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Healthcare · head to head

Doctolib vs OpenClinica

Doctolib logo

Doctolib

Healthcare

Patient booking and practice management for European healthcare professionals

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OpenClinica logo

OpenClinica

Healthcare

Clinical trial EDC with a genuinely open source community edition alongside a quoted commercial platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Doctolib availability is limited to France, Germany and Italy, so a clinic group operating outside those markets cannot use it at all and a multinational provider cannot standardise on one booking system.; OpenClinica the free community edition is a different and older product line from the commercial platform, so evaluating the open source build tells you little about what the paid product actually does.
  • They diverge on capability: Doctolib covers Patient booking marketplace, OpenClinica covers Open source community edition.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Doctolib and OpenClinica actually diverge.

Attributes where Doctolib and OpenClinica differ
AttributeDoctolibOpenClinica
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Self-hosted, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), 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 Doctolib

  • Patient booking marketplace
  • Practice agenda
  • Teleconsultation
  • Automated reminders
  • Electronic patient record
  • Carte Vitale and reimbursement
  • e-Prescription
  • Doctolib Team

Only in OpenClinica

  • Open source community edition
  • Electronic data capture
  • eConsent
  • eCOA and ePRO
  • Randomisation
  • EHR-to-EDC
  • Audit trail
  • Reporting and analytics

What people use each for

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

Doctolib

  • A French general practice that wants new patients to find and book it without a phone call, and needs Carte Vitale billing in the same toolnot OpenClinica
  • A German physiotherapy clinic replacing a paper diary and cutting no-shows through automated SMS remindersnot OpenClinica
  • A dental group with several sites that needs one shared agenda and per-site patient routingnot OpenClinica
  • A specialist starting a new practice in Paris or Berlin who has no existing patient list and needs the directory as a source of referralsnot OpenClinica

OpenClinica

  • An academic coordinating centre running investigator-initiated trials that needs Part 11 compliant capture without an enterprise eClinical budgetnot Doctolib
  • A registry or observational cohort study collecting structured data across many sites over yearsnot Doctolib
  • A small device sponsor that needs eConsent and ePRO in the same system as its case report formsnot Doctolib
  • An informatics group that wants to self-host the open source edition for a non-regulated internal studynot Doctolib

Where each one falls short

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

Doctolib

  • Availability is limited to France, Germany and Italy, so a clinic group operating outside those markets cannot use it at all and a multinational provider cannot standardise on one booking system.
  • No pricing is published anywhere on the site; every plan routes to a sales form, so a practice cannot budget or compare against alternatives without giving up contact details and sitting through a call.
  • Contracts run on a twelve month commitment per practitioner, so a practice that hires a locum or loses a partner mid-term keeps paying for the seat.
  • The commercial value is the marketplace listing rather than the software, which means leaving Doctolib costs a practice its inbound patient discovery, not just a data export; that asymmetry weakens the practice in every renewal negotiation.
  • Clinical depth is thinner than a dedicated electronic health record, so practices with complex documentation, coding or research requirements often run Doctolib for scheduling alongside a second clinical system and reconcile the two by hand.

OpenClinica

  • The free community edition is a different and older product line from the commercial platform, so evaluating the open source build tells you little about what the paid product actually does.
  • The vendor provides no support or services at all for the community edition, which means outages, patching, database upgrades and validation documentation are entirely your problem.
  • Commercial pricing is not published, so you cannot benchmark it against alternatives without entering a sales process, and third-party figures around USD 1,000 a month are indicative rather than contractual.
  • Study build is skilled work: complex edit checks, randomisation schemes and integrations usually mean paying for vendor or consultant configuration services on top of the licence, which is a frequently underestimated line in the budget.
  • As a smaller vendor than the large eClinical suites it has a thinner partner and consultant ecosystem, so finding experienced build staff or a CRO already fluent in the platform is harder than with the market incumbents.

Pricing, plan by plan

Doctolib

On request
  • Doctolib Pro$undefined/month
    • Marketplace listing and patient booking
    • Practice agenda
    • SMS and email reminders

OpenClinica

On request
  • Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Free and open source under the LGPL
    • Self-hosted, on the older 3.x line
    • No vendor support or services of any kind
  • OpenClinica Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Pricing only through a sales process
    • Hosted and validated instance
    • EDC, eConsent, eCOA, randomisation and analytics modules

Which should you pick?

Choose Doctolib if

  • You need patient booking marketplace.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want practice agenda.
Doctolib review

Choose OpenClinica if

  • You need open source community edition.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android.
  • You also want electronic data capture.
OpenClinica review

Questions people ask

Is Doctolib or OpenClinica better?
Neither clearly leads. Doctolib starts at On request and OpenClinica at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Doctolib or OpenClinica?
Doctolib starts at On request and OpenClinica at On request.
Does Doctolib or OpenClinica run on more platforms?
Doctolib runs on Web, iOS, Android. OpenClinica runs on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android.
What is Doctolib best used for?
Doctolib is most often used for a french general practice that wants new patients to find and book it without a phone call, and needs carte vitale billing in the same tool, a german physiotherapy clinic replacing a paper diary and cutting no-shows through automated sms reminders, a dental group with several sites that needs one shared agenda and per-site patient routing, a specialist starting a new practice in paris or berlin who has no existing patient list and needs the directory as a source of referrals. Of those, a french general practice that wants new patients to find and book it without a phone call, and needs carte vitale billing in the same tool and a german physiotherapy clinic replacing a paper diary and cutting no-shows through automated sms reminders are not what OpenClinica is typically brought in for.
What can Doctolib do that OpenClinica cannot?
Doctolib covers Patient booking marketplace, Practice agenda, Teleconsultation, Automated reminders. OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Electronic data capture, eConsent, eCOA and ePRO.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Doctolib: Can I use Doctolib in the UK or the US?

No. Doctolib operates in France, Germany and Italy only. There is no English-market offering.

OpenClinica: Is OpenClinica free?

There is a genuinely free, LGPL licensed community edition you host yourself with no vendor support. The commercial platform with eConsent, eCOA and a validated hosted instance is quoted and paid.

Doctolib: Does Doctolib publish its prices?

No. Every tier on the site routes to a contact form, and quotes are per practitioner per month with a twelve month commitment.

OpenClinica: Is the open source version still maintained?

Yes, releases on the 3.x line continued through 2025, but it is a separate and older architecture from the commercial product.

Doctolib: Is Doctolib a full electronic health record?

Not really. It covers consultation notes, documents and prescribing, but practices with heavy clinical documentation needs usually keep a separate EHR.

OpenClinica: Does it meet 21 CFR Part 11?

The commercial hosted platform is built for Part 11 and GCP compliance. If you self-host the community edition, compliance and validation are entirely your responsibility.

Doctolib: What happens to my patient bookings if I leave?

You keep your patient data on export, but you lose the public listing, which is where a large share of new bookings originate.

OpenClinica: What does the commercial version cost?

Not published. Third-party listings suggest enterprise arrangements from around USD 1,000 per month, but real cost depends on study count, subjects, modules and build services.

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