UpToDate vs ClinicalKey
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Expert AI conversational guidance
- Gold standard clinical content
- Practice-changing updates
- Patient education materials
- Drug reference and interactions
- Clinical calculators
- Kidney dosing guidance
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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.
ClinicalKey
This app provides medical professionals with instant access to a vast library of clinical knowledge, including synoptic content and in-depth reference materials. It helps users stay updated on medical advancements, confirm diagnoses, and advance their research skills, all while offering CME/MOC/CE credits.
- Access to 30+ medical specialties
- Synoptic content for quick answers
- Full-text reference books and journals
- Mobile-optimized medical calculators
- Earn CME/MOC/CE credits
- Intuitive search functionality
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INSTITUTIONAL SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED. Access the latest advances in clinical knowledge anytime, anywhere with ClinicalKey®- the essential resource for medical professionals. ClinicalKey combines the speed of synoptic content with the depth of a comprehensive clinical reference tool in one intuitive solution to provide clinicians trusted information in the moments that matter most. With ClinicalKey, you can: • Stay abreast of rapidly expanding clinical knowledge • Quickly confirm diagnosis and treatment information • Advance critical thinking skills and research Please note: To access our extensive content library, ensure you have a subscription to ClinicalKey from your organization. To get started: 1. Download the free ClinicalKey app for iOS on your iPad® or iPhone®. 2. Follow the prompts to connect to your organization’s account.The app will ask questions to get you to the right content. 3. Choose the method of access that is right for you: 4. Select Access via Network if you need a quick answer and your device is connected to your organization's network. 5. Select Access via Institution for other ways to connect. 6. Once you have gained access, create or sign- in to your Elsevier ClinicalKey user account to save favorites and earn CME/MOC/CE/MOC/CE. ClinicalKey® Because you want to find a better way to help your patients ClinicalKey combines the speed of synoptic content with the depth of a comprehensive clinical reference tool in one intuitive solution to give clinicians trusted information in the moments that matter. With the ClinicalKey, clinicians will be able to: • Enhance patient care with trusted resources and deep insights across 30+ specialties • Combine efficiency and confidence in your practice with access to quick answers and information that is continuously updated • Excel in your field by building foundational knowledge and keeping up with the latest trends through full-text reference books and journals, while earning free CME/MOC/CE credit • Stay abreast of rapidly expanding clinical knowledge • Quickly confirm diagnosis and treatment information • Advance critical thinking skills and research ClinicalKey App for iOS Features: • Trusted Comprehensive content covering more than 30 medical and surgical specialties • Easy-to-scan, clinically focused medical topic synopses • Intuitive search with auto-suggest/ • Easy search with auto-completion • Direct navigation to your favorite books and journals • Mobile-optimized medical calculators • Access to full-text books, full-text journals, guidelines, multimedia and more • Access via Institutional IP; individuals will not be able to earn CME/MOC/CE, save, or share content when using IP authentication. Please register for remote access via your institutional web version of ClinicalKey. ClinicalKey Registrants (non-IP) customers will enjoy: • Opportunity to earn CME and fulfill MOC requirements with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) • Ability to favorite and save content • Option to print and email topics, videos or graphics • Earn and track free CME/MOC/CE credit Ability to favorite and save content Print and email topics, videos or graphics to patients and colleagues iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the US and other countries.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: UpToDate at 28% against ClinicalKey's 9%. UpToDate also leads on chart position (#171 vs unranked). ClinicalKey's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | UpToDate | ClinicalKey |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (579 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 28.3% of reviews — better | 8.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 579 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Subscription | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | #171 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | UpToDate, Inc. | Elsevier Inc. |
Customer experience
UpToDate
ClinicalKey
User reviews
UpToDate
From 579 App Store ratingsWhat 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
ClinicalKey
From App Store reviewsWhat we love
- 📚 High-quality, evidence-based clinical content
- 🎯 Intuitive interface and quick reference format
- 🔍 Similar functionality to website version
- 👍 Browse feature restoration appreciated by users
Room to improve
- 🔓 Constant forced logout issues
- 🔐 Institutional login authentication failures
- ⏳ App freezes and perpetual loading screens
- 🚫 Missing textbook access in app vs website
- 📵 Frequent crashes and force closures
Bugs and requests
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
ClinicalKey
Reported bugs
14 issues- App stuck on loading screen after initial login
- Forced logout when closing or minimizing app
- Institutional login not working despite web access
- App crashes during search queries
- OpenAthens authentication failures
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- Network change warnings appearing incorrectly
- Search results returning unrelated content
- Textbook search not finding available books
- App won't load after recent updates
- Blank search results for valid queries
- Scrolling in table of contents sidebar not functioning
- Landscape orientation not supported
- App doesn't remember page position when reopened
- Restricted access to books after updates
Requested features
10 requests- PDF download capability within the app
- Favorite/bookmark textbooks and articles
- Landscape mode support for iPad
- Find-on-page text search function
- Automatic session persistence and page memory
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Text size and screen color customization
- Fingerprint/passcode login option
- Browse feature with category filtering
- Offline access to downloaded materials
- Feature parity with website version
In-app purchases
UpToDate
No in-app purchases
ClinicalKey
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is UpToDate free?
Is ClinicalKey free?
Do UpToDate or ClinicalKey have ads?
Which is updated more often, UpToDate or ClinicalKey?
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