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Healthcare · head to head

Epic MyChart vs OpenClinica

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Epic MyChart

Healthcare

Patient portal for accessing health records and communicating with providers

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: Epic MyChart myChart is not a direct-to-consumer product; Epic markets it as a tool that healthcare organizations license and configure to engage their own patients, so access depends entirely on a patient's provider having deployed Epic.; 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: Epic MyChart covers View Medical Records, 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 Epic MyChart and OpenClinica actually diverge.

Attributes where Epic MyChart and OpenClinica differ
AttributeEpic MyChartOpenClinica
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, Self-hosted, iOS, Android
Founded1979Unknown

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 Epic MyChart

  • View Medical Records
  • Secure Messaging
  • Appointment Scheduling
  • Prescription Management
  • Bill Pay
  • Medical History
  • Epic EHR
  • Lab Systems

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.

Epic MyChart

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

OpenClinica

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

Where each one falls short

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

Epic MyChart

  • MyChart is not a direct-to-consumer product; Epic markets it as a tool that healthcare organizations license and configure to engage their own patients, so access depends entirely on a patient's provider having deployed Epic.

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

Epic MyChart

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Epic MyChart review.

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 Epic MyChart if

  • You need view medical records.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want secure messaging.
Epic MyChart 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 Epic MyChart or OpenClinica better?
Neither clearly leads. Epic MyChart 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, Epic MyChart or OpenClinica?
Epic MyChart starts at On request and OpenClinica at On request.
Does Epic MyChart or OpenClinica run on more platforms?
Epic MyChart runs on Web, Mobile. OpenClinica runs on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android.
What is Epic MyChart best used for?
Epic MyChart is most often used for patient care, medical records, practice management, telehealth. Of those, patient care and medical records are not what OpenClinica is typically brought in for.
What can Epic MyChart do that OpenClinica cannot?
Epic MyChart covers View Medical Records, Secure Messaging, Appointment Scheduling, Prescription Management. OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Electronic data capture, eConsent, eCOA and ePRO.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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.

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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