MoluCAD vs MolView
MoluCAD
kinematics.comMolView
molview.comSide by side
| Figure | MoluCAD | MolView |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $0.75/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 7 |
| Spec score · Chemistry Simulation Software | 7.5 (#21) | 8.7 (#4) |
| Audience | The maker describes MoluCAD as originally conceived to aid organic chemistry students. | The maker presents MolView for students, teachers, authors, and developers. |
| Company | New River Kinematics says it is an engineering company that develops and supports portable metrology software solutions. | MolView says it is developed and operated by Bergwerf Labs, based in the Netherlands. |
| Founded | 1994 | LinkedIn lists MolView as founded in 2012. |
| Purpose | MoluCAD is a molecular modeling and visualization tool designed for chemistry students. | MolView is a web app for sketching and viewing small molecules. |
Plans
MolView
- FreeFree
- Student$9 a year
- Academic$49 a year
- Standard$99 a year
- Publisher$250 a year
- EnterprisePriced on request
- InstitutionPriced on request
In their own words
MoluCAD
MoluCAD is a free Windows desktop application for molecular modeling and visualization, designed for chemistry students and originally conceived for organic chemistry study. Users can construct molecular structures in true 3D and inspect them from any viewpoint. The software creates reaction animations and includes more than 170 sample structures and animations that can be opened, viewed, and modified. Built-in MM2 energy minimization supports the modeling workflow, alongside an interactive periodic table and HTML-based help. MoluCAD imports and exports PDB, ENT, MOL, and MM3 files, and generates BMP, JPEG, and AVI files. New River Kinematics offers it as a free download through a Windows executable. The product originated in a three-year National Institutes of Health biomedical technology research project intended to produce low-cost chemistry education software. New River Kinematics, founded in 1994 and based in Williamsburg, Virginia, describes itself as an engineering company developing and supporting portable metrology software solutions.
MolView
MolView is a web application for sketching and viewing small molecules, with API access and molecular modeling support. Its canvas handles structural formulas, reaction arrows, electron-pushing arrows, configurable styles, and keyboard shortcuts. A 3D viewer updates automatically as you edit a molecule. Chemical searches accept common names, IUPAC names, SMILES, InChI, InChIKey, and molecular formulas. Depending on the plan, you can save and load sketcher or viewer content, create shareable links, export structural data or SVG files, use transparent backgrounds, and set image resolution. Developers can embed the sketcher web component in vanilla JavaScript or React and customize its toolbar and diagram style. The free plan needs no sign-up and supports searching, sketching, and viewing, but cannot save diagrams. Paid plans include Student at $9.00 per year, Publisher at $250.00 per year, Academic at $4919.00 per year, and Standard at $9919.00 per year.