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Research · head to head

Mendeley vs OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences

Mendeley logo

Mendeley

Research

The free all-in-one reference manager

From
Free
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

  • Only Mendeley has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Mendeley free tier limited to 5 Reading Assistant questions per month and 2GB storage; 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.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Mendeley and OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences differ
AttributeMendeleyOpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebLinux, Windows, macOS, Web, API

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 Mendeley

Nothing recorded that OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences does not also cover.

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.

Mendeley

  • Storing and organizing large research librariesnot OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences
  • Searching and querying PDFs in librarynot OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences
  • Uncovering patterns and connections across referencesnot OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences
  • Comparing experimental data across multiple studiesnot 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 Mendeley
  • A computational chemist embedding conformer generation into an internal pipeline through the Python toolkitsnot Mendeley
  • A university group publishing openly that can accept the public domain licence terms in exchange for zero costnot Mendeley
  • A biotech scaling virtual screening on cloud compute without building its own clusternot Mendeley

Where each one falls short

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

Mendeley

  • Free tier limited to 5 Reading Assistant questions per month and 2GB storage
  • Annual billing required to receive one free month equivalent discount
  • Storage limits restricted on Plus (5GB) and Pro (10GB) tiers

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

Mendeley

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 2GB storage
    • 5 Reading Assistant questions per month
  • Plus$4.99/month
    • Unlimited Reading Assistant
    • 5GB storage
    • $55/year annual billing
  • Pro$9.99/month
    • Unlimited Reading Assistant
    • Compare Experiments
    • Ask My Library
  • Max$14.99/month
    • Unlimited Reading Assistant
    • Compare Experiments
    • Ask My Library

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 Mendeley if

  • You want to start without paying.
Mendeley 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 Mendeley or OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences better?
Neither clearly leads. Mendeley starts at Free 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, Mendeley or OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences?
Mendeley has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mendeley and On request for OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences.
Does Mendeley or OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences run on more platforms?
Mendeley runs on Web. OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, Web, API.
Can I use Mendeley for free?
Yes. Mendeley has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences starts at On request.
What is Mendeley best used for?
Mendeley is most often used for storing and organizing large research libraries, searching and querying pdfs in library, uncovering patterns and connections across references, comparing experimental data across multiple studies. Of those, storing and organizing large research libraries and searching and querying pdfs in library are not what OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences is typically brought in for.
What can Mendeley do that OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences cannot?
OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences covers OMEGA, ROCS, ROCS X, Orion platform.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Mendeley: How much does Mendeley Premium cost?

Mendeley Plus costs $4.99 per month or $55 per year. Pro tier costs $9.99 per month or $110 per year. Max tier costs $14.99 per month or $165 per year. All annual plans include one free month of service.

Source
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.

Mendeley: Is there a free version of Mendeley?

Yes, Mendeley offers a free tier with 2GB of storage and 5 Reading Assistant questions per month. No credit card is required for the free plan.

Source
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.

Mendeley: What storage do different Mendeley plans include?

The free tier includes 2GB storage. Plus tier provides 5GB storage. Pro tier includes 10GB storage. Max tier offers unlimited storage across all your research libraries.

Source
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.

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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