Comparison

Chemistry By Design vs SynStrategy

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Interactive virtual flashcards
  • Practice synthetic sequences
  • Display reagents, starting materials, and products
  • Natural product and pharmaceutical synthesis
  • Multiple browsing options for testing
Features
Read 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.

About

SynStrategy

This app categorizes organic reactions by the functional groups they form, aiding chemists in synthetic analysis. It offers over 500 transformations and 400 synthesis examples, with detailed subdivisions for clarity.

Highlights
  • Reactions categorized by functional group
  • 27 main functional group categories
  • Over 500 transformations
  • Over 400 total synthesis examples
  • Subdivided functional group categories
  • Highlights synthetic use cases
Features
Read full description

SynStrategy is an organic chemistry app for anyone studying or working in organic synthesis. Its key feature is the categorization of named reactions and unnamed chemical reactions by the functional groups they form, helping students and practitioners navigate the vast landscape of organic transformations. The app features 27 main functional group categories, each further subdivided (for example, Alcohols include primary, secondary, tertiary, allylic, and homoallylic alcohols, and more). This structured organization gives chemists a clearer view of available transformations during synthetic and retrosynthetic analysis. SynStrategy currently includes over 500 organic chemistry reactions, with their synthetic use cases highlighted in more than 400 total synthesis examples. NEW: We've added the mechanisms for a collection of classic named oxidation reactions, with more to come. Each mechanism includes literature references you can look up for further detail. The first set covers the Albright-Goldman, Anelli, Babler-Dauben, Baeyer-Villiger, Ball-Goodwin-Morton, Collins, Corey-Gilman-Ganem, Corey-Kim, Corey-Schmidt, Corey-Suggs, Criegee, Dakin, Davis, Davis Asymmetric, and TEMPO oxidations. Beyond the reference library, SynStrategy includes interactive tools to help you study organic chemistry and organize these transformations. Save specific reactions into custom datasets that can be exported and shared with colleagues. Test your knowledge with the app's study modes: a Quiz system featuring three formats with multiple-choice and advanced questions on chemical reactions and total synthesis steps, plus a traditional Flashcard mode. Both modes include session analytics so you can track your progress. NEW: A Statistics dashboard now lets you review your quiz and flashcard results, see what you've studied, and get an overview of your activity in the app over time (More → Statistics). Whether you're preparing for an organic chemistry (orgo) exam, reviewing named reactions and mechanisms, or planning a synthesis in the lab, SynStrategy aims to be a useful organic chemistry companion. There are countless exceptional total syntheses and synthetically relevant methodologies in the literature, and we aim to grow the selection over time. Have a particular organic reaction or total synthesis example you'd like to see added? E-mail us: serviceofsynthesis@gmail.com Summary of Features: - Named and unnamed reactions, categorized by functional group - Over 500 organic chemistry transformations - Mechanisms for selected reactions (more to come) - Over 400 total synthesis examples - Create, export, and import custom reaction datasets - Multi-format Quiz system with session analytics - Dedicated Flashcard mode for systematic review - Statistics to review your results and activity in the app over time If you need support, please contact serviceofsynthesis@gmail.com

Screenshots

Chemistry By Design3 screens
SynStrategy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: SynStrategy at every 3 months against Chemistry By Design's every 16 months. SynStrategy also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 81%). Chemistry By Design's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (6.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Chemistry By Design against 5.0 for SynStrategy. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 10 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Chemistry By Design's written reviews are positive against 100% of SynStrategy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chemistry By Design ships an update every 16 months, SynStrategy every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Chemistry By Design versus SynStrategy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChemistry By DesignSynStrategy
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (14 ratings)5.0 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews80.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings14 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 16 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS6.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUniversity of ArizonaWilli M. Amberg

Customer experience

Chemistry By Design

All ratings13 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive80.8%
Neutral3.8%
Negative15.4%

SynStrategy

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Chemistry By Design

No in-app purchases

None

SynStrategy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chemistry By Design free?
Chemistry By Design is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SynStrategy free?
SynStrategy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chemistry By Design or SynStrategy?
Chemistry By Design and SynStrategy are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 14 and 10 ratings respectively.
Do Chemistry By Design or SynStrategy have ads?
Neither Chemistry By Design nor SynStrategy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chemistry By Design or SynStrategy?
Chemistry By Design ships an update every 16 months, and SynStrategy every 3 months. Most recently, Chemistry By Design was updated on November 4, 2026 and SynStrategy on November 5, 2026.

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