Comparison

Anesthesia Central vs Pocket ICU

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

Head to head
About

Anesthesia Central

This app provides anesthesiologists and critical care specialists with essential information for patient care before, during, and after surgery. It includes disease, drug, test, and procedure details, along with access to the PubMed database for journal articles.

Highlights
  • Disease, drug, test, and procedure information
  • Access to PubMed database
  • MGH Clinical Anesthesia Procedures
  • Davis's Drug Guide
  • Pocket ICU Management
  • Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests
  • Integrated calculators
Features
Read full description

** The All-In-One Mobile and Web Solution for Anesthesiology ** ABOUT ANESTHESIA CENTRAL Anesthesia Central is a must-have resource for every anesthesiologist, critical care specialist, nurse anesthetist, and trainee. Consult the automatically updating collection of disease, drug, test, and procedure information for treating patients before, during, and after surgery. Download to your mobile device and use the quick-read format to find answers fast or search for journal articles and citations in the full PubMed database – anytime, anywhere. Five comprehensive resources included with Anesthesia Central. MGH CLINICAL ANESTHESIA PROCEDURES Includes proven guidelines for preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative anesthesia care, developed by the renowned Massachusetts General Hospital. DAVIS’S DRUG GUIDE Refer to need-to-know information on dosing, contraindications, drug interactions, and patient education for more than 5,000 medications. POCKET ICU MANAGEMENT Focuses on conditions found in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and covers a range of topics from life-threatening disorders to presenting conditions. POCKET GUIDE TO DIAGNOSTIC TESTS Pocket Guide to Diagnostics Tests provides evidence-based recommendations on the selection and interpretation of over 450 laboratory, imaging, and microbiology tests. Prime PubMed Search Connect to the full MEDLINE/PubMed database. Stay up to date with your favorite medical journals, perform powerful searches, link directly to the publisher’s full text, and share articles via email or social media. Visually explore the literature using Grapherence®, a unique way to find related and relevant articles. FEATURES • Receive 1-year of drug updates • Download any new editions of included resources free for 1-year • Make quick calculations with integrated calculators • Create custom notes and highlights within entries • Consult trusted, up-to-date procedure, drug, and test information • Jump quickly between resources using Cross Links • Access to PubMed database through Prime • Use the advanced search capabilities to find topics fast • Bookmark important entries with “Favorites” • Get access to Anesthesia Central website for 1-year DRUG AND CONTENT UPDATES • After initial Anesthesia Central purchase you will receive updates for one year • After one year, you can purchase updates for an additional year, at the discounted rate of $99.99. If you do not choose to purchase, you can continue to use the product but will not receive updates. • This app will automatically renew annually at the current renewal rate ($99.99) and charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase, unless auto-renew is turned off 24 hours prior to the conclusion of the one-year subscription period. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Clinical Anesthesia Procedures of the Massachusetts General Hospital: Senior Editor: Wilton C. Levine, MD Associate Editors: Rae M. Allain, MD; Theodore A. Alston, MD, PhD; Peter F. Dunn, MD; Jean Kwo, MD; Carl E. Rosow, MD, PhD Publisher: Lippincott Willams & Wilkins Pocket ICU Management: Authors: Michael H. Wall, MD, FCCM; Pamela R. Roberts, MD, FCCM; J. Christopher Farmer, MD, FCCM Publisher: PocketMedicine.com Davis's Drug Guide: Authors: April Hazard Vallerand, PhD, RN, FAAN; Cynthia A. Sanoski, BS, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS Publisher: F.A. Davis Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests: Editors: Diana Nicoll, MD, PhD, MPA; Chuanyi Mark Lu, MD; Michael Pignone, MD, MPH; Stephen J. McPhee, MD Publisher: McGraw-Hill Medical Unbound Privacy Policy: www.unboundmedicine.com/privacy Unbound Terms of Use: https://www.unboundmedicine.com/end_user_license_agreement

About

Pocket ICU

This app offers concise critical care guidance written by attending physicians. It covers diagnosis, treatment, and management across various subspecialties, including detailed images and decision algorithms. Quickly find information, bookmark entries, and take notes for efficient ICU rounds and consultations.

Highlights
  • Concise guidance by attending physicians
  • Diagnosis, treatment, and management details
  • Subspecialty coverage
  • Detailed images and algorithms
  • Statistics and EBM overview
  • Pharmacological data and formulas
  • Full text search and bookmarking
Features
Read full description

New topics address bioweapons, disaster preparedness and critical care challenges of an air-transmissible, pandemic-causing pathogens like COVID-19. POCKET ICU FEATURES • Concise guidance written by attending physicians for everyone in critical care • Entries with diagnosis, treatment, and management details • Coverage of subspecialty areas including pediatric, neuro, cardiac, transplant, burn, and more • Detailed images, figures, and decision support algorithms • Overview of Statistics and Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) • Helpful appendices provide pharmacological data, respiratory formulas, and cardiopulmonary relationships • Advanced Full Text Search helps find topics quickly • “Favorites” for bookmarking important entries • Highlighting and note-taking MORE ABOUT POCKET ICU With content from the highly regarded Pocket Notebook series, Pocket ICU provides users with an essential tool for quickly locating information from every subspecialty area of critical care. Entries have been written by attending physicians and are presented in brief but broad format so anyone in an ICU setting can quickly find answers and save time. This powerful resource can be downloaded to your smartphone and tablet and is great for preparing for rounds or consulting expert recommendations while on the ICU floor. Editors: Gyorgy Frendl, MD, PhD; Avery Tung, MD Publisher: Wolters Kluwer Powered by: Unbound Medicine

Screenshots

Anesthesia Central4 screens
Pocket ICU4 screens

Verdict

The call

Anesthesia Central and Pocket ICU both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 74% of Anesthesia Central's written reviews are positive against 64% of Pocket ICU's. Pocket ICU's advantage is ratings volume (316 vs 104). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Anesthesia Central sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $99.99 per year and Pocket ICU sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Anesthesia Central against 4.6 for Pocket ICU. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 104 and 316 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 74% of Anesthesia Central's written reviews are positive against 64% of Pocket ICU's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Anesthesia Central versus Pocket ICU: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAnesthesia CentralPocket ICU
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (104 ratings)4.6 (316 ratings)
Positive reviews74.4% of reviews — better64.3% of reviews
Number of ratings104316 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 9 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB9 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperUnbound Medicine, Inc.Unbound Medicine, Inc.

Customer experience

Anesthesia Central

All ratings104 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral4.8%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews43 reviews
Positive74.4%
Neutral7.0%
Negative18.6%

Pocket ICU

All ratings316 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative7.3%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive64.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative35.7%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Anesthesia Central

Subscriptions1
  • Anesthesia Central Renewal$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • Anesthesia Central$169.99
2 purchases

Pocket ICU

One-time2
  • Pocket ICU2 variants$69.99
  • Pocket ICU 2023$69.99

Questions

Is Anesthesia Central free?
Anesthesia Central is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pocket ICU free?
Pocket ICU is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Anesthesia Central or Pocket ICU?
Anesthesia Central and Pocket ICU are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 104 and 316 ratings respectively.
Do Anesthesia Central or Pocket ICU have ads?
Neither Anesthesia Central nor Pocket ICU shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Anesthesia Central or Pocket ICU?
Anesthesia Central ships an update every 9 months, and Pocket ICU every 9 months. Most recently, Anesthesia Central was updated on September 23, 2026 and Pocket ICU on September 24, 2026.

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