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Chemical Drawing Atlas
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This website is biased toward ReShiki, because its maintainer also maintains ReShiki. Please be careful.

Chemical drawing tools, compared with ChemDraw

We ran 81 tools, gave each one the same three molecules, and kept each tool's default settings. ChemDraw is the one exception, shown in its ACS Document 1996 style.

Choose a molecule

A hard molecule: 62 heavy atoms, 11 stereocenters, a bridged ring system.

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Find the tool for your work

Pick what you need. ChemDraw is listed first as the baseline, and ReShiki second because this site's maintainer wrote it. The rest follow by what we tested by hand.

Type
Runs on
License
Files
APIs
Embedding
Has feature

Drawing structures

Reactions and mechanisms

Figures and layout

Chemistry intelligence

Files and exchange

APIs and automation

Embedding and extension

128 tools

Drawing applications

Make a publication figure from start to finish.

Editors you embed

Structure editors built to live inside another web page or app.

Why Avogadro is not here

Avogadro is a good 3D molecular editor, but it does not make publication-grade 2D drawings, which is ChemDraw's job. These 11 useful tools are left out of the comparison for the same kind of reason.

53 more utilities we found
  • AlchemistTypst/CeTZ package for authoring skeletal structures, stereobonds, charges, polymers, Lewis formulas, and reaction annotations.
  • CDXML Page EditorTkinter tool for previewing, inserting, deleting, reordering, and renumbering pages in ChemDraw XML documents.
  • cdxml-toolkitPython and MCP toolkit for reaction-scheme composition, CDXML layout, format conversion, and editable Office output.
  • cdxmorphAnimates ChemDraw CDXML line art as reactions and rotations, exporting GIF, MP4, or numbered frames.
  • chem2officePython library inserting editable ChemDraw CDX OLE objects and previews into Excel, PowerPoint, and Word documents.
  • chematicRust cheminformatics toolkit offering SVG depictions, highlighted molecular grids, and molecular or single-step reaction CDXML writing.
  • chemdiagramsPython publication-figure tool for reaction energy diagrams with automatic labels, multiple paths, molecular image placement and PDF export.
  • ChemDraw MCP for macOS (glebo309)Native ChemDraw automation builds editable molecules, reaction schemes, aligned compound tables, and consistently scaled PDF/SVG/PNG figures.
  • chemdraw-mcpIndependent MCP chemistry renderer producing structures, reaction schemes, limited mechanisms, and optional CDXML without requiring ChemDraw.
  • ChemEditor (QuangTran2605)Ketcher-based browser toolkit linking structure drawing to formula analysis, NMR/IR estimates, 3D viewing, and chemical-format export.
  • ChemfigJSSmall JavaScript renderer creates SVG chemical structures from chemfig-like code, including bonds, rings, charges, and lone pairs.
  • Chemistry DudeMac classroom chemistry toolkit with a guided Lewis-structure builder, periodic trends, orbital visualization and flash cards.
  • ChemKitRDKit drawing toolkit generating styled SVG/PNG reaction schemes with scaffold alignment, conditions, labels, and semantic highlights.
  • ChemobabelLaTeX integration converts ChemDraw, MOL and SMILES structures into publication graphics through Open Babel.
  • ChemPaper2DrawExtracts structures from research PDFs, validates them, enables Ketcher editing, and exports editable CDXML and common chemical formats.
  • ChemSketcher (yjzhng)Desktop Ketcher sketchpad with live per-molecule RDKit property tables and chemical-file import/export.
  • ChemUI Sketch MobileMedicinal chemistry drawing app with editable compound libraries, design tracking and chemical-file import/export.
  • chitin-chemdrawFrontend-independent Rust library for 2D molecular layout, renderer-neutral drawing scenes, depiction, and SVG export.
  • CHM-Editor for MS-OfficeChemDoodle-based Word, Excel and PowerPoint add-in inserts PNG structures and supports document re-editing.
  • Clean RXN+ChemDraw add-in arranging multistep schemes through drag-and-drop cards, automatic layout, collision avoidance, and SVG previews.
  • curlyarrowsPython, JSON, CLI, and MCP authoring of molecular diagrams and reaction mechanisms with automatically routed electron-flow arrows.
  • Device StudioMaterials simulation platform containing a 2D molecule/reaction editor with annotation tools and PNG, SVG, BMP, JPEG export.
  • eLabFTW Chemical Structure EditorOpen-source ELN embeds reaction drawing with RXN and PNG export plus compound-database search.
  • IllustriousEarly Electron/React molecular drawing app with click-to-grow atoms, bond-angle snapping, element selection, and valence enforcement.
  • inkscape-chemdrawInkscape extension pastes editable ChemDraw vectors and supports round-trip structure editing while preserving figure placement.
  • ipyketcherAnywidget Ketcher editor for JupyterLab and VS Code notebooks, synchronizing chemical formats with Python.
  • Ketcher Draw (QuantaBricks)Customized Ketcher bundle with modal and container APIs for embedding drawing and retrieving SMILES or molfiles.
  • LabArchives Chemical Sketcher WidgetELN sketcher draws structures and mechanisms, adds calculating stoichiometry tables, and exports MOL files.
  • MarkChemTauri chemistry Markdown editor combining JSME molecular drawing, mhchem equations, live preview, and Word/PDF export.
  • MATH KeysChrome STEM editor with a chemistry drawing board, reaction structures, image copying, and chemfig output.
  • michemTypst package draws molecular structures, automatically lays out reaction routes, and annotates electron flow through Chitin WASM.
  • microscopeQuantum-chemistry viewer producing editable geometries, ChemDraw-style Lewis structures, spectra, and publication figures.
  • Mobile Molecular DataSheetLegacy iOS structure sketcher organizing molecules into editable datasheets, with customizable templates and MOL/SDfile sharing.
  • Mol2chemfig WebWeb interface combining database search, ChemDoodle sketching, chemfig conversion, adjustable rendering options, and live PDF previews.
  • mol2chemfigPy3Python 3 converter turning SMILES, InChI, molecular files, or PubChem records into editable LaTeX chemfig code.
  • molchemistTypst chemical renderer imports Molfile/SDF or SMILES, generates 2D layouts, and supports annotations and editable Alchemist output.
  • Obsidian KetcherObsidian plugin editing KET structures and reactions, with linked previews and editable molecular embeds in notes.
  • OrgoDrawMultilingual organic structure practice tool combining Ketcher drawing with RDKit grading, hints, naming, and classroom worksheets.
  • ORZ Ketcher Chemical Editor / Ketcher for VS CodeOffline VS Code Ketcher integration saves SVGs with embedded KetJSON and exports PNG.
  • PIKAChUPython cheminformatics toolkit with independent 2D structure layout and SVG/PNG drawing suitable for scripted figures.
  • PyCDXMLPython tools converting RDKit molecules and CDX/CDXML documents, applying styles, and generating aligned editable structure grids.
  • Radical PieEquation editor with 2026 bond palettes and customizable bond sites for chemical structure diagrams and document figures.
  • rdkit-structure for TypstTypst WebAssembly plugin rendering structures and reactions from SMILES, MOL, or SDF using RDKit.
  • reaction_to_cdxmlReaction-SMILES converter generating editable multistep CDXML schemes with conditions, multiple components, layout, and pagination.
  • rxnplotPython package producing chemical reaction energy-level diagrams interactively in Jupyter, with PNG and PDF output.
  • Sciicons MoleculesPubChem-backed tool for exporting styled 2D and 3D molecular illustrations as SVG or PNG.
  • Scilligence TouchMol4OfficeOffice chemical editor with HELM biologics, structure interchange, assay curves, Excel templates and SAR analysis.
  • SLICE DesignerReaction-transform authoring GUI combining chemical drawing, detailed SMARTS atom/bond editing and visual chemical logic construction.
  • SmilesDrawerJavaScript SMILES depiction library rendering configurable molecular diagrams to SVG or canvas.
  • STEM NotesScientific notes workspace with embedded molecular drawing, 3D viewing, NMR analysis, equations and collaborative whiteboards.
  • Streamlit KetcherKetcher component lets Streamlit applications draw molecular structures and return SMILES.
  • Trident ChemwidgetsJupyter widgets combine JSME molecule input with chemical-data plots and atom-level inspection.
  • XyMTeXLaTeX package suite for authoring chemical structural formulas with explicit substituents, heterocycles, bond patterns, and PDF/PostScript output.

Know a tool we missed?

Send us its website or GitHub link. We test it the same way as everything else.

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