FourteenFish Alternatives for Logging CPD

If you are looking for a FourteenFish alternative, it is worth being clear about which part you want to replace — because FourteenFish does two jobs, and most of the alternatives only do one.

We should also say the unfashionable thing first: for most UK GPs, the answer is to stay put. FourteenFish is the most widely used GP appraisal toolkit in the country, your appraiser already knows it, and the effective cost is low or nil. If it is working, switching mid-cycle costs continuity and buys little.

That said, there are good reasons to look elsewhere. Here they are, honestly.

What you are actually replacing

FourteenFish is a full appraisal portfolio — it produces the submission your appraiser signs off, including MSF and patient feedback. Its CPD diary is a section within the Toolkit, not a separate product.

So there are two different searches hiding behind "FourteenFish alternative":

• "I want a different appraisal portfolio." Real options: Clarity, GP Tools, your NHS platform.
• "I just want a better way to log reading week to week." Real options: BMJ Portfolio, a college diary, a spreadsheet — or a tool built around reading specifically.

The second is much more common than the first, and much easier to satisfy.

The pricing, since it is widely misunderstood

Worth clearing up before comparing. The Appraisal Toolkit is around £40–50 a year at list price. RCGP members get an automatic 30% discount. The RCGP fully funds it for five years for any GP who gained CCT from 2021 onwards while they remain a member, there is a practice discount if everyone signs up, and you can use it without paying at all until the point you submit.

For a lot of GPs the real cost is therefore £0–35 a year. That changes the calculation considerably, and it is why "cheaper" is rarely a good reason to switch.

Alternatives for the full portfolio

Clarity (Agilio)

The main commercial rival. Comparable portfolio management with a stronger built-in CPD content library — hot-topic modules, knowledge updates, and in some versions prescribing-safety quizzes.

Choose it if: you want learning content bundled with your portfolio rather than sourced separately. Against: you are paying for content you may not use, and your appraiser may be less familiar with the output.

GP Tools

Free for NHS GPs, GMC and NHS compliant, with patient survey and MSF feedback included at no extra cost — usually the expensive extras.

Choose it if: you are an NHS GP and want a complete portfolio at no cost. Against: GPs only, and a smaller ecosystem than the commercial platforms.

Your NHS appraisal platform

SARD, PReP, L2P, or MARS in Wales, provided through your employer or deanery.

Choose it if: your area mandates it, in which case the decision is made for you. Against: generally built for the annual cycle rather than weekly logging, and mostly manual entry.

Alternatives for logging and reflection only

BMJ Portfolio

Free, launched in 2026, records CPD from any source. Not tied to a college or an appraisal platform.

Choose it if: you want a free, source-agnostic running log. Against: not your appraisal submission — evidence still has to move across at appraisal time.

Your Royal College diary

Included with membership, with prompts aligned to your own college's scheme. That alignment is a genuine advantage at appraisal.

Choose it if: you already pay the membership. RCGP fees for 2026–27 run £162–£645 by earnings, so it is free at the margin rather than free.

A spreadsheet

Five columns — date, source, time spent, what you learned, impact on practice. That is the entire structure the GMC asks for.

Choose it if: you work across sites, you are between systems, or you just prefer plain files. Our reflection template drops straight into one. Against: no prompts, no reminders, no formatting. All structure is yours to supply.

Comparison

Where we fit, and where we do not

We should be straight about this, because it is the reason this page exists.

The Monday Clinical Brief is not a FourteenFish alternative. It is not an appraisal portfolio and it will not produce your submission. If that is what you need, take one of the platforms above.

What it replaces is the work upstream of the log. We summarise every new paper from the five highest-impact journals in your specialty, every Monday, across 31 UK specialties — with the citation and a reflection prompt attached, so a CPD entry takes about five minutes rather than an evening. The MCB CPD Tracker, included free with an annual subscription, keeps the running record and exports to appraisal formats, so evidence can be attached to FourteenFish or any other portfolio at appraisal time.

In other words: the sensible setup for most GPs is FourteenFish for the appraisal, and something that reduces the reading burden feeding it. Those are complementary, not competing.

Related reading

• Free CPD trackers for UK doctors — the no-cost options in full
• How many CPD points do UK doctors need? — the 50-credit figure, and why the GMC does not mandate it
• How to log journal reading for GMC revalidation — including the FourteenFish workflow step by step

Pricing and scheme details change, and discounts depend on your membership status. Check each provider's current terms — including FourteenFish's own pricing page — before relying on the figures here. We have no commercial relationship with any platform named above.

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