Comparison

Read by QxMD vs MDmind

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

Head to head
About

Read by QxMD

Access and organize the latest medical research and topic reviews in a personalized digital journal. Stay updated with new scientific findings and easily retrieve full-text PDFs from PubMed and other sources.

Highlights
  • Personalized digital medical journal
  • Access latest medical research
  • Read topic reviews
  • Search PubMed
  • Full-text PDF access
  • Organize article collection
Features
Read full description

'Read by QxMD' provides a single place to keep up with new medical & scientific research, read outstanding topic reviews and search PubMed. This iPhone & iPad app provides a simple interface that drives discovery and seamless access to the medical literature by reformatting it into a personalized digital journal. Praise for Read: 5 stars: "Stellar. The future of medical literature review... This could be the best application to stay up-to-date in medicine since, well, UpToDate." - User Review 4¾ stars: "The Flipboard for medical journals has arrived" and among "...the most innovative medical apps" - iMedicalApps.com On Apple's 'What's Hot' list in >60 countries, as well as Medical Essentials & Apps for Healthcare Professionals. Featured in Apple iBook: "iOS in Healthcare: Revolutionizing Healthcare Productivity"   Features: - Get full text PDFs with one tap - Keep up with the latest new research that will impact your practice - Browse through 1000s of outstanding topic reviews - Search millions of articles from PubMed and our database of outstanding topic reviews - Read your favorite journals or browse article collections. - Access full text through your university/institutional subscription or via open access publishers - Share articles with colleagues over email, Twitter and Facebook - Organize and review your personal collection of articles Why did we build 'Read by QxMD'? Health care professionals need to stay up to date on the latest medical research and topic reviews to provide optimal care. Unfortunately, the process of content discovery is broken with research artificially compartmentalized by publishers and hidden behind countless institutional pay walls. At QxMD, we believe that knowledge translation– the process by which new knowledge is incorporated into clinical practice – is an important and unsolved challenge for our health care system. We hope that ‘Read by QxMD’ will be a part of the solution. Seamless 1-tap access available at thousands of institutions. Sources: From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Founded by medical professionals, QxMD is dedicated to creating high quality point-of-care tools for practicing health care professionals.

About

MDmind

An AI-powered medical companion for physicians and students. Discuss cases, explore differentials, and get evidence-based answers with literature support. It also allows on-demand literature searches and document uploads for enhanced clinical reasoning.

Highlights
  • AI-powered clinical reasoning
  • Discuss clinical cases
  • Evidence-based answers
  • On-demand literature search
  • Document and image upload
  • Audio-to-text dictation
Features
Read full description

MDmind is an AI-powered education and clinical reasoning companion for physicians and medical students. Discuss cases, explore differentials and management options, and get structured answers backed by a targeted literature search. You can also request an on-demand search on any topic. MDmind supports your thinking—it doesn’t replace professional judgment. It does not provide medical diagnosis or emergency guidance. Use MDmind to: Discuss clinical cases (symptoms → differentials → workup → management). Get evidence-informed answers aligned with medical literature and guidelines. Request an on-demand literature search with concise takeaways. Upload documents (PDF/text) and add images for extra context. Dictate questions with audio-to-text.

Screenshots

Read by QxMD4 screens
MDmind3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: MDmind at none against Read by QxMD's shown. MDmind also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). Read by QxMD's advantage is ratings volume (6K vs 1). On price, rating, in-app purchases and device support 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

MDmind holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Read by QxMD has 6K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Read by QxMD's written reviews are positive against 100% of MDmind's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Read by QxMD ships an update monthly, MDmind weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Read by QxMD versus MDmind: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRead by QxMDMDmind
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (6K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews89.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6K — better1
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size205 MB42 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperWebMDTiago Costa Carnin

Customer experience

Read by QxMD

All ratings6,040 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews889 reviews
Positive89.0%
Neutral3.0%
Negative8.0%

MDmind

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Read by QxMD

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Login and authentication problems
  • Inconsistent app performance after updates
  • Inability to access full-text articles
  • Syncing issues between devices
  • Unreliable article refresh functionality

Requested features

6 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to annotate and highlight PDFs
  • Improved article organization and collections
  • Integration with reference managers (e.g. Zotero, Mendeley)
  • Enhanced search and filtering capabilities
Show 1 more
  • Offline access to saved articles

MDmind

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Read by QxMD

No in-app purchases

None

MDmind

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Read by QxMD free?
Read by QxMD is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MDmind free?
MDmind is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Read by QxMD or MDmind?
MDmind is rated higher. Read by QxMD averages 4.8 out of 5 from 6K ratings, while MDmind averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Read by QxMD or MDmind have ads?
Read by QxMD shows ads; MDmind does not.
Which is updated more often, Read by QxMD or MDmind?
Read by QxMD ships an update monthly, and MDmind weekly. Most recently, Read by QxMD was updated on October 21, 2026 and MDmind on October 14, 2026.

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