Chemistry By Design vs WebMO Molecule Editor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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
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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.
WebMO Molecule Editor
Create and explore 3D molecular structures, visualize chemical properties, and access extensive chemical databases. This tool is ideal for students and educators needing on-the-go access to molecular information and computational chemistry resources.
- 3D molecular editor
- Structure optimization
- Orbital and symmetry visualization
- Chemical database lookup
- Spectra visualization
- High-resolution image capture
- Computational chemistry program integration
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WebMO allows users to build and view molecules in 3-D, visualize orbitals and symmetry elements, lookup chemical information and properties from external databases, and access state-of-the-art computational chemistry programs. WebMO is recommended for students and faculty in high school, college, and graduate school who desire mobile access to molecular structures, information, and calculations. WebMO capabilities include: - Build molecules by drawing atoms and bonds in a 3-D molecular editor, or by speaking the name (e.g., “aspirin”) - Optimize structures using VSEPR theory or molecular mechanics - View Huckel molecular orbitals, electron density, and electrostatic potential - View molecular vibrations - View point group and symmetry elements of molecules - Lookup basic molecular information, including IUPAC and common names, stoichiometry, molar mass - Lookup chemical data from PubChem and ChemSpider - Lookup experimental and predicted molecular properties from external databases (NIST, Sigma-Aldrich) - Lookup IR, UV-VIS, NMR, and mass spectra from external databases (NIST, SDBS) - Capture high-resolution molecular images - Save and recall molecular structures locally - Export and import structures via email WebMO is also a front-end to WebMO servers (version 14 and higher): - Supports Gaussian, GAMESS, Molpro, MOPAC, NWChem, ORCA, PQS, PSI, Quantum Espresso, VASP, Q-Chem, and Tinker computational chemistry programs - Submit, monitor, and view calculations - View formatted tabular data extracted from output files, as well as raw output - Visualize geometry, partial charges, dipole moment, normal vibrational modes, molecular orbitals, and NMR/IR/UV-VIS spectra
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Chemistry By Design at 5.0 against WebMO Molecule Editor's 4.0. Chemistry By Design also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (81% vs 60%). WebMO Molecule Editor's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 16 months). On price, ratings volume, ads 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
Both are free to download. WebMO Molecule Editor sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Chemistry By Design asks for nothing beyond the download.
Chemistry By Design holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 40 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Chemistry By Design's written reviews are positive against 60% of WebMO Molecule Editor's.
Chemistry By Design ships an update every 16 months, WebMO Molecule Editor every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chemistry By Design | WebMO Molecule Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (14 ratings) — better | 4.0 (40 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.8% of reviews — better | 60.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 40 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 16 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 6.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | University of Arizona | WebMO, LLC |
Customer experience
Chemistry By Design
WebMO Molecule Editor
In-app purchases
Chemistry By Design
No in-app purchases
WebMO Molecule Editor
- WebMO Premium for paid usersFree
- WebMO Premium$4.99
Questions
Is Chemistry By Design free?
Is WebMO Molecule Editor free?
Which has better reviews, Chemistry By Design or WebMO Molecule Editor?
Do Chemistry By Design or WebMO Molecule Editor have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chemistry By Design or WebMO Molecule Editor?
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