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Healthcare · head to head

DHIS2 vs Halaxy

DHIS2 logo

DHIS2

Healthcare

Open source health information platform run from the University of Oslo and used by national ministries

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Halaxy logo

Halaxy

Healthcare

Practice management for allied health that charges nothing for the software and earns on payments

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: DHIS2 the licence is free and the implementation is not; national rollouts routinely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in configuration, hosting, training and support, and budgets built on the word free fail immediately.; Halaxy the software being free does not mean the platform is cheap: a clinic taking most payments by card pays roughly 1.5 to 1.9 per cent plus a fixed fee on every transaction, which on a high volume practice comfortably exceeds what a flat AUD 60 per practitioner subscription would have cost.
  • They diverge on capability: DHIS2 covers Aggregate data reporting, Halaxy covers No licence fee.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DHIS2 and Halaxy actually diverge.

Attributes where DHIS2 and Halaxy differ
AttributeDHIS2Halaxy
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeFree software, revenue taken on payments and credits
PlatformsWeb, Android, Self-hosted, CloudWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 DHIS2

  • Aggregate data reporting
  • Tracker
  • Android capture app
  • Dashboards and analytics
  • Metadata packages
  • Data quality tools
  • GIS mapping
  • Interoperability

Only in Halaxy

  • No licence fee
  • Integrated claiming
  • Credit-based extras
  • Online booking
  • Clinical notes and templates
  • Card payments
  • Multi-practitioner diary
  • Patient portal

What people use each for

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

DHIS2

  • A ministry of health replacing paper monthly reporting from thousands of facilities with a national routine systemnot Halaxy
  • A donor-funded HIV or tuberculosis programme that must report standard indicators across several districtsnot Halaxy
  • A disease surveillance unit needing weekly case reporting with outbreak alerting and mappingnot Halaxy
  • An NGO running individual patient follow-up in a programme where facilities are frequently offlinenot Halaxy

Halaxy

  • A solo psychologist starting out who wants Medicare and private health claiming without committing to a monthly subscription before there is any incomenot DHIS2
  • A physiotherapy clinic that wants patient reminders, online booking and card payments reconciled against invoices in one systemnot DHIS2
  • An NDIS provider that needs claim generation and service agreement tracking built into the same record as clinical notesnot DHIS2
  • A multi-location allied health group in Australia that wants one diary across sites without paying per practitioner licencesnot DHIS2

Where each one falls short

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

DHIS2

  • The licence is free and the implementation is not; national rollouts routinely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in configuration, hosting, training and support, and budgets built on the word free fail immediately.
  • HISP UiO introduced a Shared Services Fee in 2025, so organisations that depend on DHIS2 are now being asked for an annual contribution that did not previously exist in their plans.
  • Development funding comes from a small set of donors including Norad, the Global Fund and the Gates Foundation, which concentrates the platform's long-term direction in the priorities of those funders.
  • Implementation capability is concentrated in regional HISP groups, so a country whose local HISP group is overstretched has few alternative suppliers with equivalent expertise.
  • Analytics performance depends heavily on how metadata was designed at the outset, and a poorly structured initial configuration produces slow dashboards and bad indicator definitions that are painful to correct years later.

Halaxy

  • The software being free does not mean the platform is cheap: a clinic taking most payments by card pays roughly 1.5 to 1.9 per cent plus a fixed fee on every transaction, which on a high volume practice comfortably exceeds what a flat AUD 60 per practitioner subscription would have cost.
  • Credits are prepaid and consumed by ordinary daily activity including SMS reminders and Medicare claims, so running out mid-week silently stops reminders going to patients, which shows up as no-shows rather than as an error message.
  • Features that competitors treat as standard, including two-way calendar sync, API access and a dedicated SMS number, are locked behind the credit subscription, so the headline free tier is thinner than it first appears.
  • Claiming, funding and payment integrations are deeply Australian, so practitioners in the UK, Canada or the United States get the diary and notes but very little of the automation that makes the product worth choosing.
  • Because the vendor earns on payment volume, its interests and yours diverge on card processing: switching to a cheaper acquirer breaks the automatic reconciliation that is the main operational reason to stay on the platform.

Pricing, plan by plan

DHIS2

Free
  • DHIS2 softwareFree
    • BSD licence
    • All modules including Tracker
    • No user or facility limits
  • Shared Services Fee$undefined/year
    • Voluntary annual contribution introduced by HISP UiO
    • Funds shared global infrastructure and platform sustainability
    • Amount agreed with the HISP Centre
  • Implementation and support$undefined/year
    • Delivered by regional HISP groups or private implementers
    • Configuration, metadata design, hosting, training and support
    • Quoted per programme, commonly the dominant cost

Halaxy

Free
  • HalaxyFree
    • Unlimited practitioners with no subscription fee
    • Diary, patient records, clinical notes and invoicing
    • Online booking page
  • Premium subscription$25/month
    • Priced at 25 credits per month, so roughly AUD 4 to 6 depending on credit rate
    • Two-way calendar sync
    • White-label branding

Which should you pick?

Choose DHIS2 if

  • You need aggregate data reporting.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Android, Self-hosted, Cloud.
  • You also want tracker.
DHIS2 review

Choose Halaxy if

  • You need no licence fee.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want integrated claiming.
Halaxy review

Questions people ask

Is DHIS2 or Halaxy better?
Neither clearly leads. DHIS2 starts at Free and Halaxy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DHIS2 or Halaxy?
DHIS2 starts at Free and Halaxy at Free.
Does DHIS2 or Halaxy run on more platforms?
DHIS2 runs on Web, Android, Self-hosted, Cloud. Halaxy runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use DHIS2 for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is DHIS2 best used for?
DHIS2 is most often used for a ministry of health replacing paper monthly reporting from thousands of facilities with a national routine system, a donor-funded hiv or tuberculosis programme that must report standard indicators across several districts, a disease surveillance unit needing weekly case reporting with outbreak alerting and mapping, an ngo running individual patient follow-up in a programme where facilities are frequently offline. Of those, a ministry of health replacing paper monthly reporting from thousands of facilities with a national routine system and a donor-funded hiv or tuberculosis programme that must report standard indicators across several districts are not what Halaxy is typically brought in for.
What can DHIS2 do that Halaxy cannot?
DHIS2 covers Aggregate data reporting, Tracker, Android capture app, Dashboards and analytics. Halaxy covers No licence fee, Integrated claiming, Credit-based extras, Online booking.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DHIS2: Who owns and develops DHIS2?

The HISP Centre at the University of Oslo, funded by donors including Norad, the Global Fund, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome.

Halaxy: Is Halaxy genuinely free or is there a hidden subscription?

The core practice management software has no subscription fee for any number of practitioners. Halaxy earns from card processing fees, prepaid credits for SMS and claiming, and an optional premium subscription priced at 25 credits a month.

DHIS2: Is DHIS2 free?

The software is free under a BSD licence. Implementation, hosting, training and support are not, and are the dominant cost.

Halaxy: What does it actually cost a busy clinic?

Budget for card fees of roughly 1.5 to 1.9 per cent plus 75 cents to a dollar per transaction, plus credits at about AUD 0.15 to 0.22 each for every SMS, claim and telehealth session. A clinic with heavy card volume can pay more in total than a flat-rate competitor.

DHIS2: What is the Shared Services Fee?

A voluntary annual contribution introduced by HISP UiO in 2025 to fund shared global infrastructure and long-term platform sustainability.

Halaxy: Can I use it outside Australia?

Yes for the diary, notes, invoicing and booking. No for Medicare, DVA, NDIS and Australian health fund claiming, which is where most of the value sits.

DHIS2: Can I buy commercial support?

Yes, from regional HISP groups or private implementers such as Devotta, which is contracted by HISP UiO for core platform development and also works independently.

Halaxy: Does it handle NDIS?

Yes, including NDIS claim generation, service agreements and plan management alongside clinical records.

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