BioRender is a web application for making scientific figures from a large library of pre-drawn icons and templates, widely used in the life sciences. It also sells graphing and an AI-assisted figure generation add-on.

It has a free plan with up to three figures and one graphing file, but according to its pricing page (checked 9 November 2026) the free plan allows no commercial use or publication. That limit is the main reason people search for BioRender alternatives.

How much is BioRender?

For academics, the individual plan is $35 a month billed annually or $39 monthly, and the lab plan is $99 a month billed annually for five seats ($129 monthly), with extra seats at $20 a month. The industry individual plan is $95 a month billed annually. Prices were checked on 9 November 2026.

Can I use BioRender in my thesis?

A thesis deposited in a university repository usually counts as a publication, which BioRender's free plan excludes, so check its licence terms or use a paid plan. Figures made here can go into a thesis; paid accounts can also issue a license certificate.

How to remove BioRender watermark?

BioRender removes its watermark on its paid plans; we cannot help remove another product's watermark. If you would rather redraw the figure, upload an image of your own figure here, redraw it with "Improve a figure", and export it; downloads are watermark-free on any of our plans or packs.

BioRender is mainly an icon-and-template editor. It offers AI-assisted figure generation as an add-on starting at $4 a month for academics. AI generators, by contrast, draw the whole figure from your description.

Are there free alternatives to BioRender?

Yes, several BioRender alternatives cost nothing to start. Open icon sets such as Bioicons combined with Inkscape are free, and several AI tools offer free credits. This site gives 100 credits on sign-up and 10 a day, and its PRISMA and tree tools are free; free downloads carry a small watermark.

Is there an AI alternative to BioRender?

Yes. AI-based BioRender alternatives such as this one, FigureLabs or SciFig draw a complete figure from text. Here the labels become editable text after drawing and are checked against your plan, so a wrong term is a quick fix rather than a new generation.

How is Scientific Figure AI different from BioRender?

Instead of assembling icons, you describe, sketch or paste an abstract and the figure is drawn for you, with labels kept as editable text. Unlike most BioRender alternatives, it also includes free PRISMA and phylogenetic tree tools and a graphical abstract maker. It does not have BioRender's icon library.

Does it have an icon library like BioRender?

No. Each figure is generated for your description rather than assembled from stock icons. In the editor you can add text, arrows, lines and shapes, regenerate one area of the picture, or recolour it with a journal palette.

Can I open my BioRender files here?

No, BioRender projects use their own format. You can export an image of a figure you made and upload it under "Improve a figure" to redraw it here in the same layout; only do this with figures you have the right to reuse.

Can I export editable slides like BioRender's PowerPoint export?

Yes. The PPTX export places the picture as an image and every label, arrow and shape as an editable PowerPoint object, sized to the figure. SVG and 600 dpi PNG are also available.

BioRender Alternatives

Researchers look for BioRender alternatives for three reasons: the free plan cannot be used in publications, paid seats add up for a whole lab, and building a figure icon by icon takes time. Below we compare the main options with prices checked on their own pricing pages, and show how to make the same kind of figure here from a sentence or a sketch.

Describe the figure you would have built in BioRender

New accounts get 100 credits, enough for three illustrations. You see a free plan of the figure before any credits are used.

What Are the Best BioRender Alternatives?

The best BioRender alternatives fall into two groups. Icon-library editors work like BioRender itself: you drag pre-drawn cells, proteins and lab equipment onto a canvas. AI generators draw the whole figure from a description. Which suits you depends on whether you need pixel-level control of a familiar icon set or a finished draft in a few minutes.

Prices checked on each product's pricing page on 9 November 2026
Tool	Approach	Free tier	Entry paid plan
BioRender	Icon library editor; AI add-on	Up to 3 figures; no publication or commercial use	$35/mo billed annually ($39 monthly), academic individual
FigureLabs	AI generation	150 credits plus 50 a day	$9/mo billed annually for 1,000 credits
SciFig	AI generation	150 credits plus check-in	$8.33/mo billed annually for 1,200 credits
Illustrae	AI generation	No free tier; 15-day refund	$4.92/mo billed annually for 50 generations
Scientific Figure AI	AI generation with editable labels; vector diagram tools	100 credits plus 10 a day; PRISMA and trees free; watermark on free downloads	$7/mo billed annually ($9 monthly) for 1,000 credits

Prices change; check each provider before buying. Names are trademarks of their owners and this page is not affiliated with any of them.

AI Generators vs. Icon Libraries

BioRender AI is an add-on to the icon editor that suggests figure content. Full AI generators instead produce a complete picture; the catch is that most bake the labels into the image, so a misspelled protein means regenerating. Ours separates labels into editable text after drawing and flags terms that do not match your plan.

Free BioRender Alternatives

If you need BioRender alternatives free of charge, start with open icon sets such as Bioicons in a drawing program like Inkscape, or AI tools with free credits. Here a new account receives 100 credits plus 10 for each daily check-in, PRISMA and phylogenetic tree diagrams are always free, and free downloads carry a small watermark.

BioRender Pricing Compared

BioRender pricing for academics is $35 a month billed annually or $39 monthly for an individual, and $99 a month billed annually for a lab of five seats, with AI-assisted generation from $4 a month on top. The table below sets it against the other BioRender alternatives with prices from their own pages.

Why Choose Our BioRender Alternative?

Our BioRender alternative is built for researchers who know what the figure should say but do not want to assemble it piece by piece, and who need to keep fixing labels long after the first draft.

Figures from Text, Sketches or Abstracts

Type a description, upload a hand sketch or an old figure to redraw, or paste an abstract to get a graphical abstract. You review a free plan listing every element and the exact label text before anything is drawn.

Start from a description

Editable Labels and PPTX Export

Labels, arrows and shapes stay editable after generation. Export PNG or JPG at 300 or 600 dpi, SVG with vector text, or PPTX with real text boxes, the format most labs already use for slides and posters.

Make a graphical abstract

Publication License Included on Paid Plans

Every paid plan and credit pack removes the watermark and lets you issue a publication license certificate for each figure version, with a public verification page and QR code you can show an editor.

How to Switch in 3 Steps

Switching between BioRender alternatives does not mean starting from scratch: existing figures can be redrawn and new ones described.

1
Describe or Upload
Write what the figure should show, or upload an image of a figure you made before and choose "Improve a figure" to redraw it in a clean style with the same layout.
2
Check the Plan and Generate
Edit the free plan: the elements, their positions and the exact wording of every label. Then generate one to four candidates at once and keep the best.
3
Edit Labels and Export
Fix any flagged term, apply a journal palette, and download PNG, SVG or PPTX for the manuscript, the slides or the poster.