# Prime vs MDPhD

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Prime at none against MDPhD's 2. Prime also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 50%) and ratings volume (694 vs 1). MDPhD's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. MDPhD sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Prime asks for nothing beyond the download.

MDPhD holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Prime has 694 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 84% of Prime's written reviews are positive against 50% of MDPhD's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Prime ships an update every 4 months, MDPhD every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Prime | MDPhD |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.8 (694 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/prime-pubmed-journals-and-tools/id554157746/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mdphd/id1230915825/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **694** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | **83.8% of reviews** | 50.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Every 3 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Size | 9 MB | 15 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **14.1** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Unbound Medicine, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/300420400) | [MIFISI Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1230915824) |

## What reviewers say

### Prime

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/prime-pubmed-journals-and-tools/id554157746)

Access up-to-date journal citations and abstracts from the complete PubMed database. Perform powerful searches, link to full-text articles, and utilize exclusive tools for visual exploration of research relationships and personalized discovery.

**Highlights:** PubMed database access, Keyword, author, journal search, Link to full-text articles, Bookmark and tag articles, Share articles via multiple platforms, Grapherence visual search, Personalized article feed

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great app for resources and information
- 🚀 Quick and easy access to PubMed database
- 🔍 Useful for research and staying up-to-date
- 💡 Helpful grapherence feature to track citations
- 👍 User-friendly interface and workflow

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or glitches
- 📱 Limited functionality on iPad (no PDF saving/sharing)
- 🔍 Difficulty performing complex searches
- 💾 No way to save or manage PDFs within the app

**Reported bugs**

- Abstracts cut off and unable to scroll
- Crashes on certain devices (iPad 3, iOS 8.4)
- Duplicate papers appearing in reading lists

**Requested features**

- Ability to open PDFs in external apps
- Option to delete irrelevant items from saved lists
- Faster article loading times
- Integration with Dropbox or other cloud storage
- Advanced search functionality (e.g., author + abstract)


### MDPhD

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mdphd/id1230915825)

This app summarizes clinical abstracts from PubMed, providing key evidence-based medicine insights. It helps health professionals make smarter decisions and improve patient care faster through data visualizations and personalized feeds. Unlock collaborative features for institutions to integrate EBM into workflows.

**Highlights:** Clinical abstract summarization, Evidence-based medicine insights, Data visualizations, Personalized journal feed, Semantic search engine, Team collaboration features

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| App access | $9.99 | per month |
| Full App Access | $99.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Prime free?

Prime is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is MDPhD free?

MDPhD is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Prime or MDPhD?

MDPhD is rated higher. Prime averages 4.8 out of 5 from 694 ratings, while MDPhD averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do Prime or MDPhD have ads?

Neither Prime nor MDPhD shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Prime or MDPhD?

Prime ships an update every 4 months, and MDPhD every 3 weeks. Most recently, Prime was updated on November 6, 2026 and MDPhD on November 6, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*