AO Surgery Reference vs DynaMed
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.
DynaMed
This tool provides clinicians with efficient, evidence-based patient care guidance. It offers timely analysis and synthesis of medical literature, updated daily by medical professionals. Mobile access ensures continuous work with syncing between desktop and mobile devices.
- Evidence-based patient care guidance
- Daily medical literature review
- Objective analysis and synthesis
- Physician-authored content
- Mobile access with syncing
- On-the-go clinical support
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DynaMed is a trusted, evidence-based clinical decision support tool designed by clinicians, for clinicians, to help make faster, more informed decisions at the point of care. Rigorous daily review of medical literature by our editorial team of expert physicians and methodologists ensures timely and objective analysis, synthesis, and guidance are always at your fingertips. Now available with Dyna AI* for faster, trusted answers to your clinical queries. Dyna AI synthesizes DynaMed content into actionable, concise responses with full transparency into source references. What You Can Do with DynaMed • Access clinically relevant answers at the point of care. • Review evidence and expert interpretation with clear transparency. • Stay current with daily updates based on ongoing literature surveillance. • Access content seamlessly across mobile and desktop experiences. • Use content online or offline. Who Can Use This App: This app is designed for physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, pharmacists, trainees, and other healthcare professionals with access to DynaMed through their institution. Why Clinicians Choose DynaMed: DynaMed helps clinicians make informed decisions with confidence by delivering trusted evidence, expert analysis, and practical guidance wherever care happens. *Dyna AI availability is dependent on your subscription and access level.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: DynaMed at 4.9 against AO Surgery Reference's 4.4. DynaMed also leads on ratings volume (3.5K vs 14) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 6 months). AO Surgery Reference's advantage is review sentiment (86% vs 56%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
DynaMed holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DynaMed has 3.5K ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 86% of AO Surgery Reference's written reviews are positive against 56% of DynaMed's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
AO Surgery Reference ships an update every 6 months, DynaMed every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AO Surgery Reference | DynaMed |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (14 ratings) | 4.9 (3.5K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.8% of reviews — better | 55.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 3.5K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | AO Foundation | EBSCO Publishing |
Customer experience
AO Surgery Reference
DynaMed
Bugs and requests
AO Surgery Reference
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
DynaMed
Reported bugs
5 issues- App crashes on iOS 14 update
- Downloading content gets stuck in loop
- Search function not working properly
- Frequent login issues
- App not opening on some devices
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Improved search functionality
- Better organization of content
- More patient education resources
- Smoother offline access and content management
In-app purchases
AO Surgery Reference
No in-app purchases
DynaMed
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is AO Surgery Reference free?
Is DynaMed free?
Which has better reviews, AO Surgery Reference or DynaMed?
Do AO Surgery Reference or DynaMed have ads?
Which is updated more often, AO Surgery Reference or DynaMed?
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