# A BioRender alternative for scientific figures: what LabCanvas does differently

> Looking for a BioRender alternative? An honest comparison with LabCanvas: adjustable objects, vector tools, 3D and graphs, and when BioRender fits better.

Published 2026-10-08, updated 2026-10-19 by LabCanvas team. https://www.labcanvas.com/blog/biorender-alternative

![A six-panel figure on mRNA delivery made in LabCanvas: 3D chromatin and DNA, a lipid nanoparticle with mRNA, inorganic carriers, a lab setup, release kinetics with a curve fit and an uptake schematic](https://www.labcanvas.com/examples/ai-figure.webp)

If you are looking for a BioRender alternative, you probably want one of three things: objects you can change rather than swap for a slightly different icon, a figure that mixes illustration with data, chemistry or 3D, or a second option to compare plans and licence terms. [BioRender](https://www.biorender.com/) made scientific illustration far more accessible with a large library of life-science icons and templates that you arrange in the browser, and many researchers use it. LabCanvas, also a browser app, takes a different approach. This guide sets out honestly where each one fits, including when BioRender is still the better choice.

## The short answer

| If you mainly need | Better fit | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The largest library of ready-made life-science icons and templates | BioRender | Its curated library is its core strength; LabCanvas has a much smaller set of life-science objects |
| Objects you can adjust: bilayers, cargo, ligands, pore size, particle shape | LabCanvas | Its 700+ science objects are generators with settings, not fixed pictures |
| Chemistry and materials figures: glassware setups, crystals, MOFs, nanomaterials, batteries | LabCanvas | Over a hundred connectable glassware pieces, 3D crystal structures and templates of real syntheses |
| Full vector editing with scientific brushes | LabCanvas | Pen, Pathfinder, masks and gradients, plus DNA, protein and membrane brushes |
| Graphs with statistics, 3D renders or protein structures in the same figure | LabCanvas | Graphs, the 3D Studio and the Protein viewer share one canvas with your figure |
| The tool your lab or collaborators already use | Whichever they use | Shared files, templates and habits matter more than any one feature |
| Clear rights to publish your figures | Check each tool’s terms | BioRender lists its current terms on its [pricing page](https://www.biorender.com/pricing); the LabCanvas [terms](https://www.labcanvas.com/terms) let you use your exports in publications and commercial work |

## What LabCanvas does differently

### Objects that are generated, not stamped

Most illustration libraries give you fixed pictures: an icon of a liposome looks the way it was drawn. In LabCanvas the science objects are **generators**. A liposome has settings for its size, its bilayer, its cargo (drug, mRNA or protein), PEG chains and targeting ligands; a nanoparticle can be a sphere, rod, cube or star with a ligand shell; a hydrogel has its network density and pore size. You change the object instead of hunting for a slightly different icon, and the result stays vector art that is sharp at any size.

:::grid
![Liposome drawn by a LabCanvas generator, with cargo, PEG chains and targeting ligands](https://www.labcanvas.com/showcase/liposome.webp "Liposome")
![Lipid nanoparticle drawn by a LabCanvas generator](https://www.labcanvas.com/showcase/lnp.webp "Lipid nanoparticle")
![Coronavirus drawn by a LabCanvas generator, with spike proteins](https://www.labcanvas.com/showcase/coronavirus.webp "Coronavirus")
![Antibody drawn by a LabCanvas generator, with heavy and light chains](https://www.labcanvas.com/showcase/antibody.webp "Antibody")
![Cancer cell drawn by a LabCanvas generator, with its nucleus and organelles](https://www.labcanvas.com/showcase/cancer.webp "Cancer cell")
![Bacterium drawn by a LabCanvas generator, with flagella and pili](https://www.labcanvas.com/showcase/bacterium.webp "Bacterium")
:::

For things that are better as icons there is a shared, searchable **icon library**, and you can import an SVG and ungroup it into editable shapes.

### A full vector editor

LabCanvas includes the tools of a professional illustration program: the pen, Pathfinder operations, clipping masks, gradients, blends, warps, rulers and smart guides. **Scientific brushes** draw a DNA double helix at its real proportions, RNA, α-helices, β-strands, actin filaments and lipid bilayers along any path. A **zoom lens** magnifies part of a figure with callout lines, and LaTeX equations are typeset into vector outlines.

### Data, 3D and chemistry on the same canvas

A figure is rarely only a drawing. In LabCanvas the other pieces live in the same workspace and arrive in your figure as layers you can still change:

- **Graphs and statistics** in the style of GraphPad Prism (t tests, ANOVA with post-hoc tests, curve fits, survival analysis), validated against SciPy, statsmodels and lifelines in 1,472 automated checks. A graph stays linked to its data.
- A **3D Studio** with adjustable models (DNA, viruses, liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, organoids, nanoparticles, 2D materials) and ray-traced renders.
- A **Protein viewer** for any PDB entry, styled by chain, residue or ligand.
- **MolDraw** for chemical structures and reactions, starting from PubChem if you like.
- **Slides** and **Research Poster**, built on the same editor, so the figure in your paper is the one on your slide and your poster.

The figure at the top of this page was built in LabCanvas, by an AI assistant working through its MCP server: path-traced chromatin and DNA, a lipid nanoparticle with its mRNA, a lab setup, release kinetics with a curve fit and an uptake schematic, each panel an editable layer. [Open it in the editor](https://www.labcanvas.com/editor.html?example=ai) to take it apart.

### Strong in chemistry and materials science

This is where LabCanvas has the most to offer: over a hundred pieces of lab glassware that snap together joint by joint, crystal structures from CIF files and the Materials Project, MOFs, zeolites, 2D materials and battery materials, chemical structures in MolDraw, and [graphical-abstract templates](https://www.labcanvas.com/templates) of real syntheses that cite the papers they follow.

### Export for journals

Set the width in millimetres and the resolution (300, 600 or 1,200 dpi) and export TIFF, PDF, SVG, PNG, JPEG or WebP. PNG and TIFF files record their DPI, so they open at the right size. Downloads are part of LabCanvas Pro and carry no watermark.

## When BioRender may still be the better choice

- **You build most figures from ready-made life-science icons and templates** and want the largest curated library to choose from. LabCanvas’s set of life-science objects is much smaller.
- **Your lab or institution already works in BioRender** and shares templates and figures there. Moving a whole team has a real cost.
- **You prefer arranging finished icons** to adjusting objects and drawing with vector tools.

Plans, licensing and features change, so check [BioRender’s pricing page](https://www.biorender.com/pricing) for its current terms, especially publication licences.

## Plans and price

Every LabCanvas app is free to use with an account, with up to 3 designs. Downloads in every format, unlimited designs and the AI assistant are part of LabCanvas Pro: US$19 a month or US$199 a year (see the [pricing page](https://www.labcanvas.com/pricing) for the price in your country). The [free tools](https://www.labcanvas.com/tools), such as the [multi-panel figure maker](https://www.labcanvas.com/tools/figure-panel-maker) and the [colour palettes](https://www.labcanvas.com/tools/palettes), need no account at all.

## Try it with your next figure

1. Open the [dashboard](https://www.labcanvas.com/dashboard.html) and create a free account.
2. Start from a [template](https://www.labcanvas.com/templates) or a blank figure, press **Shift+O** to open the Library and drag objects onto the canvas.
3. Select an object and change its settings in the Design panel.
4. Add a graph from Graphs & statistics or a render from the 3D Studio, then export at your journal’s width and resolution.

The [features page](https://www.labcanvas.com/features) shows every app at work, and the [gallery](https://www.labcanvas.com/gallery) lists every object and 3D model.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is LabCanvas a free alternative to BioRender?

LabCanvas is free to start: every app works with a free account, with up to 3 designs. Downloads, unlimited designs and the AI assistant are part of [LabCanvas Pro](/pricing), US$19 a month or US$199 a year. The [free tools](/tools) need no account.

### Does LabCanvas have life-science icons like BioRender?

It has a searchable icon library and adjustable life-science objects (cells, cancer cells, viruses, bacteria, antibodies, liposomes, lipid nanoparticles and micelles), plus 3D models such as DNA, nucleosomes, neurons, organoids and viruses. The life-science set is much smaller than BioRender’s library; LabCanvas is broadest in chemistry and materials science.

### Can I publish figures made in LabCanvas?

Yes. Under the LabCanvas [terms](/terms) you keep the rights to what you create and may use your exports in publications, presentations, posters, grants and commercial work.

### Can I bring artwork from another tool into LabCanvas?

You can import SVG files and ungroup them into editable shapes. Whether you may reuse artwork made in another tool depends on that tool’s licence, so check its terms first.

### Is LabCanvas good for chemistry and materials science figures?

Yes, that is where it is broadest: MolDraw for structures and reactions, the 3D Studio for crystals and nanomaterials, over a hundred pieces of connectable lab glassware, and graphical-abstract templates of published syntheses.

## Related links

- [What is LabCanvas?](https://www.labcanvas.com/blog/what-is-labcanvas): Every app and the workflows between them
- [The LabCanvas Figure editor](https://www.labcanvas.com/blog/figure-editor-scientific-illustration): Vector tools, science objects and journal export
- [Gallery of science objects and 3D models](https://www.labcanvas.com/gallery)
- [Graphical abstract templates](https://www.labcanvas.com/templates): Editable figures of real syntheses, each with its sources
- [Features of every app](https://www.labcanvas.com/features)
- [Plans and pricing](https://www.labcanvas.com/pricing)