AO Surgery Reference vs MedOne
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.
MedOne
Access comprehensive medical content from Thieme, including neurosurgery, radiology, and plastic surgery. View e-books and e-journals online or offline on your mobile device.
- Access Thieme's award-winning content
- Multiple medical specialties
- Offline and online access
- View e-books and e-journals
- Mobile viewing on iPhone/iPad
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Combining expert information with stunning visuals and video, MedOne provides access to Thieme’s award-winning content across multiple specialties including neurosurgery, radiology, plastic surgery and medical education. The companion MedOne app allows access to your MedOne content, which can be viewed in offline or online access mode. Easily load your e-books and e-journals on your iPhone or iPad and read when and where you want. The MedOne app is free to download, however a MedOne profile associated with an institutional subscription or individual purchase is required to login and access the content.
Screenshots
Verdict
AO Surgery Reference and MedOne both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 86% of AO Surgery Reference's written reviews are positive against 22% of MedOne's. AO Surgery Reference also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). MedOne's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (135 vs 14). On price, rating, 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for AO Surgery Reference against 4.5 for MedOne. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MedOne has 135 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of AO Surgery Reference's written reviews are positive against 22% of MedOne's.
AO Surgery Reference ships an update every 6 months, MedOne every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and July 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AO Surgery Reference | MedOne |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (14 ratings) | 4.5 (135 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.8% of reviews — better | 22.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 135 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | AO Foundation | Thieme Publishers |
Customer experience
AO Surgery Reference
MedOne
In-app purchases
AO Surgery Reference
No in-app purchases
MedOne
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is AO Surgery Reference free?
Is MedOne free?
Which has better reviews, AO Surgery Reference or MedOne?
Do AO Surgery Reference or MedOne have ads?
Which is updated more often, AO Surgery Reference or MedOne?
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