Molecules vs MolAR Augmented Reality
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.
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.
- Augmented reality molecule visualization
- Visualize PubChem molecules
- Visualize Protein Data Bank proteins
- Draw and visualize chemical structures
- Scan objects to see molecules
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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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
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.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 5, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Molecules | MolAR Augmented Reality |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (166 ratings) | 4.9 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 65.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 166 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 14.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 179 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sunset Lake Software | Sukolsak Sakshuwong |
Customer experience
Molecules
MolAR Augmented Reality
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
Molecules
No in-app purchases
MolAR Augmented Reality
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Molecules free?
Is MolAR Augmented Reality free?
Which has better reviews, Molecules or MolAR Augmented Reality?
Do Molecules or MolAR Augmented Reality have ads?
Which is updated more often, Molecules or MolAR Augmented Reality?
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