Comparison

SIMPL vs ACS SESAP 19

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

Head to head
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.

About

ACS SESAP 19

This medical education app provides practicing surgeons and residents with a self-assessment program featuring case-based questions and evidence-based explanations. Access educational modules, flashcards, and custom quizzes with integrated media for convenient, on-the-go learning.

Highlights
  • Case-based multiple-choice questions
  • Evidence-based explanations
  • Hundreds of educational media
  • Flashcards and custom quiz creation
  • Real-time comparative metrics
  • Highlighting, bookmarking, and search
Features
Read full description

The Surgical Education and Self-Assessment Program (SESAP®) 19 mobile app from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) is included with your SESAP 19 subscription. SESAP is a premier educational resource promoting excellence and expertise for practicing surgeons and surgery residents. The SESAP 19 app provides access to the same SESAP 19 and SESAP 19 Advanced modules and features as the web-based program, integrated for seamless, self-directed learning. Through case-based, multiple-choice questions and evidence-based explanations of all answer options, the mobile app helps you assess your general surgery knowledge, master educational content, and retrieve essential information conveniently while on-the-go. Highlights include the following: • References lists and links to PubMed abstracts with each question • Hundreds of radiographic images, photographs, videos, and other educational media • Direct links to questions, sent weekly or every other week, as desired • Highlighting, bookmark, and targeted search functions for easy retrieval of information • 500 flashcards plus a tool for creating your own • Custom quizzes for studying across modules • Real-time comparative metrics showing how answers and scores compare with peers Log in with the same username and password that you use for the ACS. Use of the SESAP 19 app requires an internet connection or use of cellular data.

Screenshots

SIMPL4 screens
ACS SESAP 194 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ACS SESAP 19 at 5.0 against SIMPL's 4.1. SIMPL's advantage is monetization model (free vs subscription) and ratings volume (16 vs 2). 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

ACS SESAP 19 holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SIMPL has 16 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SIMPL ships an update every 2 weeks, ACS SESAP 19 every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
SIMPL versus ACS SESAP 19: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSIMPLACS SESAP 19
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (16 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings16 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB27 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperProcedural Learning and Safety Collaborative, IncAmerican College of Surgeons

In-app purchases

None

SIMPL

No in-app purchases

None

ACS SESAP 19

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SIMPL free?
SIMPL is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ACS SESAP 19 free?
ACS SESAP 19 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SIMPL or ACS SESAP 19?
ACS SESAP 19 is rated higher. SIMPL averages 4.1 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while ACS SESAP 19 averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do SIMPL or ACS SESAP 19 have ads?
Neither SIMPL nor ACS SESAP 19 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SIMPL or ACS SESAP 19?
SIMPL ships an update every 2 weeks, and ACS SESAP 19 every 3 weeks. Most recently, SIMPL was updated on November 3, 2026 and ACS SESAP 19 on October 30, 2026.

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