Guides & research
In-depth guides on protein analysis, molecular docking, drug discovery, and bioinformatics tools.
Latest guides

Structures · Updated
The best free molecular dynamics software in 2026
The best molecular dynamics engines are free: GROMACS, AMBER, OpenMM, NAMD and LAMMPS run most published simulations. We compare them on what each is best at, GPU speed on standard benchmarks, licenses and what a run needs from you, and say where Schrödinger's Desmond still earns its price.
Matic Broz, PhD14 min read
Genetics · 18 min
The best phylogenetic tree software in 2026

Structures · 16 min
The best protein structure prediction software in 2026

Docking · 13 min
The best free molecular docking software in 2026

Drugs · 18 min
The best free ChemDraw alternatives in 2026

Drugs · 10 min
ChemDraw on Mac, Linux and Chromebook: your options

More guides
Drugs · 10 min
ChemDraw price and licenses explained

Drugs · 17 min
Chemical file formats compared: MOL, SDF, MOL2, CDX, SMILES and InChI

Drugs · 10 min
ChemSketch Freeware is gone: what to use instead

Drugs · 15 min
How to draw chemical structures online for free

Docking · 14 min
From a drawn molecule to a docking result

Drugs · 14 min
InChI, InChIKey, SMILES and CAS numbers: what each identifier is for

Drugs · 13 min
Molecular weight vs exact mass, and how to calculate HRMS ions

Drugs · 11 min
How to open a CDX or CDXML file without ChemDraw

Drugs · 13 min
How to predict pKa online for free

Drugs · 15 min
How to make publication-quality chemical structure images

Drugs · 15 min
How to draw stereochemistry: wedges, dashes and R/S labels

Structures · 14 min
What is a CIF file? Small-molecule CIF and mmCIF explained

Genetics · 17 min
Codon optimization: what it changes and when it helps

Proteins · 19 min
Disulfide bonds in proteins: how they form and what they do

Genetics · 10 min
How to make a FASTA file

Proteins · 18 min
Kyte-Doolittle hydropathy scale and how to read a hydropathy plot

Docking · 17 min
MM/PBSA vs MM/GBSA: how end-point binding free energies work

Proteins · 8 min
What are the most acidic and basic amino acids?
