Comparison

Medscape vs UpToDate

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

Head to head
About

Medscape

This app provides healthcare professionals with immediate clinical answers, medical news, and CME/CE activities. It features AI-driven tools for patient visit transcription and summarization, patient calling, and instant expert answers to medical questions. Access a comprehensive drug database, calculators, and procedural videos to enhance clinical practice.

Highlights
  • AI-driven Scribe for transcription and summarization
  • AI Search for instant medical answers
  • Drug Interaction Checker
  • Pill Identifier
  • 450+ medical calculators
  • Free CME/CE credits
  • Medical news and expert commentary
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Your Go-To Medical Resource for Immediate Clinical Answers With Medscape, you get free access to the latest medical news, expert commentary, clinical tools, drug and disease information, CME/CE activities, and more—all in one place. AI-Driven Solutions to Transform Your Practice Scribe: Real-time transcription and summarization of patient visits. Dialer: Call patients using your office number from anywhere. AI Search: Get instant, expert answers to complex medical questions. Essential Clinical Tools 450+ medical calculators organized by specialty. Drug Interaction Checker, Pill Identifier, and step-by-step procedural videos. Up-to-date prescribing and safety info on 9,200+ drugs, herbals, and supplements. Stay Informed & Connected The latest FDA approvals, conference news, and clinical trial data. Expert insights across 30+ specialties. Medscape Original Podcasts, including This Week in Cardiology. Free CME/CE credits & ABIM MOC points with an Activity Tracker. Network with peers via Medscape Consult and MedscapeLIVE! events. Medscape is the Leading Online Destination for Healthcare Professionals. The information provided in the app is for informational and clinical reference purposes only and is not intended to replace independent clinical judgment, support self-diagnosis, or guide individual patient care. For additional information, please review our Terms of Use: https://www.medscape.com/public/termsofuse & our Medscape AI disclaimer https://reference.medscape.com/public/ai_search-disclaimer Have feedback? Email us at medscapemobile@webmd.net.

About

UpToDate

This clinical decision support tool provides healthcare professionals with evidence-based guidance to improve patient care. It features AI-powered conversational answers, continuously updated medical content, and tools for drug reference, calculations, and patient education.

Highlights
  • Expert AI conversational guidance
  • Gold standard clinical content
  • Practice-changing updates
  • Patient education materials
  • Drug reference and interactions
  • Clinical calculators
  • Kidney dosing guidance
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

UpToDate is the clinical decision support solution trusted by over 3M healthcare professionals to help improve care delivery and patient outcomes. Now powered by UpToDate Expert AI, a generative AI experience built on rigorously maintained UpToDate clinical intelligence to delivers fast, clinically grounded answers through a conversational interface. Expert AI, available in select packages and applications, brings together the latest evidence and real-world clinical expertise and provides transparent sourcing, embedded guardrails, and oversight, supporting clinical reasoning and helping clinicians make confident, informed decisions. Key features include: • Expert AI: Conversational guidance that mirrors how clinicians think. • Gold Standard Clinical Content: Clinician-authored clinical intelligence and graded recommendation, enriched with clinical algorithms, graphics, videos, and continuously updated to reflect the latest evidence and clinical care experience. • Practice-Changing Updates: Timely insights that reflect the latest evidence and how it impacts patient care. • Patient Education: Thousands of patient education leaflets in up to 19 different languages to improve patient understanding and support care plan adherence. • Key Points Panels: Quick, clinically actionable guidance to help clinicians avoid common diagnostic and treatment errors embedded in UpToDate search results. • Drug Reference & Interactions: Evidence-based drug monographs and interaction analysis to support safe and informed prescribing decisions. • Clinical Calculators: Over 200 tools to support dosing, risk scoring, and patient assessments. • Rx Transitions: Step-by-step support for switching antidepressants safely. • Kidney Dosing: Drug dosing guidance for patients with renal impairment. Available on mobile, desktop, and integrated into EHRs, ensuring you can access UpToDate’s trusted guidance where and when you need it. Access to features will vary depending on your UpToDate account. Expert AI is now available in personal trainee subscriptions and UpToDate Pro Plus subscriptions in the US, and through select Enterprise Edition accounts. To get access, explore personal subscription options on the UpToDate website or contact your Enterprise account lead. This app is designed for use by medical professionals. If you are not a medical professional, please consult a qualified healthcare provider before making any medical decisions.

Screenshots

Medscape4 screens
UpToDate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Medscape at free with in-app purchases against UpToDate's subscription. Medscape also leads on review sentiment (64% vs 28%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). UpToDate's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, ratings volume 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

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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.6 for Medscape against 3.6 for UpToDate. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.4K and 579 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 64% of Medscape's written reviews are positive against 28% of UpToDate's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Medscape ships an update fortnightly, UpToDate every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Medscape versus UpToDate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMedscapeUpToDate
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (1.4K ratings)3.6 (579 ratings)
Positive reviews63.7% of reviews — better28.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1.4K — better579
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#170#165 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size263 MB56 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperWebMDUpToDate, Inc.

Customer experience

Medscape

All ratings1,402 ratings
Positive62.7%
Neutral10.4%
Negative26.9%
Written reviews474 reviews
Positive63.7%
Neutral9.3%
Negative27.0%

UpToDate

All ratings579 ratings
Positive60.4%
Neutral10.4%
Negative29.2%
Written reviews381 reviews
Positive28.3%
Neutral9.7%
Negative61.9%

User reviews

Medscape

From 1.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Quick and easy to use
  • 📚 Comprehensive medical information
  • 💻 Offline access to content
  • 🆓 Free app with no ads
  • 🏥 Useful for healthcare professionals

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes and freezes
  • 📱 Not optimized for iPad/larger screens
  • 🛒 Issues with Amazon gift card rewards
  • ⏱️ Slow response speed and lagging
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find information

UpToDate

From 579 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💎 Invaluable medical resource
  • 🚀 Quick and easy to use
  • 🔍 Comprehensive and up-to-date content

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing issues
  • 🔌 Unreliable offline functionality
  • 💰 Expensive subscription cost

Bugs and requests

Medscape

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes on opening after recent update
  • Unable to access articles or content
  • Broken links and issues with CME activities
  • Logging in and account management problems
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow users to manually enter city during registration
  • Add more languages (e.g., Spanish)
  • Improve CME/education features and tracking
  • Introduce an ad-free paid version
  • Enhance search functionality and organization

UpToDate

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to download offline content
  • Constant need to re-authenticate
  • Incompatibility with recent iOS updates

Requested features

3 requests
  • Highlight and annotate content
  • Improved institutional login support
  • Dark mode and font size options

In-app purchases

None

Medscape

No in-app purchases

None

UpToDate

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Medscape free?
Medscape is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is UpToDate free?
UpToDate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Medscape or UpToDate?
Medscape and UpToDate are both rated 3.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.4K and 579 ratings respectively.
Do Medscape or UpToDate have ads?
Medscape shows ads; UpToDate does not.
Which is updated more often, Medscape or UpToDate?
Medscape ships an update fortnightly, and UpToDate every 5 weeks. Most recently, Medscape was updated on September 29, 2026 and UpToDate on September 28, 2026.
Which is more popular, Medscape or UpToDate?
Medscape currently peaks at #170 in the App Store charts, and UpToDate at #165. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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