Harriet Lane Handbook vs PREP Self
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Harriet Lane Handbook
This comprehensive pediatric resource offers an updated drug formulary, disease information, and management guidelines. It includes integrated calculators, visual exploration of medical literature, and the ability to bookmark favorite entries for quick access.
- Updated pediatric drug formulary
- Hundreds of pediatric conditions
- Integrated dosage calculators
- Prime PubMed search
- Management recommendations & immunization schedules
- Highlighting and note-taking
- Visual exploration of medical literature
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** Your Go-To Pediatric Resource with Updated Drug Formulary ** **Exclusive Unbound Medicine bonus features include Prime PubMed and integrated calculators** HARRIET LANE HANDBOOK Written by pediatric residents from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Harriet Lane Handbook is the authoritative resource for interns, residents, and practitioners. Download this resource to review disease information or search figures, algorithms, tables, and charts. Check medication details in the new, fully-updated drug formulary which provides the standard in pediatric care. Quickly confirm diagnoses across a wide range of pediatric conditions and consult the most recent management recommendations, immunization schedules, procedures, and therapeutic guidelines specific to children. FEATURES • Updated details on hundreds of pediatric conditions in concise outline format. • Integrated dosage calculators • Renowned pediatric drug formulary with dosing, side effects, interactions, special considerations, and more • Hard to find images, charts, algorithms, and tables • Management recommendations, immunization schedules, and therapeutic guidelines • Coverage of dermatology treatments, eczema complications, and lead poisoning • Advanced search helps you find information quickly • Ability to highlight and make notes within any topic • Reference links to the medical literature through Prime PubMed • “Favorites” for bookmarking important entries Prime PubMed Search Quickly search journal articles from the full PubMed database on your smartphone and tablet. Results contain abstracts, citations, and links to available full text articles that can be read on device and shared with classmates and colleagues. Additionally, Prime contains Grapherence™, an exclusive way to visually explore interrelationships and relevance in the medical literature. Prime PubMed Journals Select and follow your favorite journals. Receive instant alerts when new articles publish. Editors: Camille C. Anderson, MD, Sunaina Kapoor, MD, MPH and Tiffany E Mark, MD Formulary updated by updated by Carlton K. K. Lee, PharmD, MPH Publisher: Elsevier Powered by: Unbound Medicine UPGRADE OPTION Add Davis’s Drug Guide to your Harriet Lane Handbook app. After purchase, you can easily add a 1-year subscription of the best-selling drug database trusted by thousands of healthcare professionals. Davis’s Drug Guide delivers frequently updated information on over 5,000 trade name and generic drugs. Each monograph, with its focus on safety, includes details on pharmacokinetics, dosing, side effects, interactions, assessment, and more. Your Davis’s Drug Guide subscription automatically renews annually unless auto-renew is turned off 24 hours prior to the conclusion of your current period. If you choose not to renew, you will continue to have access to the content, but will no longer receive updates. Your iTunes account will automatically be charged the current renewal rate ($39.99) within 24 hours prior to the end of the subscription period. This will ensure you receive all updates for the following year. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Unbound Privacy Policy: www.unboundmedicine.com/privacy Unbound Terms of Use: https://www.unboundmedicine.com/end_user_license_agreement
PREP Self
Access trusted pediatric learning content through a new mobile app. Build a personalized question bank by selecting blocks from various content areas to fit your learning style and schedule. Earn CME credits and MOC points with each block.
- Trusted PREP content
- Customizable question bank
- Case-based questions
- Earn CME credits
- Earn MOC points
- Modern user interface
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Trusted PREP® Content, New Mobile App! For nearly 45 years, the PREP Self-Assessment Program has been a trusted source for pediatric learning and professional growth. Now, we're reimagining the experience. Meet PREP Blocks: A new, customizable way to access the same trusted PREP questions you know and value, designed to fit your learning style, pace, and schedule. • Enjoy a modern, user-friendly interface with a long-awaited mobile app and new desktop experience • Build a Question Bank by selecting blocks from content areas that match your goals • 20 case-based questions per block • Earn up to 4 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ and 4 MOC Part 2 Points with each block
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Harriet Lane Handbook at 4.8 against PREP Self's 3.7. Harriet Lane Handbook also leads on ratings volume (601 vs 9). PREP Self's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (daily vs every 7 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Harriet Lane Handbook sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $39.99 per year. PREP Self asks for nothing beyond the download.
Harriet Lane Handbook holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Harriet Lane Handbook has 601 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 57% of Harriet Lane Handbook's written reviews are positive against 67% of PREP Self's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Harriet Lane Handbook ships an update every 7 months, PREP Self daily. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Harriet Lane Handbook | PREP Self |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (601 ratings) — better | 3.7 (9 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 57.1% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 601 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Unbound Medicine, Inc. | American Academy of Pediatrics |
Customer experience
Harriet Lane Handbook
PREP Self
Bugs and requests
Harriet Lane Handbook
Reported bugs
11 issues- App won't open after iOS 11 update
- Content inaccessible without wifi
- Resolution fuzzy and ugly
- Content orientation bizarre
- Cannot open content
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- Poorly formatted on iPhone
- Tables and figures difficult to read
- Search functionality awful
- Doesn't fit entire screen on iPhone 5
- Some diseases missing
- Some fluxograms difficult to read
Requested features
4 requests- Sliders for ped dose calc
- More search power for simpler terms
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
PREP Self
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Harriet Lane Handbook
- Davis's Drug Guide$39.991 Year
- Harriet Lane 23rd edition$59.99
PREP Self
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Harriet Lane Handbook free?
Is PREP Self free?
Which has better reviews, Harriet Lane Handbook or PREP Self?
Do Harriet Lane Handbook or PREP Self have ads?
Which is updated more often, Harriet Lane Handbook or PREP Self?
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