Comparison

Drugs.com Medication Guide vs mobilePDR

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

Head to head
About

Drugs.com Medication Guide

Access comprehensive information on over 24,000 medications, including prescription drugs, OTCs, and natural products. Manage your medications, check for interactions, identify pills, and find the lowest prices. Stay informed with FDA alerts and detailed side effect information.

Highlights
  • Medication list with interaction tracking
  • Drug price comparison and pharmacy finder
  • Pill identification by imprint, color, and shape
  • Drug interaction checker
  • Side effects and dosage information
  • FDA alerts and recalls
Features
Read full description

Manage meds, identify pills, check interactions, compare prices and more. Discover detailed, peer-reviewed info on over 24,000 prescription drugs, OTC meds, and natural products all in one place. Key Features - My Med List. Create your health profile and track drug interactions, reminders and alerts, with offline access. - Price Guide. Find the lowest prices for medications and search pharmacies near you. - Pill Identifier. Identify pills by imprint, color and shape to confirm medications with confidence. - Interactions Checker. Check potential interactions between prescription medications, OTC drugs, and supplements. - Q & A. Find answers to thousands of medication-related questions, join support groups or ask a question. - Compare Tool - Compare any medication side-by-side. - Side Effects Checker - Access detailed side effect information for thousands of prescription and OTC medications, from common mild reactions to rare severe effects. - Dosage Information - Reliable dose guidance. - FDA Alerts - Stay up to date with product recalls, safety alerts, and FDA-related news. - Health Professionals - Tailored tools and information for medical professionals, including FDA monographs. Permissions We request limited permissions to improve your experience: - Network access: Required to connect to our database. - Media/Storage: For installation on your local device only, we never access your personal files. - Your location: Used when you choose to find nearby pharmacies when using the drug discount card. About Drugs.com With over 25 million U.S. monthly visitors, Drugs.com is a Webby-nominated health information platform offering peer-reviewed data on more than 24,000 medications. Whether you're a patient, caregiver, or healthcare professional, the app provides reliable tools to manage and understand medication use. Note: Drugs.com does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Do not rely on this app to replace medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult with your healthcare professional. Support & Subscriptions Please visit: https://www.drugs.com/apps/support/ for support and feedback, if its subscription related, our team will prioritize your request.

About

mobilePDR

Access up-to-date drug prescribing information for healthcare professionals. Quickly search thousands of drug summaries, compare medications, and check for interactions. Identify pills with color photos and imprint codes.

Highlights
  • Concise drug summaries
  • Drug comparison tool
  • Drug interaction checker
  • Pill identification with photos
  • Search by brand, generic, or class
  • Continuous updates
Features
Read full description

mobilePDR® is the OFFICIAL drug information app from PDR®, publisher of Physicians’ Desk Reference® – the most trusted resource for drug prescribing information since 1946. mobilePDR allows healthcare professionals FREE access to the most current drug prescribing information available from PDR. Fast and easy to use, mobilePDR employs a simple, but powerful search tool with access to thousands of concise drug summaries. Users can search by generic, brand or pharmacologic class names. A drug comparison feature helps healthcare providers choose the right medication for their patients based on key drug properties such as indications and side effects, dosing, and more. Know at a glance when there may be a drug interaction. Identify a pill based on its physical characteristics and visually confirm with full-color photos. All therapeutic areas and medical specialties are covered within the PDR drug app, including diabetes drugs, pain drugs, asthma and allergy drugs, cardiovascular drugs, obesity drugs, cholesterol drugs, psychiatric and mental health drugs, pediatric drugs, oncology drugs, vaccines and biologics, and more. Features: - Free to all U.S. healthcare professionals - Simple, powerful search provides fast access to drug information with auto-completion - Personalize your experience by saving drugs that you look up often for quick access - Search by brand, generic or pharmacologic class names - Access concise drug summaries and dosing information to answer important prescribing questions - Drug information is updated continuously with the latest information - Covers thousands of drugs in active use - Swipe left-right to compare key drug characteristics such as dosing, indications, and side effects - Save drug comparisons to refer to them again later - Check for drug interactions and learn what drug combinations to avoid - Identify pills by tablet imprint codes, shape or drug color, complete with color pill images Requirements: - Registration is free, and required the first time you use the mobilePDR app - mobilePDR is intended for use by U.S. healthcare professionals

Screenshots

Drugs.com Medication Guide4 screens
mobilePDR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Drugs.com Medication Guide at 87% against mobilePDR's 32%. Drugs.com Medication Guide also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.2) and ratings volume (16K vs 101). mobilePDR's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence 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. Drugs.com Medication Guide sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. mobilePDR asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drugs.com Medication Guide holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drugs.com Medication Guide has 16K ratings behind it against 101, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Drugs.com Medication Guide's written reviews are positive against 32% of mobilePDR's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drugs.com Medication Guide ships an update every 5 weeks, mobilePDR every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Drugs.com Medication Guide versus mobilePDR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrugs.com Medication GuidemobilePDR
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (16K ratings) — better3.2 (101 ratings)
Positive reviews87.0% of reviews — better31.7% of reviews
Number of ratings16K — better101
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.19.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB112 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperDrugs.comPDR Equity, LLC

Customer experience

Drugs.com Medication Guide

All ratings16,477 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.3%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews392 reviews
Positive87.0%
Neutral3.8%
Negative9.2%

mobilePDR

All ratings101 ratings
Positive51.5%
Neutral11.9%
Negative36.6%
Written reviews60 reviews
Positive31.7%
Neutral13.3%
Negative55.0%

User reviews

Drugs.com Medication Guide

From 16K App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Excellent app
  • 🚀 Very useful and informative
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 📚 Comprehensive drug information
  • 🔍 Helpful pill identifier

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
  • 💰 Ads or paid features
  • 🌍 Limited support for non-US medications

mobilePDR

From 101 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great information resource
  • 👍 Useful for medical professionals
  • 👍 Detailed drug information
  • 👍 No subscriptions needed
  • 👍 Quick and accurate descriptions

Room to improve

  • ⚫ Unreadable in dark mode
  • ⚫ Dark text on black background
  • ⚫ Poor contrast issues
  • 🐛 Buggy at times
  • 🐛 App crashes frequently

Bugs and requests

Drugs.com Medication Guide

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Registration process issues
  • Inconsistent search results

Requested features

3 requests
  • Ability to easily add/remove medications
  • More detailed medication profiles
  • Improved international drug coverage

mobilePDR

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Text unreadable in dark mode
  • Black text on black background
  • App crashes during comparison
  • App crashes on launch
  • Login errors
Show 4 more
  • Drug identification incorrect
  • Cannot read description after upgrade
  • App not communicating with password manager
  • Random black background behind text

Requested features

9 requests
  • Add dark mode option
  • Improve readability in dark mode
  • Allow landscape orientation
  • Fix drug identification errors
  • Add DEA/drug scheduling tab
Show 4 more
  • Add related drugs tab
  • Improve drug comparison tool
  • Add favorite drugs tab
  • Add flashcard feature

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Drugs.com Medication Guide

One-time2
  • Remove ads for 3 months$1.99
  • Remove ads for 1 year$4.99
None

mobilePDR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drugs.com Medication Guide free?
Drugs.com Medication Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is mobilePDR free?
mobilePDR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drugs.com Medication Guide or mobilePDR?
Drugs.com Medication Guide is rated higher. Drugs.com Medication Guide averages 4.8 out of 5 from 16K ratings, while mobilePDR averages 3.2 from 101 ratings.
Do Drugs.com Medication Guide or mobilePDR have ads?
Drugs.com Medication Guide shows ads; mobilePDR does not.
Which is updated more often, Drugs.com Medication Guide or mobilePDR?
Drugs.com Medication Guide ships an update every 5 weeks, and mobilePDR every 2 months. Most recently, Drugs.com Medication Guide was updated on October 19, 2026 and mobilePDR on October 14, 2026.

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