Comparison

SafeLocal vs CorePendium

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

Head to head
About

SafeLocal

This app simplifies safe local anesthetic dosage calculations for medical professionals. It accounts for patient weight, disease processes, anesthetic mixtures, and additives to determine maximum safe doses and track remaining amounts, eliminating manual calculations.

Highlights
  • Dosage calculator for local anesthetics
  • Adjusts dose by patient weight
  • Includes anesthesia with or without epinephrine
  • Accounts for comorbidities
  • Calculates remaining safe dose
Features
Read full description

SafeLocal is an application developed by Johns Hopkins that makes calculating safe dosages of local anesthetic quick and easy for anesthesiologists, surgeons, and other medical providers. It seamlessly incorporates patient weight, disease processes, mixtures of local anesthetic, and presence or absence of additives, to calculate the maximum safe dose of local anesthetic without the hassle of going through the calculations by hand, all while tracking how much of the maximum safe dose has been used up and how much is left over for safe administration. FEATURES: ● Dosage calculator for local anesthetics, including complex mixtures and non-standard concentrations. ● Adjusts maximum safe dose by patient weight (lbs or kg). ● Choice between anesthesia with or without epinephrine. ● Option to add comorbidities such as extremes of age, severe renal dysfunction, hepatic dysfunction, or advanced heart failure, with automatic adjustment of maximum safe dose. ● Ability to calculate remaining safe dose of anesthesia for anesthesiologist or surgeon to administer based on how much has already been administered. Calculations based on Chapter 36 (Local Anesthesia) of Miller’s Anesthesia, 8th Edition. Adjustment for comorbidities based on the 2004 publication “Maximum Recommended Doses of Local Anesthetics: A Multifactorial Concept” by Rosenberg et al. The information provided by the application is based on expert opinion. It is to be used as a recommendation only. Clinical judgment by a physician is required in every situation. The user assumes all responsibility for decisions made with the information provided by this app. Project produced at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine by Jonathan D. Lin, M.D. and Jean-Pierre P. Ouanes, D.O. Funded generously by the Johns Hopkins Bayview Patient Safety Pyramid Grant Program. Adapted from the 2017 version of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Checklist for Managing Local Anesthetic Systemic Toxicity. Source: Neal JM, Woodward CM, Harrison TK. The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Checklist for Managing Local Anesthetic Systemic Toxicity: 2017 Version. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2018 Feb;43(2):150-153.

About

CorePendium

This app provides a comprehensive, continuously updated, and peer-reviewed clinical reference for Emergency and Urgent Care Medicine. It features integrated multimedia, offline access, intuitive navigation, and medical calculators, making it an essential tool for medical professionals on the go.

Highlights
  • Expert-backed, continuously revised content
  • Integrated media library (ECGs, X-rays, videos, audio)
  • Offline access to all content
  • Intuitive navigation with Rapid Access and Deep Dive sections
  • Integrated medical calculators
  • Links to EM:RAP knowledge base content
Features
Read full description

The textbook is dead. Long live CorePendium! CorePendium is the first truly comprehensive, continuously updated, peer-reviewed, multimedia clinical reference for Emergency and Urgent Care Medicine. Download the CorePendium App and bring the best clinical reference text with you anywhere in the world, regardless of connectivity. With your EM:RAP account, the CorePendium App allows you to join over 65,000 members of the CorePendium community. The CorePendium App gives you… • EXPERT-BACKED CONTENT — Written, edited, and peer-reviewed by a team of over 800 leading academics and practitioners, every CorePendium chapter is continuously revised by leading experts in emergency medicine and beyond. • INTEGRATED MEDIA — Comprehensive learning requires more than just words. Dive into our constantly growing media library of ECG’s and X-rays, as well as expertly-produced videos and audio segments. Look, listen, and learn, all without leaving the CorePendium App. • OFFLINE MODE — With new chapters being added and updated frequently to reflect the latest literature and practice guidelines, the CorePendium App makes sure you always have the newest information at your fingertips, 24 hours a day. The app looks for updates to its offline database every time you’re active online, so that you have the answers you need, no matter what. Do you want access to our skillfully-shot procedure videos and expert commentary away from a wireless connection? You can choose to download our audio and video content to ensure access when you need it most. • INTUITIVE NAVIGATION — Designed to prioritize all of the crucial information and media needed for the critical patient, CorePendium’s ‹Rapid Access› section gives you the quick insights you’ll need at the bedside. If you are looking for more background, the ‹Deep Dive› section provides all the information you’ll need to know about a topic. Sleek chapter sidebars, internal searches, search filters, and curated tabs ensure you can find what you need when you need it. • MEDICAL CALCULATORS — Get all of the commonly used clinical scoring and decision tools you need, with important interpretation data compiled by some of medicine’s foremost experts just a thumb slide away. Our calculators are also integrated with the content that uses it most. • PART OF THE EM:RAP KNOWLEDGE BASE — CorePendium is just one piece of the EM:RAP universe. The CorePendium App takes full advantage of its special connection to the most listened to programs in Emergency and Urgent Care Medicine by integrating that content. With continuously updated links to video, conference content, and podcasts you’ll always get the most cutting-edge answers. • INTERNATIONAL — CorePendium is for the whole world. We have an international advisory board that aims to address emergency care for patients and practitioners in all of the various environments where it is practiced. • EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE — CorePendium is written by clinicians for clinicians, without the support of advertising or industry. With the CorePendium App you just get the best information, current and expertly reviewed. • THE REFERENCE OF RECORD — Accessed millions of times, CorePendium is already the reference textbook used by residency training programs and frontline clinicians the world over.

Screenshots

SafeLocal4 screens
CorePendium4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: CorePendium at 4.9 against SafeLocal's 3.6. CorePendium also leads on review sentiment (62% vs 30%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months). SafeLocal's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and iOS requirement (13.5 vs 15.1). On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CorePendium holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CorePendium has 1.5K ratings behind it against 47, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 30% of SafeLocal's written reviews are positive against 62% of CorePendium's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SafeLocal ships an update every 6 months, CorePendium monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
SafeLocal versus CorePendium: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSafeLocalCorePendium
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (47 ratings)4.9 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews30.0% of reviews61.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings471.5K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.5 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB49 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperJohns Hopkins Mobile medicineEM:RAP, Inc.

Customer experience

SafeLocal

All ratings47 ratings
Positive59.6%
Neutral8.5%
Negative31.9%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive30.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative45.0%

CorePendium

All ratings1,534 ratings
Positive98.1%
Neutral1.0%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive61.5%
Neutral7.7%
Negative30.8%

Bugs and requests

SafeLocal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

CorePendium

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Crashes on launch
  • Compatibility issues with older devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • iPad version
  • Ability to track progress and bookmark content
  • Video playback controls (speed, rewind)

In-app purchases

None

SafeLocal

No in-app purchases

None

CorePendium

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SafeLocal free?
SafeLocal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CorePendium free?
CorePendium is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SafeLocal or CorePendium?
CorePendium is rated higher. SafeLocal averages 3.6 out of 5 from 47 ratings, while CorePendium averages 4.9 from 1.5K ratings.
Do SafeLocal or CorePendium have ads?
Neither SafeLocal nor CorePendium shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SafeLocal or CorePendium?
SafeLocal ships an update every 6 months, and CorePendium monthly. Most recently, SafeLocal was updated on October 24, 2026 and CorePendium on October 25, 2026.

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