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Healthcare · head to head

Athenahealth vs Onward Vet

Athenahealth logo

Athenahealth

Healthcare

Cloud-based medical practice management

From
$140/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Onward Vet logo

Onward Vet

Veterinary

Small-vendor cloud practice management sold on flat subscription with unlimited users

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Athenahealth high implementation costs ranging up to $50,000+ for enterprise deployments; Onward Vet the vendor is small, so support depth, release pace and the ability to absorb a serious outage are all limited compared with IDEXX, Covetrus or the larger cloud vendors.
  • They diverge on capability: Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, Onward Vet covers Flat practice subscription.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Athenahealth and Onward Vet actually diverge.

Attributes where Athenahealth and Onward Vet differ
AttributeAthenahealthOnward Vet
Starting price$140/monthOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
CategoryHealthcareVeterinary
Founded1997Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Onward Vet

  • Flat practice subscription
  • Cloud hosted
  • Medical records and SOAP
  • Estimates and treatment plans
  • Client communication
  • Laboratory integration

What people use each for

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

Athenahealth

  • Patient Carenot Onward Vet
  • Medical Recordsnot Onward Vet
  • Practice Managementnot Onward Vet
  • Telehealthnot Onward Vet

Onward Vet

  • A clinic with a large rota of part-time technicians and receptionists where per-seat pricing is disproportionatenot Athenahealth
  • A single-site practice leaving an ageing on-premise system that no longer wants to maintain a servernot Athenahealth
  • A new practice that needs a working record system quickly without a long configuration projectnot Athenahealth
  • A cost-sensitive clinic that wants cloud practice management without paying for integration breadth it will not usenot 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

Onward Vet

  • The vendor is small, so support depth, release pace and the ability to absorb a serious outage are all limited compared with IDEXX, Covetrus or the larger cloud vendors.
  • The integration catalogue is short, so specialist imaging, communication or wellness plan tools that connect to ezyVet or Provet Cloud may need manual handling here.
  • Reporting is basic, so a practice that wants production analysis by veterinary surgeon, detailed inventory valuation or multi-site consolidation will be exporting data to a spreadsheet.
  • There is no on-premise option, so a clinic with an unreliable internet connection has no fallback when the link goes down and the appointment book becomes unreachable.
  • Concentration risk is real with a supplier of this size: acquisition, a change of direction or a funding problem would put your record system into other hands, so test the data export before committing.

Pricing, plan by plan

Athenahealth

$140/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Athenahealth review.

Onward Vet

On request
  • Onward Vet$undefined/year
    • Quoted as a flat monthly practice subscription
    • Unlimited user accounts
    • Cloud hosting, backup and updates included

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 Onward Vet if

  • You need flat practice subscription.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want cloud hosted.
Onward Vet review

Questions people ask

Is Athenahealth or Onward Vet better?
Neither clearly leads. Athenahealth starts at $140/month and Onward Vet at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Athenahealth or Onward Vet?
Athenahealth starts at $140/month and Onward Vet at On request.
Does Athenahealth or Onward Vet run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Onward Vet is typically brought in for.
What can Athenahealth do that Onward Vet cannot?
Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, Medical Billing, Patient Engagement, Telehealth. Onward Vet covers Flat practice subscription, Cloud hosted, Medical records and SOAP, Estimates and treatment plans.

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
Onward Vet: How is it priced?

As a flat practice subscription with unlimited users, quoted rather than published, which is why it suits clinics with many part-time staff.

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
Onward Vet: Is it suitable for a multi-site group?

Not really. It is built for single-site independent clinics; consolidated reporting and cross-site inventory are not its strength.

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
Onward Vet: What happens if the internet goes down?

You lose access to the appointment book and records. There is no on-premise fallback, so a secondary connection is a sensible precaution.

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
Onward Vet: Can I get my data out?

Ask for a full export during evaluation and check what format it comes in. With a small vendor this is a question to answer before you sign, not afterwards.

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
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