# PubMed On Tap vs Read by QxMD

The clearest difference is price: Read by QxMD at Free against PubMed On Tap's $2.99. Read by QxMD also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months) and review sentiment (89% vs 66%). PubMed On Tap's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On rating, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Read by QxMD is free to download; PubMed On Tap costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for PubMed On Tap against 4.8 for Read by QxMD. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Read by QxMD has 6K ratings behind it against 1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of PubMed On Tap's written reviews are positive against 89% of Read by QxMD's.

PubMed On Tap ships an update every 6 months, Read by QxMD monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | PubMed On Tap | Read by QxMD |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $2.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.8 (1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pubmed-on-tap/id301316540/reviews) | **[4.8 (6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/read-by-qxmd/id574041839/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 1K | **6K** |
| Positive reviews | 65.7% of reviews | **89.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 5 MB | 205 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 17.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [ReferencesOnTap](https://appshunter.io/developer/301316543) | [WebMD](https://appshunter.io/developer/295076332) |

## What reviewers say

### PubMed On Tap

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pubmed-on-tap/id301316540)

Access and manage biomedical literature from PubMed and PubMed Central. Find, display, and import reference information and full-text articles. Organize your references and share them easily.

**Highlights:** Search PubMed and PubMed Central, Import reference information and PDFs, Organize references in groups, Email references for import, Advanced boolean searches, Search for full text

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great resource
- 👍 Excellent access to PubMed
- 👍 Very handy
- 👍 Handy App
- 👍 Excellent

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Does not work. Does not search pubmed
- 🐛 Useless - Can't select best match
- 🐛 Horrible
- 🐛 Would benefit enormously if it had 'related citations' ability
- 🐛 Developer Out of Business?

**Reported bugs**

- Your application does not open on my ipad after download
- Crashes on load/run every time, even after reset and/or reinstallation

**Requested features**

- Ability to save favorite search words
- Ability to highlight parts of abstract text
- Option to sort the library by author, date, publication type
- Option to create more than one library within the app
- Option to save search history for future retrieval


### Read by QxMD

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/read-by-qxmd/id574041839)

Access and organize the latest medical research and topic reviews in a personalized digital journal. Stay updated with new scientific findings and easily retrieve full-text PDFs from PubMed and other sources.

**Highlights:** Personalized digital medical journal, Access latest medical research, Read topic reviews, Search PubMed, Full-text PDF access, Organize article collection

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Efficient access to latest research
- 👍 Customizable journal and keyword tracking
- 🔒 Institutional access integration
- 💡 Convenient PDF downloads
- 👍 Helpful for staying up-to-date

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔒 Institutional access issues
- 💻 Lack of desktop/web version
- 🔍 Limited search and filtering options
- 📤 Difficulty sharing articles

**Reported bugs**

- Login and authentication problems
- Inconsistent app performance after updates
- Inability to access full-text articles
- Syncing issues between devices
- Unreliable article refresh functionality

**Requested features**

- Dark mode option
- Ability to annotate and highlight PDFs
- Improved article organization and collections
- Integration with reference managers (e.g. Zotero, Mendeley)
- Enhanced search and filtering capabilities


## Frequently asked questions

### Is PubMed On Tap free?

PubMed On Tap costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Read by QxMD free?

Read by QxMD is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, PubMed On Tap or Read by QxMD?

Read by QxMD is rated higher. PubMed On Tap averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1K ratings, while Read by QxMD averages 4.8 from 6K ratings.

### Do PubMed On Tap or Read by QxMD have ads?

Read by QxMD shows ads; PubMed On Tap does not.

### Which is updated more often, PubMed On Tap or Read by QxMD?

PubMed On Tap ships an update every 6 months, and Read by QxMD monthly. Most recently, PubMed On Tap was updated on November 10, 2026 and Read by QxMD on November 6, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*