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Research · head to head

DNAnexus vs OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences

DNAnexus logo

DNAnexus

Research

Regulated cloud platform for genomic and multiomic data, with GxP and FedRAMP coverage

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences logo

OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences

Research

Computational chemistry toolkits and the Orion cloud platform, now inside Cadence

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: DNAnexus no pricing is published, so an organisation cannot compare the total cost against running the same pipelines on its own cloud account until it is deep in a sales process.; OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences the free Public Domain Research Licence requires surrendering intellectual property rights and publishing results into the public domain, which rules it out for any academic group with a technology transfer office or patent ambitions.
  • They diverge on capability: DNAnexus covers Governed data storage, OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences covers OMEGA.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DNAnexus and OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences actually diverge.

Attributes where DNAnexus and OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences differ
AttributeDNAnexusOpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences
PlatformsWeb, LinuxLinux, Windows, macOS, Web, API

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), 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 DNAnexus

  • Governed data storage
  • Workflow execution
  • App building
  • Controlled collaboration
  • Compliance posture
  • Cohort browsing

Only in OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences

  • OMEGA
  • ROCS
  • ROCS X
  • Orion platform
  • Programmatic toolkits
  • Academic routes
  • Structure preparation
  • Docking and scoring

What people use each for

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

DNAnexus

  • A clinical diagnostics laboratory that needs a CLIA and CAP aligned environment for production sequencing pipelines without building the compliance evidence itselfnot OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences
  • A pharma sponsor analysing genomic endpoints in a registrational programme where 21 CFR Part 11 records are requirednot OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences
  • A biobank or consortium giving hundreds of external researchers governed access to a dataset too large to distributenot OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences
  • A diagnostics vendor packaging its pipeline as a versioned app so partner laboratories can run it without receiving the source codenot OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences

OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences

  • A pharmaceutical discovery team screening a multi-billion compound library by three-dimensional shape rather than by two-dimensional similaritynot DNAnexus
  • A computational chemist embedding conformer generation into an internal pipeline through the Python toolkitsnot DNAnexus
  • A university group publishing openly that can accept the public domain licence terms in exchange for zero costnot DNAnexus
  • A biotech scaling virtual screening on cloud compute without building its own clusternot DNAnexus

Where each one falls short

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

DNAnexus

  • No pricing is published, so an organisation cannot compare the total cost against running the same pipelines on its own cloud account until it is deep in a sales process.
  • Compute and storage are billed through the platform rather than at underlying cloud list price, so the compliance envelope carries a persistent margin on every terabyte and core hour, which grows with the science rather than staying fixed.
  • Data egress at genomic scale is slow and chargeable, so leaving the platform later is a real project rather than a contract decision, and that gravity weakens negotiating position at renewal.
  • The regulated and validated configurations sit in a higher commercial tier than the research configuration, so an organisation that starts in research mode and later needs GxP faces a repricing rather than a setting change.
  • Bioinformaticians used to running Nextflow on their own infrastructure find the platform abstractions constraining, and porting an existing pipeline into the app model is engineering work that does not carry over to any other platform.

OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences

  • The free Public Domain Research Licence requires surrendering intellectual property rights and publishing results into the public domain, which rules it out for any academic group with a technology transfer office or patent ambitions.
  • Free academic licences are renewable but re-evaluated annually with no guarantee of continuation, so a multi-year research programme has no assured software entitlement beyond the current year.
  • OpenEye now sits inside Cadence Design Systems, whose core business is chip design, so the roadmap and licensing culture are set by a company for which molecular sciences is one growth line among several.
  • Commercial pricing is entirely unpublished and structured as annual subscriptions with separate Orion compute, making total cost of a screening programme hard to forecast before contracting.
  • The toolkits assume real computational chemistry expertise; they are libraries and applications for specialists, not an interface a medicinal chemist can drive without training.

Pricing, plan by plan

DNAnexus

On request
  • DNAnexus Platform$undefined/year
    • Quoted per organisation through a sales process
    • Storage and compute billed through the platform rather than at cloud list price
    • Regulated and validated configurations are a separate commercial tier

OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences

On request
  • Commercial licence$undefined/year
    • Annual subscription priced through Cadence sales
    • Toolkits and applications licensed separately from the Orion platform
    • Orion compute billed on top of software entitlements
  • Academic Package$undefined/year
    • Paid annual subscription for university groups under ten members
    • Includes support
    • Researchers retain intellectual property rights
  • Public Domain Research LicenceFree
    • No cost
    • No support of any kind
    • No intellectual property rights retained

Which should you pick?

Choose DNAnexus if

  • You need governed data storage.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want workflow execution.
DNAnexus review

Choose OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences if

  • You need omega.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, Web, API.
  • You also want rocs.
OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences review

Questions people ask

Is DNAnexus or OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences better?
Neither clearly leads. DNAnexus starts at On request and OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DNAnexus or OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences?
DNAnexus starts at On request and OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences at On request.
Does DNAnexus or OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences run on more platforms?
DNAnexus runs on Web, Linux. OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, Web, API.
What is DNAnexus best used for?
DNAnexus is most often used for a clinical diagnostics laboratory that needs a clia and cap aligned environment for production sequencing pipelines without building the compliance evidence itself, a pharma sponsor analysing genomic endpoints in a registrational programme where 21 cfr part 11 records are required, a biobank or consortium giving hundreds of external researchers governed access to a dataset too large to distribute, a diagnostics vendor packaging its pipeline as a versioned app so partner laboratories can run it without receiving the source code. Of those, a clinical diagnostics laboratory that needs a clia and cap aligned environment for production sequencing pipelines without building the compliance evidence itself and a pharma sponsor analysing genomic endpoints in a registrational programme where 21 cfr part 11 records are required are not what OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences is typically brought in for.
What can DNAnexus do that OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences cannot?
DNAnexus covers Governed data storage, Workflow execution, App building, Controlled collaboration. OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences covers OMEGA, ROCS, ROCS X, Orion platform.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DNAnexus: Why pay for DNAnexus instead of raw AWS?

For the compliance evidence. GxP, FedRAMP, CLIA, CAP and Part 11 coverage removes a validation programme most organisations would otherwise have to build and maintain themselves.

OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences: Is OpenEye still OpenEye?

It trades as OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences, and is part of Cadence Design Systems following acquisition. The product names OMEGA, ROCS and Orion continue.

DNAnexus: Is validated use included?

No. Regulated and validated configurations sit in a separate commercial tier from ordinary research use.

OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences: Can academics use it for free?

Yes, through the Public Domain Research Licence or a Teaching Licence, but both come with no support and no intellectual property rights. Keeping IP rights and support requires the paid Academic Package.

DNAnexus: Can I get my data out?

Yes, but egress at genomic scale is chargeable and slow, so plan exit costs at the point of signing.

OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences: What is ROCS X?

A machine learning enabled extension of ROCS shape search, built on the Orion platform, aimed at screening chemical spaces in the trillions of molecules.

DNAnexus: Does it host UK Biobank?

Yes, DNAnexus hosts the UK Biobank research analysis platform, which has its own access approval and cost terms.

OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences: Is commercial pricing published?

No. Commercial licences are annual subscriptions quoted through Cadence sales, with Orion compute charged separately.

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