ReactionFlash vs Chemistry By Design
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ReactionFlash
This app serves as a comprehensive flashcard-style learning tool for named chemical reactions. It provides detailed information on reaction mechanisms and examples from scientific literature, with a quiz mode to test user knowledge.
- Learn named chemical reactions
- Understand reaction mechanisms
- View literature examples
- Quiz mode for knowledge testing
- Flashcard interface
Read full descriptionHide full description
Want to refresh your memory on named chemical reactions before an exam or a group meeting? Get all the details with ReactionFlash(R) as a great way to learn named reactions, understand their mechanisms and view examples published in peer-reviewed literature. Designed and developed in consultation with Professor Dr. Erick M. Carreira of ETH Zürich, the app covers 1'266 named chemical reactions, by far the largest collection of Named Reactions. Professor Carreira has helped ensure that we have all the fundamental reactions that should be part of every chemist’s toolkit: from the best-known ones to the ones only Nobel Prize winners remember! The app is designed like a set of flash cards so it can be used as a learning tool as well as a reference. Each ‘card’ shows the reaction, its mechanism and examples from peer-reviewed, published literature. It also has a quiz mode that lets you test your knowledge. Linking into Reaxys enables you to find the most recent examples of each reaction, many with experimental details. Reaxys delivers experimental facts from the literature, enabling researchers to find the best synthetic routes and conditions. Find out more at https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/reaxys Download the app now and see if you know all the named reactions! Summary: - Learn named reactions - Review and understand mechanisms - Explore examples published in peer-reviewed literature - Take the ReactionFlash quiz and see how much you know If you need support, please contact us at reactionflash@elsevier.com. Reaxys and ReactionFlash are trade marks of Elsevier Limited, used under license.
Chemistry By Design
This interactive virtual flashcard app helps students practice chemistry synthesis skills. It displays reagents, starting materials, and products for each step in constructing natural products or pharmaceuticals. Various browsing options are available for self-testing.
- Interactive virtual flashcards
- Practice synthetic sequences
- Display reagents, starting materials, and products
- Natural product and pharmaceutical synthesis
- Multiple browsing options for testing
Read full descriptionHide full description
Chemistry By Design is an interactive virtual flashcard that allows students to test their skills using known synthetic sequences. The goal is to display the reagents, starting materials and products for every single step used in constructing a natural product or pharmaceutical. Students are provided with different browsing options to test themselves.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ReactionFlash at every 4 months against Chemistry By Design's every 16 months. ReactionFlash also leads on ratings volume (42 vs 14). Chemistry By Design's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and iOS requirement (6.0 vs 14.0). On price, review sentiment, 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.
Chemistry By Design holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 42 and 14 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 81% and 81% positive.
ReactionFlash ships an update every 4 months, Chemistry By Design every 16 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ReactionFlash | Chemistry By Design |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (42 ratings) | 5.0 (14 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.6% of reviews | 80.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 42 — better | 14 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 16 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 6.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Elsevier Limited | University of Arizona |
Customer experience
ReactionFlash
Chemistry By Design
In-app purchases
ReactionFlash
No in-app purchases
Chemistry By Design
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ReactionFlash free?
Is Chemistry By Design free?
Which has better reviews, ReactionFlash or Chemistry By Design?
Do ReactionFlash or Chemistry By Design have ads?
Which is updated more often, ReactionFlash or Chemistry By Design?
Other comparisons















