ESC (Journals) vs NCD Academy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ESC (Journals)
Access and read leading cardiology journals offline on your iOS device. Download issues, save favorite articles, take notes, and share content. Includes a search feature and a podcast.
- Offline journal access
- Download issues
- Bookmark articles
- Add notes to articles
- In-app search
- Share articles
- Listen to podcast
Read full descriptionHide full description
About the app The ESC (European Society of Cardiology) Journals app from Oxford University Press enables you to read your favourite cardiology journals both online and offline on your iOS device (provided you have a relevant personal subscription, institutional subscription, or society membership). You can: • download issues when you’re online, so that you can read them whether you’re connected to the Internet or not • view the tables of contents for issues when you’re online, whether you have downloaded them yet or not • easily read issues from cover to cover by swiping through articles • download and read advance articles (published ahead of print) • download and read the PDF version of an article • use the in-app search feature • bookmark your favourite articles • add your own notes to articles • share articles by email or on social media • listen to the European Heart Journal podcast About the journals • European Heart Journal publishes the highest-quality material, both clinical and scientific, on all aspects of cardiovascular medicine. It includes articles related to research findings, technical evaluations, and reviews. • European Heart Journal Supplements publishes supplements to the European Heart Journal. Supplements published are often abstract books to key cardiology conferences or focus issues. • EP-Europace aims to provide an avenue of communication for top-quality original scientific work and reviews in the fields of arrhythmias, pacing, and cellular electrophysiology. • Cardiovascular Research is the international journal of the European Society of Cardiology publishing basic and translational research enhancing insight in cardiovascular disease mechanisms and the perspective for innovation. • European Heart Journal – Cardiovascular Imaging publishes research of the highest quality from all areas of cardiovascular imaging including echocardiography, magnetic resonance, computed tomography, nuclear, and invasive imaging. • European Heart Journal – Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy is an international, English language, peer-reviewed journal with a specific focus on clinical cardiovascular pharmacology. • European Heart Journal – Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes publishes high-quality, original, electronic health record and prognosis research from the scientific community, focusing on quality of care as it affects cardiovascular outcomes at hospital, regional, national, and international level. • European Heart Journal – Case Reports is an international, online-only, fully open access journal that publishes high-quality, educationally valuable case reports, images, and quality improvement projects in all aspects of cardiology and cardiovascular medicine. The journals are published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) by Oxford University Press. The ESC publishes fourteen journals, eight of which are published by Oxford University Press. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.
NCD Academy
This app provides essential education for frontline health workers on managing non-communicable diseases, starting with cardiovascular disease. It aims to empower professionals to better address the global burden of these conditions.
- NCD management education
- Cardiovascular disease focus
- Empowering frontline health workers
- Risk factor management
- Global health burden reduction
Read full descriptionHide full description
Reducing the global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) depends on frontline health workers who are empowered and equipped to manage risk factors in patients. NCD Academy aims to address this need through education on the group of NCDs that place the greatest burden on mortality and morbidity, starting with cardiovascular disease (CVD) given its rank as the leading cause of death.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: NCD Academy at 4.9 against ESC (Journals)'s 2.0. NCD Academy also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). ESC (Journals)'s advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 90%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
NCD Academy holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NCD Academy has 21 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of ESC (Journals)'s written reviews are positive against 90% of NCD Academy's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ESC (Journals) ships an update every 5 months, NCD Academy every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ESC (Journals) | NCD Academy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.0 (1 ratings) | 4.9 (21 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 90.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 21 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 47 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | +12 | 17+ |
| Developer | Oxford University Press | American College of Cardiology |
Customer experience
ESC (Journals)
NCD Academy
In-app purchases
ESC (Journals)
No in-app purchases
NCD Academy
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ESC (Journals) free?
Is NCD Academy free?
Which has better reviews, ESC (Journals) or NCD Academy?
Do ESC (Journals) or NCD Academy have ads?
Which is updated more often, ESC (Journals) or NCD Academy?
Other comparisons















