Comparison

FoldVision vs PDB Viewer

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

Head to head
About

FoldVision

Features
Read full description

FoldVision turns the world's protein structures into something you can hold, turn, and understand. Search more than 200,000 experimentally determined structures from the Protein Data Bank, load AlphaFold and ESMFold predictions, or build a DNA or RNA helix from a typed sequence. Everything renders in interactive 3D — rotate it with a finger, zoom into an active site, and switch between ribbon, surface, ball-and-stick and space-filling views. EXPLAIN ANY PROTEIN Tap Explain and the app writes a plain-language account of what the protein does, grounded in curated UniProt data and generated privately on your device with Apple Intelligence. A guided tour walks you through the key regions, lighting up each one on the structure as it's described. Available in 11 languages. COMPARE TWO STRUCTURES Load two structures and see exactly what changed. Structural-change coloring shades every residue from blue (superposes) to red (diverges). Sequence-change coloring separates conserved residues from substitutions. Watch a smooth morph between two conformations, or set them side by side. EXPLORE THE DETAIL • Annotations — domains, active and binding sites, modifications, variants and mutagenesis, drawn from UniProt. Tap any one to spotlight it on the structure. • Sequence view — the full amino-acid sequence with secondary structure, hydrophobicity, charge and B-factor tracks. Tap a residue to find it in 3D. • Color by secondary structure, chain, hydrophobicity, charge, domain or confidence (pLDDT), with color-blind-safe palettes throughout. • Measure distances, pin points of interest, and see the ligands and ions bound in the structure. NUCLEIC ACIDS Fold an RNA sequence into its predicted secondary structure with ViennaRNA, or build an idealized DNA or RNA double helix from any sequence. SHARE YOUR WORK Export a still image, a spinning video, or a 3D USDZ model you can drop into a presentation or an AR scene. BUILT FOR EVERY DEVICE Designed for iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro, with layouts tuned to each. Structure and annotation data come from the RCSB Protein Data Bank, UniProt, AlphaFold DB, ESM Atlas, InterPro and Reactome. Full credits are in the app.

About

PDB Viewer

Features
Read full description

PDB Viewer turns your phone into a molecular microscope. Search the entire Protein Data Bank and over 200 million AlphaFold predictions, then explore any protein, virus, drug, or DNA structure in interactive 3D — free, with no account, no ads, and no sign-up. WHERE THE MOLECULES COME FROM • RCSB Protein Data Bank — 200,000+ experimentally determined structures • AlphaFold — 200M+ AI-predicted protein models • SWISS-MODEL — template-based homology models • PubChem and ChEMBL — millions of drugs and compounds • Crystallography Open Database — small-molecule crystals • NCI/CADD resolver — type a chemical name and get a 3D model Every source is free and needs no API key. You can also open your own .pdb and .cif files. WAYS TO SEE IT • Five representations: wireframe, ball-and-stick, space-filling (CPK), cartoon/ribbon, and a smooth molecular surface • Color by element, chain, secondary structure, rainbow, or AlphaFold confidence (pLDDT) • Biological assemblies: rebuild an entire icosahedral virus capsid from a few deposited chains • NMR ensembles: overlay every model in the bundle to watch a protein flex • Automatic secondary-structure detection MADE FOR TOUCH • Rotate, pinch-zoom, and pan with smooth native rendering • Tap any atom to see its element, residue, and chain • Recently viewed structures are cached, so they reopen instantly and work offline For students, researchers, teachers, and the simply curious. PDB Viewer makes structural biology beautiful and accessible. Structures are provided by their respective databases. PDB Viewer is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by the RCSB PDB, EMBL-EBI, or AlphaFold.

Screenshots

FoldVision4 screens
PDB Viewer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: FoldVision at none against PDB Viewer's 1. FoldVision also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 3 weeks). PDB Viewer's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. PDB Viewer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. FoldVision asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FoldVision ships an update daily, PDB Viewer every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Ā· 3 level
FoldVision versus PDB Viewer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFoldVisionPDB Viewer
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperScot FedermanQvyshift LLC

In-app purchases

None

FoldVision

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

PDB Viewer

One-time1
  • PDB Viewer Pro$9.99

Questions

Is FoldVision free?
FoldVision is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PDB Viewer free?
PDB Viewer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do FoldVision or PDB Viewer have ads?
Neither FoldVision nor PDB Viewer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, FoldVision or PDB Viewer?
FoldVision ships an update daily, and PDB Viewer every 3 weeks. Most recently, FoldVision was updated on September 15, 2026 and PDB Viewer on September 29, 2026.

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