Glass Health vs AMBOSS — 2026 Comparison

Glass Health is a clinical workflow platform that listens to patient encounters, provides real-time clinical insights — including differential diagnosis, suggested history questions, and potential next steps — and drafts evidence-based assessment and plans — starting free. AMBOSS is a medical knowledge library with 1,400+ physician-authored articles built primarily for medical education. Glass Health adds ambient scribing and EHR integration that AMBOSS does not offer.

AMBOSS built its reputation as the medical knowledge platform — 1,400+ physician-authored articles, 13,900+ Qbank questions, and LiSA AI for clinical queries. Glass Health is a different kind of tool entirely: an AI clinical platform that listens to patient encounters, delivers real-time clinical insights — from chief complaint identification and differential diagnosis to suggested history questions and next steps — drafts evidence-based assessment and plans, and produces complete documentation. One is a reference library you search. The other is a workflow layer that works alongside you.

Key Takeaways

AMBOSS is a medical knowledge library with 1,400+ articles, 13,900+ questions, and LiSA AI for clinical queries. It does not offer ambient scribing, patient-specific DDx generation, or clinical documentation.
Glass Health is the only platform that combines ambient scribing with native clinical decision support — including real-time clinical insights during encounters (chief complaint identification, differential diagnosis support, suggested history questions, and potential next steps), three-tier differential diagnosis, A&P generation, and clinical Q&A with citations to clinical guidelines and medical literature.
AMBOSS primarily serves medical students and residents; its clinician offering is expanding with LiSA AI and clinical tools. Glass Health is built for practicing physicians managing patient panels.
AMBOSS has no EHR integration and no clinical documentation generation. Glass Health integrates with Epic, eClinicalWorks, and Athena and generates complete clinical notes.

How Does Glass Health Compare to AMBOSS on Features?

The fundamental difference is product category. AMBOSS is a medical reference platform — a digital knowledge base enhanced with AI search, interactive content, and study tools. Glass Health is an AI clinical workflow platform — it listens to patient encounters, provides real-time insights, generates differential diagnoses, drafts assessment and plans, and produces documentation.

A systematic review in npj Digital Medicine found that clinical decision support systems integrated into workflows achieve significantly higher adoption than standalone reference tools (Sutton et al., 2020). Glass Health delivers CDS inside the clinical workflow. AMBOSS requires clinicians to context-switch to a separate application.

Feature	Glass Health	AMBOSS
Ambient scribing	Yes — real-time listening with live clinical insights	No
Real-time clinical insights	Yes — real-time clinical insights including differential diagnosis, suggested history questions, and next steps	No
Structured differential diagnosis	Yes — three-tier DDx: Most Likely, Expanded, Can’t Miss	DDx lists by presentation (educational, not patient-specific)
Assessment & plan generation	Yes — problem-based A&P with evidence citations	No (Dot Phrase templates in beta — static, not encounter-based)
Clinical Q&A	Yes — search of clinical guidelines and medical literature with in-text citations	LiSA AI — natural language search grounded in AMBOSS content and guidelines
Documentation types	6 types: H&P, Progress Note, Clinic Note, Discharge Summary, Discharge Instructions, Patient Handout	No clinical documentation generation
Custom templates	Yes — DDx, A&P, and documentation templates customizable to your style	No
Longitudinal patient encounters	Yes — patient context persists across encounters	No — no patient data input
Deep Reasoning mode	Yes — maximum analytical depth for complex multi-system cases	No
Encounter timeline & summary	Yes — AI-generated encounter summary with chronological timeline	No
Medical knowledge library	Clinical Q&A with search of clinical guidelines and medical literature	1,400+ physician-authored articles, 20,000+ topics
Board exam preparation	No	Yes — 13,900+ Qbank questions (USMLE, COMLEX, ABIM, ABFM, ABP, PANCE, ABEM)
Drug database	FDA-registered drug database via clinical Q&A	AHFS-integrated drug database (dosing, interactions, off-label)
EHR integration	Epic, eClinicalWorks, Athena	No direct EHR integration
AI assistant	Built-in to workflow (scribing, DDx, A&P, Q&A)	LiSA AI + AMBOSS Assistants (DDx brainstorming, case simulator, etc.)
Primary audience	Practicing physicians and clinical teams	Medical students, residents, expanding to clinicians
Free tier	Yes — includes CDS + ambient scribing	No — 5-day free trial only

What Can AMBOSS Do Well?

AMBOSS has earned a strong reputation in medical education and is expanding into clinical practice.

AMBOSS’s core strengths include:

Comprehensive knowledge library: 1,400+ clinical and preclinical articles written and peer-reviewed by physicians with in-house editorial staff. Content includes color-coded high-yield facts, image overlays, flowcharts, videos, and diagnostic algorithms — a depth of curated educational content that no AI-generated tool matches (AMBOSS Clinicians).
LiSA AI: AMBOSS’s AI Mode uses natural language search grounded in its curated knowledge base, US clinical guidelines, and AHFS drug database. LiSA has performed well in independent benchmark evaluations for clinical care safety (AMBOSS LiSA).
Board exam preparation: 13,900+ board-style questions covering USMLE Steps 1/2/3, COMLEX, PANCE, ABEM, ABIM, ABFM, and ABP. Score predictors, learning analytics, and personalized study plans. A majority of US medical students use AMBOSS for exam prep.
Clinical tools for practicing physicians: Differential diagnosis lists by presentation, management checklists for acute care, clinical calculators, and a full AHFS drug database with dosing, interactions, and off-label uses.
AMBOSS Assistants (beta): AI-powered tools embedded in articles including DDx Brainstorming, Clinical Case Simulator, History Checklist, Dot Phrase Generator, and Prep for Consult. These expand AMBOSS from passive reference toward interactive clinical support.
CME/MOC credits: ACCME-accredited platform that awards AMA PRA Category 1 Credits — useful for maintaining board certification.
Institutional adoption: Used by medical schools and residency programs globally, with quiz creation, assignment tools, and cohort performance tracking.

For medical students, residents preparing for boards, and clinicians who want a deep reference library with AI-enhanced search, AMBOSS is an excellent tool.

What Can’t AMBOSS Do That Glass Health Can?

AMBOSS produces outstanding medical content — that is not in question. The limitation is structural: AMBOSS is a library you visit between patients, not a tool that works alongside you during the encounter. A physician using AMBOSS must pause their workflow, open a separate app, type a query, read an article, and mentally translate that information back to the patient in front of them. Glass Health eliminates that context switch by embedding clinical reasoning, documentation, and decision support directly into the visit.

The specific capabilities that separate Glass Health from AMBOSS reflect this architectural difference:

Documentation from the encounter itself: AMBOSS has no ambient listening, no audio capture, and no note generation of any kind — it is a knowledge platform, not a clinical workflow tool. A physician subscribed to AMBOSS still needs a separate scribe (Freed, Abridge, DAX, or manual charting) to handle documentation. Glass Health records the encounter and produces complete clinical notes across six formats, eliminating the need for a second tool.
Clinical reasoning that activates during the patient visit: Instead of requiring the clinician to pause and search, Glass Health analyzes the encounter as it happens — extracting the chief complaint, building a differential, identifying gaps in the history, and recommending workup steps in real time. AMBOSS’s LiSA AI is a capable Q&A assistant, but it operates generically: you ask it a question, it answers from its curated content. It does not ingest live encounter data or produce patient-specific reasoning.
Encounter-driven DDx versus educational DDx lists: AMBOSS publishes physician-authored differential diagnosis lists organized by clinical presentation — valuable as educational references. Glass Health generates a patient-specific, ranked DDx from the actual encounter: Most Likely Diagnoses with immediate testing recommendations, Expanded Differential for secondary investigation, and Can’t Miss Diagnoses requiring urgent rule-out. The difference is between a textbook chapter on chest pain differentials and an AI-generated differential for the specific patient presenting with chest pain right now.
Generated A&P content, not copy-paste templates: AMBOSS offers beta Dot Phrase templates — pre-built text blocks clinicians copy into their EHR. These are static and generic. Glass Health produces encounter-specific assessment and plan sections: an overall assessment, problem-based analyses with evidence citations, diagnostic workup bullets, treatment recommendations, and chronic disease management — all generated from the actual visit data, not from a template library.
Direct EHR connectivity: Glass Health pushes documentation and clinical output into Epic, eClinicalWorks, and Athena through live API integrations. AMBOSS operates as a standalone web and mobile app with a Chrome extension for term lookups. There is no API-level EHR integration — content stays in AMBOSS unless the clinician manually copies it.
Longitudinal patient records that inform future visits: Glass Health’s Patient and Encounter system stores uploaded outside records, prior notes, labs, imaging, and consult reports across encounters, and this accumulated context shapes every subsequent DDx and A&P. AMBOSS does not accept any patient data — it is designed as a knowledge resource, not a patient-aware system.
Computational depth scaled to diagnostic difficulty: Glass Health’s Deep Reasoning mode applies its highest level of analytical processing to complex multi-system cases and atypical presentations, improving accuracy on clinical benchmarks. AMBOSS provides the same knowledge articles regardless of case complexity — it has no mechanism to adjust its output depth based on diagnostic challenge.

The AHRQ Patient Safety Network emphasizes that clinical decision support systems integrated into the workflow process — rather than operating as standalone tools — demonstrate improvement in diagnostic processes (AHRQ PSNet). AMBOSS is, by design, a standalone reference tool. Glass Health is built into the clinical workflow from the first moment of the encounter.

How Does Pricing Compare Between Glass Health and AMBOSS?

AMBOSS pricing (AMBOSS Pricing, 2026):

Plan	Monthly Price	Annual Price	Includes
Student (Monthly)	$19.99/month	—	Unlimited library, 50 Qbank questions/month
Student (Yearly)	—	$12.50/month ($150/year)	Unlimited library, 50 Qbank questions/month
Clinician (Monthly)	$29.99/month	—	Library, DDx, management checklists, drug database
Clinician (Yearly)	—	$21.58/month (~$259/year)	Library, DDx, management checklists, drug database
Qbank Bundle	—	$448/year	Unlimited Qbank + full library
Student Life	—	$1,199 one-time	Full access through PGY-1

AMA member discounts available. Institutional pricing requires custom quotes.

Glass Health pricing:

Plan	Monthly Price	Annual Price	Includes
Lite	Free ($0)	Free ($0)	Limited clinical decision support and ambient scribing
Starter	$20/month	$18/month	Extended CDS and ambient scribing
Pro	$90/month	$81/month	Unlimited ambient scribing, CDS, and more
Max	$200/month	$180/month	Everything in Pro + EHR integration (Epic, eClinicalWorks, Athena)

The pricing comparison: AMBOSS costs $21.58-$29.99/month for clinicians and provides a medical reference library. Glass Health’s free Lite tier includes both ambient scribing and clinical decision support at no cost — features AMBOSS does not offer at any price. Glass Health’s Pro plan at $90/month includes unlimited ambient scribing plus the full CDS platform. A clinician using AMBOSS plus a separate scribe tool would pay more in total than Glass Health while maintaining two separate platforms that don’t share context.

Try Glass Health free — scribing and CDS in one platform →

When Should You Choose AMBOSS Over Glass Health?

If you don’t need active CDS during patient encounters and primarily want a comprehensive medical knowledge library, AMBOSS serves that purpose. Choose AMBOSS when:

You are a medical student or resident: AMBOSS’s 13,900+ Qbank questions, score predictors, and USMLE-focused content are purpose-built for exam preparation. Glass Health does not offer board exam prep.
You need deep medical reference content: AMBOSS’s 1,400+ physician-authored articles with image overlays, flowcharts, and diagnostic algorithms provide curated educational depth that AI-generated content does not replicate.
You want CME/MOC credits: AMBOSS awards ACCME-accredited AMA PRA Category 1 Credits.
You primarily need a drug reference: AMBOSS’s AHFS-integrated drug database is thorough and well-structured for point-of-care drug lookups.
You want LiSA AI for clinical queries: AMBOSS’s AI assistant has performed well in independent benchmark evaluations for clinical safety — a relevant consideration if your primary use case is clinical Q&A without workflow integration.

AMBOSS’s knowledge depth, exam prep tools, and LiSA AI quality set it apart for these use cases.

When Should You Choose Glass Health Over AMBOSS?

Glass Health is the better choice when your workflow demands go beyond reference reading:

You need ambient scribing: Glass Health listens to encounters and generates documentation. AMBOSS has no documentation capability.
You need patient-specific differential diagnosis: Glass Health provides real-time clinical insights from encounter data — including differential diagnosis organized into Most Likely, Expanded, and Can’t Miss categories, suggested history questions, and potential next steps. AMBOSS provides generic DDx lists.
You want assessment and plan generation: Glass Health drafts structured A&P sections with evidence citations. AMBOSS offers static Dot Phrase templates only.
You want clinical Q&A with citations to clinical guidelines and medical literature: Glass Health searches clinical guidelines and the broader medical literature. AMBOSS’s LiSA searches its own curated knowledge base.
You need EHR integration: Glass Health integrates with Epic, eClinicalWorks, and Athena. AMBOSS has no EHR integration.
You want to consolidate tools: Glass Health replaces the need for a separate scribe and a separate reference tool in one platform.
You want patient context that persists: Glass Health maintains longitudinal patient records. AMBOSS does not accept patient data.
You want to start free: Glass Health’s Lite tier includes both scribing and CDS at no cost.
You’re evaluating other reference tools: See how Glass Health compares to UpToDate Expert AI for editorial depth or OpenEvidence for free evidence synthesis.

Start with Glass Health’s free Lite tier →

FAQ

Does AMBOSS offer ambient scribing?

No. AMBOSS is a medical knowledge library and reference platform. It does not include ambient listening, audio capture, or clinical note generation. Clinicians using AMBOSS must document encounters separately. Glass Health combines ambient scribing with clinical decision support in one platform.

Can AMBOSS generate a patient-specific differential diagnosis?

AMBOSS provides physician-authored DDx lists organized by clinical presentation, and its LiSA AI can answer clinical questions about differential diagnoses. However, AMBOSS does not accept patient encounter data and generate a ranked, patient-specific DDx. Glass Health generates structured three-tier DDx lists — Most Likely, Expanded Differential, and Can’t Miss Diagnoses — from actual encounter data with specific diagnostic next steps.

Is AMBOSS or Glass Health better for medical students?

AMBOSS is the clear choice for medical students. Its 13,900+ Qbank questions, USMLE score predictors, study analytics, and 1,400-article knowledge library are purpose-built for exam preparation. Glass Health is designed for practicing physicians who need clinical workflow support.

How much does AMBOSS cost compared to Glass Health?

AMBOSS clinician plans cost $21.58-$29.99/month (annual or monthly billing). Glass Health’s Lite tier is free and includes both ambient scribing and clinical decision support — features AMBOSS does not offer. Glass Health’s Pro plan at $90/month includes unlimited scribing plus the full CDS platform.

Does AMBOSS integrate with EHR systems?

No. AMBOSS operates as a standalone web and mobile application. It offers a Chrome extension for medical term lookups and beta Dot Phrase templates for copy-pasting into EHRs, but has no direct API-level EHR integration. Glass Health integrates with Epic, eClinicalWorks, and Athena.

What is AMBOSS LiSA?

LiSA is AMBOSS’s AI Mode — a natural language clinical AI assistant grounded in AMBOSS’s curated knowledge base, US clinical guidelines, and AHFS drug database. LiSA answers clinical questions and has performed well in independent benchmark evaluations for clinical care safety. It does not generate patient-specific DDx, A&P, or documentation from encounter data.

Is Glass Health free to use?

Yes. Glass Health’s Lite tier includes ambient scribing, clinical decision support, differential diagnosis generation, assessment and plan creation, and clinical Q&A at no cost. Paid plans (Starter $20/month, Pro $90/month, Max $200/month) provide additional capacity and features. Sign up here.

Bottom Line

AMBOSS is an excellent medical knowledge platform — offering a 1,400-article physician-authored library, 13,900+ board-prep questions, and LiSA AI with strong benchmark performance. For medical students, residents, and clinicians who need deep reference content and exam preparation, AMBOSS is a strong choice.

Physicians who need a reference library should use AMBOSS. Physicians who need ambient scribing, real-time diagnostic reasoning, and EHR-integrated documentation should try Glass Health. AMBOSS excels at structured medical knowledge and exam preparation. Glass Health was designed for a different job — participating in the clinical encounter itself, from listening through diagnosis through documentation. The free Lite tier lets you evaluate both scribing and CDS before committing.

Start with the Glass Health free tier to compare directly, or explore all comparison pages.