Calculate by QxMD vs ESC Pocket Guidelines
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Calculate by QxMD
This clinical calculator and decision support tool offers over 200 medical calculators and tools for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. It adapts to your practice and provides detailed references, integrating with PubMed and Read by QxMD.
- Over 200 medical calculators
- Clinical decision support tools
- Cardiology, internal medicine, and more
- Knowledge translation from research
- Question Flow technology
- PubMed & Read integration
- SI and Imperial units
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From the developer of 'Read by QxMD', 'The ECG Guide' and 'Pedi STAT' comes 'Calculate', a next-generation clinical calculator and decision support tool, freely available to the medical community. "We recommend medical users try the free Calculate by QxMD first..." -from iMedicalApps review "The best free Medical Calculator apps for the iPhone" 'Calculate' highlights tools which impact clinical practice either by simplifying diagnosis, clarifying treatment options or displaying prognosis. Helping you make decisions, not just calculate numbers... Features • Developed by a collaboration of clinician experts from diverse backgrounds • Point-of-care tools in the areas of cardiology, internal medicine, primary care, nephrology, hematology, hepatology, gastroenterology, emergency medicine, oncology, orthopedics, critical care/ICU, ENT, radiology, rheumatology, mental health, respirology, neurology, pediatrics, infectious disease, neurosurgery, general surgery, vascular surgery, and obstetrics. • Converts recent research publications into practical handheld tools - knowledge translation at its best • Automatically adapts to your clinical practice • Unique ‘Question Flow’ technology gets you answers, fast • Detailed references with PubMed & Read integration • Comprehensive and insightful results • Elegant design and intuitive interface • SI and Imperial units More than 200 unique calculators and decision support tools While too extensive to list them all, here is a small sampling of included content: Guide treatment • Determine cardiovascular risk using ACC/AHA, Framingham, Gupta and VQI Cardiac Risk Index • CHADS2 & CHA2DS2-VASc to guide treatment in atrial fibrillation • Understand bleeding risk in atrial fibrillation using HAS-BLED & OBRI • TIMI risk score in ACS • CIWA in alcohol withdrawal • Rule of 9s & Parkland formula in burns • Water deficit in hypernatremia • Timing of surgery with Aortic Stenosis Risk Score • Risk stratify pneumonia (CURB-65, PORT) • NIH Stroke Scale in acute stroke • Imaging in possible subarachnoid hemorrhage with Ottawa SAH Rule Determine Prognosis • Cirrhosis (MELD, Child-Pugh) • Chronic Kidney Disease (Kidney Failure Risk Equation) • Heart failure • Lymphoma (NCCN-IPI, IPI24, R-IPI) • Myelodysplastic Syndrome (IPSS-R, WPSS) • Myeloma (ISS, R-ISS) • Hemodialysis • COPD (Bode) • Pancreatitis (BISAP, Ranson's) • Cardiac surgery (Euroscore II, Cleveland Clinic, Mehta) • Critical care (APACHE II, SOFA) • Neurologic outcome (DRAGON, CAM-ICU, modified Rankin, FOUR score, Hunt & Hess) Calculate • Ideal body weight, BMI and BSA • Due date and gestational age • Extensive formula used in echocardiography and invasive hemodynamic monitoring • Kt/V in dialysis patients • eGFR with CKD-EPI, MDRD & Schwartz • A-a gradient Classify • Angina (CCS) • Congestive heart failure (NYHA) Screen • Diabetes • Breast cancer Reduce and predict perioperative complications • WHO Surgical Safety Checklist • Predictive models for cardiac surgery, vascular surgery and coronary angiography • Postoperative Respiratory Failure Risk score Manage • Head, neck, ankle and knee injuries (NEXUS, Ottawa ankle/knee, Canadian C-spine and CT head rules) • DVT and PE (PERC, Wells, PESI) • Pulmonary nodules • TIA (ABCD2) Stage • Lung cancer • Renal cell carcinoma • Head & neck cancers Understand • TTKG in hypokalemia and hyperkalemia • Dermatomes Diagnose • Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia • Infective Endocarditis • ARDS • Autoimmune Hepatitis • Sleep disorder (Epworth Sleepiness Scale) And much, much more... Researchers, contact us to see your research in our app at contact@qxmd.com Founded my medical professionals, QxMD Software is dedicated to creating high quality, point-of-care tools for practicing health care professionals. Recognized as a leading developer of free medical software for mobile devices, QxMD develops content in cooperation with expert physicians from their respective fields.
ESC Pocket Guidelines
Access a comprehensive library of the latest cardiovascular disease guidelines and consensus statements from the European Society of Cardiology. Features include interactive algorithms, full-text search, bookmarking, note-taking, and content sharing capabilities for quick reference and study.
- Latest ESC Guidelines (2023-2025)
- Interactive algorithms
- Full-text search
- Bookmarking and notes
- Content sharing
- Printable pages
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The ESC Pocket Guidelines app now contains the following ESC Pocket Guidelines: ESC Guidelines and documents published in 2025 Cardiovascular disease and pregnancy (Guidelines) Mental health and cardiovascular disease (Consensus Statement) Myocarditis and pericarditis (Guidelines) Valvular heart disease (Joint Guidelines with EACTS) Focused update of the 2019 dyslipidaemias guidelines ESC Guidelines published in 2024 Elevated blood pressure and hypertension Atrial fibrillation Chronic coronary syndromes Peripheral arterial and aortic diseases ESC Guidelines and documents published in 2023 Acute coronary syndromes Cardiomyopathies Cardiovascular disease in diabetes Endocarditis Focused update of the 2021 heart failure guidelines The ESC Pocket Guidelines app also contains interactive tools in the form of algorithms. Additional features: Perform „full text", „index" or „filtered" searches through the entire downloaded content of the app, bookmarks and the notes. Bookmark specific sections or create a personal note and access bookmarks and notes from the „Library“ section. Share links to specific areas of the app via communication channels, e.g. AirDrop, Mail, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and many others. Print pages. Please follow the link below to register for a new MyESC account: https://escol.escardio.org/MyESC/login.aspx
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: ESC Pocket Guidelines at none against Calculate by QxMD's shown. ESC Pocket Guidelines also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Calculate by QxMD's advantage is review sentiment (86% vs 53%) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Calculate by QxMD against 4.8 for ESC Pocket Guidelines. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calculate by QxMD has 5.1K ratings behind it against 841, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of Calculate by QxMD's written reviews are positive against 53% of ESC Pocket Guidelines's.
Calculate by QxMD ships an update every 6 weeks, ESC Pocket Guidelines every 4 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Calculate by QxMD | ESC Pocket Guidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (5.1K ratings) | 4.8 (841 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 86.5% of reviews — better | 52.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5.1K — better | 841 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 118 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | +17 |
| Developer | WebMD | ESC - European Society of Cardiology |
Customer experience
Calculate by QxMD
ESC Pocket Guidelines
User reviews
Calculate by QxMD
From 5.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ⭐ Excellent app
- 📋 Comprehensive set of calculators
- 🔍 Helpful references and explanations
- 🔧 Useful for daily practice
- 🧠 Great for students and trainees
Room to improve
- 🐛 App freezes or crashes
- 🔍 Some calculators not working
- 🔑 Repeated login requests
- 🔍 Outdated or missing features
- 🚫 Ads can be intrusive
ESC Pocket Guidelines
From 841 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Practical and handy for clinical use
- 📚 Valuable medical information and guidelines
- ⭐ Excellent content quality
- 🎯 Easy to use interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and stability issues
- 🔐 Sign-in system problematic and unnecessary
- 📖 Small font size and poor design readability
- ❌ Missing content topics after updates
- ⚪ Blank white page display issues
Bugs and requests
Calculate by QxMD
Reported bugs
5 issues- App freezes when using multiple calculators
- Unable to add items to favorites list
- Unable to see calculation results after input
- App crashes on startup without internet connection
- Landscape mode not working on iPad
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to save/favorite frequently used calculators
- Integration with electronic health records
- Metric to imperial unit conversion
- More specialized calculators (e.g., opioid equivalence, pediatric BP)
ESC Pocket Guidelines
Reported bugs
8 issues- App crashes on iPad and iPhone devices
- Login authentication failures
- White blank page display
- App crashes when opening pathways
- Guidelines not appearing in downloaded folder
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- App incompatible with older iOS versions
- Slow and sluggish performance
- Full screen not supported on iPad Mini 6
Requested features
5 requests- Update to support iPad Mini 6 resolution
- Include 2023 ESC Congress updates
- Remove or make sign-in optional
- Improve font size and design for better readability
- Add new guidelines (e.g., 2013 stable angina guidelines)
In-app purchases
Calculate by QxMD
No in-app purchases
ESC Pocket Guidelines
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Calculate by QxMD free?
Is ESC Pocket Guidelines free?
Which has better reviews, Calculate by QxMD or ESC Pocket Guidelines?
Do Calculate by QxMD or ESC Pocket Guidelines have ads?
Which is updated more often, Calculate by QxMD or ESC Pocket Guidelines?
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