Comparison

AO Surgery Reference vs The eFACE

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

Head to head
About

AO Surgery Reference

Access a comprehensive online repository of surgical knowledge for fracture management. It provides detailed guidance on diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare for numerous fracture types, supported by extensive illustrations and expert review.

Highlights
  • 353 fracture types covered
  • 172 surgical approaches
  • 1222 surgical procedures
  • Over 30,000 illustrations
  • Feline, canine, and equine fracture care
  • Powerful search function
Features
Read full description

QUICK ONLINE REFERENCE IN CLINICAL LIFE Gain easy access to the award-winning AO Surgery Reference. AO Surgery Reference is an online repository for surgical knowledge. It describes the complete surgical management process from diagnosis to aftercare for all fractures of a given anatomical region, and also assembles relevant material that the AO has published before. It gives access to:   • aid in surgical decision making for 353 fracture types • 172 approaches • 1222 surgical procedures • all richly illustrated with more than 30'000 Illustrations and much more. To ensure the quality of the content, it is authored, edited, and peer reviewed by experienced AO Faculty from all over the world, some of which are also well-known textbook authors/editors. This is a relaunch of the AO Surgery Reference app utilizing the same responsive user interface that was released February 2020. The highlights are: • Consistent navigational logic and user experience on all screen sizes • Inclusion of feline, canine, and equine fracture care • Combination of Preparation – Approach – Reduction and Fixation – Aftercare into one step called treatment. • Introduction of a powerful search function, allowing simplifications of the user interface as it replaces previous shortcuts.

About

The eFACE

This medical application provides quantitative and graphic assessments of facial function scores for patients with unilateral facial paralysis. It analyzes resting, dynamic, and synkinesis movements, offering clinician-rated scores for 16 facial function features.

Highlights
  • Quantitative facial function scoring
  • Graphic depiction of facial scores
  • Analysis of resting facial positions
  • Assessment of dynamic facial movements
  • Synkinesis (misrouting) scoring
  • Clinician-rated scores for 16 features
Features
Read full description

Application designed to provide rapid quantitative and graphic depiction of facial function scores in patients suffering from unilateral facial paralysis, using visual analog scales. The instrument is divided into resting (static) readings, dynamic movement readings, and synkinesis (misrouting) scores. During real-time examination of the patient, or afterwards from a video clip of facial movements, the app can be used to obtain clinician-rated scores for 16 separate facial function features. Graphs provide data regarding resting facial positions, and dynamic facial movements, and synkinesis features.

Screenshots

AO Surgery Reference4 screens
The eFACE4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: AO Surgery Reference at 86% against The eFACE's 0%. AO Surgery Reference also leads on price (Free vs $9.99) and rating (4.4 vs 2.0). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

AO Surgery Reference is free to download; The eFACE costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AO Surgery Reference holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AO Surgery Reference has 14 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of AO Surgery Reference's written reviews are positive against 0% of The eFACE's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AO Surgery Reference ships an update every 6 months, The eFACE every 55 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
AO Surgery Reference versus The eFACE: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAO Surgery ReferenceThe eFACE
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating4.4 (14 ratings) — better2.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews85.8% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 months — betterEvery 55 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB25 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperAO FoundationMassachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Customer experience

AO Surgery Reference

All ratings14 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews113 reviews
Positive85.8%
Neutral3.5%
Negative10.6%

The eFACE

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

AO Surgery Reference

No in-app purchases

None

The eFACE

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AO Surgery Reference free?
AO Surgery Reference is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The eFACE free?
The eFACE costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AO Surgery Reference or The eFACE?
AO Surgery Reference is rated higher. AO Surgery Reference averages 4.4 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while The eFACE averages 2.0 from 1 ratings.
Do AO Surgery Reference or The eFACE have ads?
Neither AO Surgery Reference nor The eFACE shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AO Surgery Reference or The eFACE?
AO Surgery Reference ships an update every 6 months, and The eFACE every 55 months. Most recently, AO Surgery Reference was updated on October 7, 2026 and The eFACE on September 30, 2026.

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