Comparison

BMJ Best Practice vs JRCALC PLUS

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

BMJ Best Practice

Access up-to-date, evidence-based clinical guidance for healthcare professionals. This app offers offline access to diagnostic, treatment, and prevention information, along with patient leaflets, calculators, and procedure videos. It also tracks CME/CPD activities.

Highlights
  • Evidence-based clinical guidance
  • Offline access
  • Patient leaflets
  • Medical calculators
  • Guidance videos
  • CME/CPD tracking
Features
Read full description

Instant access to the latest evidence-based guidance for healthcare professionals. Updated daily, BMJ Best Practice provides healthcare professionals with the latest evidence-based clinical decision support information. It's available offline, which means clinical decision support can be accessed anytime, anywhere. This app can be downloaded by those who have access to the BMJ Best Practice website, and have already set-up a username and password. Don’t have a subscription? Download the app and access a free 7 day trial. The app provides: - Fast access to the latest guidance on diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and prevention - 500+ patient leaflets - 250+ medical calculators - Guidance videos on common clinical procedures - Automatic CME/CPD activity tracking Your feedback helps to inform future developments. At BMJ, we have a user-centered product development process, which means that we enhance the product based on what our customers, and our users tell us they need and want. As a result, we have introduced features such as ‘night mode’ and patient leaflets to the app. If you have a question or want to provide feedback, please contact us at support@bmj.com. Thank you!

About

JRCALC PLUS

Access up-to-date national and regional prehospital care guidelines for UK professionals. This app provides essential clinical information, including medicines tables and algorithms, for registered trust members. It works offline, ensuring access to critical guidance even without a signal.

Highlights
  • Complete JRCALC Guidelines
  • Regional and local guidance
  • Clinical Notices for trusts
  • Medicines tables, algorithms, and advice
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

JRCALC Plus JRCALC Plus provides up to date national and regional guidance for prehospital professionals across the UK relevant to their local trust. In order to gain access to JRCALC Plus, you must be part of a registered trust. Trusts maintain authority over the allocation of subscriptions to their staff. Eligibility criteria varies between trusts, so please confirm with your directorate if you are unsure whether you are eligible for access. Developed by Class Professional Publishing, key features of the app are: - Contains the complete JRCALC Guidelines - Contains regional and local guidance - Contains Clinical Notices for registered trusts - Includes all medicines tables, algorithms and advice - Works offline: No signal? No problem! Visit www.classprofessional.co.uk/app-reset to set your password. ------------------------------------------ Class Professional are the exclusive publisher of the JRCALC Clinical Practice Guidelines and have developed JRCALC Plus, a unique app, so clinicians can access local and national guidelines all in one place. Class Publishing have exclusive licence to publish and distribute the national guidelines, which are authored by both the Joint Royal Colleges of Ambulance Liaison Committee and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives. National guidelines complement local guidelines on conveyance, Emergency Departments and other health services.

Screenshots

BMJ Best Practice4 screens
JRCALC PLUS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: BMJ Best Practice at 87% against JRCALC PLUS's 23%. BMJ Best Practice also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). JRCALC PLUS's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BMJ Best Practice ships an update monthly, JRCALC PLUS every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
BMJ Best Practice versus JRCALC PLUS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBMJ Best PracticeJRCALC PLUS
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (207 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews86.7% of reviews — better23.1% of reviews
Number of ratings207 — better—
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size102 MB270 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperBMJ GroupClass Publishing Ltd

Customer experience

BMJ Best Practice

All ratings207 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral1.4%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews143 reviews
Positive86.7%
Neutral5.6%
Negative7.7%

JRCALC PLUS

Written reviews26 reviews
Positive23.1%
Neutral26.9%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

BMJ Best Practice

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App getting stuck on download screen
  • Inability to open the app on certain devices
  • Automatic logout issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to save favorites and bookmarks
  • Improved support for landscape mode and split-screen
  • Author/reference details for content
  • Institutional login option

JRCALC PLUS

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

BMJ Best Practice

No in-app purchases

None

JRCALC PLUS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BMJ Best Practice free?
BMJ Best Practice is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is JRCALC PLUS free?
JRCALC PLUS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do BMJ Best Practice or JRCALC PLUS have ads?
Neither BMJ Best Practice nor JRCALC PLUS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BMJ Best Practice or JRCALC PLUS?
BMJ Best Practice ships an update monthly, and JRCALC PLUS every 2 months. Most recently, BMJ Best Practice was updated on October 29, 2026 and JRCALC PLUS on October 29, 2026.

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