Comparison

Molecules vs MolAR Augmented Reality

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 3D molecule rendering
  • Finger-based manipulation (rotate, zoom, pan)
  • Ball-and-stick visualization
  • Spacefilling visualization
  • Load custom molecular structures
  • File sharing and iCloud import
Features
Read full description

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.

About

MolAR Augmented Reality

Explore molecules and proteins in augmented reality. Visualize structures from online databases or draw your own. Scan real-world objects to see their molecular composition.

Highlights
  • Augmented reality molecule visualization
  • Visualize PubChem molecules
  • Visualize Protein Data Bank proteins
  • Draw and visualize chemical structures
  • Scan objects to see molecules
Features
Read full description

MolAR lets you visualize molecules and proteins through augmented reality (AR). - Augmented reality: Place a molecule or a protein in a real-world surrounding. No marker needed. - Visualize any molecule on PubChem - Visualize any protein in the Protein Data Bank - Draw chemical structures and visualize them in AR - Scan objects such as food and see molecules inside them Created by Sukolsak Sakshuwong, Umberto Raucci, and Hayley Weir from the Martinez Group at Stanford University

Screenshots

Molecules4 screens
MolAR Augmented Reality4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: MolAR Augmented Reality at 4.9 against Molecules's 3.6. MolAR Augmented Reality also leads on iOS requirement (14.4 vs 16.0). Molecules's advantage is ratings volume (166 vs 9). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MolAR Augmented Reality holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Molecules has 166 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 5, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Molecules versus MolAR Augmented Reality: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMoleculesMolAR Augmented Reality
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (166 ratings)4.9 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings166 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.014.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB179 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSunset Lake SoftwareSukolsak Sakshuwong

Customer experience

Molecules

All ratings166 ratings
Positive62.7%
Neutral12.0%
Negative25.3%
Written reviews388 reviews
Positive65.5%
Neutral18.6%
Negative16.0%

MolAR Augmented Reality

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

MolAR Augmented Reality

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Molecules

No in-app purchases

None

MolAR Augmented Reality

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Molecules free?
Molecules is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MolAR Augmented Reality free?
MolAR Augmented Reality is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Molecules or MolAR Augmented Reality?
MolAR Augmented Reality is rated higher. Molecules averages 3.6 out of 5 from 166 ratings, while MolAR Augmented Reality averages 4.9 from 9 ratings.
Do Molecules or MolAR Augmented Reality have ads?
Neither Molecules nor MolAR Augmented Reality shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Molecules or MolAR Augmented Reality?
Molecules ships an update every 2 months, and MolAR Augmented Reality every 2 months. Most recently, Molecules was updated on August 5, 2026 and MolAR Augmented Reality on September 15, 2026.

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