Comparison

MBS Search vs Alfred

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

Head to head
About

MBS Search

Access the Australian Medicare Benefits Schedule on your iPhone. Quickly find item numbers, calculate bills for multiple items, and view gap cover rates. Save frequently used items and easily email bill summaries.

Highlights
  • Fast item number search
  • Automatic bill calculation
  • Gap cover rate display
  • Email bill summaries
  • Create favorites
  • Out-of-pocket expense calculation
Features
Read full description

Get the latest Australian Medicare Benefits Schedule free on your iPhone. Find item numbers super fast. Built for surgeons, anaesthetists, surgical assistants and practice staff. Automatically calculate bills for cases with multiple item numbers. Fee descriptions include Gap Cover rates for 60 different fee schedules. Automatic Assistant fee calculations. Email bills and item numbers to your rooms: simple out of pocket expense calculations. Create your own favourites for commonly used items or groups of items. MBS Search is an unofficial app. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Medicare, Services Australia, or the Australian federal government. All schedule data is sourced from the public schedule Medicare publishes at https://www.mbsonline.gov.au.

About

Alfred

This app assists clinicians by automatically generating structured SOAP notes from patient conversations, eliminating the need for manual typing or dictation. It focuses on streamlining documentation so healthcare professionals can dedicate more time to patient care.

Highlights
  • Automatic SOAP note generation
  • Natural conversation transcription
  • ICD-10 code suggestions
  • Electronic signature
  • HIPAA-compliant infrastructure
  • Biometric and multi-factor authentication
Features
Read full description

Clinicians spend over two hours per day on documentation. That's time taken from patients, from families, from the work that drew them to medicine in the first place. Alfred changes that. It sits quietly in the exam room, listens to the conversation between doctor and patient, and produces a complete, structured SOAP note — ready for review and signature. No typing. No dictation templates. No after-hours charting. HOW IT WORKS 1. Open Alfred and tap Record before your patient encounter begins. 2. Have your visit normally. Alfred captures the full conversation. 3. When you're done, tap Upload. Within minutes, Alfred delivers a structured clinical note with Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan sections, along with suggested ICD-10 codes. 4. Review the note, make any edits, and sign it electronically. Done. Alfred handles the documentation so you can focus on what matters: your patient. BUILT FOR CLINICIANS - Full SOAP notes generated from natural conversation — no templates, no keywords - ICD-10 diagnostic code suggestions to accelerate billing workflows - Electronic signature with provider attestation (name, NPI, timestamp) - Signed notes are immutable with append-only amendments, supporting medical record integrity - Works for primary care, specialty, urgent care, and telehealth encounters SECURE BY DESIGN Alfred is built for healthcare from the ground up, not retrofitted. - HIPAA-compliant infrastructure with Business Associate Agreements executed with all data processors - All data encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256) - Audio recordings are automatically deleted from processing servers after transcription is complete - User-level data isolation ensures each provider can only access their own patients and notes - Biometric authentication (Face ID) and multi-factor authentication protect every session - Data stored exclusively in the United States IMPORTANT: DOCUMENTATION AID, NOT A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL Alfred is a clinical documentation assistant. It does not provide diagnostic recommendations, treatment suggestions, or clinical decision support. All AI-generated content — including transcriptions, clinical notes, and suggested codes — are drafts that require review, verification, and electronic signature by a licensed healthcare provider before becoming part of the medical record. Alfred is intended for use by licensed healthcare professionals including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other qualified clinicians credentialed to document patient encounters within their scope of practice. A Merza Medical account is required to use this app. Questions? Contact us at contact@merzamedical.com.

Screenshots

MBS Search4 screens
Alfred4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Alfred at 3 against MBS Search's 1. MBS Search's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.1). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for MBS Search against 5.0 for Alfred. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MBS Search ships an update fortnightly, Alfred every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
MBS Search versus Alfred: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMBS SearchAlfred
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews49.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.1
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB22 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperUmbrella Network Pty LimitedMerza Medical, LLC

Bugs and requests

MBS Search

Reported bugs

20 issues
  • Crashes after latest update
  • Item numbers difficult to find for GP
  • Medicare rebate calculation incorrect
  • Crashing frequently
  • No ability to change insurance details
Show 15 more
  • Items only show Medicare rates
  • Item numbers not updated
  • Lost favorites after updates
  • Favorites reset randomly
  • Crashes with iPhone X
  • Crashes when changing anesthesia billing times
  • Crashing with iOS update
  • Excision section broken
  • Favorites wiped on upgrade
  • Calculation for 51303 not accurate
  • Cannot scan patient label
  • Not working with iPhone 5
  • Crashes on start up
  • Hangs and crashes on skin procedures menu
  • No listing of fees for visits

Requested features

7 requests
  • Update insurance covers
  • Update with July release codes
  • Add landscape orientation for iPad
  • Improve sorting of categories
  • Easier favorite adding
Show 2 more
  • Ability to mail log book
  • Differentiate GP vs Specialist procedures

Alfred

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

MBS Search

No in-app purchases

None

Alfred

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MBS Search free?
MBS Search is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Alfred free?
Alfred is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MBS Search or Alfred?
MBS Search and Alfred are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do MBS Search or Alfred have ads?
Neither MBS Search nor Alfred shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MBS Search or Alfred?
MBS Search ships an update fortnightly, and Alfred every 11 days. Most recently, MBS Search was updated on November 12, 2026 and Alfred on October 31, 2026.

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