Softwr

Healthcare · head to head

Athenahealth vs Fullscript

Athenahealth logo

Athenahealth

Healthcare

Cloud-based medical practice management

From
$140/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fullscript logo

Fullscript

Healthcare

Supplement dispensing for practitioners, free to use because it earns on the products

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Fullscript has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Athenahealth high implementation costs ranging up to $50,000+ for enterprise deployments; Fullscript the practitioner sets their own margin on products they clinically recommend, which is a conflict of interest that some professional bodies and patients view badly, and the platform makes the arrangement easy rather than making it visible.
  • They diverge on capability: Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, Fullscript covers Protocol dispensing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Athenahealth and Fullscript actually diverge.

Attributes where Athenahealth and Fullscript differ
AttributeAthenahealthFullscript
Starting price$140/monthFree
Pricing modelUnknownPer user per month
Free tierNoYes
Founded1997Unknown

Identical on both: platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Athenahealth

  • Electronic Health Records
  • Medical Billing
  • Patient Engagement
  • Telehealth
  • Analytics
  • Labs
  • Pharmacies
  • Clearinghouses

Only in Fullscript

  • Protocol dispensing
  • Profit dispensary
  • Auto refill
  • Lab ordering
  • Patient app
  • EHR integration
  • Enterprise catalogue control

What people use each for

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

Athenahealth

  • Patient Carenot Fullscript
  • Medical Recordsnot Fullscript
  • Practice Managementnot Fullscript
  • Telehealthnot Fullscript

Fullscript

  • A functional medicine practice that wants to stop holding supplement stock, cash and expiry risk in the clinicnot Athenahealth
  • A dietitian or naturopath adding a dispensary revenue stream without buying inventory upfrontnot Athenahealth
  • A clinic that needs patients to actually keep taking a protocol, where auto refills and dose reminders address the adherence problem directlynot Athenahealth
  • A multi site integrative health group that wants a single approved catalogue rather than each clinician choosing their own brandsnot Athenahealth

Where each one falls short

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

Athenahealth

  • High implementation costs ranging up to $50,000+ for enterprise deployments
  • Pricing tiers not transparently listed, requiring custom quotes

Fullscript

  • The practitioner sets their own margin on products they clinically recommend, which is a conflict of interest that some professional bodies and patients view badly, and the platform makes the arrangement easy rather than making it visible.
  • The account is free but the practice does not control pricing, catalogue, shipping cost or the patient discount, so the entire economics of the dispensary can be changed by the vendor without the practice having any lever.
  • Converting to a profit account requires personal identity verification, tax details and a bank account, and makes dispensary earnings the practitioner personal taxable income to report, which is administrative work no one warns about at signup.
  • Product availability and shipping are geographically limited, so practices outside the supported countries cannot use it at all and cross border patients will find items unavailable at checkout.
  • Patient refill schedules, plan history and a slice of practice revenue accumulate inside a platform the practice cannot export in a form another dispensary would accept, so switching later means asking every patient to re-enrol somewhere else.

Pricing, plan by plan

Athenahealth

$140/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Athenahealth review.

Fullscript

Free
  • PractitionerFree
    • Full catalogue and dispensing at no account fee
    • Lab ordering and results
    • Standard EHR integrations
  • PatientFree
    • No account fee
    • Mobile app with dose reminders
    • Auto refills, cancellable at any time
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Quoted for health systems and multi site groups
    • Centrally managed catalogue with quality standards
    • API level EHR integration

Which should you pick?

Choose Athenahealth if

  • You need electronic health records.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want medical billing.
Athenahealth review

Choose Fullscript if

  • You need protocol dispensing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want profit dispensary.
Fullscript review

Questions people ask

Is Athenahealth or Fullscript better?
Neither clearly leads. Athenahealth starts at $140/month and Fullscript at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Athenahealth or Fullscript?
Fullscript has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $140/month for Athenahealth and Free for Fullscript.
Does Athenahealth or Fullscript run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Fullscript for free?
Yes. Fullscript has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Athenahealth starts at $140/month.
What is Athenahealth best used for?
Athenahealth is most often used for patient care, medical records, practice management, telehealth. Of those, patient care and medical records are not what Fullscript is typically brought in for.
What can Athenahealth do that Fullscript cannot?
Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, Medical Billing, Patient Engagement, Telehealth. Fullscript covers Protocol dispensing, Profit dispensary, Auto refill, Lab ordering.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Athenahealth: What platforms does Athenahealth serve?

Athenahealth's athenaOne serves small to medium-sized physician practices and hospitals with integrated clinical, financial, and operational workflows.

Source
Fullscript: Is Fullscript really free for practitioners?

Yes, the account has no fee. Fullscript earns on the supplements sold through it, and a practitioner on a profit account also earns a margin on those sales.

Athenahealth: What is the pricing model for athenaOne?

Athenahealth uses customized pricing with percent-based or encounter-based models. Starting price reported at $140/month with implementation costs ranging from $5,000-$20,000 for small businesses.

Source
Fullscript: How do practitioners make money on it?

By converting to a profit dispensary and setting a margin. That requires tax information and a bank account, and the earnings are taxable income.

Athenahealth: Does Athenahealth include revenue cycle management?

Yes, athenaOne includes network-driven claims scrubbing with 95%+ first-pass rates, denial management, and A/R optimization.

Source
Fullscript: What do patients pay?

No account fee, and a ten per cent discount on orders if the practitioner runs a no profit dispensary rather than taking a margin.

Athenahealth: What patient engagement features does Athenahealth offer?

Athenahealth provides athenaCommunicator for patient portals, automated appointment reminders, online scheduling, telehealth integration, digital intake, and broadcast messaging.

Source
Fullscript: Is there an enterprise option?

Yes, quoted for health systems, adding central catalogue control, API EHR integration and cross site reporting.

Athenahealth: How many pre-built integrations does Athenahealth have?

Athenahealth's marketplace includes over 250 pre-integrated third-party apps, allowing practices to extend functionality without custom development.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Athenahealth

More on Fullscript

Keep looking

Other head to heads