Read by QxMD
Personalized Medical Journal
How much does Read by QxMD cost?
Prices are current as of 9 Sept 2026.
Read by QxMD has no in-app products on record in the United States.
10+ alternatives to Read by QxMD
| Read by QxMD |   DynaMed |   Sanford Guide Antimicrobial |   Johns Hopkins Antibiotic Guide |   Prime: PubMed Journals & Tools |   Diagnosaurus® DDx |   Figure 1 - Medical Cases |   IDSA Practice Guidelines |   VisualDx |   Journal Club: Medicine |   NCCN Guidelines® | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating / 5 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.0 |
| Reviews | 29K | 7.7K | 6.6K | 5.9K | 4.3K | 3.8K | 2.7K | 2.1K | 296 | 294 | 216 |
| Released | 2012 | 2015 | 2014 | 2011 | 2012 | 2014 | 2013 | 2019 | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 |
| Annual price | — | — | $39.99 | $39.99 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
The going rate for each plan in United States, in its own currency, shaded from the cheapest price on the row to the dearest. Plans fewer than four in ten of the priced apps sell are left out.
Read by QxMD reviews
4.8 out of 5, based on 28,732 reviews.
What people like
- Great for keeping up with new research
- Easy to follow specific topics and journals
- Useful alerts notify you of new papers
What they complain about
- Login fails or gets stuck on authentication
- App crashes frequently after recent updates
- Support team ignores your complaints entirely
- Institutional access breaks with two-step login
Doesn’t work anymore
The app has been buggy. The search tool does not work at all, so you cannot look up any papers or subscribe to any journals other than the ones provided as a default for your specialty. It must be the most recent update because this app worked about 6-8 months ago, but it’s been completely non-functional the past few weeks.
No longer working
Authenticator asks for code, but never displays a code to use. Tried every “fix” - app is purely broken for me.
Everything good gets ruined by big companies
This used to be one of the best medical apps, before Medscape bought it. One of the great things was the granularity. You could highlight your interests in very specific topics, create very specific collections, follow people and their collections, and it was therefore easy to keep up with your field. Now, they don’t even offer Emergency Medicine as a specialty to follow. Really? It’s 2026. We shouldn’t be fighting for legitimacy all over again. This is asinine.
Institutional log in doesn’t work
Can’t get paywall articles due to log in being glitchy
Intrusive Data Collection
This is a solid database, and the customized alerts option is great. However, there's no need for them to be helping themselves to so much of my data! The privacy agreement's ridiculous. Three stars is generous for that reason alone.
Awful now, used to be a great app
The app started to work out great, had all the features that you need to be updated with all the latest articles. Now however, the app does not update any journals. I have to delete the app and reinstall it to make its basic function work.
App crash on iPad
Though I’m able to read articles on the app on my iPhone anytime I try to read articles on the app on my iPad. It crashes any updates?
FDA Ketamine approval update?
Need to update some articles. Lots has changed since 2022. Don't put everything behind a paywall. I'm a chaplain-still don't want to check my brains at the door.
No neurology specialty option
I have enjoyed the unsolicited emails w neurology-relevant papers, so was happy to download the app. Sadly, there is no option for selecting Neurology as a specialty. A missed opportunity.
Not as good as before update
I have used Read by QxMD for better than 5 years to try to keep up with medical literature. Before the update 3-4 months ago, I could get article searches on several different subjects. However that option has been removed. I sent an email asking for either it to be returned or an explanation but only got a routine response that never addressed my issue. I tried again but no response in several weeks. Apparently it is no longer available . The app is still useful but much less. I am looking for an alternative.
Great app
Please bring back the badges for new articles in the My Journals section. Long time user, love the app.
API error every other day
Getting consistent sso error, ID 245 Works great when it works, but not becoming a huge hassle.
Adding access
I had some nightmare problems trying to get passwords reset and getting an email. Response from the app developer was more than difficult. One big drawback is that there’s no easy way to get access to full articles on journals to which you are subscribed. The app asks for a library code rather than individual subscription credentials.
Less functional after update
Previously, I enjoyed reading articles on this app. Now, they appear to have added an undesired social media feature with comments. I especially dislike how this app now greets me by name in every article - it’s jarring and off-putting, coming from an app. After the update bringing these undesired features, I have yet to successfully load the full-text version of an article. It gets stuck on “Authenticating …” and just sends me repeated Duo popups that do nothing. Obtaining full-text used to be slow, but now it doesn’t work at all. The app now also annoyingly keeps trying to get me to follow new collections or key word instead of just letting me read. The distracting new features detract from what used to be a streamlined academic app where one could experience deep thought.
Must have medical app
But after merging with medscape, it's bugggggyyyyy
Fantastic app
This is an amazing app and a must have for any medical professional. This app makes it easy to keep up with the latest advancements in academia and research and brings it all to you
Stop working after last update
As said above, program stop working after last update. All link from QMDx emails can not be open - some kind of “API error”
Cannot sign in on iPhone
Cannot sign in on my iPhone recently. Update 2/28/2022, now the bug is fixed!
You cannot share articles in the journal
You cannot share journal articles. You can only share links to QXMD or non-hyperlinked PMIDs. It’s ery frustrating to have to copy the PMID, put it into Google, then find that link and share that. What a useless app for sharing! I only use it now to discover new articles. I would never support paying for this company or giving them any kind of compensation.
No longer works
This was my favourite app on my phone, super useful and very easy to use. Now I am no longer able to login. I’ve opened a few tickets but have yet to hear back from the support team.
Great app except of most recent update
Great app here and I use it frequently. Unfortunately the most recent update didn’t do much to change the app expect now you have to login EVERY TIME you use the app. Please fix this. It makes checking out articles on the fly between patients extremely tedious.
Login broken again
The most recent update broke the connection between my institution’s library/authentication and the app. Used to be my go to app that I would refer my students to.
Few things to improve
This is a great app. Amazing. Few things to improve . 1) Of late, app doesn’t seem to refresh. There might be a bug somewhere 2). Institutional access list doesn’t seem to be comprehensive. Inclusion of HINARI & Research4Life access is important. Edit: The force refresh option is still not working consistently on ios15. This is very much troubling
Institutional Access with Duo
Well structured app, but does not allow institutional verifications for libraries that do 2-step logins with Duo
More filter functions
The app is pretty great for exploring articles and keywords of interest. However, I wish it had more filtering functions. For example, under the Keywords page I could also filter for my journals of interest. This could be applied to the other tabs as well. If it’s already integrated then I wish it was made more obvious or easier to access.
Missing a feature found in android version !
Why the option of (copy DOI) is not found in IOS version at time it is found in android version ?! It is an important option.
Can’t login
So the app states that they’ve joined forces with Medscape & is asking me to login. Whenever I enter my credentials, I just get a spinning circle. Nothing. Please fix!
Good overview of what colleagues are reading
This app is a good overview of articles that colleagues are reading and it links to a med but would be much more powerful if it could link to our individual subscription to the journal.
Keeps crashing
Loved the app but now since the updates it just keep crashing. Hoping for a fix soon!
Frequent time outs
The app has great potential but it repeatedly gives time outs on my iPhone XS Max with a broadband internet connection. I’m hoping that the problem will be corrected soon. The time outs occur when saving an article to a collection.
Bueno
Gerardo
Refresh broken
I generally love this application, but it will no longer allow "force refresh" on mobile application. Instead of using the app, I have to use the website. I tried uninstalling/reinstalling, no luck. Once this issue is fixed I will.cjange back to five stars
Love it
This app is perfect and I love the emails that send newly published articles. The only thing I’d change is the ability to easily search through your own saved articles as it doesn’t seem Iike you can do so. You have to physically scroll through collections to look for the specific paper. Otherwise, the app is fantastic and I use it regularly!
Great for surveying articles, prohibitively slow to open, & only basic reader functionality
S
Suggestion
This app would be way more useful if the abstract was included when we click on a title.
Happy with this app, slight tweak suggestions
I use this app all the time if I need to find an abstract or article; it’s a lot easier than pulling up Pubmed on my phone or iPad. The only area for improvement I can see is support of Dark Mode, both for the app overall and for the screen that comes up when you save a PDF. Also for the last couple of weeks I’ve noticed that my badge count stays at 1 even if I’ve looked over all of the ‘new’ abstracts in my feed and subscriptions.
Poor support
Hard to get any response . CME process was disrupted ? after merger with Medscape.
Needs dark mode
This app has many great features, such as push notifications about new articles, being able to create your own folders and the ability to follow specific topics/ journals. However... there’s two major oversights that should be addressed and a few minor suggestions. The first, there’s no dark mode... I find I’m using this app less and less because of this. I do a lot of my reading at night and even after adjusting my phones brightness settings the interface of the app is just too bright. Secondly, there’s no option to sort articles in your feeds. It seems rather intuitive that someone using this app would want to sort and filter articles in their feeds, yet unfortunately the developers did find such a feature necessary. Lastly, it would be really awesome if this app could link to or Conner with your Research Gate profile, or alternatively, have a better user profile interface in the app. Overall, the app is great but I don’t think the people designing the app are actually using it or else we’d see some better updates regarding design and ease of use.
The ONE feature I need is bugged
Can’t log into my institution. The page just loads forever. Would give this five stars otherwise.
MD
Excellent on the go reference.
Love the learning, great app and 2 requests
The overall access to content is awesome. The notifications and areas of interest are great tools to keep up to date on the latest research. I have 1 reasonable request and 1 pipe dream. Could the articles be searchable for your keyword so that it is highlighted and indexed? Could technical words be linked to a definition?
Doesnt work
Used to work perfectly years ago, now I am unable to access any articles as the page is forever stuck “authenticating” my institutional subscription.
Revolutionary, but...
If I had to point to one issue that I’d love to see fixed, it would be the ability to swipe to dismiss articles on the Featured Feed that I’m not interested in.
Great When It Works
The idea of an app that uses your institutional login to navigate pubmed and seamlessly pulls article PDFs is brilliant. Unfortunately, it seems to be able to pull the PDF less than half the time when you’re not searching NEJM or JAMA. The lack of reliability makes me unable to recommend the app.
Good but please add support for multi-tasking view
Would be highly beneficial to have the ability to use the multi-tasking feature on iPad while reading papers. Useful when you need to search up a term/study on Chrome when reading a paper on Read.
Review
This app is my portable library. I come from the age of Index Medicus when articles were retrieved manually. I don’t know how I could keep up without this type of service.
Can’t get it to work
I’ve used the app for years. It was really great. But a month or so ago I stopped being able to use it because I was not able to enter a password to login as the keyboard didn’t open. I could enter an email to login; just not a password. Hope this gets read by developers. I will remove 1 star immediately once I can login. I have iPhone SE.
Amazing
One word.. Amazing.. A must to have ...
The inability to get the full paper make these synopses less than idea
See above
Love the app but some hiccups lately
Latest update seems buddy. Hangs indefinitely on 'Refreshing Papers' page. Have to kill and restart before I can access journals / keyword collections, and only journals seems to be updated. Pls fix.
Read by QxMD FAQ
- Is Read by QxMD free?
- Yes. The app is free, in all 175 countries it sells in, and it sells nothing inside it.
- Does Read by QxMD have a free trial?
- No. None of its offers (US) come with a free trial.
- What are the best alternatives to Read by QxMD?
- DynaMed (4.9 from 7,733 reviews), Sanford Guide Antimicrobial (4.8 from 6,566 reviews, premium from $4.99) and Johns Hopkins Antibiotic Guide (4.8 from 5,884 reviews, premium from $39.99).
Read by QxMD download
Last updated 3 months ago.
Read by QxMD sells in 175 countries. It was released 13 years and 10 months ago, on 11 Nov 2012. It holds a 4.8 rating from 28,732 reviews.
Supports 6 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish.
How much does Read by QxMD make?
Third-party estimates for the last 30 days, worldwide — not the store's own figures, which Apple publishes for nobody.