Molecules vs Cell World
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.
Cell World
Explore the intricate world of a cell in an interactive, game-like experience. Navigate through the cytoplasm and discover the functions of various cell parts like the nucleus and mitochondria. This app offers an immersive journey into the microscopic elements that power the human body.
- Interactive cell exploration
- Navigate cell parts
- Discover organelle functions
- Immersive microcosm experience
- Educational gameplay
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Enter the mysterious world of the cell. Travel through translucent blue cytoplasm and feel the hypnotic movement of the cell membrane. Discover the details of each cell part by navigating in game-like fashion to the Nucleus, Mitochondria, Ribosomes and more. Become immersed the in this amazing microcosm of nature and click to explore how this stunning and miraculous element powers the entire body.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Molecules at Free against Cell World's $0.99. Molecules also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 18 months) and ratings volume (166 vs 9). Cell World's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 3.6) and review sentiment (94% vs 65%). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Molecules is free to download; Cell World costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Cell World holds the better App Store score, 4.6 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. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Molecules's written reviews are positive against 94% of Cell World's.
Molecules ships an update every 2 months, Cell World every 18 months. The most recent releases landed on August 5, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Molecules | Cell World |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 3.6 (166 ratings) | 4.6 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 65.5% of reviews | 94.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 166 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 18 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 6.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sunset Lake Software | Virtual Immersive Educational Worlds, Inc. |
Customer experience
Molecules
Cell World
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
Cell World
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Molecules
No in-app purchases
Cell World
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Molecules free?
Is Cell World free?
Which has better reviews, Molecules or Cell World?
Do Molecules or Cell World have ads?
Which is updated more often, Molecules or Cell World?
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