Comparison

PDB Viewer vs OpenBat

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

Head to head
About

PDB Viewer

Features
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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 โ€” free, with no account, no ads, and no sign-up. WHERE THE MOLECULES COME FROM โ€ข RCSB Protein Data Bank โ€” 200,000+ experimentally determined structures โ€ข AlphaFold โ€” 200M+ AI-predicted protein models โ€ข SWISS-MODEL โ€” template-based homology models โ€ข PubChem and ChEMBL โ€” millions of drugs and compounds โ€ข Crystallography Open Database โ€” small-molecule crystals โ€ข NCI/CADD resolver โ€” 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 โ€ข Five representations: wireframe, ball-and-stick, space-filling (CPK), cartoon/ribbon, and a smooth molecular surface โ€ข Color by element, chain, secondary structure, rainbow, or AlphaFold confidence (pLDDT) โ€ข Biological assemblies: rebuild an entire icosahedral virus capsid from a few deposited chains โ€ข NMR ensembles: overlay every model in the bundle to watch a protein flex โ€ข Automatic secondary-structure detection MADE FOR TOUCH โ€ข Rotate, pinch-zoom, and pan with smooth native rendering โ€ข Tap any atom to see its element, residue, and chain โ€ข 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.

About

OpenBat

Features
Read full description

OpenBat is a free iOS app that turns a compatible ultrasonic USB microphone into a live bat detector. It captures audio at up to 384 kHz, shows a real-time spectrogram, detects individual echolocation pulses, and, where an open-source model exists for your region, suggests species IDs on-device. Currently covers the US and Canada, with UK/Europe in beta. ** Bat detection requires an external ultrasonic microphone. Visit OpenBat.app to learn more. ** Hear bats in real time OpenBat uses two ways to turn ultrasonic bat calls into sound you can actually hear: - Heterodyne: tunes into a band of frequencies and scales it down. Preserves rhythm and loudness, but can sound clicky. - Time expansion: records a call, then plays it back at a fraction of the speed. Preserves the character of the call, but not the rhythm. - Het + TE hybrid: both running at once. Analyse your recordings Record what you hear, then break down the calls in Playback. Extract the parameters used to identify species, save them for later, or post recordings straight to iNaturalist for the community to help confirm an ID. Learn about bats AutoID suggests which species might be around you in real time. The Field Guide covers bats in your area and worldwide, curated by bat experts and kept up to date โ€” and if you know your local bats, you can contribute too. Share it, or keep it to yourself Play the bats you're hearing through your device's speakers, or plug in headphones and listen alone.

Screenshots

PDB Viewer4 screens
OpenBat4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: OpenBat at none against PDB Viewer's 1. OpenBat also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs monthly). PDB Viewer's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDB Viewer ships an update monthly, OpenBat every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
PDB Viewer versus OpenBat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDB ViewerOpenBat
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 4 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 โ€” better18.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB52 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperQvyshift LLCNiall Bell

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PDB Viewer

One-time1
  • PDB Viewer Pro$9.99
None

OpenBat

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PDB Viewer free?
PDB Viewer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is OpenBat free?
OpenBat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PDB Viewer or OpenBat have ads?
Neither PDB Viewer nor OpenBat shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDB Viewer or OpenBat?
PDB Viewer ships an update monthly, and OpenBat every 4 days. Most recently, PDB Viewer was updated on November 10, 2026 and OpenBat on November 13, 2026.

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