APLS Australia vs AHA PALS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
APLS Australia
Provides paediatric emergency algorithms for medical professionals in acute care. Features flowcharts for various emergencies, updated for current guidelines. Also offers information on courses and conferences.
- Paediatric emergency algorithms
- Easy reference flowcharts
- Cardiac arrest management
- Anaphylaxis management
- Newborn life support
- Course information
- Conference details
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This app contains paediatric emergency algorithms produced by Advanced Paediatric Life Support, Australia, for medical professionals working in acute care in Australia. Flowcharts are in easy reference format for a wide range of paediatric emergencies, including: • Paediatric Basic Life Support • Advanced Life Support • Cardiac Arrest Management • The Choking Child • Anaphylaxis Management • Bradycardia Management • SVT (Supra-Ventricular Tachycardia) Management • VT (Ventricular Tachycardia) Management • Management of Coma • Status Epilepticus Management • Spinal Imaging, Referral and Clearance • Intubation Checklist • Failed Intubation Checklist • Hyperkalaemia Management • Blood and Fluid Therapy in Trauma • Structured Approach to Emergency Paediatrics • Newborn Life Support - Australian / New Zealand Resuscitation Council These algorithms form part of the three day APLS course, regarded as the international gold standard in paediatric emergency training. They are intended for use by trained medical professionals who have completed a full APLS course in Australia or New Zealand only. Fully updated for 2026 for consistency with current APLS course content, the 7th edition of 'Advanced Paediatric Life Support: A Practical Approach to Emergencies (Australia & New Zealand)' and the latest international consensus guidelines. Elsewhere in the app, discover more about the APLS course and APLS Australia, watch sessions from past Paediatric Acute Care Conferences and find upcoming courses near you.
AHA PALS
This app provides pediatric advanced life support (PALS) protocols and tools for healthcare professionals at the point-of-care. Developed by physicians and vetted by the American Heart Association, it offers intuitive access to algorithms, drug information, and timers for critical care situations.
- PALS pathways and algorithms
- Drug therapy and dosing
- CPR and intervention timers
- Metronome for compression accuracy
- Critical care references
- Vetted by AHA and physicians
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We continue to iterate based on real-time clinician feedback so that you will have the best experience providing life-saving care at the bedside. The AHA PALS app was developed by Harvard-trained physicians, in collaboration with the American Heart Association (AHA), to help fellow physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and emergency medical technicians (EMT) deliver the highest level of pediatric advanced life support (PALS) at the point-of-care. This project was inspired by the tremendous success of our AHA ACLS app, which has thousands of clinician users in over 180 countries. Importantly, real-time feedback from our clinician users continuously drives improvements in app design, features, and function. AHA PALS is the only app to have all content vetted by both the American Heart Association (AHA) science team (with license to use PALS content) and practicing Harvard-affiliated physicians. We owe it to our patients to use the best digital health tools to give them the highest chance of surviving acute life-threatening illnesses. To this end, we have developed an intuitive and rigorously vetted mobile app to assist healthcare clinicians—at any stage of training—navigate PALS at the bedside. You can purchase a yearly subscription which begins with a 3-day free trial. After completing the free trial, you will be charged for an annual subscription automatically. Features: - Intuitive design to rapidly access PALS pathways (i.e. cardiac arrest , tachycardia with pulse, bradycardia with pulse, post cardiac arrest care, and critical care references) - Includes all PALS content including drug therapy and dosing, reversible causes, etc. - Easy-to-read timers and ability to log rounds of CPR, epinephrine, and defibrillations. There are additional functionalities to log PALS Cardiac Arrest interventions beyond EPI, CPR , and shocks such as lidocaine and more. - We also added a new metronome feature to improve compression accuracy as well as a ROSC button. - Button within cardiac arrest algorithm that allows for rapid transition to post cardiac arrest care checklist once patient achieves ROSC - Relevant critical care references: (1) drugs used in PALS (i.e., medication names, indications, and doses); (2) vital signs in children; (3) pediatric color-coded length-based resuscitation tape (adapted from Breslow tape) ; (4) pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale - All content rigorously vetted by AHA science team and practicing Harvard-affiliated physicians - Regularly updated with the most up-to-date PALS content
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: AHA PALS at 4.5 against APLS Australia's 3.0. AHA PALS also leads on review sentiment (55% vs 20%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 11 months). APLS Australia's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). 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. AHA PALS sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per year. APLS Australia asks for nothing beyond the download.
AHA PALS holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AHA PALS has 53 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of APLS Australia's written reviews are positive against 55% of AHA PALS's.
APLS Australia ships an update every 11 months, AHA PALS every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | APLS Australia | AHA PALS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) | 4.5 (53 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 20.0% of reviews | 54.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 53 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | — | #196 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 72 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Advanced Paediatric Life Support, Australia | Massachusetts General Hospital |
Customer experience
APLS Australia
AHA PALS
In-app purchases
APLS Australia
No in-app purchases
AHA PALS
- PALS3 Days trial$3.991 Year









