Comparison

VisualDx vs Access

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

Head to head
About

VisualDx

This visual reference tool aids medical professionals in improving patient engagement and diagnostic accuracy. It utilizes AI and a vast image atlas to help build custom differentials, share patient-specific images, and access comprehensive diagnostic information. Earn continuing education credits while making better medical decisions.

Highlights
  • Build custom differentials
  • Engage patients with visual aids
  • Improve diagnostic accuracy
  • Access therapy and test options
  • Recognize infectious diseases
  • Earn CME credits
Currently charting
Read full description

VisualDx is a visual reference tool for medical professionals that leverages AI technology and a comprehensive image atlas to support faster, more confident decisions, fewer unnecessary referrals and testing, and higher patient engagement and satisfaction. With VisualDx, clinicians can: • Build dynamic differentials that evolve as you think. • Use guided support to surface clinically relevant results. • Compare diagnoses to improve decisions for your patients. • Use our AI to take a picture of your patient’s skin condition to better understand morphology and possibilities. • Engage with patients by sharing pictures of skin that reflect their disease presentation. • Access therapy and testing recommendations across over 3,500 conditions. • Quickly recognize infectious diseases and travel-related illnesses with our public health resources. • Test your diagnostic skills with our image challenges and educational resources. • Earn 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for internet point of care activity with every search. See why this award-winning clinical decision support system is being used in more than 2,300 hospitals, clinics, and medical schools by physicians, nurses, students, PAs, NPs, and other healthcare professionals worldwide. VisualDx requires a subscription. Terms of Use: https://www.visualdx.com/legal/acceptable-use-policy-notice Privacy Policy: https://www.visualdx.com/legal/privacy-policy/

About

Access

Access medical learning resources like videos, podcasts, and textbooks on the go. Search for specific topics, save content to collections, and personalize your dashboard. Offline viewing and specialty-specific content are available for subscribed institutional users.

Highlights
  • Search diverse medical resources
  • Save and organize content
  • Refine by content type
  • Offline viewing
  • Personalized dashboard
  • Specialty-specific content
Features
Read full description

Learn when you want, where you want, and how you want. Access is your personal medical resource that makes studying easier and more efficient. Search across a number of medical resources such as videos, podcasts, images, infographics, and textbooks, including Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine or Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine, so that you can learn in a way that suits your style and time constraints. • Find and save resources - search anything from symptoms to procedures and then favorite, or save to a collection. • Refine by content type - get the type of content you want to suit your learning style or time constraints. • Search within content - find the fine details you need. • View figures and tables - view content in its entirety, or just the images and tables. • View content offline - whether it’s a case of bad wifi, or you are traveling, you can always take your content with you. • Curate new collections - save content into your own personal reference library, so you always know where your favorite resources are. • Personal dashboard - create and personalize your own dashboard, allowing you to tailor the Access experience to your needs. • Caters to your specialty - This app has content from the full Access suite of sites, which cater to the following specialties; general medicine, anesthesiology, biomedical science, cardiology, dermatology, emergency medicine, hematology medicine, neurology, advanced practice nursing, ObGyn, pediatrics, pharmacy, physiotherapy, and surgery. This app's content is only fully accessible to users that are linked to an institution that subscribes to a McGraw Hill Access product. All users are offered seven days to link their profile to their subscribing institution.

Screenshots

VisualDx4 screens
Access4 screens

Verdict

The call

VisualDx and Access both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 84% of VisualDx's written reviews are positive against 8% of Access's. VisualDx also leads on chart position (#20 vs unranked) and update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). Access's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 11). On price, rating, ratings volume 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. VisualDx sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $39.99 per month. Access asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for VisualDx against 4.3 for Access. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 186 and 132 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 84% of VisualDx's written reviews are positive against 8% of Access's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VisualDx ships an update fortnightly, Access monthly. Both last shipped on October 16, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
VisualDx versus Access: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVisualDxAccess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (186 ratings) — better4.3 (132 ratings)
Positive reviews84.3% of reviews — better8.3% of reviews
Number of ratings186 — better132
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
Best chart rank#20 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better26
Further details — not scored
Size220 MB59 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperLogical ImagesMcGraw-Hill

Customer experience

VisualDx

All ratings186 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral4.8%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews102 reviews
Positive84.3%
Neutral1.0%
Negative14.7%

Access

All ratings132 ratings
Positive80.3%
Neutral3.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive8.3%
Neutral13.9%
Negative77.8%

User reviews

VisualDx

From 186 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📸 Excellent clinical images and kodachromes
  • 👍 User-friendly interface and easy navigation
  • 🎓 Comprehensive differential diagnosis tool
  • 📚 Detailed disease summaries and treatment information
  • 🌍 Inclusive representation of skin of color

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription cost
  • ❌ Difficult subscription cancellation process
  • 🐛 App crashes and performance issues
  • 📱 Quiz feature laggy and unreliable
  • 😤 Poor customer service responsiveness

Access

From 132 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Useful for quick reads
  • 👍 Good for reading on the go
  • 👍 Allows downloading chapters
  • 👍 Can favorite books/chapters/figures
  • 👍 Great idea for an app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Infinite login loop
  • 🐛 App broken or glitched
  • 🐛 Unable to access content
  • 🐛 Chapters missing (appendix, intro)
  • 🐛 Cannot search all chapters

Bugs and requests

VisualDx

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App crashes when using quiz feature
  • CME credit claiming functionality fails
  • Subscription cancellation not processed
  • Renewal charges despite cancellation requests
  • Quiz unable to load properly
Show 1 more
  • Account access issues after payment

Requested features

6 requests
  • Make app free again (previously free)
  • Simplify subscription cancellation in-app
  • Improve quiz functionality for mobile
  • Add quiz feature to desktop version
  • Expand patient information handouts
Show 1 more
  • Better quiz image clarity and context

Access

Reported bugs

32 issues
  • Infinite login loop
  • App won't log in
  • App broken or glitched
  • Unable to access content
  • Appendix and introduction absent
Show 27 more
  • Cannot search all chapters at once
  • Cannot access last sections of chapters
  • Text-to-speech mispronounces words
  • Text-to-speech requires app to be open
  • Does not remember last read position
  • Search function unusable
  • Accounts do not sync properly
  • Books, collections, and favorites not added appropriately
  • Crashes and logs out
  • Hard to navigate within textbook
  • Flash cards won't load
  • Cannot open books
  • Search bar shows technical difficulties
  • Cannot log in after password reset
  • App crashes when highlighting content
  • Copying text crashes the app
  • Lost highlight data after update
  • Lost keyword search ability after update
  • Favorites are erased
  • Books show error message of item not available
  • Search function won't find books
  • Favorites don't sync from desktop
  • Top bar heading obstructs reading
  • Book does not appear in the whole screen
  • Cannot find books by author or ISBN
  • No robotic audio option
  • Username difficult to find

Requested features

10 requests
  • Option to search all chapters at once
  • Improve text-to-speech functionality
  • Allow text-to-speech to continue when app is in background
  • Remember last read position
  • Sync favorites across devices
Show 5 more
  • iPad optimization
  • Browse all books by subscribed module
  • Toggle option for top bar heading
  • Full screen book display
  • Implement robotic audio option

In-app purchases

11 purchases

VisualDx

Subscriptions9
  • Complete (1 Month)1 Month trial$39.991 Month
  • VisualDx Core Monthly7 Days trial$39.991 Month
  • Complete+DermExpert (1 Month)1 Month trial$49.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • VisualDx Elite Monthly7 Days trial$49.991 Month
  • Add DermExpert (1 Year)$99.991 Year
  • Complete (1 Year)1 Month trial$149.991 Year
  • VisualDx Core Annual7 Days trial$249.991 Year
  • VisualDx Elite Annual7 Days trial$299.991 Year
  • Complete+DermExpert (1 Year)1 Month trial$499.991 Year
One-time2
  • Add DermExpert (1 yr)$99.99
  • Complete (1 yr)$399.99
None

Access

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VisualDx free?
VisualDx is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Access free?
Access is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, VisualDx or Access?
VisualDx is rated higher. VisualDx averages 4.4 out of 5 from 186 ratings, while Access averages 4.3 from 132 ratings.
Do VisualDx or Access have ads?
Neither VisualDx nor Access shows ads.
Which is updated more often, VisualDx or Access?
VisualDx ships an update fortnightly, and Access monthly. Most recently, VisualDx was updated on October 16, 2026 and Access on October 16, 2026.

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