Chemistry

RDKit – cheminformatics and machine-learning software

RDKit is a cheminformatics toolkit that helps users work with molecular structures, chemical data, and machine-learning workflows.

Written primarily in C++ with extensive Python support, it provides core data structures and algorithms for chemical informatics, along with functionality for molecular manipulation, descriptor calculation, fingerprint generation, and database integration. The project is widely used in research and industrial settings where developers and scientists need programmable tools for chemistry-focused analysis.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

  • Provides cheminformatics data structures and algorithms implemented in C++.
  • Includes Python 3 wrappers for scripting, analysis, and workflow development.
  • Supports 2D and 3D molecular operations.
  • Generates molecular descriptors and fingerprints for machine-learning tasks.
  • Offers a PostgreSQL cartridge for substructure and similarity searches.
  • Includes Java, C#, JavaScript, and CFFI wrappers for selected functionality.
  • Provides KNIME integration and community-contributed extensions.

Website: github.com/rdkit/rdkit
Support:
Developer: Greg Landrum, RDKit contributors
License: BSD 3-Clause License

RDKit is written in HTML and C++. Learn HTML with our recommended free books and free tutorials. Learn C++ with our recommended free books and free tutorials.


Related Software

Chemistry Tools
GROMACSVersatile package to perform molecular dynamics
tomvizProcess, visualize, and analyze 3D tomographic data
Psi4Ab initio quantum chemistry software
NWChemAb initio computational chemistry software package
PyMOLOpenGL molecular graphics system written in Python
LAMMPSClassical molecular dynamics simulator
CP2KAtomistic simulations of solid state, liquid, molecular and biological systems
GAMESSGeneral ab initio quantum chemistry package
AvogadroAdvanced molecular editor
OpenMMHigh-performance toolkit for molecular simulation
GabeditGraphical user interface to computational chemistry packages
Open BabelConverts and manipulates chemical data files
JmolViewer for three-dimensional chemical structures
KalziumFull-featured chemistry application for KDE 5
XDrawChem2D editor for chemical structures and reactions
CanteraChemical kinetics, thermodynamics, and transport tool suite
OracOpenMP/MPI molecular dynamics engine to simulate solvated biomolecules
MPQCComputes the properties of molecules, ab initio
JChemPaintChemical 2D structure editor
BKChem2D molecule editor written in Python
MDynaMixGeneral purpose molecular dynamics
ChemCanvas2D chemical drawing tool
MoleQueueAbstract, manage, and coordinate the execution of tasks

Read our verdict in the software roundup.


Best Free and Open Source Software Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.

This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk.

You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more.

Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments