Comparison

Pocket ICU vs The Clinical Problem Solvers

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

Head to head
About

Pocket ICU

This app offers concise critical care guidance written by attending physicians. It covers diagnosis, treatment, and management across various subspecialties, with detailed images and decision support algorithms. Advanced search and bookmarking features allow for quick information retrieval.

Highlights
  • Concise guidance from attending physicians
  • Diagnosis, treatment, and management details
  • Subspecialty coverage
  • Detailed images and algorithms
  • Pharmacological data and formulas
  • Advanced full-text search
  • Bookmarking and note-taking
Features
Read full description

New topics address bioweapons, disaster preparedness and critical care challenges of an air-transmissible, pandemic-causing pathogens like COVID-19. POCKET ICU FEATURES • Concise guidance written by attending physicians for everyone in critical care • Entries with diagnosis, treatment, and management details • Coverage of subspecialty areas including pediatric, neuro, cardiac, transplant, burn, and more • Detailed images, figures, and decision support algorithms • Overview of Statistics and Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) • Helpful appendices provide pharmacological data, respiratory formulas, and cardiopulmonary relationships • Advanced Full Text Search helps find topics quickly • “Favorites” for bookmarking important entries • Highlighting and note-taking MORE ABOUT POCKET ICU With content from the highly regarded Pocket Notebook series, Pocket ICU provides users with an essential tool for quickly locating information from every subspecialty area of critical care. Entries have been written by attending physicians and are presented in brief but broad format so anyone in an ICU setting can quickly find answers and save time. This powerful resource can be downloaded to your smartphone and tablet and is great for preparing for rounds or consulting expert recommendations while on the ICU floor. Editors: Gyorgy Frendl, MD, PhD; Avery Tung, MD Publisher: Wolters Kluwer Powered by: Unbound Medicine

About

The Clinical Problem Solvers

Access expert diagnostic reasoning tools, including schemas, illness scripts, and practice cases. Save content for offline use, quickly link to explanation videos and podcast episodes, and stay updated with new materials added monthly. Share resources with colleagues.

Highlights
  • Browse schemas and illness scripts
  • Access practice cases and videos
  • Save documents for offline access
  • Link to podcast episodes
  • Stay updated with new content
  • Share resources
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

This is the official companion app to the Clinical Problem Solvers podcast, you would be able to: - Browse schemas, illness scripts, practice cases, videos, and blog posts crafted by the Clinical Problem Solvers team - Save all documents for offline access - Quickly access the explanation video and podcast episode associated with each schema - Stay updated with newer versions of schemas - Share the documents with your friends and colleagues We are adding 4 to 5 new schemas and illness scripts per month as part of our ongoing podcast episodes. This app is closely tied to what is discussed on each podcast episode, and not meant as a comprehensive reference. For a taste of what is in the app, please check out our podcast! The name of our podcast is "The Clinical Problem Solvers". URL at: https://apple.co/2m4cIT2 Our website: https://clinicalproblemsolving.com/ Twitter handle: @cpsolvers

Screenshots

Pocket ICU4 screens
The Clinical Problem Solvers4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pocket ICU at Free against The Clinical Problem Solvers's $14.99. The Clinical Problem Solvers's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (90% vs 64%). On rating, 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

Pocket ICU is free to download; The Clinical Problem Solvers costs $14.99 up front. Pocket ICU sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. The Clinical Problem Solvers asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Clinical Problem Solvers holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 317 and 204 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Pocket ICU's written reviews are positive against 90% of The Clinical Problem Solvers's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pocket ICU ships an update every 5 months, The Clinical Problem Solvers every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Pocket ICU versus The Clinical Problem Solvers: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocket ICUThe Clinical Problem Solvers
PriceFree — better$14.99
Rating4.6 (317 ratings)4.8 (204 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.3% of reviews90.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings317 — better204
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#144 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB32 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperUnbound Medicine, Inc.THE CLINICAL PROBLEM SOLVERS INC.

Customer experience

Pocket ICU

All ratings317 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative7.3%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive64.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative35.7%

The Clinical Problem Solvers

All ratings202 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral0.5%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews81 reviews
Positive90.1%
Neutral1.2%
Negative8.6%

User reviews

Pocket ICU

From 317 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Quick reference material
  • 👍 Well-laid out and written material
  • 👍 Useful for reviewing previous cases
  • 👍 Resourceful and to the point
  • 👍 Good preview/summary

Room to improve

  • 😞 No access for duration paid
  • 😞 Not user friendly/confusing
  • 😞 Disappointed content (nursing school without experience)
  • 😞 Bait and switch (expensive, not well thought out)
  • 😞 Content is limited

The Clinical Problem Solvers

From 204 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Excellent diagnostic frameworks and schemas
  • 🎯 Highly useful for clinical reasoning and differential diagnosis
  • 👍 Easy to navigate and user-friendly interface
  • 🚀 Quick access to information with minimal clicks
  • 📱 Offline functionality without premium paywall

Room to improve

  • 📉 Limited number of diagnoses and topics covered
  • 🔍 Search functionality needs improvement
  • ❌ Not updated regularly with new schemas
  • 📱 Technical issues on certain devices (iPad compatibility)
  • ❓ Schemas sometimes too vague without podcast context

Bugs and requests

Pocket ICU

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • No information loads after purchase
  • Issues with download/access

The Clinical Problem Solvers

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App doesn't work properly on iPad 5
  • Download all feature doesn't function
  • Search function not working
  • Content not displaying under illness scripts and practice cases sections
  • App crashes or freezes on certain devices

Requested features

7 requests
  • Expand library with more diagnostic schemas
  • Improve search functionality
  • Add more content for internal medicine and internists
  • Include podcast episodes within the app
  • Regular updates with new schemas
Show 2 more
  • Add more practice cases
  • Expand content for specialty areas

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Pocket ICU

One-time2
  • Pocket ICU2 variants$69.99
  • Pocket ICU 2023$69.99
None

The Clinical Problem Solvers

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pocket ICU free?
Pocket ICU is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Clinical Problem Solvers free?
The Clinical Problem Solvers costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pocket ICU or The Clinical Problem Solvers?
The Clinical Problem Solvers is rated higher. Pocket ICU averages 4.6 out of 5 from 317 ratings, while The Clinical Problem Solvers averages 4.8 from 204 ratings.
Do Pocket ICU or The Clinical Problem Solvers have ads?
Neither Pocket ICU nor The Clinical Problem Solvers shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pocket ICU or The Clinical Problem Solvers?
Pocket ICU ships an update every 5 months, and The Clinical Problem Solvers every 2 months. Most recently, Pocket ICU was updated on November 6, 2026 and The Clinical Problem Solvers on November 3, 2026.

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