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.
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.
- Evidence-based drug monographs
- Therapeutic information
- Non-prescription therapy guidance
- Drug tables and algorithms
- Medical calculators
- Critical updates and warnings
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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.
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.
- Accessible clinical decision rules
- Reduces unnecessary imaging
- Decreases ER wait times
- Enhances patient comfort
- Lowers healthcare costs
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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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
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.
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.
| Parameter | CPS by CPhA | The Ottawa Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 13.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.2 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 177 MB | 155 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) | Ottawa Hospital Research Institute |
Customer experience
CPS by CPhA
The Ottawa Rules
In-app purchases
CPS by CPhA
No in-app purchases
The Ottawa Rules
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is CPS by CPhA free?
Is The Ottawa Rules free?
Which has better reviews, CPS by CPhA or The Ottawa Rules?
Do CPS by CPhA or The Ottawa Rules have ads?
Which is updated more often, CPS by CPhA or The Ottawa Rules?
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