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Research · head to head

Chemaxon vs SurveyMonkey

Chemaxon logo

Chemaxon

Research

Cheminformatics toolkits and structure handling, now a Certara subsidiary

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SurveyMonkey logo

SurveyMonkey

Research

Turn feedback into action

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only SurveyMonkey has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Chemaxon the October 2024 Certara acquisition ended two decades of vendor neutrality, and organisations that embedded JChem precisely because Chemaxon competed with nobody now depend on a component owned by a company that sells into their accounts.; SurveyMonkey team plans require minimum 3 users as baseline
  • They diverge on capability: Chemaxon covers Marvin, SurveyMonkey covers Survey builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chemaxon and SurveyMonkey actually diverge.

Attributes where Chemaxon and SurveyMonkey differ
AttributeChemaxonSurveyMonkey
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotesubscription
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, On-premise, APIWeb
FoundedUnknown1999

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Research).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Chemaxon

  • Marvin
  • JChem toolkits
  • Calculator Plugins
  • Compound Registration
  • Instant JChem
  • Design Hub
  • Free academic package
  • Embedded redistribution

Only in SurveyMonkey

  • Survey builder
  • Question bank
  • Survey logic
  • Multi-language surveys
  • Mobile surveys
  • Real-time results
  • Data analysis tools
  • Custom branding

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Chemaxon

  • A software vendor embedding a structure sketcher and search into its own product rather than writing chemistry codenot SurveyMonkey
  • A pharmaceutical informatics team building an internal compound registration system on JChem cartridgesnot SurveyMonkey
  • A computational chemistry group needing consistent pKa and logD prediction across a screening cascadenot SurveyMonkey
  • A university teaching cheminformatics that can use the free two-year academic package for a classnot SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey

  • Market research and customer surveysnot Chemaxon
  • Employee feedback and engagement trackingnot Chemaxon
  • Data collection and analysisnot Chemaxon
  • Customer satisfaction and NPS measurementsnot Chemaxon

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Chemaxon

  • The October 2024 Certara acquisition ended two decades of vendor neutrality, and organisations that embedded JChem precisely because Chemaxon competed with nobody now depend on a component owned by a company that sells into their accounts.
  • Licensing is genuinely complicated, with different terms for named users, servers, desktop applications and embedded redistribution, so working out what you are allowed to deploy usually requires a conversation rather than reading a document.
  • The free academic package is granted for two-year terms and covers education rather than research, so a research group that assumed it was free discovers it needs a paid commercial academic licence.
  • Nothing is priced publicly for commercial use, so a team evaluating Chemaxon against open source alternatives such as RDKit cannot compare total cost without entering a sales process.
  • Open source cheminformatics has closed much of the functional gap for basic structure handling and search, so the commercial case increasingly rests on prediction quality, support and registration workflows rather than on capability that cannot be obtained elsewhere.

SurveyMonkey

  • Team plans require minimum 3 users as baseline
  • Annual response limits enforced: 50,000 responses/year on Team Advantage, 100,000 on Team Premier
  • Additional responses beyond annual limits charged at AED 0.50 per response
  • Enterprise plan requires custom pricing and minimum 5 users
  • Advanced features like multilingual surveys and phone support require Team Premier tier

Pricing, plan by plan

Chemaxon

On request
  • Academic package$undefined/year
    • Free of charge for education for a two-year term
    • Covers a class including tutor and students, or an applicant faculty
    • Non-commercial research use only
  • Commercial licence$undefined/year
    • Quoted per named user, per server or per redistributed application
    • Toolkits, desktop applications and embedded redistribution licensed separately
    • Annual support and maintenance included in the subscription

SurveyMonkey

Free
  • Team Advantage$99/month
    • 50,000 responses per year
    • Unlimited surveys and questions
    • 3 user minimum
  • Team Premier$240/month
    • 100,000 responses per year
    • All Team Advantage features
    • White label branding

Which should you pick?

Choose Chemaxon if

  • You need marvin.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, On-premise, API.
  • You also want jchem toolkits.
Chemaxon review

Choose SurveyMonkey if

  • You need survey builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want question bank.
SurveyMonkey review

Questions people ask

Is Chemaxon or SurveyMonkey better?
Neither clearly leads. Chemaxon starts at On request and SurveyMonkey at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chemaxon or SurveyMonkey?
SurveyMonkey has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Chemaxon and Free for SurveyMonkey.
Does Chemaxon or SurveyMonkey run on more platforms?
Chemaxon runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, On-premise, API. SurveyMonkey runs on Web.
Can I use SurveyMonkey for free?
Yes. SurveyMonkey has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Chemaxon starts at On request.
What is Chemaxon best used for?
Chemaxon is most often used for a software vendor embedding a structure sketcher and search into its own product rather than writing chemistry code, a pharmaceutical informatics team building an internal compound registration system on jchem cartridges, a computational chemistry group needing consistent pka and logd prediction across a screening cascade, a university teaching cheminformatics that can use the free two-year academic package for a class. Of those, a software vendor embedding a structure sketcher and search into its own product rather than writing chemistry code and a pharmaceutical informatics team building an internal compound registration system on jchem cartridges are not what SurveyMonkey is typically brought in for.
What can Chemaxon do that SurveyMonkey cannot?
Chemaxon covers Marvin, JChem toolkits, Calculator Plugins, Compound Registration. SurveyMonkey covers Survey builder, Question bank, Survey logic, Multi-language surveys.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Chemaxon: Is Chemaxon still independent?

No. It has been a subsidiary of Certara since October 2024. The products continue under the Chemaxon name.

SurveyMonkey: How much does SurveyMonkey cost?

SurveyMonkey offers team plans starting at AED 99 per user per month for Team Advantage and AED 240 per user per month for Team Premier. Both plans require a minimum of 3 users. Billing can be monthly or annual.

Source
Chemaxon: Is the academic licence really free?

The education package is free for two-year terms covering a class or faculty. Non-commercial research groups pay a discounted commercial academic licence.

SurveyMonkey: What are SurveyMonkey's overage fees?

SurveyMonkey charges AED 0.50 per additional response on paid plans beyond the annual limit included in each tier.

Source
Chemaxon: Can I ship Chemaxon inside my own software?

Yes, but embedded redistribution is licensed separately from internal use and must be negotiated.

Chemaxon: How does it compare with RDKit?

RDKit is free and covers basic structure handling well. Chemaxon differentiates on property prediction, registration workflows, the sketcher and commercial support.

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