AO Surgery Reference vs OrthoGuidelines
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 353 fracture types covered
- 172 surgical approaches
- 1222 surgical procedures
- Over 30,000 illustrations
- Feline, canine, and equine fracture care
- Powerful search function
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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.
OrthoGuidelines
Access evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and appropriate use criteria for orthopaedic diseases. Navigate recommendations by specialty, keyword, or stage of care for quick comprehension and clinical decision-making at the point of care.
- Clinical practice guidelines
- Appropriate use criteria
- Navigation by disease, specialty, keyword
- Evidence-based recommendations
- Point-of-care decision support
- Single keyword search
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OrthoGuidelines is the home for AAOS quality products, such as clinical practice guidelines and appropriate use criteria. Users can navigate all guideline recommendations by orthopaedic disease, specialty, keyword, strength of evidence, and/or stage of care. The platform has been laid out with concise guideline and recommendation topics to aide in quick navigation, comprehension, and clinical use. Users can also search all AAOS recommendations, rationales, and appropriate use criteria with a single keyword search. The app provides evidence-based recommendations at the point of care to assist clinicians with clinical decision-making and clinician-patient discussions.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: OrthoGuidelines at 4.9 against AO Surgery Reference's 4.4. OrthoGuidelines also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 86%). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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.
OrthoGuidelines holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 10 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of AO Surgery Reference's written reviews are positive against 100% of OrthoGuidelines's.
AO Surgery Reference ships an update every 6 months, OrthoGuidelines every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AO Surgery Reference | OrthoGuidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (14 ratings) | 4.9 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | AO Foundation | American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Mobile |
Customer experience
AO Surgery Reference
OrthoGuidelines
In-app purchases
AO Surgery Reference
No in-app purchases
OrthoGuidelines
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is AO Surgery Reference free?
Is OrthoGuidelines free?
Which has better reviews, AO Surgery Reference or OrthoGuidelines?
Do AO Surgery Reference or OrthoGuidelines have ads?
Which is updated more often, AO Surgery Reference or OrthoGuidelines?
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