# PubMed Hub vs MDPhD

The clearest difference is rating: MDPhD at 5.0 against PubMed Hub's 4.6. MDPhD also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 38%) and iOS requirement (14.1 vs 17.0). PubMed Hub's advantage is ratings volume (342 vs 1) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. PubMed Hub sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per year and MDPhD sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

MDPhD holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PubMed Hub has 342 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of PubMed Hub's written reviews are positive against 50% of MDPhD's.

PubMed Hub ships an update every 8 days, MDPhD every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | PubMed Hub | MDPhD |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (342 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pubmed-hub-research-papers/id1222331895/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mdphd/id1230915825/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **342** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 37.5% of reviews | **50.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 8 days** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Size | 20 MB | 15 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **14.1** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Omelette, Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/984352813) | [MIFISI Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1230915824) |

## What reviewers say

### PubMed Hub

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pubmed-hub-research-papers/id1222331895)

Quickly search and access biomedical research papers. Spot retracted articles, save research, and read abstracts with confidence. Offers features like text-to-speech and PDF saving for a comprehensive research experience.

**Highlights:** Fast PubMed searching, Spot retracted papers, Structured abstracts, Save and cite papers, PDF library, Listen to abstracts and PDFs, Access open-access books

**Features:** Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (7)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Remove Ads for One Year | $2.99 | per year |
| 7.99 per Month | $2.99 | per month |
| Pro Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| 16.49 for 3 Months | $7.99 | per 3 months |
| 6 Months Subscription | $12.99 | per 6 months |
| Yearly | $19.99 | per year |
| Pro Yearly | $34.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great resource for research
- 👍 Easy to use for finding articles
- 👍 Smooth and clean interface
- 👍 Accessible research papers
- 👍 Informative and reliable

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 App crashes frequently
- 🐛 App is too glitchy
- 🐛 Cannot save articles
- 🐛 Swiping is too sensitive
- 🐛 Slow and buffers for a long time

**Reported bugs**

- App periodically crashes when tapping on an article
- JSON doesn't download
- Registration bug: password pop-up
- No access to articles/Error messages: JSON could not be serialized
- Search not authorized

**Requested features**

- Ability to access PDF full text
- Fix traffic from amazon.com and google.com


### MDPhD

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mdphd/id1230915825)

This app summarizes clinical abstracts from PubMed, providing key evidence-based medicine insights. It helps health professionals make smarter decisions and improve patient care faster through data visualizations and personalized feeds. Unlock collaborative features for institutions to integrate EBM into workflows.

**Highlights:** Clinical abstract summarization, Evidence-based medicine insights, Data visualizations, Personalized journal feed, Semantic search engine, Team collaboration features

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| App access | $9.99 | per month |
| Full App Access | $99.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is PubMed Hub free?

PubMed Hub is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is MDPhD free?

MDPhD is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, PubMed Hub or MDPhD?

MDPhD is rated higher. PubMed Hub averages 4.6 out of 5 from 342 ratings, while MDPhD averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do PubMed Hub or MDPhD have ads?

Neither PubMed Hub nor MDPhD shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, PubMed Hub or MDPhD?

PubMed Hub ships an update every 8 days, and MDPhD every 3 weeks. Most recently, PubMed Hub was updated on November 11, 2026 and MDPhD on November 6, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*