Is Athenahealth or Things 3 better?

Neither clearly leads. Athenahealth starts at $140/month and Things 3 at $9.99/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Athenahealth or Things 3?

Athenahealth starts at $140/month and Things 3 at $9.99/one-time.

Does Athenahealth or Things 3 run on more platforms?

Athenahealth runs on Web, iOS, Android. Things 3 runs on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS.

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 Things 3 is typically brought in for.

What can Athenahealth do that Things 3 cannot?

Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, Medical Billing, Patient Engagement, Telehealth. Things 3 covers Today view, Projects and areas, Quick entry, Tags.

Healthcare & Medical · head to head

Athenahealth vs Things 3

Athenahealth

Healthcare & Medical

Cloud-based medical practice management

From: $140/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Things 3

Productivity

The award-winning personal task manager

From: $9.99/one-time
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Athenahealth high implementation costs ranging up to $50,000+ for enterprise deployments; Things 3 no team collaboration, task sharing, or task assignment features
They diverge on capability: Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, Things 3 covers Today view.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Athenahealth and Things 3 actually diverge.

Attributes where Athenahealth and Things 3 differ
Attribute	Athenahealth	Things 3
Starting price	$140/month	$9.99/one-time
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS
Category	Healthcare & Medical	Productivity
Founded	1997	2004

Identical on both: pricing model (Unknown), free tier (No), 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 Things 3

Today view
Projects and areas
Quick entry
Tags
Calendar integration
Apple Calendar
Siri
Shortcuts

What people use each for

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

Athenahealth

Patient Carenot Things 3
Medical Recordsnot Things 3
Practice Managementnot Things 3
Telehealthnot Things 3

Things 3

Schedulingnot Athenahealth
Appointment bookingnot Athenahealth
Time trackingnot Athenahealth
Resource managementnot Athenahealth
Team coordinationnot 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

Things 3

No team collaboration, task sharing, or task assignment features
Apple ecosystem only, with no Windows, Android, or web version
No third-party app integrations beyond Apple's ecosystem
Cannot attach files or images to tasks, only text notes
No time blocking or calendar integration for scheduling tasks into specific time slots

Pricing, plan by plan

Athenahealth

$140/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Athenahealth review.

Things 3

$9.99/one-time

iPhone/Watch$9.99/one-time
iPad$19.99/one-time
Mac$49.99/one-time

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 Things 3 if

You need today view.
You work on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS.
You also want projects and areas.

Things 3 review

Questions people ask

Is Athenahealth or Things 3 better?: Neither clearly leads. Athenahealth starts at $140/month and Things 3 at $9.99/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Athenahealth or Things 3?: Athenahealth starts at $140/month and Things 3 at $9.99/one-time.
Does Athenahealth or Things 3 run on more platforms?: Athenahealth runs on Web, iOS, Android. Things 3 runs on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS.
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 Things 3 is typically brought in for.
What can Athenahealth do that Things 3 cannot?: Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, Medical Billing, Patient Engagement, Telehealth. Things 3 covers Today view, Projects and areas, Quick entry, Tags.

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

Things 3: Does Things 3 support team collaboration?

No. Things 3 is designed for individual use only with no task sharing, team workspaces, task assignment, or commenting features.

Source

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

Things 3: What platforms does Things 3 run on?

Things 3 is exclusive to Apple devices: macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and visionOS. There is no Windows, Android, or web version.

Source

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

Things 3: How much does Things 3 cost?

Things 3 uses a one-time purchase model: $9.99 for iPhone/Watch, $19.99 for iPad, and $49.99 for Mac. Total cost for all platforms is approximately $80 with no subscription required.

Source

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

Things 3: Does Things 3 sync across devices?

Yes. Things Cloud keeps your to-dos in sync across all your Apple devices automatically. There is no extra cost for cloud synchronization.

Source

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

Things 3: Can you attach files or images to tasks in Things 3?

No. Things 3 does not support attachments. You can only add notes (text) to tasks.

Source

Athenahealth vs Things 3

Athenahealth

Things 3

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Athenahealth

Only in Things 3

What people use each for

Athenahealth

Things 3

Where each one falls short

Athenahealth

Things 3

Pricing, plan by plan

Athenahealth

Things 3

Which should you pick?

Choose Athenahealth if

Choose Things 3 if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Athenahealth

More on Things 3

Keep looking

Other head to heads