Comparison

Heartpedia vs AHA PALS

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

Head to head
About

Heartpedia

Explore interactive 3D models of pediatric heart anomalies and defects. This app provides detailed visualizations and explanations to help healthcare providers educate patients and families, or for individuals to learn more about specific conditions.

Highlights
  • Interactive 3D heart models
  • Normal, defect, and repair views
  • Exterior and interior heart planes
  • Pan, rotate, and zoom functionality
  • Video animations with audio descriptions
  • Key heart structure labels
  • Detailed defect descriptions
Features
Read full description

Congenital heart defects can be difficult to visualize and explain. Heartpedia, created by Cincinnati Children's Hospital, allows you to interact with 3D models of pediatric heart anomalies and defects. Healthcare providers may use these anatomically-correct models as visual learning tools to help educate patients and families on specific defects and repairs. Heartpedia may also be helpful to patients and families who want to learn more on their own or to share the details of a defect with concerned friends and family. Cincinnati Children’s believes that supplying the right information and tools ultimately results in the highest level of care and the best outcomes. FEATURES Explore what a normal, defective and repaired heart looks like for these anomalies and defects: •Tetralogy of Fallot •Coarctation of the Aorta •Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome •Transposition of the Great Arteries •Ventricular Septal Defect •Patent Ductus Arteriosus •Atrioventricular Septal Defect •Atrial Septal Defect •Ebstein’s Anomaly Discover each defect through the following interactions: •Toggle between normal, defect and repair views •View exterior and various interior heart planes / slices •Pan, rotate and zoom •Watch video animation with audio description of each defect and repair •See labels of key heart structures •Read a detailed description of the defect ABOUT CINCINNATI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER As one of the top three pediatric hospitals in the United States, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is dedicated to improving child health locally, nationally and internationally. We relentlessly focus on improving outcomes, enhancing patient and family experience, and providing the best value for every visitor. Heartpedia was developed by Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute in collaboration with the Cincinnati Children’s Critical Care Media Lab. The Heart Institute is a worldwide leader in clinical cardiology care and research. We are transforming pediatric cardiac care with a first-of-its-kind bridge between research and clinical care. Our family resources and services are designed to ease the stress of hospital stays, clearly explain procedures, and provide comfort and hope in the face of a life-altering diagnosis.

About

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.

Highlights
  • PALS pathways and algorithms
  • Drug therapy and dosing
  • CPR and intervention timers
  • Metronome for compression accuracy
  • Critical care references
  • Vetted by AHA and physicians
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

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

Heartpedia3 screens
AHA PALS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Heartpedia at none against AHA PALS's 1. Heartpedia also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 55%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). AHA PALS's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 8 months). On price, ratings volume, 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. AHA PALS sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per year. Heartpedia asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AHA PALS holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 34 and 54 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 78% of Heartpedia's written reviews are positive against 55% of AHA PALS's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Heartpedia ships an update every 8 months, AHA PALS every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Heartpedia versus AHA PALS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeartpediaAHA PALS
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (34 ratings)4.5 (54 ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews — better54.5% of reviews
Number of ratings3454 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
Best chart rank—#135 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB48 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterMassachusetts General Hospital

Customer experience

Heartpedia

All ratings34 ratings
Positive79.4%
Neutral2.9%
Negative17.6%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral11.1%
Negative11.1%

AHA PALS

All ratings53 ratings
Positive88.7%
Neutral1.9%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral9.1%
Negative36.4%

In-app purchases

None

Heartpedia

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

AHA PALS

Subscriptions1
  • PALS3 Days trial$3.991 Year

Questions

Is Heartpedia free?
Heartpedia is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AHA PALS free?
AHA PALS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Heartpedia or AHA PALS?
AHA PALS is rated higher. Heartpedia averages 4.3 out of 5 from 34 ratings, while AHA PALS averages 4.5 from 54 ratings.
Do Heartpedia or AHA PALS have ads?
Neither Heartpedia nor AHA PALS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Heartpedia or AHA PALS?
Heartpedia ships an update every 8 months, and AHA PALS every 2 months. Most recently, Heartpedia was updated on October 23, 2026 and AHA PALS on October 30, 2026.

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