Comparison

UpToDate vs Fagerstrom Test

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

Head to head
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
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.

About

Fagerstrom Test

This app implements a standard questionnaire to assess the intensity of physical nicotine addiction. It helps quantify dependence related to cigarette smoking by evaluating consumption, compulsion, and dependence levels. The results can assist healthcare professionals in documenting indications for nicotine withdrawal medication.

Highlights
  • Nicotine dependence assessment
  • Quantifies cigarette consumption
  • Evaluates compulsion to use
  • Measures physical dependence
  • Provides ordinal measure
  • Assists in medication documentation
Features
Read full description

The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence is a standard instrument for assessing the intensity of physical addiction to nicotine. The test was designed to provide an ordinal measure of nicotine dependence related to cigarette smoking. It contains six items that evaluate the quantity of cigarette consumption, the compulsion to use, and dependence. In scoring the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence, yes/no items are scored from 0 to 1 and multiple-choice items are scored from 0 to 3. The items are summed to yield a total score of 0-10. The higher the total Fagerström score, the more intense is the patient's physical dependence on nicotine. In the clinic, the Fagerström test may be used by the physician to document indications for prescribing medication for nicotine withdrawal.

Screenshots

UpToDate4 screens
Fagerstrom Test4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Fagerstrom Test at 5.0 against UpToDate's 3.6. Fagerstrom Test also leads on monetization model (free vs subscription) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). UpToDate's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 53 months) and ratings volume (583 vs 4). 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

Fagerstrom Test holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: UpToDate has 583 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UpToDate ships an update every 5 weeks, Fagerstrom Test every 53 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
UpToDate versus Fagerstrom Test: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUpToDateFagerstrom Test
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (583 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews28.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings583 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 53 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB18 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperUpToDate, Inc.Fewlaps SL

Customer experience

UpToDate

All ratings579 ratings
Positive60.4%
Neutral10.4%
Negative29.2%
Written reviews384 reviews
Positive28.4%
Neutral9.6%
Negative62.0%

Fagerstrom Test

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Fagerstrom Test

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

UpToDate

No in-app purchases

None

Fagerstrom Test

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UpToDate free?
UpToDate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Fagerstrom Test free?
Fagerstrom Test is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, UpToDate or Fagerstrom Test?
Fagerstrom Test is rated higher. UpToDate averages 3.6 out of 5 from 583 ratings, while Fagerstrom Test averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do UpToDate or Fagerstrom Test have ads?
Neither UpToDate nor Fagerstrom Test shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UpToDate or Fagerstrom Test?
UpToDate ships an update every 5 weeks, and Fagerstrom Test every 53 months. Most recently, UpToDate was updated on October 21, 2026 and Fagerstrom Test on October 4, 2026.

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