Comparison

MGH Nephrology Guide vs NephRef

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

NephRef

This medical reference tool aids physicians and advanced practitioners in managing patients with kidney disease. It provides quick access to educational resources and guidance on patient referral, urgency, and interval management.

Highlights
  • Kidney disease patient care guidance
  • Referral management
  • Urgency assessment
  • Interval management
  • Educational resources access
Features
Read full description

NephRef is both a reference and referral tool designed to educate and empower physicians and advanced practitioners in their care and referral of patients with kidney disease. Conceived and developed by the Section of Nephrology in the Department of Medicine at West Virginia University School of Medicine, NephRef offers a quick and easy link to educational resources and provides information about urgency and interval management of patients referred for specialty consultation. NephRef is an educational tool only. Not for individual patient diagnosis or treatment.

Screenshots

MGH Nephrology Guide4 screens
NephRef4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NephRef at none against MGH Nephrology Guide's 1. NephRef also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 6 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). MGH Nephrology Guide's advantage is ratings volume (26 vs 1). On price, 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. NephRef asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

NephRef 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 26 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, NephRef every 10 days. Both last shipped on September 18, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
MGH Nephrology Guide versus NephRef: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMGH Nephrology GuideNephRef
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (26 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings26 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB44 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperUnbound Medicine, Inc.Media Foundations LLC

Customer experience

MGH Nephrology Guide

All ratings26 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

NephRef

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

NephRef

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MGH Nephrology Guide free?
MGH Nephrology Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is NephRef free?
NephRef is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MGH Nephrology Guide or NephRef?
NephRef is rated higher. MGH Nephrology Guide averages 4.7 out of 5 from 26 ratings, while NephRef averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do MGH Nephrology Guide or NephRef have ads?
Neither MGH Nephrology Guide nor NephRef shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MGH Nephrology Guide or NephRef?
MGH Nephrology Guide ships an update every 6 months, and NephRef every 10 days. Most recently, MGH Nephrology Guide was updated on September 18, 2026 and NephRef on September 18, 2026.

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