Aidoc vs Subtle Medical (2026)
Two of the strongest records in imaging AI doing entirely different jobs, which is worth stating because they compete for the same budget. Aidoc finds things: an operating system running detection models across an imaging estate, with a January 2026 clearance spanning many acute indications from one named foundation model and regulator reviewed performance figures behind it. Subtle changes how the image looks: deep learning reconstruction and denoising that lets a department scan faster or at lower dose on the scanners it already owns, with eleven clearances and more than 25 publications. The budget question is which constraint binds. If studies are read too late, Aidoc. If the scanner is the bottleneck and the waiting list is the problem, Subtle returns capacity without adding anything to the radiologist's read, and that is a different kind of win.
- The foundation model approach produced a clearance covering many acute indications at once, with regulator reviewed performance figures rather than a vendor benchmark behind them.
- The operating system handles normalisation, continuous performance monitoring and governance across every model it runs, which is the part a health system cannot build itself and the reason multi algorithm deployments usually fail.
- The data handling model is published in unusual detail, with de identification performed before upload, which changes the health privacy question architecturally rather than contractually.
- It does not detect anything, which is the point: enhancement raises image quality or cuts scan time on scanners the department already owns, so the benefit is throughput rather than a new finding.
- A reported eleven clearances across two modalities with more than 25 peer reviewed publications, and a published standards based integration specification.
- The economics are different in kind. Detection AI adds work to the read; enhancement takes time off the scanner, which is the constraint most imaging departments are actually managing.
This comparison is published by AI Health Index, an independent research platform that compares healthcare AI vendors objectively. Aidoc and Subtle Medical are each graded against the same capability taxonomy, from each vendor's own public materials and the regulatory record, under the AI Health Index verification standard. No vendor pays for placement, and no vendor has reviewed this page. How this evidence is graded
Plain facts
| Fact | Aidoc | Subtle Medical |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Radiology & Imaging AI | Radiology & Imaging AI |
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv, Israel | Menlo Park, California |
| Website | aidoc.com | subtlemedical.com |
Side by Side
Each record in one paragraph
Written to be quoted whole. Each paragraph states what the AI Health Index verified about the vendor, with the caveats attached. Generated from this pair’s live capability grades, so it moves when a grade moves.
The AI Health Index awards Aidoc its top capability grade on several axes, including AI Centrality, Autonomy and Oversight Model and Model and Technology Transparency. Set against Subtle Medical, Aidoc grades higher on several axes, including Autonomy and Oversight Model, Model and Technology Transparency and Model Supply Chain Disclosure. Grades reflect evidence the AI Health Index could verify at the last review, so a low grade records disclosure the vendor has not published rather than a capability it has been shown to lack.
Source: AI Health Index, August 2026
The AI Health Index awards Subtle Medical its top capability grade on several axes, including AI Centrality, Clinical and Operational Evidence and FDA and Regulatory Status. Set against Aidoc, Subtle Medical grades higher on EHR and Interoperability Depth and Deployment Model and Data Residency. Grades reflect evidence the AI Health Index could verify at the last review, so a low grade records disclosure the vendor has not published rather than a capability it has been shown to lack.
Source: AI Health Index, August 2026
Questions buyers ask
Should we choose Aidoc or Subtle Medical?
On the axes where the AI Health Index separates them, Aidoc grades higher on several axes, including Autonomy and Oversight Model, Model and Technology Transparency and Model Supply Chain Disclosure, and Subtle Medical grades higher on EHR and Interoperability Depth and Deployment Model and Data Residency. Aidoc leads on the greater share of scored axes, but the split means the decision turns on which constraint is binding rather than on an overall winner.
Where do Aidoc and Subtle Medical differ most?
The widest separation the AI Health Index records between Aidoc and Subtle Medical is on Autonomy and Oversight Model, where Aidoc grades A and Subtle Medical grades B. That axis sits in the AI Capability group, so it should carry the most weight for a buyer whose binding constraint is how much of the work the model itself is trusted to do.
Where do Aidoc and Subtle Medical grade the same?
The AI Health Index grades Aidoc and Subtle Medical the same on several axes, including AI Centrality, Clinical and Operational Evidence and HIPAA and BAA Posture. Neither holds an advantage the index can evidence on those axes, so they should not carry weight in a selection between these two.
Related comparisons
Other published head to head assessments involving these vendors or their closest peers. The full set for this category is on the Radiology & Imaging AI page.
These products do different jobs and a department may well buy both, so the comparison is about which constraint binds rather than which vendor wins. Their failure modes are opposite and both are easy to miss: a triage model that degrades quietly returns worklists to their usual order, while a reconstruction model that degrades produces cleaner images that have lost something, and only the second is invisible to the reader. Neither vendor publishes pricing.
Subtle publishes no subgroup performance and its attestation is under specified; Aidoc claims its own certification with an annually certified management system, which is the stronger position of the two.