iMolview Lite vs Molecule Lab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iMolview Lite
Explore 3D models of biological molecules like proteins and DNA from public databases. Visualize and customize molecular structures with various representations and coloring schemes. Analyze interactions and view your own structure files.
- 3D protein and DNA structure viewing
- Drug molecule visualization
- Customizable molecular representations
- Individual atom/residue selection and coloring
- Interaction analysis
- Import custom structure files
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Explore the fascinating world of biological macromolecules: iMolview Lite lets you browse and view in 3D protein and DNA structures from Protein Data Bank, and drug molecules from DrugBank. Search for drug names like 'ibuprofen' or 'gefitinib' in DrugBank, or proteins like 'insulin' or 'thyroid receptor' in PDB. Information associated with each molecule in these databases is also at your fingertips. Sync and view your own structure files via iTunes. Molecular view can be customized with a rich set of molecular representations (wires, balls-and-sticks, space filling, ribbon diagrams, molecular surfaces) and various coloring schemes. Select residues, atoms or chains and color or change their representations individually. Select 'neighbors' of a ligand or any other selection to identify interacting atoms or residues. Set 'inertia' to the maximum and let your molecule spin in 3D indefinitely. If you have more than a casual interest in 3D structures, please consider full iMolview version, which adds many features you may find useful: - store your custom molecular visualizations as 'slides' to be instantly displayed later, preserving chosen representations, color schemes, viewpoint etc. - measure distances and angles - instantly e-mail screenshots to colleagues - VGA output support - 3D view mirroring and 'laser pointer' emulation for structural data presentations from your iPhone or iPad - load and display simultaneously multiple structures; superimpose using either residue number correspondence, sequence alignment or structural alignment with sophisticated iterative procedure - auto-assign secondary structure for PDB entries lacking this data - use side-by-side stereo display for even more vivid 3D viewing. - much more to come!
Molecule Lab
Create and view 3D molecular models with an intuitive editor. Supports various elements, bond types, and conformations, with undo/redo functionality. Share your creations easily via messaging and email.
- Build molecules in 3D
- Supports oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, carbon, hydrogen
- Double and triple bond creation
- Branching and rotation conformations
- Undo, redo, and delete controls
- Save and edit molecules
- Share via text, email, and other services
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Molecule Lab is a simple yet powerful editor allowing users to build and visualize molecules in 3D. Our molecule editor can build more molecules than before, as it now supports three new elements—oxygen, nitrogen, and chlorine—in addition to carbon and hydrogen, double bonds, triple bonds, branches, and different rotation conformations. These incredible new features are enhanced by the flexibility of our molecule editor, which we further upgraded with undo, redo, and delete controls. Molecules can be saved and edited in the future. Additionally, we introduced the capability to share molecules via text message, email, and other third-party services for notetaking and document sharing. This seamless integration with different apps makes Molecule Lab more powerful for sharing and referencing molecules in the future. With all these exciting features, we are thrilled to debut a new look and feel for Molecule Lab. We hope the beautiful modern design will enrich each user’s experience with Molecule Lab.
Screenshots
Verdict
iMolview Lite and Molecule Lab both sit at 4.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of iMolview Lite's written reviews are positive against 50% of Molecule Lab's. iMolview Lite also leads on update cadence (every 9 months vs every 24 months). Molecule Lab's advantage is ratings volume (18 vs 5). On price, rating, 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for iMolview Lite against 4.0 for Molecule Lab. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 18 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of iMolview Lite's written reviews are positive against 50% of Molecule Lab's.
iMolview Lite ships an update every 9 months, Molecule Lab every 24 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iMolview Lite | Molecule Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (5 ratings) | 4.0 (18 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months — better | Every 24 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 54 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Molsoft | Maxamix |
Customer experience
iMolview Lite
Molecule Lab
In-app purchases
iMolview Lite
No in-app purchases
Molecule Lab
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is iMolview Lite free?
Is Molecule Lab free?
Which has better reviews, iMolview Lite or Molecule Lab?
Do iMolview Lite or Molecule Lab have ads?
Which is updated more often, iMolview Lite or Molecule Lab?
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