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Healthcare · head to head

Athenahealth vs VetBadger

Athenahealth logo

Athenahealth

Healthcare

Cloud-based medical practice management

From
$140/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
VetBadger logo

VetBadger

Veterinary

Cloud veterinary practice management sold in user bands rather than per seat

From
$99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Athenahealth high implementation costs ranging up to $50,000+ for enterprise deployments; VetBadger pricing is banded rather than per seat, so a three-user clinic pays USD 249, the same as a ten-user one, which is roughly USD 83 per user against USD 25 for a practice that fills the band.
  • They diverge on capability: Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, VetBadger covers Chart-centric workflow.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Athenahealth and VetBadger actually diverge.

Attributes where Athenahealth and VetBadger differ
AttributeAthenahealthVetBadger
Starting price$140/month$99/month
Pricing modelUnknownPer month by user band
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 VetBadger

  • Chart-centric workflow
  • Banded pricing
  • Chart SMS and email
  • Integrated telehealth
  • Exam reporting
  • QuickBooks sync
  • Cloud hosting
  • Reminders

What people use each for

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

Athenahealth

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

VetBadger

  • A two-vet small animal clinic moving off an ageing on-premises server that nobody wants to maintainnot Athenahealth
  • A practice that wants client texting logged against the medical record rather than sitting in a separate messaging toolnot Athenahealth
  • A clinic adding telehealth consultations without buying a separate video and payment stacknot Athenahealth
  • An owner who wants exam and revenue reporting without exporting to a spreadsheet every monthnot 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

VetBadger

  • Pricing is banded rather than per seat, so a three-user clinic pays USD 249, the same as a ten-user one, which is roughly USD 83 per user against USD 25 for a practice that fills the band.
  • Crossing a band boundary is a step change, so hiring one extra person can raise the software bill by USD 150 or USD 250 overnight with no extra capability in return.
  • The integration list is short compared with the market leaders, and in-house laboratory and imaging equipment support is the usual gap, which can mean manual result entry.
  • It is aimed at general small animal practice, with none of the specialty, referral, equine or ambulatory workflow depth that larger platforms carry.
  • As a smaller vendor it has less migration tooling and fewer conversion specialists than the large incumbents, so moving years of legacy records in is more of a project than a service.

Pricing, plan by plan

Athenahealth

$140/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Athenahealth review.

VetBadger

$99/month
  • 1 to 2 users$99/month
    • Cloud hosting and backup included
    • Full medical records and scheduling
    • Chart-centric SMS and email
  • 3 to 10 users$249/month
    • Same feature set across the band
    • Flat price whether you have three users or ten
    • Exam detail reporting
  • 11 to 20 users$499/month
    • Multi-user scheduling
    • Full reporting
    • Priority support
  • 21 to 40 users$599/month
    • Largest published band
    • All features included
    • Support for larger single-site practices

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 VetBadger if

  • You need chart-centric workflow.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want banded pricing.
VetBadger review

Questions people ask

Is Athenahealth or VetBadger better?
Neither clearly leads. Athenahealth starts at $140/month and VetBadger at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Athenahealth or VetBadger?
Athenahealth starts at $140/month and VetBadger at $99/month.
Does Athenahealth or VetBadger 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 VetBadger is typically brought in for.
What can Athenahealth do that VetBadger cannot?
Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, Medical Billing, Patient Engagement, Telehealth. VetBadger covers Chart-centric workflow, Banded pricing, Chart SMS and email, Integrated telehealth.

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
VetBadger: How is VetBadger priced?

By user band: roughly USD 99 a month for one to two users, USD 249 for three to ten, USD 499 for eleven to twenty and USD 599 for twenty-one to forty.

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
VetBadger: Is hosting extra?

No. Cloud hosting and backup are included in the subscription, with no server to buy or maintain.

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
VetBadger: Does it do telehealth?

Yes, integrated telehealth is included rather than sold as an add-on.

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
VetBadger: Is it suitable for a specialty or referral hospital?

Not really. It is built for general small animal practice and lacks specialty, referral and equine workflow depth.

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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