Open Source ChemDraw Alternatives

The best open source alternative to ChemDraw is Gnome Chemistry Utils. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 10 alternatives to ChemDraw and seven of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to ChemDraw are BKchem, JChemPaint, MollyCule and MolView.

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ChemDraw

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Communicate with the natural language of chemical structures, biological pathways, and models

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Gnome Chemistry Utils
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Linux
17 Gnome Chemistry Utils alternatives
The Gnome Chemistry Utils include six chemistry related programs:
- GChemPaint, a 2D chemical formula editor.
- a chemical calculator (computes raw formule, molar weight, mass composition and isotopic pattern).
- a molecule 3d viewer using OpenGL to display molecular models. .
- - Gnome Chemistry Utils is the most popular Open Source alternative to ChemDraw.
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Gnome Chemistry Utils Features
Periodic table
BKchem
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Digital Painting Tool
Mac
Windows
Linux
12 BKchem alternatives
BKChem is a free (as in free software :o) chemical drawing program. It was conceived and written by Beda Kosata and is currently maintained by Reinis Danne.
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BKchem Features
2D and 3D physics
Discontinued
The last release was in 2010.

Comments about BKchem as a Alternative to ChemDraw
Most users think BKchem is a great ChemDraw alternative.
Very usefull software. You can paste images created with BKChem in a text processor or another open source graphical software like InkScape.
Positive comment•
0

BKchem is an old attempt at replacing some of ChemDraw's functionality. It succeeded partially in providing some of ChemDraw's very core chemical structure drawing features. Unfortunately, BKchem has seen no new development since 2010, leaving it in limbo.
Negative comment•
3
JChemPaint
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
7 JChemPaint alternatives
JChemPaint is an editor and viewer for chemical structures in 2D. It is free and open source software, written in Java and so it runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Unix systems. There is a standalone application (editor), and two varieties of applet (editor and viewer) that...
Suggest and vote on features
JChemPaint Features
Impact mapping
MollyCule
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
5 MollyCule alternatives
MollyCule is a completely free Open Source Chemistry visualisation program for MacOS, Linux and Windows. MollyCule is designed to be a nice, easy to use program to help ordinary people who want to explore Chemistry.
MollyCule has no features, suggest some!
Discontinued
Last update appears to be August 2011.
MolView
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Online
2 MolView alternatives
MolView is an intuitive, Open-Source web-application to make science and education more awesome!
- - MolView is the most popular Web-based alternative to ChemDraw.
MolView has no features, suggest some!
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XDrawChem
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
10 XDrawChem alternatives
XDrawChem is a free software program for drawing chemical structural formulas, available for Unix and Mac OS. It is distributed under the GNU GPL. In Microsoft Windows this program is called WinDrawChem.
XDrawChem has no features, suggest some!
Discontinued
Last release (1.10.2-1) was in January 2017.
Add a screenshot

Comments about XDrawChem as a Alternative to ChemDraw
Most users think XDrawChem is a great ChemDraw alternative.
More simply for use in class
Positive comment•
0
Molsketch
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Vector Graphic App
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
8 Molsketch alternatives
A 2D molecular editing tool for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. Its goal is to help you draw molecules quick and easily. Of course your creations can be exported afterwards in high quality in a number of vector and bitmap formats.
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Molsketch Features
1. Ad-freeMolsketch doesn't contain any form of external advertising.
2. No registration requiredYou can use most of the features in Molsketch without registration.
3. Dark ModeMolsketch supports dark mode for comfortable usage in low light conditions.
4. LightweightMolsketch consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
5. Works OfflineMolsketch can be used without the need to connect to the internet.