Essentials Handbook vs ABS SCORE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Essentials Handbook
This educational handbook provides essential information for physicians covering general hospital procedures, systems, patient care, and infection control. It serves as a comprehensive resource for medical professionals.
- General Ins & Outs
- Systems Information
- Patient Care Guidelines
- Infection Control Protocols
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The Center for Physician Education Essentials Handbook. This handbook includes General Ins & Outs, Systems, Patient Care and Infection Control.
ABS SCORE
Access a comprehensive question bank for surgical specialties. This app provides scenario-based multiple-choice questions to aid in self-study for surgical residents. Future updates will include additional educational content and mobile-first features.
- Access SCORE Portal Question Bank
- 4,000+ scenario-based questions
- Six surgical specialties covered
- Supports self-study for residents
- Future content includes TWIS curricula
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The SCORE mobile app enables users to access content hosted on the SCORE Portal. This version includes access to the SCORE Portal Question Bank of ~4,000 scenario-based multiple choice questions across six specialties in surgery: General Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Complex General Surgical Oncology, Pediatric Surgery, Surgical Critical Care, and Oral Maxillofacial Surgery. Future versions of this app will incorporate other SCORE Portal content, including "This Week in SCORE (TWIS)" curricula and will carry mobile-first features to augment both the use of the SCORE Portal and residents' self-study.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Essentials Handbook at 100% against ABS SCORE's 6%. Essentials Handbook also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.6). ABS SCORE's advantage is ratings volume (14 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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.
Essentials Handbook holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ABS SCORE has 14 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Essentials Handbook's written reviews are positive against 6% of ABS SCORE's.
Essentials Handbook ships an update monthly, ABS SCORE every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Essentials Handbook | ABS SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 1.6 (14 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 6.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 14 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Center for Physician Education, LLC | American Board of Surgery, Inc |
Customer experience
Essentials Handbook
ABS SCORE
In-app purchases
Essentials Handbook
No in-app purchases
ABS SCORE
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Essentials Handbook free?
Is ABS SCORE free?
Which has better reviews, Essentials Handbook or ABS SCORE?
Do Essentials Handbook or ABS SCORE have ads?
Which is updated more often, Essentials Handbook or ABS SCORE?
Other comparisons
