# Molecules vs Molecular Models

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Molecules at none against Molecular Models's 1. Molecular Models's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Molecular Models sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Molecules asks for nothing beyond the download.

Molecules ships an update every 2 months, Molecular Models every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on August 5, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Molecules | Molecular Models |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.6 (166 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/molecules/id284943090/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **166** | — |
| Positive reviews | 65.5% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 9 days** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 3 MB | 11 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Sunset Lake Software](https://appshunter.io/developer/284943093) | [Krishna Raj Salim](https://appshunter.io/developer/1638689285) |

## What reviewers say

### Molecules

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/molecules/id284943090)

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:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 👍 Useful for visualizing molecules
- 👍 Great for teaching chemistry
- 👍 Excellent for biochemistry students

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes when downloading new molecules
- 🐛 Compatibility issues with newer iOS devices
- 🐛 Limited functionality, missing key features
- 🔍 Difficult to find common molecules
- 💡 Needs more view options (ribbon, surface, etc.)

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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 Models

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/molecular-models-3d/id6753124450)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FullVersion | $1.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Molecules free?

Molecules is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Molecular Models free?

Molecular Models is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Molecules or Molecular Models have ads?

Neither Molecules nor Molecular Models shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Molecules or Molecular Models?

Molecules ships an update every 2 months, and Molecular Models every 9 days. Most recently, Molecules was updated on August 5, 2026 and Molecular Models on September 21, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*