Comparison

CPS by CPhA vs The Ottawa Rules

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

Head to head
About

CPS by CPhA

Access essential, evidence-based drug information for healthcare professionals. Choose between drug monographs or full access with therapeutic guidance and tools. Stay updated with critical warnings and advisories.

Highlights
  • Evidence-based drug monographs
  • Therapeutic information
  • Non-prescription therapy guidance
  • Drug tables and algorithms
  • Medical calculators
  • Critical updates and warnings
Features
Read full description

CPS (formerly RxTx) has a new appearance. CPS is still the reliable, evidence-based drug resource it has always been and provides essential drug information at the point-of-care for health care practitioners. Now offering two subscription options – CPS Drug Information or CPS Full Access. CPS Drug Information is the Canadian standard for drug monographs, containing thousands of products including monographs for drugs, vaccines, natural health products and medical devices, approved by Health Canada. CPS Full Access includes all content from CPS Drug Information and the most current, evidence-based therapeutic information and non-prescription therapy for most common conditions, with cross-referenced drug tables and algorithms and DC condition-based drug tables. Both subscriptions types provide critical updates such as warnings and advisories; and useful tools such as medical calculators.

About

The Ottawa Rules

This app provides accessible clinical decision rules developed by researchers to help healthcare professionals make informed choices. It aims to reduce unnecessary diagnostic imaging and emergency room wait times, improving patient comfort and healthcare costs.

Highlights
  • Accessible clinical decision rules
  • Reduces unnecessary imaging
  • Decreases ER wait times
  • Enhances patient comfort
  • Lowers healthcare costs
Features
Read full description

The Ottawa Rules are a set of clinical decision rules developed by Dr. Ian Stiell and his research team at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa. The rules have been demonstrated to decrease unnecessary diagnostic imaging and emergency room wait times which enhances patient comfort and reduces health care costs. This app was developed to make the rules more accessible. This study aims to evaluate whether the usability of the app is related to the modality used and to evaluate whether it has any impact on diagnostic imaging rates.

Screenshots

CPS by CPhA4 screens
The Ottawa Rules3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: The Ottawa Rules at 100% against CPS by CPhA's 13%. The Ottawa Rules also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.0) and monetization model (free vs subscription). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Ottawa Rules holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 13% of CPS by CPhA's written reviews are positive against 100% of The Ottawa Rules's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CPS by CPhA ships an update every 4 months, The Ottawa Rules every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
CPS by CPhA versus The Ottawa Rules: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCPS by CPhAThe Ottawa Rules
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews13.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.29.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size177 MB155 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperCanadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA)Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Customer experience

CPS by CPhA

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews61 reviews
Positive13.1%
Neutral6.6%
Negative80.3%

The Ottawa Rules

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

CPS by CPhA

No in-app purchases

None

The Ottawa Rules

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CPS by CPhA free?
CPS by CPhA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Ottawa Rules free?
The Ottawa Rules is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CPS by CPhA or The Ottawa Rules?
The Ottawa Rules is rated higher. CPS by CPhA averages 1.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while The Ottawa Rules averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do CPS by CPhA or The Ottawa Rules have ads?
Neither CPS by CPhA nor The Ottawa Rules shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CPS by CPhA or The Ottawa Rules?
CPS by CPhA ships an update every 4 months, and The Ottawa Rules every 2 months. Most recently, CPS by CPhA was updated on October 17, 2026 and The Ottawa Rules on October 9, 2026.

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