ARF RHD Guidelines vs ESC Pocket Guidelines
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ARF RHD Guidelines
This app provides clinicians with up-to-date evidence and guidance for diagnosing and managing acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. It includes a diagnostic calculator based on global criteria to simplify complex algorithms.
- Diagnosis and management of ARF/RHD
- Up-to-date evidence-based information
- ARF Diagnosis Calculator
- Global diagnostic criteria compliance
- Published by RHDAustralia
Read full descriptionHide full description
Rheumatic heart disease represents the greatest cardiovascular inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. From 2013 to 2017, 94% of all new rheumatic heart disease cases were among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This app assists clinicians in the diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Published by RHDAustralia, based at Menzies School of Health Research, the app contains the most up-to-date evidence and details various aspects of patient care. It is informed by the 2020 Australian guideline for prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (3rd edition), available at https://www.rhdaustralia.org.au/arf-rhd-guideline. The app also contains an ARF Diagnosis Calculator which embeds the lengthy and complex ARF diagnosis algorithms into a series of simple questions that assist clinicians to diagnose ARF. The algorithms comply with the 2015 American Heart Association revision of the Jones Criteria for diagnosis of ARF, which has been endorsed by the World Heart Federation, making the Diagnosis Calculator now able to be used globally.
ESC Pocket Guidelines
Access a comprehensive library of the latest cardiovascular disease guidelines and consensus statements from the European Society of Cardiology. Features include interactive algorithms, full-text search, bookmarking, note-taking, and content sharing capabilities for quick reference and study.
- Latest ESC Guidelines (2023-2025)
- Interactive algorithms
- Full-text search
- Bookmarking and notes
- Content sharing
- Printable pages
Read full descriptionHide full description
The ESC Pocket Guidelines app now contains the following ESC Pocket Guidelines: ESC Guidelines and documents published in 2025 Cardiovascular disease and pregnancy (Guidelines) Mental health and cardiovascular disease (Consensus Statement) Myocarditis and pericarditis (Guidelines) Valvular heart disease (Joint Guidelines with EACTS) Focused update of the 2019 dyslipidaemias guidelines ESC Guidelines published in 2024 Elevated blood pressure and hypertension Atrial fibrillation Chronic coronary syndromes Peripheral arterial and aortic diseases ESC Guidelines and documents published in 2023 Acute coronary syndromes Cardiomyopathies Cardiovascular disease in diabetes Endocarditis Focused update of the 2021 heart failure guidelines The ESC Pocket Guidelines app also contains interactive tools in the form of algorithms. Additional features: Perform „full text", „index" or „filtered" searches through the entire downloaded content of the app, bookmarks and the notes. Bookmark specific sections or create a personal note and access bookmarks and notes from the „Library“ section. Share links to specific areas of the app via communication channels, e.g. AirDrop, Mail, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and many others. Print pages. Please follow the link below to register for a new MyESC account: https://escol.escardio.org/MyESC/login.aspx
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ARF RHD Guidelines at 100% against ESC Pocket Guidelines's 51%. ARF RHD Guidelines also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). ESC Pocket Guidelines's advantage is ratings volume (841 vs 1) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 16 months). 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.
ARF RHD Guidelines holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ESC Pocket Guidelines has 841 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of ARF RHD Guidelines's written reviews are positive against 51% of ESC Pocket Guidelines's.
ARF RHD Guidelines ships an update every 16 months, ESC Pocket Guidelines every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ARF RHD Guidelines | ESC Pocket Guidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.8 (841 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 50.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 841 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 16 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Menzies School of Health Research | ESC - European Society of Cardiology |
Customer experience
ARF RHD Guidelines
ESC Pocket Guidelines
Bugs and requests
ARF RHD Guidelines
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
ESC Pocket Guidelines
Reported bugs
8 issues- App crashes on iPad and iPhone devices
- Login authentication failures
- White blank page display
- App crashes when opening pathways
- Guidelines not appearing in downloaded folder
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- App incompatible with older iOS versions
- Slow and sluggish performance
- Full screen not supported on iPad Mini 6
Requested features
5 requests- Update to support iPad Mini 6 resolution
- Include 2023 ESC Congress updates
- Remove or make sign-in optional
- Improve font size and design for better readability
- Add new guidelines (e.g., 2013 stable angina guidelines)
In-app purchases
ARF RHD Guidelines
No in-app purchases
ESC Pocket Guidelines
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ARF RHD Guidelines free?
Is ESC Pocket Guidelines free?
Which has better reviews, ARF RHD Guidelines or ESC Pocket Guidelines?
Do ARF RHD Guidelines or ESC Pocket Guidelines have ads?
Which is updated more often, ARF RHD Guidelines or ESC Pocket Guidelines?
Other comparisons















