Comparison

Basic Emergency Care vs AHA PALS

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

Head to head
About

Basic Emergency Care

This app guides users through resuscitation skills learned in a medical course. It features a chatbot for progression and a search function to find information on managing specific conditions.

Highlights
  • Resuscitation skill guidance
  • Chatbot for progression
  • Condition management search
  • BEC course integration
Features
Read full description

The ABCDE app is designed to help guide you through the resuscitation skills you have learned from the Basic Emergency Care (BEC) course. Progress through the pathway with a chatbot, search for specific conditions and how to manage them.

About

AHA PALS

This app provides pediatric advanced life support (PALS) protocols and tools for healthcare professionals at the point-of-care. Developed by physicians and vetted by the American Heart Association, it offers intuitive access to algorithms, drug information, and timers for critical care situations.

Highlights
  • PALS pathways and algorithms
  • Drug therapy and dosing
  • CPR and intervention timers
  • Metronome for compression accuracy
  • Critical care references
  • Vetted by AHA and physicians
Features
Read full description

We continue to iterate based on real-time clinician feedback so that you will have the best experience providing life-saving care at the bedside. The AHA PALS app was developed by Harvard-trained physicians, in collaboration with the American Heart Association (AHA), to help fellow physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and emergency medical technicians (EMT) deliver the highest level of pediatric advanced life support (PALS) at the point-of-care. This project was inspired by the tremendous success of our AHA ACLS app, which has thousands of clinician users in over 180 countries. Importantly, real-time feedback from our clinician users continuously drives improvements in app design, features, and function. AHA PALS is the only app to have all content vetted by both the American Heart Association (AHA) science team (with license to use PALS content) and practicing Harvard-affiliated physicians. We owe it to our patients to use the best digital health tools to give them the highest chance of surviving acute life-threatening illnesses. To this end, we have developed an intuitive and rigorously vetted mobile app to assist healthcare clinicians—at any stage of training—navigate PALS at the bedside. You can purchase a yearly subscription which begins with a 3-day free trial. After completing the free trial, you will be charged for an annual subscription automatically. Features: - Intuitive design to rapidly access PALS pathways (i.e. cardiac arrest , tachycardia with pulse, bradycardia with pulse, post cardiac arrest care, and critical care references) - Includes all PALS content including drug therapy and dosing, reversible causes, etc. - Easy-to-read timers and ability to log rounds of CPR, epinephrine, and defibrillations. There are additional functionalities to log PALS Cardiac Arrest interventions beyond EPI, CPR , and shocks such as lidocaine and more. - We also added a new metronome feature to improve compression accuracy as well as a ROSC button. - Button within cardiac arrest algorithm that allows for rapid transition to post cardiac arrest care checklist once patient achieves ROSC - Relevant critical care references: (1) drugs used in PALS (i.e., medication names, indications, and doses); (2) vital signs in children; (3) pediatric color-coded length-based resuscitation tape (adapted from Breslow tape) ; (4) pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale - All content rigorously vetted by AHA science team and practicing Harvard-affiliated physicians - Regularly updated with the most up-to-date PALS content

Screenshots

Basic Emergency Care4 screens
AHA PALS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: AHA PALS at 55% against Basic Emergency Care's 0%. AHA PALS also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (53 vs 5). Basic Emergency Care's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). 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. AHA PALS sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per year. Basic Emergency Care asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AHA PALS holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AHA PALS has 53 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Basic Emergency Care's written reviews are positive against 55% of AHA PALS's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Basic Emergency Care ships an update every 3 weeks, AHA PALS every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Basic Emergency Care versus AHA PALS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBasic Emergency CareAHA PALS
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (5 ratings)4.5 (53 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews54.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings553 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.1 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB48 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperUniversity of California at San FranciscoMassachusetts General Hospital

Customer experience

Basic Emergency Care

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

AHA PALS

All ratings53 ratings
Positive88.7%
Neutral1.9%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral9.1%
Negative36.4%

In-app purchases

None

Basic Emergency Care

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

AHA PALS

Subscriptions1
  • PALS3 Days trial$3.991 Year

Questions

Is Basic Emergency Care free?
Basic Emergency Care is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AHA PALS free?
AHA PALS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Basic Emergency Care or AHA PALS?
AHA PALS is rated higher. Basic Emergency Care averages 4.2 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while AHA PALS averages 4.5 from 53 ratings.
Do Basic Emergency Care or AHA PALS have ads?
Neither Basic Emergency Care nor AHA PALS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Basic Emergency Care or AHA PALS?
Basic Emergency Care ships an update every 3 weeks, and AHA PALS every 2 months. Most recently, Basic Emergency Care was updated on June 1, 2026 and AHA PALS on September 28, 2026.

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