Comparison

MGH Nephrology Guide vs CKD

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

Head to head
About

MGH Nephrology Guide

A quick reference for diagnosing and managing kidney disease, electrolyte, and acid-base disorders. Developed by MGH experts, it offers over 150 topics with extensive tables, figures, and images. Stay updated with regular content delivery and access linked literature.

Highlights
  • 150+ topics in fast-read format
  • 320+ tables, charts, and figures
  • Detailed sections on dialysis and transplantation
  • Regular automatic updates
  • Highlighting and custom notes
  • Link to primary literature via Prime PubMed
  • Keyword search and bookmarking
Features
Read full description

The Nephrology Guide of the Massachusetts General Hospital is an up-to-date, quick reference for the diagnosis and management of patients with acute and chronic kidney disease as well as common electrolyte and acid-base disorders. It was developed for generalists—students, residents, primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants—as well as nephrology fellows, attendings, and dialysis nurses. Over 150 topics are authored by nephrology experts at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and include more than 320 tables, charts, figures, images, and carefully organized lists. Hard to find information such as considerations for special populations (e.g., patients with diabetes, cancer, lupus, HIV) are also included. The Guide is fully integrated with Unbound Medicine’s Prime PubMed allowing users to link from literature references to full citations, abstracts, and full-text journal articles provided by the publisher. With the Guide you can:  * Consult more than 150 topics in bulleted, fast-read format * Review 320+ tables with quick synopses of clinical considerations * Find detailed sections on dialysis and kidney transplantation * Stay current with regular updates delivered automatically  * Highlight and make custom notes within topics * Link to the primary literature using Prime PubMed * Search by specific keywords to find topics fast * Bookmark 'Favorites' and organize them using popular tagging feature  Purchase includes a 1-year subscription with regular content updates. Your Nephrology Guide of the Massachusetts General Hospital subscription automatically renews at the current rate of $49.99 unless auto-renew is turned off 24 hours prior to the conclusion of your current 1-year period, which can be done in account settings. This will ensure you receive all updates for the following year. Should you choose not to renew, you will be able to continue to use the content however will not receive updates. Editor: Eliot Heher, MD, Medical Director, MGH Kidney Transplant Program Powered by: Unbound Medicine Unbound Privacy Policy: www.unboundmedicine.com/privacy Unbound Terms of Use: https://www.unboundmedicine.com/end_user_license_agreement

About

CKD

This app assists healthcare professionals in discussing new or potential Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) diagnoses with patients. It provides guidance for navigating these sensitive conversations effectively.

Highlights
  • Patient conversation guidance
  • CKD diagnosis support
  • Clinician tool
  • Risk assessment assistance
Features
Read full description

A guide to help clinicians navigate a potentially difficult conversation with patients who have a new or at risk for a CKD diagnosis.

Screenshots

MGH Nephrology Guide4 screens
CKD4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CKD at none against MGH Nephrology Guide's 1. CKD also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). MGH Nephrology Guide's advantage is ratings volume (27 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads 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. MGH Nephrology Guide sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $49.99 per year. CKD asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CKD holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MGH Nephrology Guide has 27 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MGH Nephrology Guide ships an update every 6 months, CKD every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
MGH Nephrology Guide versus CKD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMGH Nephrology GuideCKD
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (27 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings27 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 5 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB48 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperUnbound Medicine, Inc.Island Peer Review Organization, Inc

Customer experience

MGH Nephrology Guide

All ratings27 ratings
Positive92.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.4%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

CKD

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

MGH Nephrology Guide

Subscriptions1
  • MGH Nephrology Guide$49.991 Year
None

CKD

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MGH Nephrology Guide free?
MGH Nephrology Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CKD free?
CKD is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MGH Nephrology Guide or CKD?
CKD is rated higher. MGH Nephrology Guide averages 4.7 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while CKD averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do MGH Nephrology Guide or CKD have ads?
Neither MGH Nephrology Guide nor CKD shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MGH Nephrology Guide or CKD?
MGH Nephrology Guide ships an update every 6 months, and CKD every 5 months. Most recently, MGH Nephrology Guide was updated on October 22, 2026 and CKD on October 25, 2026.

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