Free Molecular Visualization Programs
for Unix and/or Linux

free molecular visualization programs, free molecular viewers, list of molecular visualization programs, list of molecular viewers, molecular rendering, protein visualization tools, molecular visualization resources, download page, download source, download executable, download binary, B, Chime, Chimera, Cn3D, Deep View Swiss-PDBViever, DINO, Flex, Garlic, gdpc, gOpenMol, Jmol, Kinemage, mdxvu, MOIL-View, MOLEKEL, MOLMOL, MolScript, Moviemol, NAMOT, QMOL, PREPI, Protein Explorer, PyMOL, RasMol, Raster3D, VEGA, Viewmol, VMD, WinMGM, XMakemol, XMol, Ymol, biological macromolecule, protein structure, DNA structure, PDB, unix, linux, free software download, open source software, Damir Zucic.
This page contains the list of free molecular visualization programs, complete with links. Only freely available programs which run on unix or unix compatible platform are listed. Some of these programs are available only as binary code for some specific platform(s).

Most programs were found using AltaVista and Lycos, while some others were suggested by readers of this list. Thanks to all of them!

Some of the programs listed below have a very limited license. Be sure to read the license before using such program!

The time-limited trial versions of commercial programs were omitted from the list.

The programs listed here were not evaluated and no comparison was made.

If you have your own free molecular visualization program for unix or linux, or if you know for such program which is not included in the list below, please send an e-mail message to Damir Zucic (zucic@garlic.mefos.hr) . Please send corrections and changes to the same address.
Last updated: October 16, 2001.

The information contained here was valid at that time. As developing is going on, it is likely that some additional libraries may become necessary for some of the programs listed here. However, it is almost certain that libraries listed here will be required in future versions too.
PROGRAM LIBRARIES REQUIRED PROGRAM TYPE
B Java based package Your browser should support
Java Virtual Machine
Chime libc, libm, libX11, libXt, libXext,
libXm, libC, libgen 		browser plug-in,
SGI machine required
Chimera many libraries,
still under development 		stand alone program,
online registration required
Cn3D libc, libm, libX11, libXt, libXext,
libXmu, libXp 		both browser plug-in
and stand alone program
Deep View
Swiss-PdbViewer 		libc, libm, libX11, libXt, libXext,
libXmu, libXi, libXp, libMesaGL,
libMesaGLU, libpthread, libz 		stand alone program,
IRIX or linux required
DINO libc, libm, libX11, libXt, libXext,
libXmu, libXi, libgdbm, libGL, libGLU 		stand alone program
Flex libc, libm, libX11,
libxview, libolgx, xlibflexdraw 		stand alone, binaries for
DEC/alpha, DEC/MIPS,
IBM RS, SGI, Sun
Garlic libc, libm, libX11 stand alone program,
GNU GPL license
gdpc libc, libm, libX11, libXext, libXi,
libgtk, libgdk, libgmodule, libglib,
libdl, libpthread 		stand alone program
gOpenMol libc, libm, libX11, libXt, libXext,
libXmu, libXi, libdl, libXaw, Tcl/Tk,
+ Mesa or Open GL libraries 		graphics interface to the
OpenMol set of programs
GNU GPL license
Jmol Java-based application stand alone program
(Java-based application)
Kinemage libc, libm, libX11,
libXt, libXm 		stand alone program
mdxvu libc, libm, libX11,
precompiled for some systems 		stand alone program
MOIL-View FORTRAN program, binaries available
for Silicon Graphics workstations 		stand alone program,
registration expected
MOLEKEL libc, libm, libX11, libXext, libXmu, libXi,
libMesaGL, libMesaGLU, libtiff, libjpeg 		precompiled for SGI IRIX,
linux PC and SunOS,
registration required
MOLMOL libc, libm, libX11, libXt, libXext, libXm,
libGL, libGLU, libGLcore, libC, libgen,
libgen, libpng, libz 		stand alone, binaries for
DEC/MIPS, DEC/alpha,
SGI, SPARC and RS/6000
MolScript libc, libm, libX11, libXt, libXext, libXmu,
libGL, libGLU, libGLcore, libmedia, libC,
libgen, libvice, libjpeg, libpng, libz 		stand alone, online
registration required
Moviemol libc, libm, libX11, libXext,
libYgl or OpenGL
stand alone program
NAMOT libc, libm, libX11,
libxview, libolgx 		stand alone program
QMOL libc, libm, libX11, libXt, libXext,
libXm, libGLw, libMesaGL, libMesaGLU,
libstdc++, libSM, libICE 		stand alone program
PREPI Precompiled binary for
Silicon Graphics IRIX 		stand alone, registration
required (written agreement)
Protein Explorer Works under linux, but in
a Windows subsystem:
requires Win4Lin or WMWare
requires Chime 2 and commercial
Windows subsystem for linux,
online registration required
PyMOL libc, X libs, libpng, zlib, python, Mesa Requires Python, an intepreted
programming language
RasMol libc, libm, libX11
libXext, libXi 		stand alone program
Raster3D Mixed FORTRAN 77 and C code,
requires both compilers 		stand alone program
VEGA libc, libm, libz, liblocale No OpenGL support
for linux version
Viewmol libc, libm, libX11, libXt, libXext, libXm,
libXi, libXp, libGL, libGLU, libtiff,
libtiff, libpthread, libdb, libdl, libutil 		graphical front end for
comp. chemistry programs,
GNU GPL license
VMD Statically linked binaries for AIX,
HPUX, IRIX, linux, Solaris and TRU64 		stand alone, online
registration required
WinMGM libc, libm, libMesaGL, libsubplex,
libchelpers, libmgmcalctools,
libmolecules, libmolenergy 		stand alone, some custom
libraries required
XMakemol libc, libm, libX11, libXt,
libXm, libXpm, libGL, libGLU 		stand alone program,
GNU GPL license
XMol Precompiled binaries for DEC/MIPS,
DEC/alpha, Silicon Graphics IRIX,
SPARC, Sun-3 and RS/6000 		The link is broken!
Where is this program?
Ymol libc, libm, libX11,
libXext 		stand alone program