Is OpenEvidence Free? Yes. Pharma and Device Advertisers Pay for It

Key takeaways

What the record shows about OpenEvidence’s ads

From OpenEvidence’s advertising policy (last updated August 12, 2024) and privacy policy (September 17, 2026), NBC News (May 13, 2026), MedCity News (February 8, 2026), Pulse 2.0 (September 14, 2025) and Sacra’s company profile, checked October 23, 2026. Sacra’s figures are analyst estimates, not company disclosures.

What “free” means for you

Is OpenEvidence free?

Yes, for verified US clinicians. There is no subscription: the App Store listing says OpenEvidence is free for all verified US clinicians, and CEO Daniel Nadler told NBC News in May 2026 that the core product will always be free. Free access depends on verification. The app asks for an NPI, US medical students can sign up separately with proof of enrollment, and the terms of use exclude the EU, EEA and UK. Main limitation: the newest model, Darwin, is a research preview available by application, not part of the standard free product.

How does OpenEvidence make money?

Through advertising. NBC News reported that the service is funded by ads, some from pharmaceutical and medical device companies; MedCity News reported that OpenEvidence sells ads to pharmaceutical companies; and the analyst firm Sacra describes the business as pharmaceutical and medical device advertising. Sacra estimates annualized revenue rose from about $7.9 million at the end of 2024 to $150 million at the end of 2025 and $300 million in July 2026, with ad rates reaching $1,000 or more per thousand impressions and only about 5% of ad inventory sold. These are outside estimates; OpenEvidence is private and does not publish its financials.

• •In September 2025, OpenEvidence bought Amaro, a startup that automates and optimizes ad deployment, to build out its advertising infrastructure (Pulse 2.0).
• •Sacra reports that health system deployments at Sutter Health, Mount Sinai and Cedars-Sinai run on the same ad-supported model.
• •OpenEvidence’s audience is the selling point: NBC News reported that roughly 650,000 US doctors actively use it.

Where do the ads appear?

Ads appear in the app and on the website while an answer is being generated. Nadler told MedCity News that the ad and the answer are always separate and that the ad disappears once the answer is ready. In practice, many clinicians barely notice them: several interviewed by NBC News described the ads as unobtrusive or said they had not seen any, and one physician quoted by the Out-of-Pocket newsletter described entering a question, leaving before an ad appeared and returning when the answer was ready.

Can advertisers influence the answers?

OpenEvidence says no. Its advertising policy states that advertisers cannot influence the information it provides, that the answer system and the ad display system are not connected, and that ads are clearly labeled. That is the company’s own commitment; we found no independent audit of it. The policy also gives OpenEvidence sole discretion over which ads it accepts and lets it change the policy at any time. Main limitation: you cannot verify the separation yourself, so check important answers against the cited sources.

What does OpenEvidence do with your data for ads?

Its privacy policy, updated September 17, 2026, says OpenEvidence and its advertising partners may use cookies, pixels and similar technologies, and that it may share user information with advertising partners for interest-based advertising. It also says it does not use your queries, uploads, chats or protected health information for cross-context behavioral advertising, and that you can submit a request to opt out of targeted advertising. On the App Store, OpenEvidence reports that contact information, identifiers and usage data are linked to your identity.

What reporters and critics say

Coverage has focused less on whether the ads are visible and more on what an ad-funded model means for a clinical tool.

• •UpToDate, a subscription product, told NBC News that healthcare AI should put patient safety and transparency first and be free from advertising.
• •Commentators in the Out-of-Pocket newsletter split: some argued ads in a tool that makes the literature easier to reach add little conflict of interest, while others warned that ad models tend to degrade products over time and could erode trust between doctors and patients.
• •MedCity News noted that OpenEvidence’s privacy policy allows user data to be used to tailor ads to a clinician’s specialty and interests.

Should the ads change whether you use it?

For many US clinicians, a free tool with cited answers from licensed journals is worth seeing an occasional ad. Three situations call for more care. If your institution restricts pharmaceutical promotion at the point of care, check whether its policy covers ad-supported apps. If you want less data shared, submit an opt-out request for targeted advertising under OpenEvidence’s privacy policy. And if you would rather avoid an ad-funded tool, compare subscription references such as UpToDate, or Vera Health, which is free for licensed clinicians and trainees and whose App Store privacy label says no data is collected.

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