecules and manipulating them using your fingers. You can rotate the molecules by moving your finger across the display, zoom in or out by using two-finger pinch gestures, or pan the molecule by moving two fingers across the screen at once. These structures can be viewed in both ball-and-stick and spacefilling visualization modes. Molecules can be stored on your handheld device for later viewing and are loaded via a standard document-based file browser. Custom molecular structures can be downloaded to the application via file sharing or iCloud, and obtained via sources like the RCSB Protein Data Bank (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb), an international repository of biological molecules and their 3-D structures, or NCBI's PubChem (http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), a public database of compounds. For more details, please visit our website. Molecules is a BSD-licensed open source project.
Molecular Constructor
Create and optimize 3D molecular models. This free software allows users to design molecules and refine their geometry simultaneously. A more advanced desktop version is also available.
- Build molecules in 3D
- Design molecular structures
- Optimize geometry
- Free software
- Desktop version available
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Molecular Constructor is a free 3D modeling software for building molecules. Using this application user can design a molecule and optimize its geometry at the same time. The more advanced desktop version can be found at the project website: http://molconstr.com/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Molecules at every 2 months against Molecular Constructor's every 12 months. Molecules also leads on ratings volume (166 vs 52). Molecular Constructor's advantage is rating (3.9 vs 3.6) and review sentiment (75% vs 65%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Molecular Constructor holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 166 and 52 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Molecules's written reviews are positive against 75% of Molecular Constructor's.
Molecules ships an update every 2 months, Molecular Constructor every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on August 5, 2026 and August 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Molecules | Molecular Constructor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (166 ratings) | 3.9 (52 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 65.5% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 166 — better | 52 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 12 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sunset Lake Software | Alexander Teplukhin |
Customer experience
Molecules
Molecular Constructor
Bugs and requests
Molecules
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when switching between views
- Molecules disappear after reopening the app
- Search function is unreliable and limited
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to build and edit molecules
- Implement a color key for atom types
- Include more basic molecules (H2O, CO2, etc.)
- Allow sorting/organizing downloaded molecules
- Integrate with databases like PubChem and RCSB
Molecular Constructor
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Molecules
No in-app purchases
Molecular Constructor
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Molecules free?
Is Molecular Constructor free?
Which has better reviews, Molecules or Molecular Constructor?
Do Molecules or Molecular Constructor have ads?
Which is updated more often, Molecules or Molecular Constructor?
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