Comparison

Medscape vs mobilePDR

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

mobilePDR

Access up-to-date drug prescribing information for healthcare professionals. Quickly search thousands of drug summaries, compare medications, and check for interactions. Identify pills with color photos and imprint codes.

Highlights
  • Concise drug summaries
  • Drug comparison tool
  • Drug interaction checker
  • Pill identification with photos
  • Search by brand, generic, or class
  • Continuous updates
Features
Read full description

mobilePDR® is the OFFICIAL drug information app from PDR®, publisher of Physicians’ Desk Reference® – the most trusted resource for drug prescribing information since 1946. mobilePDR allows healthcare professionals FREE access to the most current drug prescribing information available from PDR. Fast and easy to use, mobilePDR employs a simple, but powerful search tool with access to thousands of concise drug summaries. Users can search by generic, brand or pharmacologic class names. A drug comparison feature helps healthcare providers choose the right medication for their patients based on key drug properties such as indications and side effects, dosing, and more. Know at a glance when there may be a drug interaction. Identify a pill based on its physical characteristics and visually confirm with full-color photos. All therapeutic areas and medical specialties are covered within the PDR drug app, including diabetes drugs, pain drugs, asthma and allergy drugs, cardiovascular drugs, obesity drugs, cholesterol drugs, psychiatric and mental health drugs, pediatric drugs, oncology drugs, vaccines and biologics, and more. Features: - Free to all U.S. healthcare professionals - Simple, powerful search provides fast access to drug information with auto-completion - Personalize your experience by saving drugs that you look up often for quick access - Search by brand, generic or pharmacologic class names - Access concise drug summaries and dosing information to answer important prescribing questions - Drug information is updated continuously with the latest information - Covers thousands of drugs in active use - Swipe left-right to compare key drug characteristics such as dosing, indications, and side effects - Save drug comparisons to refer to them again later - Check for drug interactions and learn what drug combinations to avoid - Identify pills by tablet imprint codes, shape or drug color, complete with color pill images Requirements: - Registration is free, and required the first time you use the mobilePDR app - mobilePDR is intended for use by U.S. healthcare professionals

Screenshots

Medscape4 screens
mobilePDR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: mobilePDR at none against Medscape's shown. mobilePDR also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.6). Medscape's advantage is review sentiment (64% vs 32%) and rating (3.6 vs 3.2). On price, 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

Medscape holds the better App Store score, 3.6 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Medscape has 1.4K ratings behind it against 101, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Medscape's written reviews are positive against 32% of mobilePDR's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Medscape ships an update fortnightly, mobilePDR every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and July 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Medscape versus mobilePDR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMedscapemobilePDR
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (1.4K ratings) — better3.2 (101 ratings)
Positive reviews63.7% of reviews — better31.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1.4K — better101
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#205 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.69.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size263 MB112 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperWebMDPDR Equity, LLC

Customer experience

Medscape

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

mobilePDR

All ratings101 ratings
Positive51.5%
Neutral11.9%
Negative36.6%
Written reviews60 reviews
Positive31.7%
Neutral13.3%
Negative55.0%

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

mobilePDR

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Medscape

No in-app purchases

None

mobilePDR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Medscape free?
Medscape is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is mobilePDR free?
mobilePDR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Medscape or mobilePDR?
Medscape is rated higher. Medscape averages 3.6 out of 5 from 1.4K ratings, while mobilePDR averages 3.2 from 101 ratings.
Do Medscape or mobilePDR have ads?
Medscape shows ads; mobilePDR does not.
Which is updated more often, Medscape or mobilePDR?
Medscape ships an update fortnightly, and mobilePDR every 2 months. Most recently, Medscape was updated on September 29, 2026 and mobilePDR on July 3, 2026.

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