Comparison

ICNS vs PubMed Hub

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

Head to head
About

ICNS

Features
Read full description

Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience (ICNS) is a peer-reviewed, electronic publication that has become an important addition to the field of neuroscience. Under the expert editorial leadership of Amir Kalali, MD, ICNS provides evidence-based information in a practical, easy-to-read format for practicing clinicians, investigators, industry scientists, and other entities involved in the field of neuroscience. ICNS translates the vast amounts of CNS research into applicable information that aims to inform practicing clinicians on the latest treatment options in psychiatry and neurology, as well as investigators and scientists on the latest innovations in the drug development arena. ICNS offers its readers original research, practical discussions on the latest research, comprehensive reviews, brief reports on important, but limited data, didactic case reports, and provocative commentaries on contemporary topics in neuroscience. Articles are—written by key opinion leaders as well as practicing clinicians who are “in the trenches, —providing vital balance to the research-rich literature that is already available. ICNS is published by Matrix Medical Communications in West Chester, Penn., USA, and is indexed on PubMed Central, PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Scopus, and EMBASE.

About

PubMed Hub

Access and search a vast database of scientific research articles. Discover new studies, view author information, and access full text or publisher links. Features include article sharing, impact factor information, and PDF downloads.

Highlights
  • Comprehensive scientific article search
  • Author and abstract details
  • Full-text availability and publisher redirection
  • Journal impact factor display
  • PDF download and reading
  • Article sharing and social media integration
  • Total impact factor and citation counts
Features
Read full description

PubMed Hub makes biomedical research fast to find, easy to read and simple to keep. Search PubMed in seconds, spot retracted papers before you cite them, and keep your library in sync across iPhone, iPad and Mac. SEARCH IN SECONDS • Search by topic, title, author or PMID, or just say it • Sort by best match or newest • Filter to systematic reviews, clinical trials, free full text or recent years • Your recent searches, one tap away READ WITH CONFIDENCE • Clear, structured abstracts with citation counts • Retracted papers flagged and struck through in your results • Similar articles and Cited by, to follow the evidence • Open the full article, and save the PDF when one is free CITE AND KEEP • Cite in Vancouver, AMA, BibTeX or RIS • Save papers to My Articles and Favorites, synced with your account • PDF Box keeps your PDFs on your device and in sync • Sign in with Apple, Continue with Google, or use your email MORE TO EXPLORE • 500+ open-access medical books, with the license on each • Research News from 44 journal and news feeds • Scientific Jokes for a break between papers BEAUTIFUL ON iPAD • Results and the paper side by side • Full width reading when you want the whole screen • Large, comfortable text throughout PUBMED HUB PRO An optional subscription for more: • No ads on iPhone and iPad • Listen: abstracts, PDFs and books read aloud in your device's voice, and it keeps reading with the screen off • Two more looks: Evidence Desk and Omelette Night Pro is charged to your Apple Account and renews automatically until you cancel in Settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.omeletteinc.com/pubmedhub-privacy.html

Screenshots

ICNS4 screens
PubMed Hub4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ICNS at none against PubMed Hub's 8. ICNS also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). PubMed Hub's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 9 months). On price, ads 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. PubMed Hub sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per year. ICNS asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ICNS ships an update every 9 months, PubMed Hub every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ICNS versus PubMed Hub: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterICNSPubMed Hub
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.6 (340 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—37.5% of reviews
Number of ratings—340 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS11.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB16 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperMatrix Medical CommunicationsOmelette, Inc

Bugs and requests

ICNS

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

PubMed Hub

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • App periodically crashes when tapping on an article
  • JSON doesn't download
  • Registration bug: password pop-up
  • No access to articles/Error messages: JSON could not be serialized
  • Search not authorized
Show 9 more
  • Cannot save articles
  • Swiping is too sensitive
  • Slow and buffers for a long time
  • Zero access to saved articles and search history after update
  • Cannot log in on iPad: screen does not respond
  • Cannot figure out the date of publication for any abstract
  • Doesn’t even stay open. Crashes often.
  • Keeps on crashing
  • Cannot access the pdf through the full text links? Nothing happens when I click on them?

Requested features

2 requests
  • Ability to access PDF full text
  • Fix traffic from amazon.com and google.com

In-app purchases

None

ICNS

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

PubMed Hub

Subscriptions7
  • Remove Ads for One Year$2.991 Year
  • 7.99 per Month$2.991 Month
  • Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • 16.49 for 3 Months$7.993 Months
  • 6 Months Subscription$12.996 Months
  • Yearly$19.991 Year
  • Pro Yearly7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • PubMed Hub$4.99

Questions

Is ICNS free?
ICNS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PubMed Hub free?
PubMed Hub is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ICNS or PubMed Hub have ads?
Neither ICNS nor PubMed Hub shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ICNS or PubMed Hub?
ICNS ships an update every 9 months, and PubMed Hub every 2 weeks. Most recently, ICNS was updated on October 2, 2026 and PubMed Hub on October 27, 2026.

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