Comparison

AHA PALS vs SIMPL

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

Head to head
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
Currently charting
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

About

SIMPL

This app facilitates workplace-based assessments for medical professionals, enabling the evaluation of entrustable professional activities within medical education settings.

Highlights
  • Workplace-based assessments
  • Entrustable professional activities
  • Medical education implementation
  • Professional development tracking
Features
Read full description

SIMPL: Society for Improving Medical Professional Learning makes it feasible to implement workplace-based assessments, including assessment of entrustable professional activities, across medical education.

Screenshots

AHA PALS4 screens
SIMPL4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SIMPL at none against AHA PALS's 1. SIMPL also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). AHA PALS's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (55% vs 40%). On price, ratings volume, 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. SIMPL asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AHA PALS holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 47 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of AHA PALS's written reviews are positive against 40% of SIMPL's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AHA PALS ships an update every 2 months, SIMPL every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
AHA PALS versus SIMPL: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAHA PALSSIMPL
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (47 ratings) — better4.1 (16 ratings)
Positive reviews54.5% of reviews — better40.0% of reviews
Number of ratings47 — better16
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
Best chart rank#182 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB37 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperMassachusetts General HospitalProcedural Learning and Safety Collaborative, Inc

Customer experience

AHA PALS

All ratings47 ratings
Positive87.2%
Neutral2.1%
Negative10.6%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral9.1%
Negative36.4%

SIMPL

All ratings16 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative60.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

AHA PALS

Subscriptions1
  • PALS3 Days trial$3.991 Year
None

SIMPL

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AHA PALS free?
AHA PALS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SIMPL free?
SIMPL is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AHA PALS or SIMPL?
AHA PALS is rated higher. AHA PALS averages 4.5 out of 5 from 47 ratings, while SIMPL averages 4.1 from 16 ratings.
Do AHA PALS or SIMPL have ads?
Neither AHA PALS nor SIMPL shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AHA PALS or SIMPL?
AHA PALS ships an update every 2 months, and SIMPL every 2 weeks. Most recently, AHA PALS was updated on September 10, 2026 and SIMPL on September 3, 2026.

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