Quesmed vs Pastest (2026): prices, content and OSCE tools

Disclosure: Diagnosica makes an AI patient simulator, so we have a stake in this category. Quesmed and Pastest details come from their own public pages, checked on 16 October 2026.

Quesmed vs Pastest: the short verdict

Quesmed suits someone who wants one broad, rolling subscription covering the question bank, flashcards and OSCE practice, including AI voice OSCE stations. Pastest suits someone who wants deep, fixed term prep for one exam, especially MRCP Part 1 and PACES, from a long established publisher with stronger ratings.

The real split is breadth and rolling billing versus exam specific depth and fixed terms.

Both now ship AI, but in different places. Quesmed’s OSCE side includes AI voice and text stations. Pastest’s MRCP Part 1 has an AI assistant, but the PACES page has none listed.

If you want to rehearse a whole patient case with a video AI patient, order investigations, then see a scorecard, Diagnosica is the third option, and you can try a case free.

What Quesmed and Pastest actually are

Quesmed is a UK platform with question banks, Anki-style flashcards, video tutorials and an OSCE Practice area. Its subscriptions are rolling, renewing each period with cancellation from your profile. OSCE practice includes unlimited AI text and voice, an AI patient you speak to, station-specific marking and global ratings, plus AI examiner walkthroughs of a chest X-ray, an ECG or bloods.

Pastest is a UK exam publisher that says it has been "helping doctors for over 50 years", as of October 2026. It sells exam-by-exam question banks, past papers, a textbook and courses, mostly on fixed 3, 6 or 12 month access, with separate med student tiers for UKMLA content.

If you’re weighing a wider field than these two, see more Quesmed alternatives.

Quesmed and Pastest side by side

Every row was checked on each vendor's own page on 16 October 2026, and Quesmed prices are its monthly view.

• Pricing model. Quesmed: rolling monthly, 6 monthly or yearly subscriptions that auto renew, cancel anytime from your profile. Pastest: exam specific 3, 6 or 12 month packages, paid extensions available.
• Undergraduate (UKMLA) price. Quesmed: Question bank £14.99, Bundle £19.99, OSCE Practice £14.99 per month on Quesmed's pricing page, as of October 2026. Pastest: Knowledge £0, Knowledge+ £9.99 monthly or £59.88 yearly, Knowledge + Lessons £19.99 monthly or £119.88 yearly.
• MRCP Part 1. Quesmed: £119.99 for 6 months in the 6 month view, 5,000+ questions, 30+ past papers, Pass Guarantee with conditions. Pastest: £99.99 for 3 months, £149.99 for 6, £199.99 for 12, 48 hours free.
• MRCP PACES. Quesmed: MRCP PACES videos available, price not on pricing page. Pastest: £179.99 for 3 months, £249.99 for 6, £299.99 for 12, 48 hour free trial.
• Free access. Quesmed: no free tier or trial listed. Pastest: free Knowledge tier for UK students, 48 hours free on MRCP Part 1 and PACES.
• Question volume. Quesmed: 11,000+ clinical, 3,000 basic science questions, 15,000 flashcards. Pastest: MRCP Part 1 5,000+ questions and 30+ past papers, Med Students 6,000+ questions.
• OSCE or PACES practice. Quesmed: 450+ OSCE stations, unlimited AI OSCE text and voice, 35+ OSCE videos, progress tracking. Pastest: PACES lists 135 example cases, immersive role play, 8 teaching cases, 200+ spot diagnosis and flashcard skills tests, model candidate videos.
• AI features. Quesmed: AI patient by voice or text with station marking, session score, global rating; AI examiner for CXR, ECG, bloods. Pastest: MRCP Part 1 tutor mode with AI support and Ask Pastest; PACES AI, voice or virtual patient not listed.
• Apps and ratings. Quesmed: Quesmed on Google Play 3.4 from 74, UK App Store 2.4 from 8. Pastest: Pastest on Google Play 4.3 from 803, UK App Store 4.4 from 427.
• Trustpilot. Quesmed: no Trustpilot page found at its quesmed.com address on 16 October 2026. Pastest: 4.0 from 5,234 reviews on Pastest on Trustpilot.

If what you need is practice running a whole case out loud rather than more questions, Diagnosica is free to start, start a case free.

How much do Quesmed and Pastest cost?

As of October 2026, Quesmed shows £14.99 to £19.99 in its monthly view, rolling and cancellable. Pastest sells MRCP Part 1 from £99.99 for 3 months and PACES from £179.99 for 3 months, with 48 hours free, and has a free Knowledge tier for UK students.

Quesmed’s rolling setup suits anyone whose timeline is fuzzy. You can start monthly, stop from your profile page, then restart closer to the exam. Pastest sells fixed terms in 3, 6 or 12 month blocks, which suits a locked exam date, and offers paid extensions if plans slip via the Pastest MRCP Part 1 page.

For undergraduates, Pastest lists three tiers on Pastest's student tiers. Knowledge is £0, Knowledge+ is £9.99 a month or £59.88 a year, and Knowledge + Lessons is £19.99 a month or £119.88 a year. The page showed lower discounted figures on 16 October 2026, so check at checkout.

Pastest MRCP Part 1 is £99.99 for 3 months, £149.99 for 6 months, £199.99 for 12 months, with 48 hours free, and paid extensions are sold, for example 1 month for £39.99, all on the Pastest MRCP Part 1 page. PACES is £179.99 for 3 months, £249.99 for 6 months, £299.99 for 12 months, with a 48 hour free trial.

Quesmed’s MRCP Part 1 bank is listed at £119.99 per six months, and a Pass Guarantee offers a full refund if you fail, if you complete at least 80% of questions, use it weekly for at least a month, and show your score.

Where Quesmed is stronger

If you want breadth in one subscription, Quesmed leans that way. Its question bank lists 11,000+ clinical questions, 3,000 basic science questions, 15,000 Anki-style flashcards, 100 hours of video tutorials, four MLA mock tests and seven PSA mock tests, as of October 2026.

The Daily Feed ties recall to behaviour: cards flagged at high risk of being forgotten surface each day, and questions you miss auto-link related flashcards. Quesmed also says its content is cross-referenced with NICE guidelines.

For OSCE prep, OSCE Practice lists 450+ stations, unlimited AI by voice or text, 35+ videos, progress tracking, and a station mark scheme with a session score plus a global rating from Fail to Excellent. You can talk an AI examiner through a chest X-ray, an ECG or bloods via Quesmed's AI OSCE page.

The logistics help too. Subscriptions are rolling, you can cancel any time from your profile, and there’s an offline iOS, Android and iPad app, so you can revise or practise stations on patchy WiFi.

Where Pastest is stronger

If your target is MRCP Part 1, Pastest goes deep. You get over 5,000 exam-style questions, over 30 past papers, nearly 700 textbook topics, plus a tutor mode with AI support and an Ask Pastest assistant that references Pastest content and NICE guidelines, as of October 2026.

For PACES, the breadth and structure of content are the pull. Pastest's PACES course lists 135 gold standard example cases, immersive role-play exercises, 8 teaching cases, over 200 spot diagnosis and flashcard skills tests, and videos of model candidates. An AI or voice patient is not listed on that page.

Undergraduates get a real free tier. That includes a textbook, a prescribing skills question bank, 127 OSCE videos, and 100 questions, as of October 2026.

Public ratings lean Pastest. Trustpilot 4.0 from 5,234, Google Play 4.3 from 803, UK App Store 4.4 from 427, compared with Quesmed’s smaller samples on Google Play 3.4 from 74 and UK App Store 2.4 from 8, as of October 2026.

If you’re prepping PACES without a partner, use their case bank for structure, then read these drills for practising alone, solo PACES practice.

When to choose Pastest, and when to choose Quesmed

Choose Pastest if

• You’re sitting MRCP Part 1 or PACES on a fixed date and want a focused, time-bound resource.
• You want past papers and a textbook from one publisher, without juggling multiple platforms.
• You value a long public review record across Trustpilot and the app stores.
• You want a free UKMLA starter tier to sample content before paying.

Choose Quesmed if

• You want one rolling subscription for questions, flashcards and OSCE, on app and web.
• You want AI voice OSCE stations marked against a station-specific scheme, with a global rating.
• You’re revising across several exams and prefer everything in one dashboard.
• You like cancelling month by month from your profile page.

Quesmed's MRCP Part 1 bank lists more than 5,000 questions and 30+ past papers, so the Part 1 gap is smaller than the PACES gap as of October 2026.

If you’re torn between Quesmed and PassMedicine, see Quesmed versus PassMedicine.

Where a video AI patient fits next to either

Quesmed and Pastest centre on questions and station prep. Quesmed’s AI OSCE covers spoken stations with voice or text and station-marking, while Pastest’s PACES page lists videos and role-play but AI, voice or a virtual patient are not listed.

Diagnosica sits alongside them doing a different job, a full diagnosis-led case. A patient appears as a video avatar, you talk or type, order investigations, see results and imaging, commit to a diagnosis and a management plan, then get a scorecard after every case, on the free tier too.

The library spans over 130 cases across 18 specialties, each reviewed and signed off by a doctor. It’s on iPhone, Android and the web, and there’s a free tier with no card.

Diagnosica isn’t a question bank and it doesn’t do physical examination practice. Its scoring is competency-based across history, investigations, diagnostic reasoning and management, not mapped to any exam’s mark sheet.

If you’re comparing AI station tools head to head, start with AI OSCE tools compared.

The limits of every option, Diagnosica included

• Quesmed. Prices shown here reflect the monthly view on its pricing page and subscriptions roll on until cancelled. App ratings are small samples, and its AI OSCE marking and scoring claims are Quesmed’s own.
• Pastest. Fixed term products, you buy each exam separately. On its PACES page, AI, voice, or a virtual patient is not listed.
• Diagnosica. Not a question bank, no past papers, and no physical examination practice. Early product with rough edges, and its competency scoring isn’t mapped to any exam mark sheet.

"It doesn't give advice about real patients, and it's not a diagnostic system. Treat every output as educational."

Quesmed vs Pastest: quick answers

Is Quesmed or Pastest better for MRCP Part 1?

Both list over 5,000 questions and 30+ past papers as of October 2026, so coverage looks broadly similar on volume. Pastest adds a nearly 700 topic textbook and fixed term bundles, while Quesmed is rolling and offers a conditional Pass Guarantee with usage requirements. If you’re also weighing third options, see AMBOSS against PassMedicine.

Does Pastest have AI patient practice?

On its PACES page, Pastest lists immersive role play, 135 gold standard example cases, 8 teaching cases, over 200 spot diagnosis and flashcard skills tests, and model candidate videos, with no AI or voice patient listed as of October 2026.

Can I use Quesmed or Pastest for free?

Pastest has a free Knowledge tier for medical students and a 48 hour free period on its MRCP products. Quesmed’s pricing page lists paid plans and no free tier as of October 2026.

Try a full case now Run a full case with a video AI patient, talk or type, order tests, commit to a diagnosis and plan, and see the scorecard. Free tier, no card. Start a case free on Diagnosica