AHA PALS vs AHA Knowledge Booster
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- PALS pathways and algorithms
- Drug therapy and dosing
- CPR and intervention timers
- Metronome for compression accuracy
- Critical care references
- Vetted by AHA and physicians
Read full descriptionHide 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
AHA Knowledge Booster
Reinforce critical CPR and emergency care knowledge with personalized quizzes. Choose topics like BLS, ACLS, and PALS to build mastery and improve long-term retention of lifesaving information.
- Personalized quizzes
- Adaptive learning algorithm
- Proficiency mapping
- Multiple topic choices (BLS, ACLS, PALS, First Aid, CPR)
- Neuroscience-based retrieval practice
- Long-term knowledge retention
Read full descriptionHide full description
The AHA Knowledge Booster app was created to reinforce critical CPR and emergency care knowledge in an effort to save more lives. Users can choose the topics appropriate for their level of knowledge – Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), First Aid, and CPR Basics. This booster app is ideal for those who have completed American Heart Association courses and are looking to keep this lifesaving information top of mind. The quiz-based application will feature different types of questions with topics including: * CPR Basics * First Aid Basics * Emergency Preparedness * BLS * ACLS * PALS * Heartsaver * Opioid * Ventilator Reskilling * Choking * Signs of Heart Attack and Stroke Our adaptive learning algorithm analyzes a users’ interaction with various topics, and dynamically builds a proficiency map on what a user does and does not know. This proficiency map is used to generate personalized quizzes to help them build mastery. This whole process is 100% automated based on the neuroscience-based technique of retrieval practice. The more you engage with the app, the more tailored the quizzes will be! Play today to help keep your critical lifesaving knowledge top of mind. AHA Booster makes it easy to engage learners, increase long-term knowledge retention, and measure and improve learning effectiveness.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: AHA Knowledge Booster at free with in-app purchases against AHA PALS's subscription. AHA Knowledge Booster also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (569 vs 54). AHA PALS's advantage is chart position (#138 vs unranked). 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. AHA PALS sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per year and AHA Knowledge Booster sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
AHA Knowledge Booster holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AHA Knowledge Booster has 569 ratings behind it against 54, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of AHA PALS's written reviews are positive against 67% of AHA Knowledge Booster's.
AHA PALS ships an update every 2 months, AHA Knowledge Booster every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.
| Parameter | AHA PALS | AHA Knowledge Booster |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (54 ratings) | 4.8 (569 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.5% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 54 | 569 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #138 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 48 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Massachusetts General Hospital | Trivie, Inc |
Customer experience
AHA PALS
AHA Knowledge Booster
Bugs and requests
AHA PALS
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
AHA Knowledge Booster
Reported bugs
5 issues- Literally doesn't work
- App opens but is completely empty
- Asks for email, never sends link
- Requires a login when already paid
- Can't sign on
Requested features
2 requests- Explanations for incorrect answers
- New update
In-app purchases
AHA PALS
- PALS3 Days trial$3.991 Year
AHA Knowledge Booster
- PALS$1.991 Year
- BLS$1.991 Year
- ACLS$2.991 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- All-Access Bundle14 Days trial$3.991 Year
Questions
Is AHA PALS free?
Is AHA Knowledge Booster free?
Which has better reviews, AHA PALS or AHA Knowledge Booster?
Do AHA PALS or AHA Knowledge Booster have ads?
Which is updated more often, AHA PALS or AHA Knowledge Booster?
Other comparisons















