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Healthcare · head to head

Allscripts TouchWorks vs GNU Health

Allscripts TouchWorks logo

Allscripts TouchWorks

Healthcare

Cloud-based EHR and practice management for ambulatory care

From
$200/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
GNU Health logo

GNU Health

Healthcare

Free hospital and health information system from a small NGO, built on the Tryton framework

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only GNU Health has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Allscripts TouchWorks allscripts moved its products to the Veradigm brand in 2022, so the Allscripts name is retired; GNU Health development depends on GNU Solidario, a very small nonprofit funded by donations and training, so release cadence and long-term continuity are tied to a handful of people rather than to an engineering organisation.
  • They diverge on capability: Allscripts TouchWorks covers Electronic Health Records, GNU Health covers Electronic medical record.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Allscripts TouchWorks and GNU Health actually diverge.

Attributes where Allscripts TouchWorks and GNU Health differ
AttributeAllscripts TouchWorksGNU Health
Starting price$200/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, MobileLinux, Web, Self-hosted
Founded1986Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Healthcare).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Allscripts TouchWorks

  • Electronic Health Records
  • Practice Management
  • ePrescribing
  • Patient Portal
  • Scheduling
  • Revenue Cycle Management
  • HL7
  • FHIR

Only in GNU Health

  • Electronic medical record
  • Hospital management
  • Laboratory information system
  • Social medicine modules
  • Tryton business modules
  • Health federation
  • ICD and standards support
  • Modular installation

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Allscripts TouchWorks

  • Patient Carenot GNU Health
  • Medical Recordsnot GNU Health
  • Practice Managementnot GNU Health
  • Telehealthnot GNU Health

GNU Health

  • A public hospital in a low-resource setting that cannot fund commercial EMR licensing and has in-house Linux capabilitynot Allscripts TouchWorks
  • A ministry building a national health network where source code inspection and data sovereignty are policy requirementsnot Allscripts TouchWorks
  • A university teaching health informatics that needs a complete, inspectable system rather than a vendor demonstrationnot Allscripts TouchWorks
  • A community health programme that needs socioeconomic determinants recorded alongside clinical datanot Allscripts TouchWorks

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Allscripts TouchWorks

  • Allscripts moved its products to the Veradigm brand in 2022, so the Allscripts name is retired
  • Pricing is not published
  • TouchWorks is not named on the Veradigm site, so whether it survives as a distinct product cannot be confirmed from the vendor

GNU Health

  • Development depends on GNU Solidario, a very small nonprofit funded by donations and training, so release cadence and long-term continuity are tied to a handful of people rather than to an engineering organisation.
  • It is built on Tryton, a framework few health IT staff know, so hiring or contracting people who can extend and maintain it is materially harder than for a mainstream stack.
  • Installation, upgrades and database administration assume Linux and Python competence, which puts the real cost on staffing rather than on licensing and defeats hospitals that lack that team.
  • The interface is functional rather than designed, and clinician acceptance is a genuine deployment risk compared with commercial systems that have invested heavily in usability.
  • Certification, regulatory conformance and interoperability testing that some jurisdictions demand of clinical systems are not provided by a vendor, so the adopting institution has to carry that work and that liability itself.

Pricing, plan by plan

Allscripts TouchWorks

$200/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Allscripts TouchWorks review.

GNU Health

Free
  • GNU HealthFree
    • GNU GPL licence
    • All modules included
    • No patient, bed or user limits
  • Support and training$undefined/year
    • Paid support and implementation from GNU Solidario
    • Training courses and certification
    • Quoted per institution

Which should you pick?

Choose Allscripts TouchWorks if

  • You need electronic health records.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want practice management.
Allscripts TouchWorks review

Choose GNU Health if

  • You need electronic medical record.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want hospital management.
GNU Health review

Questions people ask

Is Allscripts TouchWorks or GNU Health better?
Neither clearly leads. Allscripts TouchWorks starts at $200/month and GNU Health at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Allscripts TouchWorks or GNU Health?
GNU Health has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $200/month for Allscripts TouchWorks and Free for GNU Health.
Does Allscripts TouchWorks or GNU Health run on more platforms?
Allscripts TouchWorks runs on Web, Mobile. GNU Health runs on Linux, Web, Self-hosted.
Can I use GNU Health for free?
Yes. GNU Health has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Allscripts TouchWorks starts at $200/month.
What is Allscripts TouchWorks best used for?
Allscripts TouchWorks is most often used for patient care, medical records, practice management, telehealth. Of those, patient care and medical records are not what GNU Health is typically brought in for.
What can Allscripts TouchWorks do that GNU Health cannot?
Allscripts TouchWorks covers Electronic Health Records, Practice Management, ePrescribing, Patient Portal. GNU Health covers Electronic medical record, Hospital management, Laboratory information system, Social medicine modules.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Allscripts TouchWorks: How is Allscripts TouchWorks priced?

Pricing is not published on Veradigm's website. Costs are customized based on practice size, feature requirements, and deployment preferences.

Source
GNU Health: Who develops GNU Health?

GNU Solidario, a Spanish nonprofit NGO, as an official GNU package under the GPL.

Allscripts TouchWorks: How do I get pricing and request a demo for TouchWorks?

Contact a Veradigm Account Executive or use the 'Get Demo' button on their website to discuss pricing, trial programs, and implementation.

Source
GNU Health: Is there commercial support?

Yes, in a limited form, from GNU Solidario itself and a small number of implementers. It is not a vendor support organisation.

Allscripts TouchWorks: What market segments does Veradigm serve?

Veradigm serves healthcare providers with EHR and practice management solutions, life sciences companies, and health plans/payers with risk adjustment and quality analytics.

Source
GNU Health: What is it built on?

Tryton, a Python business application framework, which is where its accounting, stock and HR modules come from.

GNU Health: Is it suitable for a large hospital?

It is deployed in hospitals, but the deciding factor is whether you have internal Linux, Python and Tryton capability rather than the size of the institution.

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