Comparison

AHA PALS vs CUCDH

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

CUCDH

This medical application was developed for the Colorado University School of Medicine. It provides specialized tools and information for medical professionals and students.

Highlights
  • Developed for medical school
  • Specialized medical tools
  • Information resource
Features
Read full description

An app developed for the Colorado University School of Medicine by 14Four Technologies

Screenshots

AHA PALS4 screens
CUCDH1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: CUCDH at 5.0 against AHA PALS's 4.5. CUCDH also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). AHA PALS's advantage is ratings volume (53 vs 1) and chart position (#166 vs unranked). 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. CUCDH asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CUCDH holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AHA PALS has 53 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AHA PALS ships an update every 2 months, CUCDH weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
AHA PALS versus CUCDH: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAHA PALSCUCDH
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (53 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings53 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
Best chart rank#166 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB10 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperMassachusetts General HospitalJason Gien

Customer experience

AHA PALS

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

CUCDH

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

AHA PALS

Subscriptions1
  • PALS3 Days trial$3.991 Year
None

CUCDH

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AHA PALS free?
AHA PALS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CUCDH free?
CUCDH is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AHA PALS or CUCDH?
CUCDH is rated higher. AHA PALS averages 4.5 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while CUCDH averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do AHA PALS or CUCDH have ads?
Neither AHA PALS nor CUCDH shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AHA PALS or CUCDH?
AHA PALS ships an update every 2 months, and CUCDH weekly. Most recently, AHA PALS was updated on October 14, 2026 and CUCDH on September 24, 2026.

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